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Wu Guang

Wu Guang

Wu Guang (Traditional Chinese: 吳廣) (d. 209 BC or 208 BC (around the new year)) was a leader of the first rebellion against Qin Dynasty during the reign of Qin Er Shi, following the death of Qin Shi Huang. Less is known about him than Chen Sheng. Wu Guang was born in Yangxia (陽夏, in modern Zhoukou, Henan). In 209 BC, he was a military captain along with Chen Sheng when the two of them were ordered to lead 900 soldiers to Yuyang (漁陽, in modern Beijing) to help defend the northern border against Xiongnu. Due to storms, it became clear that they could not get to Yuyang by the deadline, and according to law, if soldiers could not get to their posts on time, they would be executed. Chen and Wu, believing that they were doomed, led their soldiers to start a rebellion. They (falsely) announced that Ying Fusu (嬴扶蘇), the beloved elder son of Qin Shi Huang and elder brother of Qin Er Shi, who had wrongly been forced to commit suicide, and Xiang Yan (項燕), a beloved general of Chu, had not died and were joining their cause. They also declared the restablishment of Chu. Using 900 men to resist an empire seemed to be a suicidal move, but the people, who had felt deeply oppressed by the Qin regime, joined Chen and Wu's cause quickly. Soon, there were people asking Chen to declare himself the Prince of Chu. Against the advice of Zhang Er (張耳) and Chen Yu (陳餘), Chen declared himself as such, rather than, as according to their advice, seek out a descendant of Chu's royal house to be the prince. After Chen set his capitall at Chenqiu (陳丘, in modern Zhoukou, Henan), he created Wu Guang Acting Prince (假王) of Chu and ordered Wu to head west toward Qin proper. Wu's forces, however, became bogged down while sieging Yingyang (滎陽, in modern Zhengzhou, Henan). Wu's generals became concerned that Qin reinforcements under Zhang Han (章邯) would soon arrive and attack them on two sides. They wanted to change Wu's plans, end the siege of Yingyang, and face Zhang's forces directly. Unconvinced that Wu would change his plans, they assassinated Wu and took over the army. See also Chen Sheng Wu Guang Uprising.

Traditional Chinese

Traditional Chinese characters are one of two standard character sets of printed contemporary Chinese characters. It is the set of characters that first appeared during the Han Dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD) and has been used since the 5th century during the Southern and Northern Dynasties. It is called traditional as opposed to the other form - the simplified Chinese characters, created or standardised by the government of the People's Republic of China (mainland China) starting from the 1950s. Traditional Chinese is text written with Traditional Chinese characters. Traditional Chinese characters are used in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and some overseas Chinese communities; especially those originating from the aforementioned countries or who emigrated before the widepspread adoption of simplified characters in the People's Republic of China. In contrast, simplified characters are used in Mainland China, Singapore, and in some overseas Chinese communities; especially those from aforementioned countries who emigrated after the widespread adoption of simplified Chinese characters.

Controversy over name

Among Chinese people, traditional Chinese characters are referred to by several different names, each with different implications. The government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) officially calls traditional Chinese characters standard characters or orthodox characters (Traditional Chinese: 正體字; Simplified Chinese: 正体字; pinyin: zhèngtǐzì), which implies that traditional characters are the full and correct forms of the characters. In contrast, users of simplified characters call them complex characters (Traditional Chinese: 繁體字; Simplified Chinese: 繁体字; pinyin: fántǐzì), or, informally, old characters (老字; pinyin: lǎozì), with the implication that traditional Chinese characters have been replaced and are obsolete. Traditional character users argue that traditional characters cannot be called "complex" as they were never made more complex; the characters were preserved the way they were. Conversely supporters of simplified Chinese characters object strongly to the description of these characters as "standard," since they view the new simplified characters as the contemporary standard. They also point out that traditional characters are not truly traditional as Chinese characters have changed significantly over time. Curiously, although the character which is generally translated as "complex" is itself comprised of numerous, if not complex strokes, the character has not undergone simplification; this is perhaps intentional as it demonstrates the relative complexity of the Traditional characters in contrast to the Simplified versions. Additionally, while "complex" bears somewhat of a negative connotation in English, the Chinese character per se does not imply anything to the extent that it might be construed as "complex" or "troublesome"; rather, the meaning is rather vague and remains neutral unless coupled with other characters. Some older people refer to traditional characters as proper characters (正字; pinyin: zhèngzì) and simplified characters as simplified-stroke characters (Traditional Chinese: 簡筆字; Simplified Chinese: 简笔字; pinyin: jiǎnbǐzì) or reduced-stroke characters (Traditional Chinese: 減筆字; Simplified Chinese: 减笔字; pinyin: jiǎnbǐzì) (simplified- and reduced- are actually homonyms in Mandarin Chinese, both pronounced jiǎn).

Printed text

When printing text, people in Mainland China and Singapore mainly use the simplified system, which was developed by the People's Republic of China government in the 1950s. However, the PRC also prints material intended to be read outside of Mainland China using traditional characters. In handwritten text, most people use informal, sometimes personal simplifications. In most cases, an alternative character (異體字) would be used in place of one with more strokes, such as 体 for 體. Contrary to popular belief, most of these are still part of the set of traditional chinese characters, but informally and confusingly called simplified form (簡寫). Though not standard, these are usually accepted outside schools, and some are extremely widespread, notably the tai (台) in Taiwan as opposed to the standard character (臺).

Computer character encoding

In the past, Traditional Chinese was most often rendered using the Big5 character encoding scheme, a character encoding scheme that favors Traditional Chinese. Unicode, however, has become increasingly popular as a way to render Traditional Chinese. Unicode gives equal weight to both simplified and traditional Chinese characters and does not favor either over the other. There are various IMEs (Input Method Editors) available to input Chinese characters.

Usage in other languages

Traditional characters are also used in Korean Hanja, and moderately simplified traditional characters are used in modern Japanese Kanji.

208 BC

Events

- Second Punic War:
- Scipio Africanus Major defeats Hannibal's brother Hasdrubal Barca in Spain at the Battle of Baecula. As a result, Hasdrubal crosses the Pyrenees with his remaining troops into Transalpine Gaul, intending to join Hannibal in Italy.
- Marcus Claudius Marcellus was killed in an ambush.
- Chinese general Zhang Han of the Qin Dynasty pacifies a peasant rebellion led by Chen Sheng and Wu Guang, then lays siege to the rebel city of Julu.

Births

Deaths

- Marcus Claudius Marcellus, Roman general (b. 268 BC, died in ambush)
- Li Si, Chinese philosopher and politician (b. 280 BC, assassinated) Category:200s BC

Qin Dynasty

The Qin Dynasty (秦朝 Pinyin Qín, Wade-Giles Ch'in; 221 BC - 207 BC) was preceded by the Zhou Dynasty and followed by the Han Dynasty in China. Qin, which has a pronunciation similar to the English word "chin," is a possible origin of the word "China" (see China in world languages). The unification of China 221 BC under the First Emperor (Qin Shi Huang) marked the beginning of imperial China, a period that lasted until the fall of the Qing Empire in 1912. The Qin Dynasty left a legacy of a centralized and bureaucratic state that would be carried onto successive dynasties. 1912 Much of what came to constitute China proper was unified for the first time in 221 B.C. In that year the western frontier state of Qin, the most aggressive of the Warring States, subjugated the last of its rival states, putting an end to the Warring States Period. The King of Qin, Zheng, named himself Shi Huangdi (First Emperor), a formulation of titles previously reserved for deities and the mythological sage-emperors. He is known by historians as Qin Shi Huang. He wanted his successors to rule China forever with the title "Second Emperor", "Third Emperor", etc. In consolidating power, Qin Shi Huang imposed the State of Qin's centralized, non-hereditary bureaucratic system on his new empire in place of the Zhou's feudalistic one. The Qin Empire relied on the philosophy of legalism (with skillful advisors like Han Fei and Li Si). Centralization, achieved by ruthless methods, was focused on standardizing legal codes and bureaucratic procedures, the forms of writing and coinage, and the pattern of thought and scholarship. Characters from the former state of Qin became the standard for the entire empire. The length of the wheel axle was also unified and expressways standardized to ease transportation throughout the country. To silence criticism of imperial rule, the emperor banished or put to death many dissenting Confucian scholars and confiscated and burned their books. To prevent future uprisings, Qin Shi Huang ordered the confiscation of weapons and stored them in the capital. In order to prevent the resurgence of feudal lords, he also destroyed the walls and fortifications that had separated the previous six states. A national conscription was devised: every male between the ages of seventeen and sixty years was obliged to serve one year in the army. Qin aggrandizement was aided by frequent military expeditions pushing forward the frontiers in the north and south. To fend off barbarian intrusion (mainly against the Xiongnu in the north), the fortification walls built by the various warring states were connected to make a wall; this was an early precursor of the 5,000- kilometer-long Great Wall of China built later during the Ming Dynasty. A number of public works projects, including canals and bridges, were also undertaken to consolidate and strengthen imperial rule. A lavish tomb for the emperor, complete with a Terracotta Army, was built near the capital Xianyang, a city half an hour from modern Xi'an. These activities required enormous levies of manpower and resources, not to mention repressive measures. Endless labor in the later years of Qin Shi Huang's reign started to provoke widespread discontent. However, the emperor was able to maintain stability thanks to his tight grip on every aspect of the lives of the Chinese. During his reign Qin Shi Huang made five inspection trips around the country. During the last trip with his second son Huhai (胡亥) in 210 BC, Qin Shi Huang died suddenly at Shaqiu prefecture. Huhai, under the advice of two high officials — the Imperial Secretariat Li Si(李斯) and the chief eunuch Zhao Gao (趙高) — forged the altered Emperor's will. The faked decree ordered Qin Shi Huang's first son, the heir Fusu (扶蘇), to commit suicide, instead naming Huhai as the next emperor. The decree also stripped the command of troops from Marshal Meng Tian (蒙恬) — a faithful supporter of Fusu — and sentenced Meng's family to death. Zhao Gao step by step seized the power of Huhai, effectively making Huhai a puppet emperor. Within three years of Qin Shi Huang's death, widespread revolts by peasants, prisoners, soldiers, and descendants of the nobles of the Six Warring States sprang up all over China. Chen Sheng (陳勝) and Wu Guang (吳廣), two in a group of about 900 soldiers assigned to defend against the Xiongnu, became the leaders of the first revolution by commoners. In the beginning of October 207 BC, Zhao Gao forced Huhai to commit suicide and replaced him with Fusu's son, Ziying (子嬰). Note that the title of Ziying was "king of Qin" to reflect the fact that Qin no longer controlled the whole of China. The Chu-Han contention ensued. Ziying soon killed Zhao Gao and surrendered to Liu Bang (劉邦) in the beginning of December 207 BC. But Liu Bang was forced to hand over Xianyang and Ziying to Xiang Yu. Xiang Yu then killed Ziying and burned down the palace in the end of January 206 BC. Thus the Qin dynasty came to an end, three years after the death of Qin Shi Huang, and less than twenty years after it was founded. Although the Qin Dynasty was short-lived, its legalist rule had a deep impact on later dynasties in China. The imperial system initiated during the Qin dynasty set a pattern that was developed over the next two millennia.

Sovereigns of Qin Dynasty

Note: King Zhaoxiang of Qin (秦昭襄王) had already been ruling Qin for 51 years when Qin annihilated the Zhou Dynasty; however the other six warring states were still independent regimes. Historiographers thus used the next year (the 52nd year of King Zhaoxiang of Qin) as the official continuation from Zhou Dynasty. Qin Shi Huang was the first Chinese sovereign to proclaim himself "Emperor", after reunifying China in 221 BC. That year is therefore usually taken as the start of the "Qin Dynasty".

Posthumous names / title	Chinese family names and given names	Period of Reigns
Convention: "Qin" + posthumous name
Zhaoxiang (昭襄 Zhāoxiāng)	Ying Ze (嬴則 yíng zé or Ying Ji\|嬴稷 yíng jì)	306 BC–250 BC
Xiaowen (孝文 Xiàowén)	Ying Zhu (嬴柱 yíng zhù)	250 BC
Zhuangxiang (莊襄 Zhuāngxiāng)	Ying Zichu (嬴子楚 yíng zi chǔ)	249 BC–247 BC
Shi Huangdi (始皇帝 Shǐ Huángdì)	Ying Zheng (嬴政 yíng zhèng)	246 BC–210 BC
Er Shi Huangdi (二世皇帝 Èr Shì Huángdì)	Ying Huhai (嬴胡亥 yíng hú hài)	209 BC–207 BC
Ziying was often referred using personal name or Qin Wang Ziying (秦王子嬰 qín wáng zi yīng)
Did not exist	Ying Ziying (嬴子嬰 yíng zi yīng)	207 BC

During the Qin Dynasty, starting with Qin Shi Huang, there were no posthumous names. The title of Shi Huangdi ("Commencing Emperor") and Er Shi Huangdi ("Second Generation Emperor") were used during the rulers' lifetimes.

References

A correction to information on the Qin Dynasty's northern wall from:
- Richard Hooker (1996). [http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/CHEMPIRE/CHIN.HTM The Ch'in Dynasty]. Retrieved Jan 22, 2005.

External links

Category:History of China Category:Iron Age ko:진나라 ja:秦 nb:Qin-dynastiet

Qin Er Shi

Qin Er Shi (229 BC - beginning October 207 BC), literally Second Emperor of Qin Dynasty, personal name Huhai, was emperor of the Qin Dynasty in China from 210 BC until 207 BC. Qin Er Shi was the son of Qin Shi Huang (the First Emperor of Qin), but he was not the original crown prince. In 210 BC, he accompanied his father on a trip to Eastern China, during which trip his father died suddenly. Under the advice of the chief eunuch Zhao Gao and prime minister Li Si, he forged a fake decree of his father, which ordered his brother, the heir Fusu, to commit suicide and appointed himself to be the heir. As emperor, he was not able to contend with nationwide rebels. He depended on Zhao Gao so much that he himself acted like a puppet emperor. In 207 BC, the Qin dynasty was on the brink of collapse and Zhao Gao was afraid that Qin Er Shi would ask him to take the blame. Therefore, Zhao Gao conspired with others to force the emperor to commit suicide. A son of Fusu, Ziying, was made king of Qin by Zhao Gao. Ziying soon killed Zhao Gao and surrendered to Liu Bang one year later. Category:229 BC births Category:207 BC deaths Category:Qin Dynasty emperors Category:Politicians who committed suicide ja:胡亥

Qin Shi Huang

Qin Shi Huang (秦始皇) (November or December 260 BC-September 10, 210 BC), personal name Zheng, was king of the Chinese State of Qin from 247 BC to 221 BC, and then the first emperor of a unified China from 221 BC to 210 BC, ruling under the name First Emperor. Having unified China, he and his prime minister Li Si passed a series of major reforms aimed at cementing the unification, and they undertook some Herculean construction projects, most notably the precursor version of the current Great Wall of China. For all the tyranny of his autocratic rule, Qin Shi Huang is still regarded by many today as the founding father in Chinese history whose unification of China has endured for more than two millennia (with interruptions).

Naming conventions

Qin Shi Huang was born in the Chinese month zheng (正), the first month of the year in the Chinese calendar (in the 3rd century BC the Chinese year started before the Winter solstice, and not after as it does today), and so he received the name Zheng (政), both characters were being used interchangeably in ancient China. In Chinese antiquity, people never joined family name and given name together as is customary today, so it is anachronistic to refer to Qin Shi Huang as "Ying Zheng". The given name was never used except by close relatives, therefore it is also incorrect to refer to the young Qin Shi Huang as "Prince Zheng", or as "King Zheng of Qin". As a king, he was referred to as "King of Qin" only. Had he received a posthumous name after his death like his father, he would have been known by historians as "King NN. (posthumous name) of Qin", but this never happened. After conquering the last independent Chinese state in 221 BC, Qin Shi Huang was the king of a state of Qin ruling over the whole of China, a previously unprecedented accomplishment. Wishing to show that he was no more a simple king like the kings of old during the Warring States Period, he created a new title, huangdi (皇帝), combining the word huang (皇) which was used to call the legendary Three Huang (Three August Ones) who ruled at the dawn of Chinese history, and the word di (帝) which was used to call the legendary Five Di (Five Sovereigns) who ruled immediately after the Three Huang. These Three Huang and Five Di were considered perfect rulers, of immense powers, and very long lives. The word huang also meant "big", "great". The word di also referred to the Supreme God in Heaven, creator of the world. Thus, by joining these two words, which no one had ever done before, Qin Shi Huang created a title on par with his feat of uniting the seemingly endless Chinese realm, in fact uniting the world (ancient Chinese, like ancient Romans, believed their empire encompassed the whole world, a concept referred to as all under heaven). This word huangdi was rendered in most Western languages as "emperor", a word with also a long history going back to ancient Rome, and which Europeans deemed superior to the word "king". Qin Shi Huang adopted the name First Emperor (Shi Huangdi, literally "commencing emperor"). He abolished posthumous names, by which former kings were known after their death, judging them inappropriate and contrary to filial piety, and decided that future generations would refer to him as the First Emperor (Shi Huangdi), his successor would be referred to as the Second Emperor (Er Shi Huangdi, literally "second generation emperor"), the successor of his successor as the Third Emperor (San Shi Huangdi, literally "third generation emperor"), and so on, for ten thousand generations, as the Imperial house was supposed to rule China for ten thousand generations ("ten thousand" is equivalent to "forever" in Chinese, and it also means "good fortune"). Qin Shi Huang had now become the First Emperor of the State of Qin. The official name of the newly united China was still "State of Qin", Qin having absorbed all the other states. The name China (中華 or 中國) was never used officially for the country China until 1912 when the Republic of China (中華民國) was founded. Contemporaries called the emperor "First Emperor", dropping the "of the State of Qin", which was obvious without saying. However, soon after the emperor's death, his regime collapsed, and China was beset by a civil war. Eventually, in 202 BC the Han Dynasty managed to reunify the whole of China, which now became officially known as the Han_Dynasty (漢國), which can also be translated as the Empire of Han. Qin Shi Huang could no longer be called "First Emperor", as this would imply that he was the "First Emperor of the Empire of Han". The habit started to have his name preceded by Qin (秦), which does not refer to the State of Qin anymore, but to the Qin Dynasty, a dynasty now replaced by the Han Dynasty. The word huangdi (emperor) in his name was also shortened to huang, so that he became known as Qin Shi Huang. It seems likely that huangdi was shortened to obtain a three-character name, which matches the three-character name of Chinese people (it is extremely rare for Chinese people to have a name made of four or more characters). This name Qin Shi Huang (i.e., "First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty") is the name that appears in the Records of the Grand Historian written by Sima Qian, and is the name most favored today inside China when referring to the First Emperor. Westerners sometimes write "Qin Shi Huangdi", which is improper given Chinese naming conventions; it is more conventional to write "Qin Shi Huang" or "First Emperor".

Youth and King of Qin: the conqueror

At the time of the young Zheng's birth, China was divided into warring feudal states. This period of Chinese history is referred to as the Warring States Period. The competition was extremely fierce and by 260 BC there were only a handful of states left (the others having been conquered and annexed), but Zheng's state, Qin, was the most powerful. It was governed by Legalist philosophy and focused earnestly on military matters. Zheng was born in Handan (邯鄲), the capital of the enemy State of Zhao. He was the son of Zichu, a prince of the royal house of Qin who served as a hostage in the State of Zhao under an agreement between the states of Qin and Zhao. Zichu later returned to Qin after many adventures and with the help of a rich merchant called Lü Buwei, and he managed to ascend the throne of Qin, Lü Buwei becoming chancellor (prime minister) of Qin. Zichu is known posthumously as King Zhuangxiang of Qin. According to a widespread story, Zheng was not the actual son of Zichu, but the son of the powerful chancellor Lü Buwei. This tale arose because Zheng's mother had originally been a concubine of Lü Buwei before he gave her to his good friend Zichu shortly before Zheng's birth. However, the story is dubious since the Confucians would have found it much easier to denounce a ruler whose birth was illegitimate. Zheng ascended the throne in 247 BC at the age of 12 and a half, and was king under a regent until 238 BC when at the age of 21 and a half he staged a palace coup and assumed full power. He continued the tradition of tenaciously attacking and defeating the feudal states (dodging a celebrated assassination attempt by Jing Ke while doing so) and finally took control of the whole of China in 221 BC by defeating the last independent Chinese state, the State of Qi. Then in that same year, at the age of 38, the king of Qin proclaimed himself First Emperor (see chapter above).

First Emperor: the unifier

State of Qi)]] To avoid the anarchy of the Warring States Period, Qin Shi Huang and his prime minister Li Si completely abolished feudalism. They instead divided the empire into thirty-six commanderies (郡). Power in the commanderies was in the hands of governors dismissed at will by the central government. Civilian and military powers were also separated to avoid that too much power falls in the hands of a single civil servant. Thus each commandery was run by a civilian governor (守 ) assisted by a military governor (尉 ). The civilian governor was superior to the military governor, a constant in Chinese history. The civilian governor was also reassigned to a different commandery every few years to prevent him from building up a base of power. An inspector (監 ) was also in post in each commandery, in charge of informing the central government about the local implementation of central policies, reporting on the governors' exercise of power, and possibly resolving conflicts between the two governors. This administrative system was only an extension to the whole empire of the system already in place in the State of Qin before the Chinese unification. In the State of Qin, feudalism had been abolished in the 4th century BC, and the realm had been divided into commanderies with governors dismissed at will by the ruler. Qin Shi Huang ordered all the members of the former royal houses of the conquered states to move to Xianyang (咸陽), the capital of Qin, in modern day Shaanxi province, so they would be kept under tight surveillance for rebellious activities. The emperor also developed an extensive network of roads and canals connecting the provinces to accelerate trade between them and to accelerate military marches to revolting provinces. Qin Shi Huang and Li Si unified China economically by standardizing weights and measures, the currency, the length of the axles of carts (so every cart could run smoothly in the ruts of the new roads), the legal system, and so on. Perhaps most importantly, the Chinese script was unified. A new script was developed by Li Si, called the small seal script, based on the script in use in the State of Qin, and this new script was made mandatory, thus doing away with all the regional scripts and local Chinese characters that existed in the various Chinese states. Edicts written in the new script were carved on the walls of sacred mountains around China, such as the famous carved edicts of Mount Taishan, to let Heaven know of the unification of Earth under an emperor, and also to propagate the new script among people. Qin Shi Huang continued military expansion during his reign, annexing regions to the south (what is now Guangdong province was penetrated by Chinese armies for the first time) and fighting nomadic tribes to the north and northwest. These tribes (the Xiongnu) were subdued, but the campaign was essentially inconclusive, and to prevent the Xiongnu from encroaching on the northern frontier any longer, the emperor ordered the construction of an immense defensive wall, linking several walls already existing since the time of the Warring States. This wall, for whose construction hundreds of thousands of men were mobilized, and an unknown number died, is the precursor version of the current Great Wall of China. It was built much more north than the current Great Wall which was built only during the Ming Dynasty, when China had at least twice more inhabitants than in the days of the First Emperor, and when more than a century was devoted to building the wall (as opposed to a mere ten years during the rule of the First Emperor). Very little survives today of the great wall built by the First Emperor.

Death and aftermath

Ming Dynasty The emperor died while on a tour to Eastern China, searching for the legendary Islands of the Immortals (off the coast of Eastern China) and for the secret of eternal life. Reportedly he died of drinking a potion, which was made by his court scientists and doctors, containing too much mercury. Ironically, this potion was meant to make Qin Shi Huang immortal. His death occurred in the beginning of September 210 BC at the palace in Shaqiu prefecture, about two months away by road from the capital Xianyang. Prime minister Li Si, who accompanied him, was extremely worried that the news of his death could trigger a general uprising in the empire, given the brutal policies of the government, and the resentment of the population forced to work on Herculean projects such as the great wall in the north of China or the mausoleum of the emperor. It would take two months for the government to reach the capital, and it would not be possible to stop the uprising. Li Si decided to hide the death of the emperor, and return to Xianyang. Most of the imperial entourage accompanying the emperor was left uninformed of the emperor's death, and each day Li Si entered the wagon where the emperor was supposed to be traveling, pretending to discuss affairs of state. The secretive nature of the emperor while alive allowed this stratagem to work, and it did not raise doubts among courtiers. Li Si also ordered that two carts containing fish be carried immediately before and after the wagon of the emperor. The idea behind this was to prevent people from noticing the foul smell emanating from the wagon of the emperor, where his body was starting to decompose severely. Eventually, after about two months, Li Si and the imperial court were back in Xianyang, where the news of the death of the emperor was announced. Qin Shi Huang did not like to talk about death and he never really wrote a will. After his death, Li Si and the chief eunuch Zhao Gao persuaded his second son Huhai to forge the Emperor's will. They forced his first son Fusu to commit suicide, stripped the command of troops from Meng Tian — a loyal supporter of Fusu — and killed Meng's family too. Huhai became the Second Emperor (Er Shi Huangdi), known by historians as Qin Er Shi. Qin Er Shi Qin Shi Huang was buried in his mausoleum, with the famous Terracotta Army, near modern day Xi'an (Shaanxi province), but his burial chamber has yet to be opened. Though a magnetic scan of the site has revealed that a large number of coins are lying in the unopened tomb, occasioning speculation that the royal treasury was interred with the emperor, "Excavation sometimes means destruction," Michael Petzet has been quoted as saying. "Let them sleep underground. It's safer. No excavation should be done for fun or curiosity" [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4359774.stm] Qin Er Shi was not nearly as capable as his father was. Revolts quickly erupted, and within four years of Qin Shi Huang's death, his son was dead. The imperial palace and state archives were burned, and the Qin Dynasty came to an end. It was during Qin Er Shi's "rule" that powerful families came to war, with the strongest of them rising to power and bringing order back to the land, thus starting the next dynasty of emperors. This was a time of extreme civil unrest, and everything the emperor had worked for had crumbled away, for a short period. The next Chinese dynasty, the Han Dynasty, rejected Legalism (in favor of Confucianism) and moderated the laws, but kept Qin Shi Huang's basic political and economic reforms intact. In this way his work was carried on through the centuries and became a lasting feature of Chinese society.

Qin Shi Huang in historiography

Confucianism In traditional Chinese historiography, the First Emperor was almost always portrayed as a brutal tyrant, superstitious (a result of his interest in immortality and assassination paranoia) and sometimes even as a mediocre ruler. Ideological prejudices against the Legalist State of Qin were established as early as 266 BC, when Confucian philosopher Xun Zi compared it to barbarian tribes and wrote "Qin has the heart of a tiger or a wolf … [and is] avaricious, perverse, eager for profit, and without sincerity". Later, Confucian historians condemned the emperor who had burned the classics and buried Confucian scholars alive. They eventually compiled the list of the Ten Crimes of Qin to highlight his tyrannical actions. The famous Han poet and statesman Jia Yi concluded his essay The Faults of Qin with what was to become the standard Confucian judgment of the reasons for Qin's collapse. Jia Yi's essay, admired as a masterpiece of rhetoric and reasoning, was copied into two great Han histories and has had a far-reaching influence on Chinese political thought as a classic illustration of Confucian theory. He explained the ultimate weakness of Qin as a result of its ruler's ruthless pursuit of power, the precise factor which had made it so powerful; for as Confucius had taught, the strength of a government ultimately is based on the support of the people and virtuous conduct of the ruler. Because of this systematic Confucian bias on the part of Han scholars, some of the stories recorded about Qin Shi Huang are doubtful and some may have been invented to emphasize his bad character. For instance, the accusation that he had 460 scholars executed by having them buried with only their heads above ground, and then decapitated is at the very least unlikely to be completely true. There are also many varying tales of Heaven's anger against the First Emperor, such as the story of a stone fallen from the sky engraved with words denouncing the emperor and prophesying the collapse of his empire after his death. Almost all of these have been discredited by modern sinologists as hearsay and legend, designed to tarnish the First Emperor's image. Only in modern times were historians able to penetrate beyond the limitations of traditional Chinese historiography. The political rejection of the Confucian tradition as an impediment to China's entry into the modern world opened the way for changing perspectives to emerge. In the three decades between the fall of the Qing Dynasty and the outbreak of the Second World War, with the deepening dissatisfaction with China's weakness and disunity, there emerged a new appreciation of the man who had unified China. In the time when he was writing, when Chinese territory was encroached upon by foreign nations, leading Kuomintang historian Xiao Yishan emphasized the role of Qin Shi Huang in repulsing the northern barbarians, particularly in the construction of the Great Wall. Another historian, Ma Feibai (馬非百), published in 1941 a full-length revisionist biography of the First Emperor entitled Qin Shi Huangdi Zhuan (《秦始皇帝傳》). He called Qin Shi Huang one of the great heroes of Chinese history. Ma compared him with the contemporary leader Chiang Kai-shek and saw many parallels in the careers and policies of the two men, both of whom he admired. Chiang's Northern Expedition of the late 1920s, which directly preceded the new Nationalist government at Nanjing was compared to the unification brought about by Qin Shi Huang. With the coming of the Communist Revolution in 1949, new interpretations again surfaced. The establishment of the new, revolutionary regime meant another re-evaluation of the First Emperor, this time following Marxist theory. The new interpretation given of Qin Shi Huang was generally a combination of traditional and modern views, but essentially critical. This is exemplified in the Complete History of China, which was compiled in September, 1955, as an official survey of Chinese history. The work described the First Emperor's major steps toward unification and standardization as corresponding to the interests of the ruling group and the merchant class, not the nation or the people, and the subsequent fall of his dynasty a manifestation of the class struggle. The perennial debate of the fall of the Qin Dynasty was also explained in Marxist terms, the peasant rebellions being a revolt against oppression - a revolt which undermined the dynasty, but which was bound to fail because of a compromise with "landlord class elements". Since 1972, however, a radically different official view of Qin Shi Huang has been given prominence throughout China. The reevaluation movement was launched by Hong Shidi's biography Qin Shi Huang. The work was published by the state press to be a mass popular history, and sold 1.85 million copies within two years. In the new era, Qin Shi Huang was seen as a farsighted ruler who destroyed the forces of division and established the first unified, centralized state in Chinese history by rejecting the past. Personal attributes, such as his quest for immortality, so emphasized in traditional historiography, were scarcely mentioned. The new evaluations described how, in his time (an era of great political and social change), he had no compunctions in using violent methods to crush counter-revolutionaries, such as the "industrial and commercial slave owner" chancellor Lü Buwei. Unfortunately, he was not as thorough as he should have been and after his death, hidden subversives, under the leadership of the chief eunuch Zhao Gao, seized power and used it to restore the old feudal order. To round out this re-evaluation, a new interpretation of the precipitous collapse of the Qin Dynasty was put forward in an article entitled "On the Class Struggle During the Period Between Qin and Han" by Luo Siding, in a 1974 issue of Red Flag, to replace the old explanation. The new theory claimed that the cause of the fall of Qin lay in the lack of thoroughness of Qin Shi Huang's "dictatorship over the reactionaries, even to the extent of permitting them to worm their way into organs of political authority and usurp important posts." Qin Shi Huang was ranked #17 in Michael H. Hart's list of the most influential figures in history.

Qin Shi Huang in fiction

- To be sure, Qin Shi Huang could always be seen as relevant in fiction and folklore. During the Korean War, the play Song of the Yi River was produced. The play was based on an actual historical event, the attempted assassination of Ying Zheng by Jing Ke of Wei, at the request of the Prince of Yan, in 227 BC. In the play Ying Zheng was portrayed as a cruel tyrant and an aggressor and invader of other states. Jing Ke, in contrast, was a chivalrous warrior and one of his lines was "tens of thousands of injured people are all my comrades." A huge newspaper ad for this play proclaimed: "Invasion will definitely end in defeat; peace must be won at a price." The underdog fighting against the aggression of a cruel and powerful foreign invader and being supported by a sympathetic volunteer from another country was obviously a theme with considerable contemporary relevance.
- The 1984 book Bridge of Birds (by Barry Hughart) portrays him as a power-hungry megalomaniac who achieved immortality by having his heart removed by an Old Man of the mountain.
- The 1996 movie The Emperor's Shadow uses the various legends about him to make a political statement on Chinese Communism, and focuses on his relationship with the rebellious musician, Gao Jianli.
- The 1999 movie The Emperor and the Assassin focused on the identity of his father, his heartless treatment of his officials, and betrayal by a concubine, paving the way for Jing Ke's assassination attempt.
- The 2001 Hong Kong TVB drama serial, A Step into the Past, presents a whole new perspective on the emperor's story, with Raymond Lam Fung as Qin Shi Huang. In the show, Qin Shi Huang is actually a person named Zhao Pan from the Kingdom of Zhao who takes over the identity of Ying Zheng and rises to power with the help of a time traveller from the 21st century. The time traveller also interferes with a lot of important historical events related to the emperor.
- The 2002 movie Hero tells the story of assassination attempts of Qin Shi Huang (played by renowned Chinese actor Chen Daoming) by legendary warriors.
- Bob Bainborough portrayed Qin Shi Huang in an episode of History Bites.
- In the Area 51 book series, Qin Shi Huang is revealed to be an alien exile stranded on Earth during an interstellar civil war. The Great Wall is actually the symbol for 'help' in his language, and the true reason for its construction was in hope that a passing alien ship would find it and rescue him.
- The video game Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb sends the archaeologist into the tomb of Qin Shi Huang to recover a secret artifact hidden there.
- Hong Kong Asia Television Limited (ATV) Channel made a TV drama simply called "Qin Shi Huang" (秦始皇) during the 1980, it was one of ATV most expensive project. The series ran roughly 50 episodes, from Qin Shi Huang youth to his death during his tour. The title song summed up most of the storyline: "Nobody shall be under my foot, nobody shall be equal than me..".
- Qin Shi Huang is a character in the 2005 computer game Civilization IV.

Miscellaneous

Qin Shi Huang was interested in immortality and visited Zhifu Island. These deeds became a very popular story of the emperor sending a Zhifu islander, Xu Fu (徐福), as the religious leader of ships with hundreds of young men and women in search of the pill of immortality. These people never returned, as they knew that if they did return without the "immortality pill", they would surely be executed. The legend claims that they settled down in one of the Japanese islands. The legend also claims that this is the reason why many aspects of the Japanese language are similar to their Chinese counterparts, and the fact that the Japanese people look so similiar to the Chinese. The emperor often took tours to major cities in his empire to inspect the efficiency of the bureaucracy and to symbolize the presence of Qin's prestige. (It was on one of these tours that he died). Nevertheless, these trips provided opportunities for assassins, the most famous of whom was Zhang Liang. Late in life, after his assassination had been attempted too often for comfort, he grew paranoid of remaining in one place too long and would hire servants to bear him to different buildings in his palace complex to sleep in each night. He also hired several "doubles" to make it less clear which figure was the emperor.

Zhoukou

Zhoukou () is a prefecture-level city in eastern Henan province, People's Republic of China. It borders Zhumadian to the southeast, Xuchang and Luohe to the west, Kaifeng to the northwest, Shangqiu to the northeast, and the province of Anhui on all other sides.

Administration

The prefecture-level city of Zhoukou administers 1 district, 1 county-level city and 8 counties.
- Chuanhui District (川汇区)
- Xiangcheng City (项城市)
- Huaiyang County (淮阳县)
- Shenqiu County (沈丘县)
- Dancheng County (郸城县)
- Luyi County (鹿邑县)
- Taikang County (太康县)
- Fugou County (扶沟县)
- Xihua County (西华县)
- Shangshui County (商水县)

External links

- [http://www.zk.gov.cn Government website of Zhoukou] (in Simplified Chinese) Category:Cities in Henan

209 BC

Centuries: 4th century BC - 3rd century BC - 2nd century BC Decades: 250s BC 240s BC 230s BC 220s BC 210s BC - 200s BC - 190s BC 180s BC 170s BC 160s BC 150s BC Years: 214 BC 213 BC 212 BC 211 BC 210 BC - 209 BC - 208 BC 207 BC 206 BC 205 BC 204 BC ---- Events
- Second Punic War:
- In a surprise assault, the Romans under Scipio Africanus Major captured Carthago Nova, the most important city in Carthaginian Spain.
- Fabius Maximus captures Tarentum through treachery.
- Hannibal defeats Marcus Claudius Marcellus once again in the indecisive Battle of Asculum.
- Antiochus III the Great defeats the Parthians in the Battle of the Arius. Births Deaths Category:200s BC

Chen Sheng

Chen Sheng (Traditional Chinese: 陳勝) (d. 209 BC or 208 BC (around the new year)) was the leader of the first rebellion against Qin Dynasty during the reign of Qin Er Shi, following the death of Qin Shi Huang.

Start of the rebellion

Chen Sheng was born in Yangcheng (陽城, in modern Dengfeng, Henan). In 209 BC, he was a military captain along with Wu Guang when the two of them were ordered to lead 900 soldiers to Yuyang (漁陽, in modern Beijing) to help defend the northern border against Xiongnu. Due to storms, it became clear that they could not get to Yuyang by the deadline, and according to law, if soldiers could not get to their posts on time, they would be executed. Chen and Wu, believing that they were doomed, led their soldiers to start a rebellion. They (falsely) announced that Ying Fusu (嬴扶蘇), the beloved elder son of Qin Shi Huang and elder brother of Qin Er Shi, who had wrongly been forced to commit suicide, and Xiang Yan (項燕), a beloved general of Chu, had not died and were joining their cause. They also declared the restablishment of Chu. Using 900 men to resist an empire seemed to be a suicidal move, but the people, who had felt deeply oppressed by the Qin regime, joined Chen and Wu's cause quickly. Soon, there were people asking Chen to declare himself the Prince of Chu. Against the advice of Zhang Er (張耳) and Chen Yu (陳餘), Chen declared himself as such, rather than, as according to their advice, seek out a descendant of Chu's royal house to be the prince.

Downfall and death

Chen, setting his capital at Chenqiu (陳丘, in modern Zhoukou, Henan), then commissioned various generals to advance in all directions to conquer Qin territory. Among these were Wu Guang, whom he created Acting Prince (假王) of Chu and Zhou Wen (周文), whom he ordered to head west toward Qin proper; his friend Wu Chen (武臣), whom he ordered to head north toward the old territory of Zhao (modern Hebei); and Zhou Fu (周巿), whom he ordered to head northeast toward the old territory of Wei (modern eastern Henan and western Shandong). However, none of these generals returned -- Wu Guang was assassinated by generals under him; Zhou Wen was defeated by Qin forces; Wu Chen was initially successful but then declared himself the Prince of Zhao and became independent of Chu; and Zhou Fu supported a descendant of the royal house of Wei to be the Prince of Wei, also independent of Chu. A major reason why Wu Chen and the generals who assassinated Wu Guang broke away was that Chen was paranoid as a prince; generals were executed at any sign of infidelity, even by rumors. Chen was greatly weakened, and as he suffered losses at the hands of Qin's army, he led an expeditory force himself to try to gather reinforcements, but he was assassinated by his guard Zhuang Jia (莊賈) in winter 209 BC-208 BC. Chen was often idealized by versions of history promulgated by the People's Republic of China (PRC) historians as a great leader of the peasants against intolerable oppression of the Qin nobility and bourgeois. However, that perception is not reality. Chen's decisions, while motivated by his desire to overthrow Qin, was also often motivated by self-interest and self-aggrandization. He also failed to take in good advice and overly estimated himself. As the historian Sima Guang wrote in his Zizhi Tongjian: : When Chen Sheng first became the Prince of Chu, his relatives and friends all arrived to join him, as did his father-in-law. But when his father-in-law arrived, Chen treated him as an ordinary guest and only made a slight bow and did not kneel to him. His father-in-law became angry and stated, "You are leading a rebellion and falsely claiming the title of a prince, but you are arrogant toward your elders; you surely cannot last." He turned to leave without further discussion, and even though Chen knelt to ask for his forgiveness, he ignored Chen. Later, when there were more and more relatives and friends arriving, they were discussing the stories when Chen was young. Someone suggested, "The old friends and guests of Your Royal Highness are foolish and often liked to talk in vain; they will damage your image and hurt your reputation." Chen executed a good number of his old friends, and therefore his friends began to leave him and not follow him. Chen made Zhu Fang to be his examination minister and Hu Wu to be the head of his guard, to be in charge of intelligence and security. When the generals conquered cities and returned, the two of them often criticized and nit-picked on the commands issued by those generals or their acts; often, if they felt the commands or the acts were not lawful, they would arrest the generals. Chen considered those who are strict to be the most faithful ones. The ones that Chen did not like were either given over to courts martial or personally punished by Chen. The generals had no affection for Chen, and this led to his downfall. While PRC historians may quibble with Sima's characterization of Chen, it appears to be quite correct. He claimed the title of prince only months after the start of his rebellion, without a sufficient foundation, and once he did he effectively became stuck in Chenqiu and could not firmly hold territories that were conquered, because the people in the territories did not view him with great affection. While he had his role in the downfall of Qin, he should not be viewed as a hero. Note: throughout this article, wang (王) has been translated as "prince." It can also be translated as "king," and is often done so in the Warring States context. See also Chen Sheng Wu Guang Uprising. Chen Sheng ja:陳勝

Beijing

:Peking is also the name of an asteroid, see 2045 Peking. A bizarre and striking mix of both old and new styles of architecture can be seen at the Dashanzi Art District, which mixes 1950s-design with a blend of the new. The influence of American urban form and social values in manifest in the creation of Orange County, China, a suburban development about one hour north of the city.

Demographics

Orange County, China, is known for its high concentration of South Korean expatriates.]] South Korea The population of Beijing Municipality, defined as the total number of people who reside in Beijing for 6 months or more per year, was 14.927 million in 2004. 11.872 million people were urban, which includes residents in the Beijing urban area and surrounding towns, and the remainder were rural. [http://www.bjstats.gov.cn/lhzl/cbtj-2004/200501040141.htm] 11.629 million people in Beijing had Beijing hukou (permanent residence) and the remainder were on temporary residence permits. [http://www.bjstats.gov.cn/tjyl/tjgb/200501210039.htm] In addition, there is a large but unknown number of migrant workers (min gong) who live illegally in Beijing without any official residence permit (also termed hei ren or unregistered people). The population of Beijing's urban core (city proper) is around 7.5 million. Over 95% of Beijing's residents belong to the Han Chinese majority. Smaller populations consisting of members of the Manchu, Hui, and Mongol ethnic groups also call the city home. In recent years there has been an influx of South Korean expatriates, who live in Beijing predominantly for business and study, and are concentrated in the Wangjing and Wudaokou areas. A Tibetan high school exists for youth of Tibetan ancestry, nearly all of whom have come to Beijing from Tibet expressly for their studies. A sizable international or expatriate community exists in Beijing, mostly attracted by the highly growing foreign business and trade sector, and many members live in the Beijing urban area's densely populated northern, northeastern and eastern sections. The southwest and southern parts of the Beijing urban area are less densely populated. 2000年人口普查中国民族人口资料，民族出版社，2003/9 (ISBN 7105054255)
Includes only citizens of the PRC. Does not include members of the People's Liberation Army in active service.

Culture

People native to urban Beijing speak the Beijing dialect, which belongs to the Mandarin subdivision of spoken Chinese. Beijing dialect provides the basis for Standard Mandarin, the standard Chinese language used in the People's Republic of China, the Republic of China on Taiwan, and Singapore. Rural areas of Beijing Municipality have their own dialects akin to those of Hebei province, which surrounds Beijing Municipality. Beijing Opera, or Peking Opera (Jingju), is well-known throughout the national capital. Commonly lauded as one of the highest achievements of Chinese culture, Beijing Opera is performed through a combination of song, spoken dialogue, and codified action sequences, such as gestures, movement, fighting and acrobatics. Much of Beijing Opera is carried out in an archaic stage dialect quite different from modern Standard Mandarin and from the Beijing dialect; this makes the dialogue somewhat hard to understand, and the problem is compounded if one is not familiar with Chinese. As a result, modern theaters often have electronic titles in Chinese and English. Beijing dialect Beijing dialect, the left side was still standing; it has since given way to a new construction project.]] The Siheyuan (四合院) is a traditional architectural style of Beijing. A siheyuan consists of a square housing compound, with rooms enclosing a central courtyard. This courtyard often contains a pomegranate or other type of tree, as well as potted flowers or a fish tank. Siheyuans line Hutongs (胡同), or alleys, which connect the interior of Beijing's old city. They are usually straight and run east-to-west so that doorways can face north and south for Feng Shui reasons. They vary in width — some are very narrow, enough for only a few pedestrians to pass through at a time. Once ubiquitous in Beijing, siheyuans and hutongs are now rapidly disappearing, as entire city blocks of hutongs are leveled and replaced with high-rise buildings. Residents of the hutongs are entitled to apartments in the new buildings of at least the same size as their former residences. Many complain, however, that the traditional sense of community and street life of the hutongs cannot be replaced. Some particularly historic or picturesque hutongs are being preserved and restored by the government, with the objective that by the 2008 Olympics, only these few will remain. One such example can be seen at Nanchizi. Mandarin cuisine is the local style of cooking in Beijing. Peking Roast Duck is perhaps the most well-known dish. The Manhan Quanxi ("Manchu-Han Chinese full banquet") is a traditional banquet originally intended for the ethnic-Manchu emperors of the Qing Dynasty; it remains very prestigious and very expensive. Teahouses are also common in Beijing. Chinese tea comes in many varieties and some rather expensive types of Chinese tea are said to cure an ailing body extraordinarily well. The Jingtailan is a cloisonné metalworking technique and tradition originating from Beijing, and one of the most revered traditional crafts in China. Beijing lacquerware is well known for the patterns and images carved into its surface. The Fuling Jiabing is a traditional Beijing snack food, a pancake (bing) resembling a flat disk with filling, made from fu ling (Poria cocos (Schw.) Wolf, or "tuckahoe"), an ingredient common in traditional Chinese medicine.

Stereotypes

Beijingers are stereotypically held to be open, confident, humorous, majestic in manner, enthusiastic about politics, art, culture, or other "grand" matters, unconcerned with thrift or careful calculation, and happy to take center stage. They are however also stereotypically aristocratic, arrogant, laid back, disdainful of "provincials", always "lording it over others", and strongly conscious of social class. These stereotypes may have originated from Beijing's status as China's capital for most of the past 800 years, and the high concentration of officials and other notables in Beijing that has resulted.

Transportation

:Main article: Transportation of Beijing With the growth of the city following economic reforms, Beijing has evolved as an important transportation hub. Encircling the city are five ring roads, nine expressways and city express routes, eleven China National Highways, several railway routes, and an international airport.

Rail

Beijing has two major railway stations: Beijing Railway Station (or the central station) and Beijing West Railway Station. Five other railway stations in Metropolitan Beijing handle regular passenger traffic: Beijing East, Beijing North, Beijing South, Fengtai, and Guang'anmen. Beijing is a railway hub. There are railway lines from Beijing to Guangzhou, Shanghai, Harbin, Baotou, Taiyuan, Chengde and Qinhuangdao. International trains, including lines to cities in Russia and Pyongyang, North Korea (DPRK), all run through Beijing. Direct trains to Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR also depart from Beijing. Construction on a Beijing-Tianjin high-speed rail began on July 4, 2005, and is scheduled to be completed in 2007.

Roads and expressways

:See: Ring Roads of Beijing, Expressways of Beijing and China National Highways of Beijing for more related information. China National Highways of Beijing (November 2002 image)]] Beijing is connected via road links from all parts of China. Nine expressways of China (with six wholly new expressways under projection or construction) connect with Beijing, as do eleven China National Highways. Within Beijing itself, an elaborate network of five ring roads has developed, but they appear more rectangular than ring-shaped. Roads in Beijing often are in one of the four compass directions (unlike, for example, Tianjin). One of the biggest concerns with traffic in Beijing deals with its apparently ubiquitous traffic jams. Traffic in the city centre is often gridlocked, especially around rush hour. Even outside of rush hour, several roads still remain clogged up with traffic. Urban area ring roads and major through routes, especially near the Chang'an Avenue area, are often clogged up during rush hour. Recently expressways have been extended (in some cases reconstructed as express routes) into the territories within the 3rd Ring Road. As they are either expressways or express routes, drivers do not need to pass through intersections with traffic lights. This may finally solve the difficulties in "hopping between one ring and another". Another problem is that public transportation is underdeveloped (the subway system is presently minimal) and that even buses are jam-packed with people around rush hour. Beijing was poorly designed in terms of zoning and in terms of transportation system [http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/en/doc/2003-10/06/content_269518.htm], [http://www.bjreview.com.cn/200410/Nation-200410(C).htm]. Compounding the problem is patchy enforcement of traffic regulations, and road rage. Beijing authorities claim that traffic jams may be a thing of a past come the 2008 Olympics. The authorities have introduced several bus lanes where, during rush hour, all vehicles except for public buses must keep clear. Chang'an Avenue runs east-west through the centre of Beijing, past Tian'anmen. It is a major through route and is often called the "First Street in China" by authorities.

Air

Beijing's main airport is the Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) near Shunyi, which is about 20 km northeast of Beijing city centre. Most domestic and nearly all international flights arrive and depart at Capital Airport. Capital Airport is the main hub for Air China. It is linked to central Beijing by the Airport Expressway and is a roughly 40-minute drive from the city centre during good traffic hours. In preparation for the 2008 Olympics, another expressway is being built to the Airport, as well as a lightrail system. Other airports in the city include Liangxiang Airport, Nanyuan Airport, Xijiao Airport, Shahe Airport and Badaling Airport. However, these are primary for military use and less well-known to the public.

Public transit

The evolving Beijing Subway has four lines (two above ground, two underground), with several more being built in preparation for the 2008 Summer Olympics. There were 599 bus and trolleybus routes in Beijing as of 2004. [http://www.bjstats.gov.cn/tjyl/tjgb/200501210039.htm] Taxis are nearly ubiquitous, and some can accept Yikatong cards for payment. Buses and trolleybus fares cost 1 Renminbi for shorter trips, and more for longer trips. Subway tickets range from 2 to 5 Renminbi. Taxi fares depend on vehicle type: these start at 10 Renminbi for the first 3 to 4 kilometers, and go up by 1.20, 1.60, 2.00, or 2.50 Renminbi per extra kilometer, depending on the type of taxi. Some, too, can accept Yikatong cards for payment.

Tourism

Yikatong card Yikatong card :Main article: Tourist attractions of Beijing Despite the turmoil of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries—including damage caused by European military intervention, the Japanese invasion of WWII and the Cultural Revolution—and the recent intense urbanisation and transformation, including the demolition of hutongs, Beijing still maintains tourist attractions that are rich in history. Although more known for its political significance in the West, Tian'anmen (The Gate of Heavenly Peace) remains the spiritual center of China and one of the most important tourist sites of Beijing, both by itself and as the main entrance to the Forbidden City. Other world-renowned sites include the Badaling section of the Great Wall of China, the Summer Palace, and the Temple of Heaven.

Shopping and Commercial Districts

- Wangfujing: Beijing's most upscale, globalized shopping district
- Xidan
- Beijing CBD
- Beijing Financial Street
- Zhongguancun
- Yizhuang see also: Jin Yuan Mall

Hotels and Lodging

In first two decades following the PRC's foundation in 1949, Beijing had virtually no hotels (at least by Western standards), due to economic and social conditions at the time. One system of institution providing a place for individuals traveling to Beijing from other locations to spend the night was the zhaodaisuo (literally, "accommodation centre"). Zhaodaisuo were subordinate to state organisations or state organs. Older ones had communal public conveniences and amenities. Some zhaodaisuos still remain in use today. In the late 1970s, Beijing, alongside much of China during the period of reform and economic opening under Deng Xiaoping, saw greater attempts at attracting and catering to international business. A large number of hotels and other facilities to accommodate business, tourist, and other visitors began to be constructed. Today, given Beijing's size and status as one of the most frequently visited and economically, politically, and culturally important cities in Asia, a great number of hotels exist, many rivalling the highest international standards. The most well-known hotel is the Beijing Hotel, which is state-owned. Other notable hotels are the Great Wall Sheraton Hotel, the Jianguo Hotel, the China World Hotel, the St. Regis, Grand Hyatt at Oriental Plaza and the Peninsula Palace Hotel, operated by the Hong Kong-based Peninsula Group. Youth hostels do exist but are few in number. There is one near the centre of Beijing, where accommodations are located four floors below ground level.

Nightlife

Nightlife in Beijing is varied. Most clubs are situated in the area around Sanlitun or in the region near the Workers Stadium, especially to the north and to the west. New clubs opened on Gongrentiyuchang West Road. Wudaokou, in northwestern Beijing, is also a bustling center of nightlife. There are more Koreans and other foreigners, mostly students, in the area. Bar-wise, the following areas of Beijing are known as hubs for bars which open until late:
- Sanlitun
- Houhai
- Yuandadu

Education

:Main article: Colleges and Universities of Beijing Beijing is home to an extensive number of colleges and universities, including several well-regarded universities of international stature, especially including China's two most prestigious institutions, Peking University ("Beida") and Tsinghua University. Other well known institutions, domestically and internationally, include Beijing Normal University and Renmin University of China. Owing to Beijing's status as the political and cultural capital of China, a larger proportion of tertiary-level institutions are concreated here than probably any other city in China, reaching at least 59 in number. Many international students from Japan, Korea, North America, Europe, Southeast Asia, and elsewhere come to Beijing to study every year, a growing trend, especially among Western students. The institutions listed here are administered by China's Ministry of Education. Best-known institutions:
- Tsinghua University (清华大学) (founded 1911), typically considered one of the two best academic institutions in China along with Peking University
- Peking University (北京大学) (founded 1898), typically considered one of the two best academic institutions in China along with Tsinghua University
- Renmin University of China (中国人民大学)
- Beijing Normal University (北京师范大学) (founded 1902)
- Beijing Foreign Studies University (北京外国语大学) Other institutions include:
- Beijing Language and Culture University (北京语言大学)
- Beijing Forestry University (北京林业大学)
- Beijing Institute of Technology (北京理工大学)
- Beijing Jiaotong University (北京交通大学)
- Beijing University of Chemical Technology (北京化工大学)
- Beijing University of Chinese Medicine (北京中医药大学)
- Beijing University of Petroleum (石油大学)
- Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (北京邮电大学)
- Central University of Finance and Economics (中央财经大学)
- China Agricultural University (中国农业大学)
- China University of Political Science and Law (中国政法大学)
- Communication University of China (中国传媒大学)
- Beijing University Health Science Center (formally Beijing Medical University) (北京大学医学部, 原北京医科大学)
- University of International Business and Economics (对外经济贸易大学)
- University of International Relations (国际关系学院)
- University of Science and Technology Beijing (北京科技大学)
- Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (北京航空航天大学)
- Beijing University of Technology (北京工业大学) Arts-related institutions:
- Central Academy of Drama (中央戏剧学院)
- Central Conservatory of Music (中央音乐学院)
- Central Institute of Fine Arts (中央美术学院)
- Beijing Film Academy (北京电影学院)

Media

Beijing Film Academy]

Television and Radio

Beijing Television (BTV) broadcasts on numbered channels 1 through 10. Unlike China Central Television (CCTV), there is at present no exclusive English-language TV channel on a citywide level in Beijing. Three radio stations feature programmes in English: Hit FM on FM 88.7, Easy FM by China Radio International (CRI) on FM 91.5, and the newly launched Radio 774 on AM 774.

Press

The well-known Beijing Evening News (Beijing Wanbao) newspaper is distributed every afternoon, covering news about Beijing in Chinese. Other newspapers include The Beijing News (Xin Jing Bao), the Beijing Star Daily, the Beijing Morning News, the Beijing Youth Daily (Beijing Qingnian Bao), as well as English-language weeklies Beijing Weekend and Beijing Today (the English-language edition of Youth Daily). People's Daily and China Daily (English) are also published in Beijing. Nationally-circulated Chinese newspapers are also available in Beijing. Publications primarily aimed at international visitors and the expatriate community include the English-language periodicals City Weekend, Beijing This Month, Beijing Talk, that's Beijing and MetroZine. The international press, including English- and Japanese-language newspapers and magazines, are available in major international hotels and Friendship Stores, and content often appears complete.

Sports

Beijing will host the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2008 Summer Paralympics. Professional sports teams based in Beijing include:
- Chinese Football Association Super League
- Beijing Xiandai
- Chinese Basketball Association
- Beijing Ducks
- Beijing Olympians

City and regional partnerships

Beijing maintains partnerships or "sister city" status with the following international locations. (Note: some locations are provinces or regional-level units, not cities properly. Beijing itself is not technically a city, being a municipality). 1: A région of France
2: A province of South Africa :Source: [http://www.ebeijing.gov.cn/ying/default.htm www.ebeijing.gov.cn]

External links

- [http://www.ebeijing.gov.cn/ Official site (English version)]
- [http://en.beijing-2008.org/ Official 2008 Summer Olympics Website] (English)
- [http://www.chinaodysseytours.com/maps/beijing.html Beijing Map - full size, 1560
- 1547 pixels, 645kb)]
- [http://www.muztagh.com/images/map/map-of-beijing-large.jpg Large map of Beijing region]
- [http://www.beijingvirtualcity.com/ Beijing The Virtual City (under construction)]
- [http://www.asinah.org/weather/ZBAA.html Beijing Weather Forecast]
- [http://gou-rou.com/ gou-rou.com Beijing satire]
- [http://www.olympicwatch.org/ Human Rights in China and the Beijing 2008 Olympics - OlympicWatch.org]

Travel & Tourism

- [http://www.code-d.com/china/beijing.html/ Photos of Beijing]
- [http://www.chinahighlights.com/beijing/ Beijing Travel Informations]
- [http://www.mybeijingchina.com/ My Beijing travel Guide]
- [http://www.peking.org Peking.org - Peking Tourist Attractions, Photos and History]
- [http://www.thebeijingguide.com/ The Beijing Guide]
- [http://brucema.topcities.com/beijingtour/index.html Bruce Ma's Beijing Tour] [http://www.brucema.co.nr/], pictures
- [http://www.chinahighlights.com/beijing/tours.htm Beijing tours]
- [http://www.beijingservice.com/ Beijing Travel Service]
- [http://www.beijingtrip.com/ Beijing Travel]
- [http://www.beijinglives.com/ Beijinglives.com Information about tourism in Beijing]

Images of Beijing

- [http://www.socialcapitalgateway.org/beijing.htm Pictures of Beijing]
- [http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov:81/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=15309 Satellite image of Beijing] at NASA Earth Observatory
- Pictures of: [http://www.socialcapitalgateway.org/oldbeijing.htm Liulichang, Quianmen and Panjiayuan], [http://www.socialcapitalgateway.org/tienanmen.htm Tian'anmen], [http://www.socialcapitalgateway.org/wangfujing.htm Wangfujing], [http://www.socialcapitalgateway.org/summer.htm Summer Palace], [http://www.socialcapitalgateway.org/lama.htm Lama Temple], [http://www.socialcapitalgateway.org/heaven.htm Temple of Heaven]
- [http://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/beijing Flickr: Photos tagged with beijing], photos likely of Beijing
- [http://www.ianandwendy.com/slideshowAOG.htm?files=OtherTrips/ChinaVietnamCambodia/China/Beijing Pictures from a backpacker's trip around Beijing]

Wiki project links

- [http://wikitravel.org/en/article/Beijing Wikitravel: Beijing]
- category:Cities in China Category:Capitals in Asia Category:Host cities of the Summer Olympic Games ko:베이징 ms:Beijing ja:北京 simple:Beijing th:ปักกิ่ง

Ying Fusu

Fusu (扶蘇) (died 210 BC) was the first son of the First Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang(秦始皇), and hence the heir apparent. However, after the secret death of the First Emperor, Fusu's brother, Huhai(秦二世,胡亥), together with two high officials Zhao Gao(趙高) and Li Si(李斯), forged the First Emperor's decree to rename Huhai as the successor and order Fusu to commit suicide. Some aides of Fusu doubted the veracity of the decree, but Fusu either did not believe someone would dare to forge the decree or, with good reason, feared being killed anyway, and he committed suicide. He had a son Ziying(子嬰) who was made king of Qin after Zhao Gao forced Huhai to commit suicide later in 207 BC. At that time Li Shi was already eliminated by Zhao Gao. Ziying soon killed Zhao Gao.

Fusu in popculture

Fusu and Meng Tian are alive and well in an RPG computer game called Prince of Qin (developed by [http://www.Strategyfirst.com Strategy First]). In this game the player control Fusu in his quest to defeat the evil usurper Zhao Gao who is in fact a demon planning the destruction of China. Along the way Fusu meets and helps various important historical characters of China including Han Dynasty founder Liu Bang and witnesses the failed Chen Sheng rebellion. Category:Suicides Category:210 BC deaths ja:扶蘇

Wu Guang

Traditional Chinese

Controversy over name

Printed text

Computer character encoding

Usage in other languages

See also

208 BC

Events

Births

Deaths

Qin Dynasty

Sovereigns of Qin Dynasty

References

External links

Qin Er Shi

Qin Shi Huang

Naming conventions

Youth and King of Qin: the conqueror

First Emperor: the unifier

Death and aftermath

Qin Shi Huang in historiography

Qin Shi Huang in fiction

Miscellaneous

See also

Zhoukou

Administration

External links

209 BC

Chen Sheng

Start of the rebellion

Downfall and death

Beijing

Demographics

Culture

Stereotypes

Transportation

Rail

Roads and expressways

Air

Public transit

Tourism

Buildings, Monuments, and Landmarks

Temples, Cathedrals, and Mosques

Parks and Gardens

Shopping and Commercial Districts

Hotels and Lodging

Nightlife

Education

Media

Television and Radio

Press

Sports

City and regional partnerships

See also

External links

Travel & Tourism

Images of Beijing

Wiki project links

Ying Fusu

Fusu in popculture

Qin Shi Huang

Naming conventions