Speaking of Qin Shi Huang, he was a great political figure in Chinese history, who unified the Six Kingdoms, built the Great Wall, established the first unified dynasty in history, and was the first monarch to be called emperor. There are many readers who are curious about what this emperor of the ages looks like.
Today we will explore the appearance of this emperor from the vast history books. In the history books, the record of Qin Shi Huang's appearance can be said to be as a mystery as Zhu Yuanzhang's portrait. Among the portraits left by Zhu Yuanzhang, there are two of the most representative, one is dignified and kind, with a red face and a mighty posture. The other is an ugly portrait with a long face and a numb face.
Regarding the appearance of Qin Shi Huang, just like Zhu Yuanzhang's portrait, there are two versions, one is recorded in the "History", which is extremely ugly and even has the possibility of physical defects. The other is recorded in the Taiping Imperial Records, which is tall and burly, and has the appearance of an emperor.
The "History of Qin Shi Huang Benji" records: "The King of Qin is a man, a bee, a long eye, a bird, a jackal, a little grace and a tiger and wolf heart." This means that Qin Shi Huang had a high nose, slender eyes, a chest protruding like an eagle's chest, and a low voice, like a jackal, and finally said that this kind of person was thin and gracious, and had the heart of a tiger and a wolf.
Mr. Guo Moruo, a famous scholar, once used the perspective of modern medicine to make an inference about this record, Guo Moruo believes that "dove bird" is a chicken breast, which is a major feature of hypochondriasis, "bee zhun" may be a saddle nose caused by congenital malformations, and "jackal sound" may be tracheitis, because tracheitis is a complication of hypochondriasis.
The Taiping Imperial Records record that: "Tiger mouth, sun horn, big eye, rhinoplasty, eight feet six inches long, big seven circumferences." The records of the Taiping Imperial Records describe Qin Shi Huang as having thick eyebrows, big eyes, and a large body, which is a typical imperial appearance, which is completely different from the records of the "Records of History".
In 2019, archaeologists studied some historical materials excavated from the Qin Tombs with the remains of the Qin royal family, and combined with AI technology for restoration, and finally came up with a relatively official "Qin Shi Huang Physiognomy Restoration Map".