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188 pages

English

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THE DRAGON WAKES UP! What do you do when the dragon wakes up? You don't run for cover... you read this book cover to cover. Because this dragon is friendly! The book you hold tells a big story. A Chinese farmer breaks his shovel on the head of a fierce warrior. Experts then find an 8,000-man clay army underground. And if that isn't enough, the Emperor's tomb yields up a hidden treasure of ancient documents. In First Emperor: Tales from the Jade Room, you travel 2,000 years on a flying dragon and witness the founding of China. You see spies, intrigue, adventures, conquests, demons and dragons. Your willing hosts are the Emperor's 'trusted' servants, the eunuchs. They saw it all - the sacred and the sordid, and are eager to tell you exactly what happened to the man the world calls First Emperor, the richest, most powerful mortal of all time, and the main character in one of the great reads of our time! So come in. Your story is waiting!

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Publié par	Marshall Cavendish International
Date de parution	16 janvier 2009
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9789812619808
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0400€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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2009 Conrad Squires and Marshall Cavendish International (Asia)
Private Limited
Design by Bernard Go Kwang Meng
Published by Marshall Cavendish Editions
An imprint of Marshall Cavendish International
1 New Industrial Road, Singapore 536196
All rights reserved
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owner. Request for permission should be addressed to the Publisher, Marshall Cavendish International (Asia) Private Limited, 1 New Industrial Road, Singapore 536196. Tel: (65) 6213 9300, Fax: (65) 6285 4871.
E-mail: genrefsales@sg.marshallcavendish.com .
Website: www.marshallcavendish.com/genref
The publisher makes no representation or warranties with respect to the contents of this book, and specifically disclaims any implied warranties or merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose, and shall in no events be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damage, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.
Other Marshall Cavendish Offices:
Marshall Cavendish Ltd. 5th Floor, 32-38 Saffron Hill, London EC1N 8FH, UK Marshall Cavendish Corporation. 99 White Plains Road, Tarrytown NY 10591-9001, USA Marshall Cavendish International (Thailand) Co Ltd. 253 Asoke, 12th Flr, Sukhumvit 21 Road, Klongtoey Nua, Wattana, Bangkok 10110, Thailand Marshall Cavendish (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Times Subang, Lot 46, Subang Hi-Tech Industrial Park, Batu Tiga, 40000 Shah Alam, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.
Marshall Cavendish is a trademark of Times Publishing Limited
National Library Board Singapore Cataloguing in Publication Data Squires, Conrad.
First emperor : tales from the jade room / Conrad Squires. - Singapore :
Marshall Cavendish Editions, c2009.
p. cm.
e-ISBN: 978 981 261 980 8
1. Qin shi huang, Emperor of China, 259-210 B.C. - Fiction.
2. China - History - Qin dynasty, 221-207 B.C. - Fiction. I. Title.
PS3619
813.6 - dc22 OCN276980011
Printed in Singapore by Craft Print International Ltd
You have to infer the whole dragon from the parts you can see and touch. Dragons are immense. I could explore the mountains, which are the top of its head. The dragon roams through space, so vast we feel that it is not even moving under us. In quarries you see the dragon s veins and muscles, the minerals, its teeth and bones. The stones, its bone marrow. The soil, its flesh. The plants and trees, its hairs. The thunder, its voice. The wind, its breathing. The lightning, its tongue. The red the lightning gives the world is strong and lucky-in blood, poppies, roses, rubies, the red feathers of birds, the red carp, the cherry tree, the peony, the line alongside the turtle s eyes and the mallards. In the spring when the dragon wakes, you can see its turnings in the rivers...The dragon lives in the sky, ocean, marshes and mountains. Its voice thunders and jingles like copper pans. It breathes fire and water. Sometimes it is one, sometimes many.
- From The Woman Warrior by Maxine Hong Kingston

It was our job to conceal the human failings of the Emperor from the world outside, which was always ready to pull down a ruler who stumbled, like hounds on a wounded stag. In this we have always failed, but that never discourages our successors. And they will fail, too. They did not depend on us for strength or virtue in our duties of shielding the Emperor and keeping silent about his weaknesses. On the contrary-it was because we were considered so cowardly that we would be sure to be quiet for fear of punishment. I once heard a fellow eunuch say, If I tried to help someone, it would only be to his detriment.
- A eunuch speaks of his life. From Eunuchs and Castrati by Piotr O. Scholz

A sculptor once made a magnificent teapot. Critics said, But you can t pour tea from it! The sculptor said, You have missed the point. It is not a teapot. It is the idea of a teapot.
- Adaptation of a label from an exhibition of Chinese teapots, Peabody Museum, Salem
Contents
Characters in This Novel
Ancestry of the First Emperor
Map of China in the Warring States Period
Map of the Ch in Empire
PROLOGUE: Wonderful Things
BOOK ONE: THE INFANT
The Black Carriage
The Beginning
The Court Astrologer
Shen Neng s Journey
The Inhabitants of the Jade Room
The Gates of Hantan

Poems
Fu Hao of Shang
The Maker
A Royal Prince
BOOK TWO: THE KING
The Boys
How the Ch in Came to Power
The Merchant Lu Pu-wei
The Late, Lamentable Lao Ai
A Rat in the Granary
The Assassins

Poems
The River Merchant s Letter to His Wife
Master K ung and the Ancient Songs
The Power of the Moon
BOOK THREE: THE EMPEROR
The Last Great Battle
Mutations
Journey to the Otherworld
The Naked Mountain
The Emperor and the Immortals
The Unluckiest Man
The Homecoming

Poem
The Judgment of Wu Wei
BOOK FOUR: CHAOS
A Secret
Something Smells Like a Dead Fish
Plots in the Palace
Final Tales
The Journey to Mount Li

Poems
The Nomad Girl
The Journey of Baroness Hsu
Hills Rising above Clouds
AFTERWORDS
Chronology of the Reign of Ch in Shih-huang-ti
The Real Life of Ssu-ma Ch ien, the Grand Historian
For Further Reading
A Note to the Reader
About the Author
Characters in This Novel
Note to the reader: Those not entirely at home with Chinese names may find it difficult to keep track of who is who. This is not essential to follow the story, but you may find this guide to important characters of help, starting with the principal players. The ancestry of the First Emperor, in abridged version based mainly on the royal characters in this novel, is included for quick reference. The line would begin with his great-grandparents and run through to the Second and Third Emperors, where it would end.
PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS
Ch in Shih-Huang-Ti
Known as Ying Cheng when he was young, ascended to the Ch in throne as King Cheng at age thirteen, became First Emperor of the Ch in Empire at thirty-seven
Ssu-Ma Ch ien
Grand Historian, China s most famous. For information on his fascinating life, see the note at the back of this book.
The Eunuch Storytellers, Servants in the Ch in Court
Thousands of eunuchs were required by the immense court of Ch in to help keep the royal line as pure as it could be. Such an immense group, with extremely close access to the emperor, was powerful and well accustomed to organizing itself, likely on quasi-military lines. But there are no formal records of who did what or even the names of the highest-ranking eunuchs- a common vagueness among generally despised people. So the author has invented the names and somewhat plausible positions of the Eunuch Storytellers. The reader can be sure the eunuchs (a) were fairly secure in their tasks, (b) were probably quite wealthy, and (c) had a great deal of time on their hands.
* Han Yin, Regulator of Entertainment in the Royal Palace
* Juan Chi, Chief Dispenser of Eunuch Punishments
* Wang Ts ao, Major Domo of the Royal Palace
* Chia Tao, Major Domo of the Concubine Residences
* Tu Mu, Charioteer of the First Emperor
* Lo Yin, Chief Dresser of the First Emperor
* Meng Hao-jan, Principal Eunuch Trainer and Director of Eunuch Promotions
Inner Circle of the Ch in Court
Key players
Lu Pu-wei, great merchant, Ch in Regent and Prime Minister, Uncle Lu or Second Father to King Cheng-possibly also his real father, so the rumor goes
Li Ssu, Grand Counselor, enforcer of Legalism throughout the Ch in Empire
Chao Kao, Chief Eunuch and Manager of Chariots
Other players
Wang Kuan, Prime Minister
Feng Ch ieh, Chief Counselor
Meng Chia, Chamberlain
MAJOR CHARACTERS
Book One
Queen Dowager Hsuan a.k.a. Plum Blossom
Shen Neng, Secretary to the Queen Dowager
* Full Moons a.k.a. Sunshine, the wet nurse
Prince Tzu-ch u, First Emperor s father, reigned briefly as King Chuang-hsiang of Ch in Kingdom
* Chief Astrologer of the Ch in Court
Lady Tzu-ch u, rich girl turned courtesan turned consort turned Queen Dowager Hsia, First Emperor s mother
Book Two
Lao Ai, secret lover of Queen Dowager Hsia
Ching K o, swordsman, assassin
Kao Chien-li a.k.a. Phat Kao, bosom pal of Ching K o
Book Three
Prince Fu-su, Crown Prince of Ch in Empire
* Mr Ten Thousand, a very unlucky peasant
Hsu Fu, Taoist priest who encouraged First Emperor in his pursuit of immortality
Ssu-ma Ts ao, sister of Ssu-ma Ch ien
Book Four
Hu-hai, Second Emperor
Tzu-ying, Third Emperor
SECONDARY CHARACTERS
Farmer Yang, modern character who found the warrior s head (really!)
King Chao-hsiang, First Emperor s great grandfather
Lord An-kuo, First Emperor s grandfather, reigned briefly as King Hsiao-wen of Ch in Kingdom
Ssu-ma Tan, father of Ssu-ma Ch ien
Lady Hua-yang, Number One Wife of Lord An-kuo
King Hsi, ruler of Yen State
Prince Tan, Crown Prince of Yen State
T ien Kuang, sage of Yen State
Ch in Wu-yang, Ching K o s assistant
Hsia Wu-chu, First Emperor s physician
Scholar Lu, Taoist priest
Chen She, peasant, rebel general
Chang Han, Ch in general who defected to a rebel camp
Hsiang Yu, aristocrat, rebel general from Ch u State
Liu Pang, peasant, rebel leader, later Han Dynasty Emperor
Ch in Generals
Key players
Meng Ao, tutor of both Ying Cheng and Ssu-ma Ch ien
Wang Ch ien, commander of empire-establishing battle
Meng T ien, commander of northern frontier, builder of northern Great Wall
Fan Yu-ch i, who defected to Yen State
Other players
Wang I
Lord Piao
Hsiang Yen
SCHOLAR CHARACTERS
Lord Shang Yang, principal proponent of Legalism
Ch u Yuan, great and famous early poet two hundred years before period of the novel
K ung Fu Tzu, Confucius
Hsun Tzu, Confucian philosopher
Han Fei, Li Ssu s major Legalist rival
Sun Tzu, author of the famous The Art of War
MYTHICAL CHARACTERS
Queen