Qin Shi Huang-di, the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty and the person buried with those terra-cotta soldiers, was obsessed with living forever. He ordered a nation-wide search for an elixir of life, which would grant him immortality.
A cache of bamboo strips found in Hunan Province in central China contains what his regional administrators wrote back, politely but rather awkwardly, about their findings. One village’s message, deciphered by Chinese scholars, was that they hoped a local herb would be the emperor’s answer. Another message said that no such elixir had been found in their area, but tactfully implied that they would continue searching.
Qin Shi Huang-di’s search for the elixir failed and he died in 210 BCE. He may have been helped along by one of his potential elixirs of life: cinnabar, or mercury sulfide! It was believed at the time to extend one’s life, but it is in fact highly toxic.
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