Qinhuangdao is located on the west coast of the Bohai Sea and is a prefecture-level city in Hebei Province. The first impression given by the place name Qinhuangdao is that it may be related to Qin Shihuang. In fact, the origin of the place name of Qinhuangdao is indeed related to Qin Shihuang. There are many places in our country named after historical figures. Zhongshan City in Guangdong, Zuoquan County in Shanxi, and Wencheng County in Wenzhou are all named after historical figures. But in our country, there is only one city named after the emperor, Qinhuangdao.
We all know that Qin Shihuang was an emperor who was passionate about pursuing immortality. During his lifetime, Qin Shihuang sent many warlocks to sea in search of the elixir of immortality, the most famous of which was Xu Fu. Xu Fu was a famous sorcerer during the Qin Dynasty. He was once the imperial physician of Qin Shihuang. In 219 BC, Qin Shihuang visited Shandong on his eastward tour. During his stay in Shandong, Qin Shihuang saw a mirage, which he believed was a manifestation of the sea gods. In addition, the warlock Xu Fu wrote a letter saying that there are gods living on the three fairy mountains on the east sea, and the gods have the elixir of immortality in their hands. Qin Shihuang was eager to pursue immortality and believed it to be true, so he sent Xu Fu to go to sea to ask for the elixir of immortality from the gods. However, this time Xu Fu searched for the immortal at sea for several years but could not find the immortal, let alone bring back the elixir of life.
Although Xu Fu did not find the immortality and the elixir of immortality, Qin Shihuang did not give up his pursuit of immortality. In 210 BC, Qin Shihuang embarked on his last eastern tour in his life. During this eastward tour, Qin Shihuang summoned Xu Fu again, also for the purpose of looking for the elixir of immortality. Xu Fu knew in his heart that there were no gods or elixirs in the sea, but he was afraid that Qin Shihuang would blame him, so he didn't say it openly. Xu Fu deliberately told Qin Shihuang that there were huge sharks blocking their voyage, so they could not find the fairy mountains and gods. Xu Fu asked Qin Shihuang to send more archers to accompany him to shoot the sharks. At the same time, he also said that the immortal reward of the elixir was conditional and needed to be exchanged for boys and girls and various craftsmen.
As a result, Qin Shihuang believed Xu Fu's words again and approved Xu Fu's request. Finally, Xu Fu led the archers, 3,000 boys and girls, and enough food and other daily necessities for three years to go to sea again. Not only did Xu Fu not bring back the elixir of immortality this time, but he was worried that Qin Shihuang would blame him, so he ran away and never came back. It is said that Xu Fu went to Japan, where he established himself as king and reproduced.
In fact, in addition to Xu Fu, Qin Shihuang also sent other warlocks to sea to find the elixir of immortality. This includes the character to be talked about in this article - the warlock Lu Sheng. Lu Sheng was a doctor and sorcerer during the Qin Shi Huang period. In 215 BC, Qin Shihuang stayed here when he came to Jieshi for the fourth time. It was also during this period that Qin Shihuang sent the warlock Lu Sheng to go to sea to seek the elixir of immortality. Jieshi was originally just a small island. Later generations developed and built around the island to form a city. This city was also named Qinhuangdao because Qin Shihuang once stayed there again. This is the origin of the place name Qinhuangdao.
Lu Sheng went to sea to seek the elixir of life, but naturally returned without success. Three years later (212 BC), Lu Sheng and other sorcerers discussed current affairs in private, criticized Qin Shihuang, and then fled with funds to search for the elixir of immortality. After the incident was exposed, Qin Shihuang realized that these alchemists had been deceiving him. They could not find the elixir at all, and they were just cheating money. Qin Shihuang ordered people to search for the alchemists in Xianyang area and interrogate them severely. The alchemists on trial exposed each other, and 460 people were involved in one case. These 460 alchemists were later buried alive by Qin Shihuang. This was the "burning of books and entrapment of Confucianism" by Qin Shihuang.