East Asia in the classical world (800 BC – AD 500). Greece, Rome, Persia, the Qin and Han, the Maya: the age of the great classical states and the written histories that describe them. These articles cover their rise, their wars and the everyday lives their ruins preserve.
In 227 BC the assassin Jing Ke hid a poisoned dagger in a map scroll — but the King of Qin tore his sleeve, circled a pillar, and survived. How he escaped.
· 227 BCKing of Qin at thirteen, he survived Jing Ke's dagger, conquered six kingdoms, then unified China's script, coins, and measures as the First Emperor.
· 221 BCThe mighty Han Empire began weak: in 200 BC Emperor Gaozu was besieged by the Xiongnu at Mount Baideng, and Han bought peace (heqin) with silk, wine, grain, and a royal bride paid every year.
· 200 BCIn 138 BC the Han envoy Zhang Qian was sent west to ally with the Yuezhi against the Xiongnu, was captured and held over ten years, never gave up his staff of office, and returned after 13 years — his knowledge of the west laid the first foundation of the Silk Road.
· 138 BCSentenced to death for defending the general Li Ling, Han historian Sima Qian chose castration over execution so he could survive and complete the Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian), 130 scrolls that became the foundation of Chinese historiography.
· 99 BC