The Qin Empire
This story takes place roughly 100 years before the Qin Shihuang Di launched his campaign to conquer all the other states during the Warring States Period of China’s history. The states during this period of constant conflicts were Qin (?) Qi (?), Yan (?), Chu (?), Han (?), Zhao (?), and Wei (?). The Qin state at the start of the series was weak both militarily as well as economically although the drafted peasant soldiers displayed an unusually strong martial spirit.
Qin’s main antagonizer was the Wei state which was the strongest amongst all the states at that time and sought to subjugate the Qin state. Into this picture came a young scholar, Shang Yang (??) from Wei who was welcomed to Qin by Duke Xiao and was made his Chief Advisor. Shang Yang instituted wide ranging reforms from laws of the state to agricultural reforms. The basic tenant of his reforms follow that the Laws of the state are paramount over the people regardless of rank. He took land reforms to the extreme of taking land from the nobility and giving them to the peasants as private land.
Shang Yang thus earned the undying enmity of the noblemen as well as the Confucianist scholars who constantly plotted against him. He legalised draconian punishments for infringement of the state laws but also implemented a reward system that enpowered meritocracy. The Qin army was also reformed and as a result grew in line with the state’s economic power to pre-eminence over all the other states.
In this tv historical dramatisation, Shang Yang earned the hatred of the son of Duke Xiao, Ying Si, by stripping him of his title and banishing him after he’d ordered his soldiers to masacre some villagers over stolen grain. Thus, when Duke Xiao died, Ying Si took the throne and declared himself King, breaking from the tradition of that period. The noblemen took advantage of this change and instigated Kin Huiwen to declared Shang Yang guilty of plotting rebellion and ordered his execution.
Shang Yang’s reformation of the Qin state laid the foundation for Qin Shihuang Di to conquer all the other states and unifying all of China for the first time.
Timeline of the rulers of Qin state until Qin Shihuang Di:
Duke Xiao of Qin 381 BC – 338 BC
King Huwen 338 BC–311 BC
King Wu 310 BC – 307 BC
King Zhaoxiang 306 BC – 250 BC
King Xiaowen 250 BC – 249 BC
King Zhuangxiang 249 BC – 247 BC
Qin Shi Huang King of Qin 246 BC – 221 BC
Emperor of China 221 BC – 210 BC
This historical drama follows the long tradition of such productions coming out of China, Great acting as well as rich sets make these shows very engrossing. Fans of the Chinese actress Gao Yuan Yuan should not miss this series. Here she’s the first love of Shang Yang but he was forced to marry the sister of Duke Xiao instead. His manner of death in this production deviated from historical records.
No videos to populate this TubePress gallery.
Similar Posts:
- The Royal Tramp (Duke of Deer Mountain)
- Legend of the Condor Heroes (LOCH) 2003
- New Laws To Protect China’s Heritage
- Master of Tai Chi
- Iron Monkey
Tagged with: Agricultural Reforms • Chief Advisor • Dramatisation • Economic Power • Eminence • Enmity • Land Reforms • Martial Spirit • Nobility • Noblemen • Peasants • Private Land • Punishments • Qin Empire • Qin Shihuang Di • Reward System • State Laws • Story Takes Place • Warring States Period • Xiao Ying
Filed under: China TV Series
Like this post? Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
Leave a Reply