The Emperor Who Poisoned Himself Trying to Live Forever

Added: 2026-05-21

[00:00:00]Did you know China's first emperor was so paranoid about death that he literally poisoned himself trying to live forever? At 13, Qin Shi Huang inherited a kingdom. By 39, he had conquered six rival states and unified China through absolute terror. He standardized everything, currency, writing, measurements, but his methods were monstrous. Qin burned every book in China except those about farming and medicine. He buried 460 scholars alive for possessing forbidden texts. Then came his greatest obsession, the Great Wall. He forced over 1 million peasants to build it. Historians estimate that for every stone laid, one worker died.

[00:00:40]Their bodies were buried within the wall itself. But Qin's greatest fear wasn't his enemies, it was death. He sent expeditions across the seas searching for immortality elixirs. He consumed mercury pills daily believing they would grant eternal life.

[00:00:55]>> [music] >> The mercury slowly poisoned him. When he died at 49, he was buried with 8,000 terracotta warriors to protect him in the afterlife. His empire, built to last 10,000 generations, collapsed within four years. The man who conquered death through monuments became a prisoner of his own tomb. Follow for more short histories.