Reception
After The Emperor's Shadow was released in five major Chinese cities, it was banned by state authorities without any clear reason being given. Eight months later permission was given for re-release.
The film has been criticized in China for its many historical inaccuracies. Chief among these is the distortion of the character of Gao Jianli. According to Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian, Gao Jianli was a friend of the assassin Jing Ke, who fails in an attempt upon Ying Zheng's life. Other minor errors, mostly of academic interest, also contribute to the film's lack of historical authenticity. The director Zhou Xiaowen defended his film by saying that it was an exploration of ideas and values for the present day and was not intended as a strictly historical depiction of the First Emperor. In a 1999 interview, he said "I don't like history; I just like the buildings, the palaces, the dress."
The film influenced the creation of Tan Dun's 2006 opera The First Emperor.
Read more about this topic: The Emperor's Shadow
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