What did Qin Shi Huang look like? Maybe it's really long Zhang Luyi like that...

Source: China News Network

The reporter's recently broadcast "Great Qin Fu" has heated up the discussion about Qin Shi Huang.

At the same time, many netizens are also speculating about the appearance of Qin Shi Huang: some people say that Zhang Luyi is not like Qin Shi Huang, and some people feel that the image of Fu Dalong is more suitable for playing Qin Shi Huang.

But what did Qin Shi Huang look like?

Many people's first reaction is probably: Isn't there a portrait of Qin Shi Huang in the textbook when they go to school?

But in fact, that portrait is not the true appearance of Qin Shi Huang, but the image deduced by posterity based on Yan Liben's "Map of Emperors of Past Dynasties" of the Tang Dynasty. There is also no image of Qin Shi Huang in the "Chart of Emperors of Past Dynasties".

In fact, searching the historical data, we also did not find realistic portraits of Qin Shi Huang's appearance.

Although the portraits of Qin Shi Huang in books such as the Ming Dynasty's "Three Talents Picture Society" are clear-faced, their "painting style" is obviously not realistic. Moreover, the date of its writing is far from the era of Qin Shi Huang, and it is even more difficult to determine to what extent these paintings can reflect the real appearance of the first emperor in history.

Since it is impossible to intuitively understand the appearance of Qin Shi Huang through portraits, we can also look at how the ancients described it in words.

But these records are also not uniform.

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 a wolf heart. The Taiping Imperial Records describe, "Tiger mouth, sun horn, big eye, rhinoplasty, eight feet six inches long, big seven circumferences..."

This is actually two paragraphs with a lot of divergent descriptions.

This passage from Sima Qian's "Records of History" comes from the statement of The Chancellor of the State of Qin, Wei Ji. The translation is: Qin Shi Huang has a high nose, slender eyes, chest like an eagle, and a voice like a jackal, this kind of person is mean and unkind, and his heart is like a tiger and a wolf.

Guo Moruo even based on this description, arguing that these characteristics of Qin Shi Huang were "physical defects" because he suffered from "hypochondriasis". Of course, this belongs to the speculation of later generations based on the literature, but it is only a family statement.

In the Taiping Imperial Records, Qin Shi Huang seems to have changed his image. The account is a typical imperial image that we can imagine. Just from the sentence "eight feet six inches long", according to the Qin system of 1 foot and today's 23.1 centimeters, Qin Shi Huang's height is close to 2 meters. Judging from the rest of the words, it gives people the feeling that it should be a thick waist, thick eyebrows and big eyes.

On the one hand, it was speculated by later historians to have "hypochondriasis", and on the other hand, the record was tall and burly. Even in the historical records, the appearance of Qin Shi Huang is not clear.

Probably because of this, the film and television images of Qin Shi Huang today are also different: some are obviously the face of the emperor, and some are like passers-by.

In fact, these documents are all related to ancient physiognomy. It is probably not a completely objective description of a person's appearance, but a description of his disposition, fate, etc. through his appearance.

Compared with these seemingly facial descriptions, the newly discovered materials and archaeological results provide us with the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the image of Qin Shi Huang.

"Zhao Zhengshu" is from the Western Han Dynasty Bamboo Jane received by Peking University to receive social donations. Some of these records differ from each other's documents.

For example, the Book of Zhao Zheng records that Qin Shi Huang was seriously ill when he traveled the world, "sniffling for a long time, saying: 'The mandate of heaven is immutable?'" I haven't been sick like this...'"

Judging from such records, the image of Qin Shi Huang seems to have more common sense: when he knew that he was going to die soon, he cried and asked the people around him, can't the Mandate of Heaven be changed? Before his death, Qin Shi Huang was still very concerned about his children, "I mourn the loneliness of my son."

However, unfortunately, in these bamboo janes, we do not find any records about the appearance of Qin Shi Huang.

As for what Qin Shi Huang actually looked like, the results of archaeological research may give some speculation.

Screenshot of "The Mystery of the Skull of QinLing"

A few years ago, researchers reconstructed the appearance of a male skull unearthed near the Qin Tombs. It is said that the owner of the skull may have been one of qin shi huang's many sons. This means that we may be able to see the shadow of Qin Shi Huang from this restored appearance.

Now, if you look at the stills of Zhang Luyi at the beginning of the article again, will you have a sudden sense of enlightenment? (End)

Resources:

"History", "Taiping Imperial Records", "Three Talents Picture Society", "The Complete Works of Guo Moruo", "The Mystery of the Skull of Qin Ling", "The Appearance of the First Emperor", "The Image Of Qin Shi Huang", "The Image of Qin Shi Huang in the Northern Tibetan Han Jian "Zhao Zhengshu"" "On the Records of the Imperial Form in the History Books and Their Evolution", "The Origin of Xiangshu and the Ancient Chinese Concept of Destiny"