Alexander the Great in China

 

In the age of modern technology, nothing remains hidden, my friends; thus, I am delighted to share with you today a truly remarkable surprise—one preserved in the work *Eskandar Nama* by Nizami Ganjavi (c. 1141–1209) and corroborated by Chinese historical records. According to the Persian poet, Chapter E 49 recounts that while Alexander was a guest at the palace of Emperor Kontarchan (historically identified as Huiwen Qin of the Western Qin dynasty), he enjoyed a banquet held in his honor, featuring fine cuisine and abundant wine. As soon as the musicians appeared and began to play, a stunningly beautiful concubine emerged; she played the harp and sang a magnificent composition before Alexander, instantly captivating him. Upon realizing Alexander’s feelings, the king immediately bestowed the concubine upon him. Nizami describes this event with literary mastery, implying that the young artist responded passionately to the Macedonian king's love. Research into Chinese records revealed that the woman in question was the concubine Mi Bazi (338–265 BC); she became the center of a massive scandal after giving birth to an illegitimate son whom she presented to her king as his lawful heir—a boy who grew up to become Prince Ying Ji, later known as King Zhaoxiang of Qin (325–250 BC).

Admittedly, the prince's date of birth is highly significant, especially when one considers that Arrian, in his *Indica* (section 21), records the departure from India as taking place on the 20th of the month of Boedromion in the eleventh year of Alexander’s reign (September 15, 326 BC); thus, the prince's birth the following year, in 325 BC, aligns perfectly in terms of chronology with Alexander's appearance at the Qin dynasty palace. Chinese history also records the machinations of the concubine Mi Bazi—aided by her brother Wei Ran, the commander-in-chief of the Qin forces—to secure the throne for her son. After eliminating his political rivals, Wei Ran enabled his nephew to successfully claim the throne at the age of just eighteen. The young ruler's mother—formerly the wife and subsequently the widow of King Huiwen of Qin—became regent, known as Dowager Xuan. She governed with great skill, appointing her relatives to key positions; however, upon coming of age, her son implemented sweeping reforms and devoted his energies to ceaseless warfare to preserve the empire's unity, as vassal rulers strove for independence. Yet, the catalytic presence of Alexander the Great within the heart of the Chinese realm becomes strikingly evident through the figure of Qin Shi Huang (259–210 BC), the First Emperor of China. These were groundbreaking choices that began during the reign of his father, who dared to defy the Chinese establishment at the time of his son's birth; he publicly revealed the boy's true name, thereby breaking a long-standing convention—akin to a taboo—that forbade disclosing the actual names of royal family members to the general public. Insights into the abandonment of this protocol are gained from a vast number of texts inscribed on bamboo slips, discovered in numerous vaulted Qin Dynasty tombs unearthed in the Shuihudi, Yunmeng, and Hubei regions by late 1975. 

Study of these texts revealed that the newborn boy had originally been given the name "Zheng Zhao." Later, however, the original name fell into disuse and the term "Duan"—meaning "In Place of Him"—became established. This was a neologism linked to the first ideogram of the Duan-yue tribe (which designated the Greeks of Bactria, or *Dayuan*) and alluded to the ruling class of the Xianbei tribe—the source of all subsequent Chinese emperors and aristocracy, as well as all high-ranking court and military officials. The change in protocol—publicly announcing a successor's lineage at the moment of birth—was viewed by the Chinese as an abomination; not only did it violate ancient traditional protocol, but it also signaled that their foreign rulers were poised to destroy their ancient culture.

Indeed, this shift began with the calendar, which was no longer linked to the constellation of the Great Dragon—and the human sacrifices associated with it—but rather to Ursa Minor, the new pole star; this star was connected to Huangdi (Alexander) in his roles as a solar deity and a reincarnation of the Buddha. Another significant milestone in the life of Emperor Qin Shi Huang was the simplification of the writing system; prior to the Warring States period, script styles had adhered to established artistic conventions found on bronze artifacts and inscriptions. However, this uniformity did not persist, leading to divergent script evolutions across different regions of the country, as the characters were inspired by the simple forms of familiar objects (such as animals and plants). This divergence became particularly pronounced among the common people, causing intellectuals of the era to label the resulting style "vulgar script." My friends, Emperor Qin Shi Huang also instituted the "Great Carnivals"—an ancient Greek custom honoring the god Dionysus—which were celebrated for the first time in Chinese history in 221 BC, the year of the country's unification. Although this festival had no fixed dates, it was associated with the granting of broad amnesties, bountiful harvests following long periods of drought, famine, and pestilence, sacrifices to the gods, and, above all, major military victories. Subsequently, the "Great Carnivals" were celebrated in the capital, Xi'an, under imperial sponsorship; the people would rejoice, consuming vast quantities of food and drink, and then either participate in the various parades held along the capital's streets or watch theatrical performances in specially erected tents. 

In addition to the aforementioned undertakings, the First Emperor funded the construction of the Great Wall and established a new military mindset based on training warriors in Macedonian-style strategic maneuvers and weaponry; this led his enemies to claim that he had adopted barbarian customs in his quest for victory. Unfortunately, however, many historians overlook these innovations, focusing instead on the burning of books—specifically those belonging to the "Hundred Schools of Thought"—and the execution of 460 scholars who refused to abandon their ideologies. 

As for the First Emperor's tomb, it has been a subject of intense archaeological debate since 1974, when the mausoleum was discovered "by chance" in his capital, Xi'an, beneath a mound 76 meters high and covering an area of ​​360 square meters. Archaeological finds surrounding the tomb include the Terracotta Army of 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots drawn by 520 horses, as well as figures of acrobats, musicians, and others. Unfortunately, however, the main tomb remains undisturbed—ostensibly to avoid damaging the various precious objects buried within it, and compounded by the fact that micro-cameras (allegedly) detected high concentrations of mercury, 100 times above normal levels!!!

[See: Nicola Di Cosmo, The Northern Frontier in Pre-Imperial China // The Cambridge History of Ancient China , p. 961. Sellman, James D. "Master Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals," in Great Thinkers of the Eastern World, Ian Mc Greal, ed. New York: Harper Collins, 1995: 39]. [The Taoist Body, Berkeley: University of California Press. Originally published as Le corps taoïste: Corps physique, corps social, Paris: Librairie Arthème Fayard, 1979. The Writ of the Three Sovereigns: From Local Lore to Institutional Daoism, Hong Kong: The Chinese University Press, and Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press. The Inner World of the Laozi zhongjing", in Huang Chun-chieh and Erik Zürcher (eds), Time and Space in Chinese Culture]. [See: Nicola Di Cosmo, The Northern Frontier in Pre-Imperial China // The Cambridge History of Ancient China, p. 961. Sellman, James D. "Master Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals," in Great Thinkers of the Eastern World, Ian McGreal, ed. New York: Harper Collins, 1995: 39]. Christina Priamou

Some researchers suggest that the life-sized style of China's Terracotta Warriors was inspired by ancient Greek art that spread to Asia after the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC, though most archaeologists strongly disagree.

                          King Zhaoxiang of Qin