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Why Everybody is Obsessed with Dragons and Other Intense Legends from History

Khalid Elhassan October 12, 2022 37 min

China’s First Emperor’s Belief in Immortality Drugs Was So Great that He Buried Alive Those Who Questioned Their Existence

Mythology - Xu Fu's fleet, sailing in search of the Elixir of Life — Xu Fu’s fleet, sailing in search of the Elixir of Life. Wikimedia

There was no such mountain as Penglai where the Eight Immortals of China’s mythology dwelt. However, Xu Fu convinced Qin Shi Huang that he had actually managed to get in touch with the Eight Immortals, and they agreed to share the secret. However, the Immortals demanded 6000 virgins in return. Qin Shi Huang gave Xu Fu a fleet of ships, and 6000 virgins. The charlatan took the ships and virgins and sailed off, never to return. Legend has it that he sailed to Japan, and started a colony there.

In the meantime, while he waited for Xu Fu to return with the magic potion that would make him immortal, the First Emperor went on a rampage against all who dared question his belief in the mythology of the Elixir of Life. His crackdown on the scholars, which culminated in the live burial of 460 of them, was inspired in large part by their criticism of his quest for immortality. In order to further lessen his odds of death before Xu Fu’s return, the emperor did his best to avoid contact with evil spirits. As seen below, that involved a whole other level of weird.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.