helps Truls on Shang-Hsa (mhnbc).
>Shang Hsa (mhnbc) is elusive. He was the emperor who tried to destroy all
>the books, which is why all literate types write "May His Name Be Cursed"
>after his name.
Which is a bit too close to comfort to a real chinese Emperor, Chi'in Huang-Ti. He also enacted a book burning program (against confucianism). His charming philosophy of Legalism advocated a harsh discipline to make the state militarily strong. He also had a fancy for guards who were not supposed to move unless he gave permission. Big Mistake. Somebody surprised him speechless in an assasination attempt and he was very lucky to survive...
>I believe that he was emperor at the end of the First Age and *perhaps*
>sought through his actions to destroy every written account of the Sunstop.
Undoubtedly he ruled before Yanoor and may have been ruling at the time of the Sunstop. My take on him is that before him, the Dragon Emperors were merely Priestly types and real rule was in the hands of the Exarchs. Shang-Hsa, in a reign of terror, virtually crushed the independance of the Exarchs and instituted the Imperial Bureacracy the Kralori know and love. Unfortunately to provide backing for his actions, he had to rewrite history thus the burning of the books. My gut feeling is that he also tried to launch foreign campaigns of conquest against Fethlon, Trowjang, Boshan and so on.
I think Shang-Hsa passed on at the Sun-stop thus giving the Sages a reason to note this as a good thing. Yanoor, IMO, undid much of the harsh, oppressive laws of Shang-Hsa (such as the Secret Police) and was virtually powerless to oppose the God Learners. Godunya is maintaining a more pragmatic course.
>The God Learners didn't have a proper Dragon Emperor, I think.
The New Dragons Ring is stated to have enthroned an Emperor to assist them. After a recent proposal by Sandy on this hallowed mailing list, I am thinking that the False Emperor was a Horse Nomad worshipping a Sun Cult created by the New Dragons Ring.
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