(Silver
Spring, MD) --The First Emperor: The Man Who
Made China follows the first emperor of
China's legendary rise, reign and fall, and
employs cutting edge science to unlock the secrets
of his tomb. The emperor, Chin Shi Huang, is
compared to Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar
for commanding millions, uniting China and
building the Great Wall. Though revered in
the East, most westerners have had little
knowledge of the great warrior, until now.
Filmed
on location in China, The First Emperor: The
Man Who Made China marks unprecedented access
for a western film crew to Emperor Chin's
legendary seven square mile underground burial
complex. Filled with more than 8,000
figures, including the terracotta army of
soldiers, the Emperor designed it to celebrate his
political and military power, and to achieve
continued glory in the afterlife. Two
thousand years after his death, ground-penetrating
radar combined with CGI illustrate the shape,
layout and design of the largest unopened tomb in
the world, revealed on-screen for the first
time. The special also proves true the
legend that Emperor Chin was buried amid a map of
his empire flowing with rivers of liquid mercury,
which at the time was believed to prolong life.
"Discover
Channel's first-time access to the exploration of
the largest unopened tomb in history, combined
with vivid dramatizations using the actors,
costumes and sets of China's feature film
industry, transports the viewer to ancient China,
immersing them in the emperor's renowned
tale," says Jane Root, EVP and GM of
Discovery Channel, Science Channel and Military
Channel. "Once viewer learn of his
unparalleled achievement, exceptional aggression
and lethal obsession with immortality, they will
wonder why he was never included in their high
school history lessons."
Emperor
Chin's achievements are astounding -- he was the
first to unite China, abolished its Feudalist
past, gave the country its name, and commanded ten
times as many subjects as the Pharaohs of
Egypt. He created a single written language,
was architect of the Great Wall, commanded the
creation of the first road system, and planned and
built the world's biggest and most extravagant
resting place.
The
First Emperor: The Man Who Made China reveals
that the warrior king was also a brutal tyrant who
achieved his overwhelming power by destroying all
opposition, both on the battlefield and in his own
palace, where he survived repeated assassination
attempts. As the became more and more
powerful, Chin was said to have consumed mercury
in increasingly large doses, hoping to extend his
life.
But
could the substance have had the opposite effect
and driven him mad, or worse, killed him?
While Emperor Chin's powerful empire outlasted
Rome by a thousand years, could his obsession with
immortality have ultimately proven his
downfall? The production team, along with
Dr. Jeffrey Riegel, Professor of Chinese at the
University of California, Berkeley, investigates
how the tomb itself can reveal the facts behind
the legend.
Filmed
in high definition, the special transports viewers
to ancient China by filming at historic locales in
China such as the Emperor's burial complex,
shooting scenes at Chinese film studios with
full-size replica sets of imperial palaces, using
CGI to recreate battle scenes with one million
soldiers, and recreating the construction of the
Great Wall of China, portraying the original
pounded earth techniques.
The
First Emperor: The Man Who Made China is
a co-production of the Discovery Channel and Lion
Television. For Lion Television, Nic Young
is writer and Director, Bill Locke is executive
producer; Jack Smith is executive producer for
Discovery Channel.
Used
with permission of Crew
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