Category Archives: Immortality

For the child of God who has been made clean by the precious blood of Jesus, death is swallowed up in victory. Paul writes, I Corinthians 15:55-57, O death where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? But thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. For the redeemed, death is a first class ticket on angels air-lines with angelic attendants.

In the twinkling of an eye, we will be torn away from this old sin cursed body to a new transfigured one int he presence of the Lord! (II Corinthians 5:6-8) The grave is not a cul-de-sac for the child of God, but a thoroughfare for us who trusted in Him. (Psalm 23:4) We walk through death not into to stay. (Yay though I walk through!).

Praise God. One day the graves will burst open and the ones who have died in Christ, their bodies will come out and go to be with Jesus! (I Corinthians 15:51-54).

Death is not the end of a toilsome journey, but the entering into a new and abundant life in Jesus. (John 10:10). Dont view death as a destruction but a re-creation. A re-creation that is sinless, made to last forever. Paul said, Corruptible shall put on in corruption and mortal shall put on immortality! (I Corinthians 15:53-54).

Death is not to be feared by the believer. (Hebrews 2:14-15). Death is not to the victim a sorrow but a time of glorious shouting. Death is not a losing, but a gaining. (Philippians 1:20-21). Revelation 14:13 teaches us that, Happy are they who die in the Lord for they shall rest from their labors and their works (for rewards) do follow them.

Death may be a parting for some, but Christians will have a glad reunion day. It is not a going away, but a grand reception in the halls of the homes already prepared for us. Death may whisper, you must go from earth, but Jesus will say, Welcome home thou good and faithful servant. Thou has been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things.

Sir Walter Scott wrote, Is death the last sleep? No. It is the last and final awakening. For to me, to die is gain. (Philippians 1:21.)

See more here:
Our last breath is a victory | Opinion | heraldledger.com - The Herald Ledger

Zeitgeisty with a capital Z: thats Lovecraft Country, HBOs adaptation of Matt Ruffs novel of the same name. In the series, a Korean war vet from the South Side of Chicago discovers that his familys roots are entangled with a group of diabolical conspirators. They are the Sons of Adam, based in a remote mansion in Ardham County Massachusetts.

The cast of Lovecraft Country must discover their connection to the blonde, blue-eyed members of this cult, led by the descendants of the fabulously wealthy explorer and slave-trader Titus Braithwaite. These villains, the whitest people this side of England, quest for immortality. They intend to crash the Gates of Eden and redo creation.

Ardham is a deliberate misspelling of Arkham, the shunned place that H.P. Lovecraft (1890-1937) wrote about in novels and stories. Arkham is a name to conjure with. It is the site of the ancient Miskatonic University and its forbidden library, and it is the source of Arkham Asylum in the Batman universe.

In the opening, the vet Atticus, called Tic, and played by the muscular and soulful Jonathan Majors is riding out of the South on a bus in 1954. The lady in the seat next to him in the Colored Section notices a confederate generals name on a bridge and comments, He fought for slavery. You dont get to put an ex in front of your name for that.

Lovecraft has the same indelible mark on him. The writers fertile imagination was tethered to a narrow mind. He was the creator of the cephalopod-God Cthulhu, of Herbert West the Re-Animator, and of that accursed tome, the mad Arab Abdul Alhazreds Necronomicon. His texts still give readers nightmares, but he was a virulent racist. His prose about elder gods and subterranean abominations was sadly informed by the kind of eugenic claptrap that was even bigger in the 1920s than it is now.

Here, ancient evil rhymes with the everyday terrors of American racism in a Jim Crow age, in Sundown Towns where Black faces are not to be seen after sunset. (Ardham is a Sunset County.) Not that the cities are any safer: as when the Chicago PD punishes a lady who crosses the color line with a rough ride, slamming her around in the back of a careening paddy wagon.

Tic is a big reader of pulp fantasy he was a spectacled geek until he went into the military and buffed up. When he went in, it caused a rift between him and his bitter father Montrose (played by Michael K. Williams). A cryptic letter from the vanished dad spurs Tics journey into mystery. Atticus heads to Ardham with his warm-hearted uncle George (Courtney B. Vance), the editor of a Green Book-like travel guide. This guide book showed people of color where they could eat and sleep on the road. The subject is far more intelligently handled here than in the sentimental, redemption-soaked 2018 movie Green Book.

And in the early episodes, the show speeds along in a marvelous vintage car, a maroon 1948 Packard Station Sedan with wood panels. (After months of quarantine, one wants to overpraise any scenes of driving on an open road.) This is a Mystery Machine if ever there was one.

Looking good behind the wheel is one of the shows standouts, Jurnee Smollett. She plays the gorgeous and untrustworthy Leti, Tics old high school friend, a fine-art photographer, and a reader of Lovecraftian horror herself. Shes in a prickly relationship with her half-sister Ruby (Wunmi Mosaku), a saloon singer of the style of Big Mama Thornton.

Id seen Smollett as Black Canary in Birds of Prey. There, she was a long-legged vigilante going around kicking guys in the chin, and I hadnt thought about her twice since the credits ended. In Lovecraft Country, Smollett is even more physical than she was when she was a superhero. And as is the case for Charlize Thereon, theres something about the 50s clothes and makeup that suits Smollett exceptionally well.

The cast returns to Chicago in the shows third episode for a straightforward haunted house chapter. Getting the cast off the road meant that Lovecraft Country started to lose momentum. Its a little frustrating since this show has so much going on. The deliberately anachronistic soundtrack works: Gil Scott-Heron and The Last Poets funny and corrosive Whiteys On the Moon is dubbed over a supernatural ordeal. Alice Smiths cover of Nina Simones version of Sinnerman on the end titles fits as well here as that song did at the end of David Lynchs Inland Empire. The production design is tops; consider all the work put in just to have a five-second exterior shot of the imaginary Denmark Vesey Bar and Grill. Wouldnt it be something if we could toast the memory of slave-revolt martyrs in bars named after them?

The best quality of this Jordan Peele- and JJ Abrams-produced series is the way that it looks not to Stephen King but to August Wilson (Fences).

Show-runner Misha Green (Underground) focuses on bruised family relations, frenemies, and frustrations, which is more interesting than watching the ensemble fighting hell-beasts. Less scary than the howl of CG ghosts is the reality of a Chicago elevated train that shakes Montroses apartment, as if the place were having a fit of rage. Theres a dialogue in bed between George and his wife Hippolyta (Aunjanue Ellis) that has some of the deftness of the bedroom scenes in Charles Burnetts To Sleep With Anger.

Also impressive is Michael K. Williams performance as Montrose. Reconciling with his son, hes good enough to sell some very ordinary dialogue. You got to be a great man despite me. Your mother would have been proud. Lovecraft Country is a strangely soft-spoken show until the eldritch critters turn up.

But then came the weakest episode yet, A History of Violence. The cast harrows an Indiana Jones-like death maze under a museum in Boston, to get some lost pages from the book of names the infernal Necronomicon.

Cruel, square-jawed aryan racists make great villains. Its always satisfying watching them get whats coming to them, either from a shoggoth bite (a shoggoth is a saber-toothed, multi-eyed monster) or by a plummeting elevator that shears off their heads. Good riddance! White audiences deserve no credit for wanting to see a bigots guts scattered, because they know full well whats in their own guts: what kind of racism was forced down their throats like colostrum, as they grew up in the U.S.A. The tactic this well-cast and provocative show takes is depicting racism as an evil spell, an indomitable curse in the tradition of New England horror.

More here:
Lovecraft Country and the Specter of Racial Violence - SF Weekly

In DCeased's latest issue, Damian Wayne shows just how different he is from his father Bruce, when reunited with longtime Bat-Family ally Jim Gordon.

Warning: contains spoilers forDCEASED: DEAD PLANET #3!

Batmanexcels in many area, but showing affection isn't one of them. While the most Bruce Wayne could ever muster for his police liaisonCommissioner James Gordonwas a handshake, his son Damian Wayneis a different kind of Dark Knight, as he shows when reunited with his allies in DCeased: Dead Planet #3.Last seen at the end of DCeased: Unkillables, Damian happily reunites with Red Hood and Batgirl when the Justice League meet with other Earth survivors in Poison Ivy's Gotham sanctuary, following a gruesome battle with the Anti-Living version of Wonder Woman. But unlike his father, Damian is able to express how much the reunion means to him.

Introduced in the 2006 storyline "Batman and Son," Damian is Bruce Wayne's biological son and a clear favorite to become the Batman of the future. WhileBatman #666depicted a potential future where Damian sells his soul for immortality, becoming a demonic Batman, later depictions of Damian's future have been a lot more generous to this prickly but frequently misunderstood character. Happily, while theDCeasedtimeline depicts a world gone to hell, it also depicts a healthy, happy Damian.

Related:The Real Enemy of DCeased is Going To Kill EVERYTHING

While repairing Jonathan Kent's Superman cape, the Batman who Sews is greeted by Jim Gordon, who - accustomed to a more emotionally distant Dark Knight - welcomes him back with the usual handshake. Damian surprises him by opening his arms for a big hug, to which Jim Gordon states the obvious, "Your father wasn't much of a hugger."

No longer the arrogant and condescending Robin Jim Gordon remembers, Dead Planet shows how the events of DCeased have matured Damian, especially after inheriting the role of Batman from his father. While Damian may have moments of overconfidence and violence, hestill honors his father by being the best Batman he can be for this new and unexpected world. Damian has shown he's definitely more in touch with his feelings, hugging former Robin Jason Todd after getting his approval and privately kissing current Wonder Woman Cassie Sandsmark during a moment of comfort. Damian's Batman is not afraid of getting close to people, despite their odds of survival in this nigh-apocalyptic situation.

More:
Batman's Son Finally Does What Bruce Wayne Never Could - Screen Rant

ALAMEDA, Calif. & CARLSBAD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AgeX Therapeutics, Inc. (AgeX: NYSE American: AGE), a company focused on developing and commercializing innovative therapeutics for human aging, and Lineage Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (Lineage: NYSE American and TASE: LCTX), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel cell therapies for unmet medical needs, and ES Cell International Pte Ltd. (ESI), a subsidiary of Lineage, today announced the broadening of their collaborative relationship with regard to ESI stem cell lines. ESI cell lines are current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP)-compatible, registered with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and widely studied as a potential source for the industrial-scale manufacture of any cell type in the human body. Neither party made or received any cash payments in connection with this arrangement.

Both Lineage and AgeX are pioneering important aspects of regenerative medicine. Working together, we have amended our agreement regarding ESI cell lines derived under cGMP to be optimal for the business needs of each company, stated Brian M. Culley, Lineages CEO. In particular, Lineage has acquired exclusivity for the use of ESI cell lines in spinal cord injury and certain oncology indications. On the other hand, AgeX has gained greater flexibility and independence to support its efforts toward licensing certain technologies and cell lines to third parties. With this step complete, we next intend to explore additional opportunities to collaborate with AgeX on promising tissue regenerating projects.

The ESI cell lines are recognized for being the first clinical-grade human pluripotent stem cell lines created under cGMP as described in the publication Cell Stem Cell (2007;1:490-4). It may become possible to generate potentially limitless quantities of all the cell types of the human body from these master cell banks with a wide array of potential therapeutic applications. These cell lines are listed on the NIH Stem Cell Registry and are among the best characterized and documented stem cell lines available globally. Importantly, ESI cells are among only a few pluripotent stem cell lines from which a derived cell therapy product candidate has been granted FDA investigational new drug (IND) clearance to commence human studies.

Key to the creation of shareholder value is the placement of these important assets in the hands of collaborators to advance the development of a vast number of regenerative therapies, said Michael West, Ph.D., AgeXs CEO. Our collaborative relationship with Lineage led to this streamlined process that may facilitate the commercialization of these applications to the benefit of shareholders of each company. Since the beginning of the year, AgeX has entered into new research and commercial arrangements utilizing an array of its technology platforms, such as UniverCyteTM for the engineering of universally transplantable cells, PureStem for the manufacture and derivation of cells, and an ESI cell line as source material for deriving cellular therapeutics.

About AgeX Therapeutics, Inc

AgeX Therapeutics, Inc. (NYSE American: AGE) is focused on developing and commercializing innovative therapeutics for human aging. Its PureStem and UniverCyte manufacturing and immunotolerance technologies are designed to work together to generate highly defined, universal, allogeneic, off-the-shelf pluripotent stem cell-derived young cells of any type for application in a variety of diseases with a high unmet medical need. AgeX has two preclinical cell therapy programs: AGEX-VASC1 (vascular progenitor cells) for tissue ischemia and AGEX-BAT1 (brown fat cells) for Type II diabetes. AgeXs revolutionary longevity platform induced Tissue Regeneration (iTR) aims to unlock cellular immortality and regenerative capacity to reverse age-related changes within tissues. AGEX-iTR1547 is an iTR-based formulation in preclinical development. HyStem is AgeXs delivery technology to stably engraft PureStem cell therapies in the body. AgeXs core product pipeline is intended to extend human healthspan. AgeX is seeking opportunities to establish licensing and collaboration arrangements around its broad IP estate and proprietary technology platforms and therapy product candidates. For more information, please visit http://www.agexinc.com or connect with the company on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube.

About Lineage Cell Therapeutics, Inc.

Lineage Cell Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing novel cell therapies for unmet medical needs. Lineages programs are based on its robust proprietary cell-based therapy platform and associated in-house development and manufacturing capabilities. With this platform Lineage develops and manufactures specialized, terminally differentiated human cells from its pluripotent and progenitor cell starting materials. These differentiated cells are developed to either replace or support cells that are dysfunctional or absent due to degenerative disease or traumatic injury or administered as a means of helping the body mount an effective immune response to cancer. Lineages clinical programs are in markets with billion dollar opportunities and include three allogeneic (off-the-shelf) product candidates: (i) OpRegen, a retinal pigment epithelium transplant therapy in Phase 1/2a development for the treatment of dry age-related macular degeneration, a leading cause of blindness in the developed world; (ii) OPC1, an oligodendrocyte progenitor cell therapy in Phase 1/2a development for the treatment of acute spinal cord injuries; and (iii) VAC, an allogeneic dendritic cell therapy platform for immuno-oncology and infectious disease, currently in clinical development for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer and in preclinical development for additional cancers and as a vaccine against infectious diseases, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19. For more information, please visit http://www.lineagecell.com or follow the Company on Twitter @LineageCell.

About ESI

ES Cell International Pte Ltd (ESI). Established in 2000, ESI, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lineage Cell Therapeutics, Inc., developed ESI hESC lines in compliance with the principles of current Good Manufacturing Practices and has made them available to various biopharmaceutical companies, universities and other research institutions, including AgeX. These ESI cell lines are extensively characterized and most of the lines have documented and publicly available genomic sequences.

Forward-Looking Statements for AgeX

Certain statements contained in this release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any statements that are not historical fact including, but not limited to statements that contain words such as will, believes, plans, anticipates, expects, estimates should also be considered forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Without limitation, such risks include those associated with the use of human pluripotent stem cell lines in the research, development, and use of therapies for the treatment of human diseases, disorders, and injuries, and risks associated with commercializing the pluripotent stem cell lines. Actual results may differ materially from the results anticipated in these forward-looking statements and as such should be evaluated together with the many uncertainties that affect the business of AgeX Therapeutics, Inc. and its respective subsidiaries, particularly those mentioned in the cautionary statements found in more detail in the Risk Factors section of its most recent Annual Reports on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commissions (copies of which may be obtained at http://www.sec.gov). Subsequent events and developments may cause these forward-looking statements to change. Undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they were made. AgeX specifically disclaims any obligation or intention to update or revise these forward-looking statements as a result of changed events or circumstances that occur after the date of this release, except as required by applicable law.

Forward-Looking Statements for Lineage

Lineage cautions you that all statements, other than statements of historical facts, contained in this press release, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements, in some cases, can be identified by terms such as believe, may, will, estimate, continue, anticipate, design, intend, expect, could, plan, potential, predict, seek, should, would, contemplate, project, target, tend to, or the negative version of these words and similar expressions. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to the potential commercialization of ESI cell lines. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Lineages actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements in this press release, including risks and uncertainties inherent in Lineages business and other risks in Lineages filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC). Lineages forward-looking statements are based upon its current expectations and involve assumptions that may never materialize or may prove to be incorrect. All forward-looking statements are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. Further information regarding these and other risks is included under the heading Risk Factors in Lineages periodic reports with the SEC, including Lineages Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March 12, 2020 and its other reports, which are available from the SECs website. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they were made. Lineage undertakes no obligation to update such statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made, except as required by law.

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AgeX Therapeutics and Lineage Cell Therapeutics Announce Expansion of Agreement Related to ESI Clinical-grade Pluripotent Stem Cell Lines for...

Francisco Solares-Larrave's "Perspective" (September 2, 2020).

Sometimes, I take a walk through a cemetery near my house. There's nothing morbid about it. In fact, I enjoy cemeteries, and during a trip, I insisted on seeing the cemetery of a small French town, and we found the tomb of Marc Chagall. I felt vindicated.

The one near my house has no celebrities that I know of. It looks a bit abandoned, despite some shiny headstones here and there. When I walk through it, I stop to contemplate some groups.

There's an entire family -- they have the same last name -- that makes me think they're together, like sharing an eternal Thanksgiving.

There are also several small headstones with a man's name first, and a woman's below it, with the title "wife" added. Were they stoic? Were they good neighbors? Did they like music?

I also find it mystifying that some headstones have just one name, nothing else, as if that were enough.

Is this immortality? That you may be known by your first name? That your family will be buried around you, in a section of the cemetery? It may seem odd, but to me there is some measure of immortality in their choice of headstone. That's how those Finnish, Swedish, German and British last names tell stories of struggles, success or failure. They left an imprint visible today. If that's not immortality, tell me what is.

I am Francisco Solares-Larrave, and that's my perspective.

Excerpt from:
Perspective: A Sign Of Immortality | WNIJ and WNIU - WNIJ and WNIU

Once upon a time, over two thousand years ago, the first Emperor of China was so great, powerful, and ambitious that he spent his entire life pursuing his ultimate goal: Trying to find a potion that could make him immortal. Indeed, in the end, he found immortality in the history books.

This crucial chapter in Chinese history unfolded in one of the oldest cities in China, the city ofXi'an. The birth of China's first imperial dynasty took place during a time of conflict, betrayal, and lust for power that shaped the future of the nation.

The Zhou Dynasty was the longest-ruling Chinese dynasty. It lasted from 1122-255 BC. The Qin Dynasty(pronounced chin), the first dynasty of Imperial China, was the shortest-ruling Chinese dynasty (221-206 BCE). It lasted only 15 years, well against the First Emperor's wishes. The latter is the dynasty that occupies our interest.

The Qin Dynasty reunited China and laid the foundation for 21 centuries of imperial rule. Our focus is on the tragic and ironic destiny of the First Emperor of China, who died during his search for the elixir of life after a life-long fear of death.

Qin Shi Huang (Ying Zheng) was born in 259 BCE in Hanan, but the exact date is unknown.It is believed that the name Qin is the etymological ancestor of today's name of the country, China. Some scholars, though, dismissed this etymology.

Ying Zheng was the son of King Zhuangxiang of Qin and Lady Zhao Ji. Or that is what the King believed. A legend says that Lu Buwei, a rich merchant, and his wife, Zhao Ji, had got pregnant when Buwei arranged for Zhuangxiang to meet and fall in love with her. When Zhao Ji gave birth to Lu Buwei's child in 259 BCE, the King believed the baby was his own.

Ying Zheng became King of the Qin state upon the death of his supposed father. The young King was only 13 years old. His prime minister and likely real father, Lu Buwei, acted as regent for the first eight years.

According to the Records of the Grand Historian, in 240BCE, Lu Buwei introduced the King's mother, Zhao Ji, to Lao Ai as part of a scheme to depose Qin Shi Huang. The queen dowager and Lao Ai had two sons. In 238 BCE, Lao Ai and Bu Buwei decided to launch a coup. Lao Ai raised an army with the help of the king of nearby Wei. He tried to seize control while Qin Shi Huang was traveling.

However, Qin Shi Huang found out about the rebellion. Lao was executed by having his neck, arms, and legs tied to horses, which were spurred to run in different directions. The young King forced his mother Zhao Ji to watch, while soldiers went to kill his two half-brothers.

Lao's whole family and all relatives to the third degree (uncles, aunts, and cousins) were also killed. Zhao Ji was spared, but forced to spend the rest of her life under house arrest. Lu Buwei was banished after the incident. He lived in constant fear of execution. In 235 BCE, Lu Buwei committed suicide by drinking poison.

After the Lao Ai incident, Qin Shi Huang grew increasingly suspicious of everyone around him. He survived two murder attempts.

Qin Shi Huang had around 50 children including Fusu, Gao, Jiangl, and Huhai, but had no empress. His most notable quote is: "I have collected all the writings of the Empire and burnt those which were of no use." Of not use for him, that is.

Zheng assumed the sacred titles of legendary rulers and proclaimed himself Qin Shi Huang (First Sovereign Emperor of Qin). He claimed that his dynasty would last 10,000 generations. However, the 15 years of the Qin dynasty was the shortest major dynasty in the history of China, consisting of only two emperors. The 35-year reign of Qin Shi Huang brought both rapid cultural and intellectual advancement as well as much destruction and oppression within China.

Yet, the Qin dynasty inaugurated an imperial system that lasted from 221 BCE until 1912. The Qin introduced a standardized currency, weights, measures, and a uniform system of writing, which aimed at unifying the state and promote commerce. The military used the latest weaponry, transportation, and military tactics. The Confucians portrayed the Qin dynasty as a monolithic tyranny, citing a purge which was known as the burning of books and burying of scholars.

As the Emperor entered middle age, he grew more and more afraid of death. Qin Shi Huang became obsessed with finding an elixir of life, a potion for immortality. The court alchemists and doctors devoted day and night to find potions for the Emperor, many of them containing quicksilver (mercury). Slowly, the ironic effect of the potions resulted in the death of the Emperor, rather than preventing it.

The Emperor also ordered the construction of a gargantuan tomb for himself, in case the immortality treatment failed. Plans for the Emperor's tomb included flowing rivers of mercury, cross-bow booby traps to thwart would-be plunderers, and replicas of all the Emperor's earthly palaces.

In 211 BCE, a large meteor fell in Dongjun, representing an ominous sign for the Emperor. What followed was a stone found with the words "the First Emperor will die and his land will be divided." The Emperor ordered everyone in the vicinity to be executed, since no one would confess to the crime.

A year later, while touring eastern China, Qin Shi Huang died on September 10, 210 BCE in Julu Commandery. He was 49 years old. Details of the cause of Qin Shi Huang's death are largely unknown to this date. However, it is known that the cause of death was mercury poisoning.

Reportedly, he died from Chinese alchemical elixir poisoning due to ingesting mercury pills --made by his alchemists and court physicians-- believing it to be an elixir of immortality. The Emperor, who had feared death since a young age, wanted to conquer death at any cost and was kin on trying immortality treatments.

Qin Shi Huang believed that as the Emperor of China, he would need an army in the afterlife, in the event that his elixir of life failed him. He believed an army could protect him. So, his subjects built 8,000 soldiers, 130 chariots, and 670 horses out of terracotta to help protect the great Emperor from his rival armies in the afterlife. The project took off and a mausoleum was carefully planned.

The construction of the one-of-its-kind mausoleum began when the Emperor was just 14 years old, and long before he took on power. We are talking about a 14-year-old child who witnessed the preparations for his own death before he had the chance to live, which might explain his life-log terrifying fear of death.

In the second year of their reign, Kings began building their own tomb. his father died when he was 13 years old. Qin Shi Huang ordered the construction of his mausoleum at the age of 14.

As his own tomb grew, so did his fear of death. The fear of death would accompany him for the rest of his life, well until the end.

It took immense manpower to complete the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor, which was only discovered, and in part unearthed, in March 1974.

The Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor and First Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, was constructed for over 38 years, from 246 to 208 BCE. The Mausoleum is underneath a 76-meter-tall (249 feet) tomb mound-shaped like a truncated pyramid in Lintong District, Xi'an, Shaanxi province of China.

The tomb complex contains an estimated 8,000 life-like clay soldiers, chariots, horses, weapons, and mass graves with evidence of brutal power. Archeologists have been reluctant to open Qin Shi Huang's actual tomb.

The Terracotta Army is a collection of over 8,000 real-size sculptures depicting the armies of the First Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang. Archeologists first found 8,000 warriors. Each warrior has very distinct facial features. Most recently, archeologists in China found over 200 others. Experts in military say the discovery of the warriors depicts how the Qin military used to operate.

The Terracotta Army is a display of the militar formation of the Qin army. The first three rows are archers facing forward. Behind them, stand infantry men in 38 rows, poise to strike upon commander's orders. The flanks are defended by troops on the peripheric, facing upward, watching for threats from any direction.

The funerary massive art collection was buried with the Emperor in 210-209 BCE to protect him in his afterlife. All the terracotta warriors are facing east, and there is a reason for that.

During the 3rd Century BCE, the land we now call China was a bloody battle ground, and battles went on for decades. According to historical records, the original ruling area in Qin was the west, whereas all the other states were in the east of China. Qin Shi Huang's goal was to unify all states. The fact that the warriors and horses are facing east confirms his determination for unification even in his afterlife.

Each Terracotta Warrior is 1.80 centimeters (6 feet) tall and weighs 160 to 300 kilograms (approximately 300 to 400 pounds). An interesting fact is that the hands were made in one whole piece and separately, they would only be added at the end.Each Terracotta Warrior was molded with individual and unique facial features. The bodies and limbs were mass-produced from molds.

The FBI has estimated that each 300-kilogram Terracotta Warrior is worth $4.5 million. Perhaps this explains why in December 2017, someone broke off and stole a Terracotta Warrior's left thumb from the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, in The United States, where 10 of the ancient relics were on loan. Although the event speaks more about ignorance than about greed.

The Emperor Qin Shi Huang ordered the construction of the Great Wall around 221 BCE to protect his Empire from the recurrent threat from the north, raids by the nomadic Xiongnu, who were the ancestors of Attila's Huns.

The labor force that built the enormous defensive wall was largely made up of hundreds of thousands of slaves and convicts. The work was completed between 220 and 206 BCE. Thousands died during that period at the task.

The northern fortification formed the first section of what later on would become the Great Wall of China. In 214, the Emperor ordered the construction of a canal which would link the Yangtze and Pearl River systems, the Lingqu Canal.

The Great Wall was not just built by slaves and convicts. Scholars who refused to allow their books to be burned following orders from Emperor Qin Shi Huang were either burned alive or sent to work on the wall.

In 213 BCE, the Emperor's orders were that all books that were not about agriculture, medicine, prophesy, or related to his reign had to be burned. It was a way of weakening scholars and teachers, especially Confucianism and a number of other philosophies. Qin Shi Huang viewed these schools of thought as threats to his authority. Let's not forget that knowledge is power, and the Emperor wanted absolute control and power over China.

Approximately 460 scholars were not lucky enough to work on the wall as slaves. Instead, they were buried alive for daring to disagree with the Emperor. Other 700 scholars were stoned to death. From then on, the only school of thought approved by the Emperor was legalism, which meant to follow the Emperor's laws, or face the consequences.

Whether Qin Shi Huang should be remembered more for his architectural creations and cultural advances, or for his brutal tyranny is a matter of dispute. All scholars, however, agree that Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty and a unified China, was one of the most important rulers in the whole Chinese history.

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The First Emperor of China Who Died in His Quest Pursuing Immortality - Interesting Engineering