Letters from Abroad: An American in First Empire China
This paper, written in the form of letters to his parents, chronicles what it would have been like if an American had lived in China in the period immediately following the Warring Kingdoms era (approximately 221-210 BCE our calendar but about 2416-2427 if the traditional starting point of the Chinese calendar is considered the first year of the reign of the Yellow Emperor Hu¨¢ng D¨). This is the era when Qin (or Ch'in) Shih Huang-ti unified China after several centuries of bloody war among the various states-the aptly-named Warring Kingdoms period between about 481 and 221 BCE-and declared himself the First Emperor.
