Controversy over the real height of the most famous king in Chinese history

When mentioning Qin Shi Huang, people often think of great historical achievements such as unifying the six kingdoms, establishing centralized power... However, very little personal information about Qin Shi Huang such as height and appearance is recorded.

Most historical records of Qin Shi Huang's height are based on inference. The Song Dynasty's "Taiping Yulan" wrote: "Qin Shi Huang had a tiger's mouth, a high forehead, big eyes, a high nose, and was three feet and six inches tall ." During the Qin Dynasty, one foot was 23.1 centimeters, meaning Qin Shi Huang was about 198.66 centimeters tall.

Painting of Qin Shi Huang. (Photo: Sohu)

The story of the assassin Jing Ke of Yan who failed to assassinate Qin Shi Huang also provides data on Qin Shi Huang's height. When Jing Ke drew his knife and stabbed Qin Shi Huang, the Qin emperor had to hide around a pillar because he did not have time to draw his sword to block. A normal sword like the one used by King Goujian of Yue was only 55.6 cm long. Logically, if the sword was this long, Qin Shi Huang should have been able to easily take it out.

The excavation of the Terracotta Warriors and Horses near the Mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang in Shaanxi has opened a new chapter. The average height of the Terracotta Army is 185 cm, and the tallest is 195 cm. Therefore, the height data of Qin Shi Huang at 198.66 cm seems to be reliable.

Experts also found a bronze sword nearly a meter long. This sword was a breakthrough in sword casting technology at that time. More importantly, it was the sword of Qin Shi Huang, which means that the detail of the king fleeing due to difficulty drawing the sword recorded by Sima Qian in "Historical Records" is correct.

It is difficult for an average person to draw a sword that is nearly a meter long, but it is possible for someone over 1.9 meters tall. At that time, people often wore swords on their backs, making it reasonable that Qin Shi Huang had difficulty drawing his sword.

Scholars have also tested this issue. They simulated an assassination scenario and asked a person taller than 1.9 m to try to draw a nearly 1 meter long sword strapped to his back.

In an emergency, even though he was over 1.9 m tall, it would be difficult for this person to draw his sword quickly. Bronze is a fragile material, not suitable for making a sword that is too long. Qin Shi Huang used such a long sword to show off his height and status.

Hong Phuc (Source: Sohu)

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