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The Second Emperor of Qin Dynasty. 秦二世. The Second Emperor of Qin Dynasty.
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The Second Emperor of Qin Dynasty • Right before 秦始皇 died, he told 赵高 (Zhao Gao), an official, that he wanted his oldest son to be the next emperor. But Zhao Gao had a good personal relationship with the emperor’s second son, so he faked an order of the emperor that the second son would become the next emperor, and the oldest son was ordered by the emperor to kill himself – who did so. Zhao Gao became very powerful when the second son ascent the throne. This emperor is called 秦二世 (Qin er shi, Qin second emperor) in history.
Point at a Deer and Say It’s a Horse • 秦二世, unlike his father, wasn’t very smart . Zhao Gao became the real ruler, and he wanted to know who in the government would listen to him and who would not. One day he brought a deer (鹿, lu4 ) to the emperor and says: “Look, Your Majesty, what a nice horse (马, ma3) it is!” The emperor laughs: “这不是马, 这是鹿!” Zhao Gao says: “这是马! If you don’t believe, ask other officials.” Some officials are afraid of Zhao Gao and say 这是马, and some other integrated people say 这是鹿. After this, all who said 这是鹿 got killed. “Point at a deer and say it’s a horse” became an idiom which means “call black white on purpose”.
陈胜和吴广 (Chen Sheng and Wu Guang) • The Qin governing was very cruel. Around 2 or 3 million people were forced to build the Great Wall, the emperor’s tomb and other projects, while there were only 20 million people altogether. People complained and hate the emperor. • Chen Sheng was a young peasant wanted to overthrow Qin government. When he talked this to other peasants, they all laughed at him: “Who do you think you are? How can you overthrow Qin?” Chen Sheng sighed: “How can sparrows and swallows know an eagle’s goal? ” • Chen Sheng and his friend Wu Guang wanted to recruit soldiers to form an amry to fight against the government, but people were afraid to join them. They wrote “Chen Sheng be the emperor” on silk ribbons then managed to put them into a lot fishes’ bellies. When people bought the fishes and cooked them, they saw the words and thought it was the skies’ will that Chen Sheng should overthrow Qin and become the next emperor. • Cheng Sheng and Wu Guang were finally defeated, but people all over China started to rebel and these two people left their names in Chinese history.
