PeachBlossomGoddess

Hahaha.... you have a taste for the gore, I was relieved the 五马分尸 was not shown in detail! :) But yes indeed I didn't enjoy the prolonged Lao Ai arc... I dunno about his other parts but his brain is definitely smaller than that of a chicken.

You can buy a real life size, authentically and officially reproduced one as well...
https://www.terracotta-warriors.com/

Actually I recall security is not that tight - you can if you really wanted to touch some artefacts but that may no longer be the case after some American peasant dismembered a thumb from a terracotta warrior.
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3005632/mistrial-us-man-who-snapped-thumb-chinese-terracotta-warrior

All I can say for now is that this is NOT exactly what I was expecting... Maybe they were trying to make it more broadly appealing but if that is the case, they definitely went a bit overboard. I suppose a lot of what I was expecting in terms of military strategies and some of the history of the other states were well explored already in the other seasons. I really have to go back and watch them.

My mom insists that there are many instances in which he is a pretty slanderous recorder of history - or that he at least didn't take that hard a look at folk or wild history, he just included it anyway. I am not as widely or well read as she is on this kind of stuff so I don't have a strong view either way but I got to tell you, this one aspect does make me go... hmmmm.....

There are extensive Chinese writings on this. Go to any Elite bookstore in HK or Taiwan and you can find many such books. My dad has many of them but I haven’t read more than one or two bc of my slow speed, esp if it’s in traditional.

A friend of mine was there when this happened:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/5355546.stm
She said he was only busted when a Western woman told security = "Sir, that statue just winked at me!"

I know, I was shaking my head the whole way... The bloody sword cracked me up though because the first thing that jumped to mind was Sword of Domocles which is a very Western allusion and oddly out of place. I was aghast that the First Gigolo of China could have wreaked so much havoc on the First Emperor of China! I wish they had focused more on the dynamics of at least one or two more of the other states, especially Han since they rose again to take over from Qin later on. But there isn't that much time left for that all to play out. I really hope the peak of the drama is NOT Lao Ai/Lv Buwei's downfall!

True but their sources are mostly Chinese and sometimes it’s good to get a non Chinese perspective because they ask why on a lot of matters we take for granted. Besides I can read a lot faster in English so it suits my selfish purpose. :)

I have the impression that it was a rather small scale, pathetic attempt. Are they over-dramatising it here?

Re: Lao Ai's revolt:

It is easy to read and interesting but it is not so much about the characters in this drama but about how reform of the social, legal, literary, military and legal structures shaped the empire.

I found this at work during lunch today and I almost choked on my food:
https://kknews.cc/zh-hk/history/bo5kla6.html

English wikipedia is a lot more skeptical:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lao_Ai

Wasn't there a question about whether they killed him first or whether he was still alive when they五马分尸?

This is a very accessible book that you can consider:
https://www.amazon.com/Early-Chinese-Empires-History-Imperial/dp/0674057341/ref=sr_1_1?crid=N54XTCAZCXQK&dchild=1&keywords=the+early+chinese+empires+qin+and+han&qid=1608173984&sprefix=qin+and+han%2Caps%2C361&sr=8-1

Geez... I never thought or expected... am choking with laughter I need a time out and when I catch my breath I need to rewind and rewatch.... You are really... shakes head....

Couldn't agree more. He talks a lot and when it comes to actions it is hit or miss. I read he was supposed to be insolent and arrogant but wow the way its portrayed here and his constantly smug expression just rubs me the wrong way...

OMG I could be spinning "wheels" forever and would never have got that! Wipes tears.

Maybe its the actor but I just feel like he is just too too in love with himself and his own brilliance...

This was shot during covid so I doubt there are any.