Shi Huang Di: the the greatest and maddest emperor of China:

Emperor Shi Huang Di is beyond a shadow of doubt one of the most controversial figures of Chinese history.

At the time of his birth the country of China was divided into number of different nations, all of which were under attack by Qin, the most powerful of all the countries, and Shi Huang Di's birthplace. The war between Qin and the other nations had at this point been raging for centuries. For years, the Kings of Qin had been trying to make use of their superior numbers and war technology to conquer the other nations, but for years those other nations had held out through sheer will, and had managed to remain independent. It would be Shi Huang Di who put an end to that Independence.

When he was born though, he did not seem likely to ever be of any importance. His father was a prince, but being one of the younger sons had small chance of taking the throne. Against the odds, he did become King eventually, after numerous schemes and a lot of luck had eliminated his older brothers and his father had died under mysterious circumstances. The new King had several sons, but he favored Shi Huang Di because he was the smartest, and more importantly, the most ruthless. Over the next few years, the other sons would be variously banished or killed, leaving Shi Huang Di as the crown prince.

Once he had become King himself, Shi soon set about conquering the nations that for years had resisted his ancestors. Showing no regard at all for the traditional rules of warfare, he had soon defeated his opponents through a combination of trickery and military might. Incredibly charismatic, he possesed the ability to talk some of his fiercest foes onto his side. In addition to being a brilliant general and tactician, he was no stranger to personal combat, and was known to kill heavily armed opponents with his bare hands.

Having conquered the other nations, he declared himself to be the Emperor of China (developed from the name "Qin"). A brilliant but astonishingly cruel ruler, he transformed what had previously been a collection of squabbling provinces into a centralized empire, rounding off his achievements by building the Great Wall of China. Anyone who opposed him was ruthlessly executed, no matter their former standing. A Legalist philosopher, he was a firm opponent of Confucianism, and all other such philosophies.

Everything seemed to be going perfectly for him, until he was betrayed by a man who had once been a very close friend of his. Worse, the man had tried to assasinate him. Shi Huang Di was shattered by this betrayal, and soon after began to descend into maddness. Overcome by paranoia that everyone was capable of betraying him, he banished all of his servants and close friends, allowing no one to approach him. When it was absolutley necessary that he talk to someone, the only way that he could feel safe was by lighting a large fire in front of his throne, so that anyone trying to kill him would have to come through the flames.

His enemies hoped that he might be vulnerable in his maddness, but were soon proved wrong. Shi came out of his maddness long enough to take command of his armies again and crush the invasion, but as soon as he had done so slipped back into insanity and died shortly afterwards, unable to live with the pressure of the life he had created for himself.

One other thing about Shi Huang Di was unusual; all of his ancestors had maintained a tradition of having the symbolic colour of the element fire as the royal color. Shi Huang Di, on the other hand, preferred the symbolic color of water as his royal color, for reasons unknown.

It really shouldn't be hard to figue out which Avatar charcater I think corresponds to Shi Huang Di.

Shi Huang Di: the the greatest and maddest emperor of China:

Emperor Shi Huang Di is beyond a shadow of doubt one of the most controversial figures of Chinese history.

At the time of his birth the country of China was divided into number of different nations, all of which were under attack by Qin, the most powerful of all the countries, and Shi Huang Di's birthplace. The war between Qin and the other nations had at this point been raging for centuries. For years, the Kings of Qin had been trying to make use of their superior numbers and war technology to conquer the other nations, but for years those other nations had held out through sheer will, and had managed to remain independent. It would be Shi Huang Di who put an end to that Independence.

When he was born though, he did not seem likely to ever be of any importance. His father was a prince, but being one of the younger sons had small chance of taking the throne. Against the odds, he did become King eventually, after numerous schemes and a lot of luck had eliminated his older brothers and his father had died under mysterious circumstances. The new King had several sons, but he favored Shi Huang Di because he was the smartest, and more importantly, the most ruthless. Over the next few years, the other sons would be variously banished or killed, leaving Shi Huang Di as the crown prince.

Once he had become King himself, Shi soon set about conquering the nations that for years had resisted his ancestors. Showing no regard at all for the traditional rules of warfare, he had soon defeated his opponents through a combination of trickery and military might. Incredibly charismatic, he possesed the ability to talk some of his fiercest foes onto his side. In addition to being a brilliant general and tactician, he was no stranger to personal combat, and was known to kill heavily armed opponents with his bare hands.

Having conquered the other nations, he declared himself to be the Emperor of China (developed from the name "Qin"). A brilliant but astonishingly cruel ruler, he transformed what had previously been a collection of squabbling provinces into a centralized empire, rounding off his achievements by building the Great Wall of China. Anyone who opposed him was ruthlessly executed, no matter their former standing. A Legalist philosopher, he was a firm opponent of Confucianism, and all other such philosophies.

Everything seemed to be going perfectly for him, until he was betrayed by a man who had once been a very close friend of his. Worse, the man had tried to assasinate him, and had then escaped. Shi Huang Di was shattered by this betrayal, and soon after began to descend into maddness. Overcome by paranoia that everyone was capable of betraying him, he banished all of servants and close friends, allowing no one to approach him. When it was absolutley necessary that he talk to someone, the only way that he could feel safe was by lighting a large fire in front of his throne, so that anyone trying to kill him would have to come through the flames.

His enemies hoped that he might be vulnerable in his maddness, but were soon proved wrong. Shi came out of his maddness long enough to take command of his armies again and crush the invasion, but as soon as he had done so slipped back into insanity and died shortly afterwards, unable to live with the pressure of the life he had created for himself.

One other thing about Shi Huang Di was unusual; all of his ancestors had maintained a tradition of having the symbolic colour of the element fire as the royal color. Shi Huang Di, on the other hand, preferred the symbolic color of water as his royal color, for reasons unknown.

It really shouldn't be hard to figue out which Avatar charcater I think corresponds to Shi Huang Di.