Qin Shi Huang
Names: Qin Shi Huangthe First EmperorGreat First Emperoremperor
First appears in Book 1: The Three-Body Problem, chapter 17 (17)
Appearances
What you know
Book 1: The Three-Body Problem
- Ch 17Qin Shi Huang rules the East in Three Body, commands over thirty million soldiers, and has the same eyes as King Zhou of Shang and Pope Gregory.
- Ch 17Qin Shi Huang says he cannot conquer Europe because his ships are inadequate and supply lines over land cannot be maintained.
- Ch 17Qin Shi Huang orders that faulty components be replaced and their soldiers beheaded, and that all future malfunctions be handled the same way.
- Ch 17Qin Shi Huang devoted all of the empire's resources to running the computer, exhausting supplies and causing countless deaths from hunger, cold and heat.
- Ch 17Qin Shi Huang swung his sword at Von Neumann in the zero-gravity chaos and was crushed between two drifting stone blocks.
Book 2: The Dark Forest
- Ch 3In the Three Body game, Qin Shi Huang leads a meeting launching the Wallbreaker Project to counter the Wallfacers.
- Ch 4In the closing scene Qin Shi Huang announces the Lord's new command: destroy Wallfacer Luo Ji.
- Ch 4Qin Shi Huang leads the secret meeting and presses members to find a way to carry out the Lord's order to kill Luo Ji.
- Ch 5He admires Zhang Beihai's competent assassination and laments that the Three Body side lacks such cool competency after its failed attempts on Luo Ji.
Connections
- leadsQin Icommands the army that forms it
- has memberIsaac Newtonserves as advisor at his court
- has memberVon Neumannserves as advisor at his court
- has memberastronomy ministerserves as astronomy minister
- ally ofMozi
Key moments
- Book 1 · Ch 17Von Neumann demonstrates logic gates
Before the First Emperor, Von Neumann uses three soldiers with flags to demonstrate logic gates, persuading him to commit thirty million soldiers to a human computer.
- Book 1 · Ch 17Qin I is activated
The Computer Formation boots, locks up due to a faulty CPU gate, is repaired by beheading that gate's soldiers, then runs the Three Body 1.0 orbit software and completes its first computation.
- Book 1 · Ch 17Tri-solar syzygy destroys the Three Body world
As the first sun rises, the astronomy minister reveals three aligned suns. Their combined gravity lifts everything, including the pyramid, the computer's men and the oceans, into space. Atmosphere is lost and the emperor dies. Civilization 184 ends.
- Book 2 · Ch 3Wallbreaker Project launched
In the Three Body game, Qin Shi Huang appoints Von Neumann, Mozi and Aristotle as Wallbreakers for Tyler, Rey Diaz and Hines. Luo Ji is declared his own Wallbreaker.
- Book 2 · Ch 4Command to destroy Luo Ji
In a dark gathering of figures from many eras, Qin Shi Huang announces the Lord's command to destroy Wallfacer Luo Ji.
- Book 2 · Ch 4Secret meeting on assassinating Luo Ji
Qin Shi Huang's organization discusses the Lord's second order to kill Luo Ji, finds a direct attack impossible against the deep bunker, and is told to submit plans.
- Book 2 · Ch 5Three Body figures debate response
Virtual Three Body figures discuss Zhang Beihai's act, agree not to intervene, judge him dangerous but unprovable, and are relieved he will go to the future.