The ingestion of such elixirs, however, certainly did not allow them to live forever. These elites would normally patronize Taoist alchemists, who would provide them with some sort of substance that would supposedly give them immortality. The history of China is filled with emperors and other important men who sought to live forever, but instead died an untimely death for their ambitions. This elixir is expected to grant eternal life to the person who consumes it. We seek to retell the story of our beginnings.The elixir of immortality (known also as the ‘elixir of life’) is a legendary substance found in many ancient cultures. Our open community is dedicated to digging into the origins of our species on planet earth, and question wherever the discoveries might take us. We’re the only Pop Archaeology site combining scientific research with out-of-the-box perspectives.īy bringing together top experts and authors, this archaeology website explores lost civilizations, examines sacred writings, tours ancient places, investigates ancient discoveries and questions mysterious happenings. The goal of Ancient Origins is to highlight recent archaeological discoveries, peer-reviewed academic research and evidence, as well as offering alternative viewpoints and explanations of science, archaeology, mythology, religion and history around the globe. And while some people may seem content with the story as it stands, our view is that there exist countless mysteries, scientific anomalies and surprising artifacts that have yet to be discovered and explained. He died that night.Īt Ancient Origins, we believe that one of the most important fields of knowledge we can pursue as human beings is our beginnings. What they had given him were pills of poisonous mercury, a common ingredient in ancient Chinese elixirs, and he had just taken a lethal dose. He had been taking pills that one of his alchemists had promised would make him immortal. On his way home from his fifth tour of Eastern China, he stopped at a palace in Hopei and fell incredibly ill. The Emperor tried all kinds of concoctions that were offered to him by his advisors. The Emperor had the wisest men in the kingdom thrown into the pit, and he buried them alive. There he had a huge pit waiting for them. 460 scholars were dragged out of their homes and pulled to the capital. When the First Emperor overheard a rumor that the alchemists who had promised him the elixir of life were playing him for a fool, Qin Shi Huang flew into a rage. Then the meteor itself was pulverized into bits so that no one would ever see the message again. He demanded to know who had written it, and when no one came forward, he had every person in the area executed. On it was an inscription that read “The First Emperor will die and his land will be divided.” The Emperor was furious. In 211 BC, a meteor crashed near the lower reaches of the Yellow River. Every window was covered with a curtain, and anyone who mentioned the emperor’s location was put to death.Ī portrait painting of Qin Shi Huangdi, first emperor of the Qin Dynasty, from an 18th-century album of Chinese emperor's portraits. Qin Shi Huang had elevated walkways and walled roads installed, connecting each building so that he’d never have to walk outside exposed. His quest for immortality was not just driven by a desire for everlasting power, but his intense fear of death. He gave up everything in his mad war against the inevitability of death – and in the end, let his fear of dying drive him into an early grave. For the last ten years of his life, China’s first Emperor sent every scholar, magician, and wise man in the nation on a quest to find an elixir that would keep him from dying. The story of Qin Shi Huang’s search for immortality sounds like something straight out of a fairytale. Ironically, Qin Shi Huang died from the toxic effects of consuming a so-called Elixir of Life made of mercury. The First Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, was terrified of death and much of his reign was focused on the search for immortality and the Elixir of Life.
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