Fu Sheng, Emperor of Former Qin.
In the 4th and 5th centuries, China was in a state of political turmoil. During this time, the country had fragmented into a number of individual, self-governing states. This period which is most commonly referred to as the “Sixteen Kingdoms”, was the time in which Fu Sheng was born and subsequently rose to power.
He was after all, the son of the man who’d founded the state of Former Qin in the first place. His ascension was a far from welcome one though, as Fu Sheng had a brutal temper, a farcically large insecurity and whose nature was prodigal with a capital ‘P’.
China during Fu Sheng’s era.
As you may have gathered by now, Fu Sheng was born with only one eye. Well, it was this, that was the source of his insecurity. So sensitive about his disability that he forbade anyone from using words like ‘missing’, ‘lacking’, ‘less’ and ‘without’, believing that such words were used to mock him. The punishment for using words like these?
Death.
Yes, even if it was completely unintentional. In one story, Fu Sheng felt ill and called a doctor. After examining the emperor, he prescribed him some medicine and after taking several doses, Sheng felt better. However, when he read the prescription and saw the phrases, “a little ginseng, a little angelica”, he became furious and ordered the doctor to be executed.
If you think that’s as cruel as he got, I’m afraid you’d be dead, dead wrong.
When his astrologers predicted that there would be a great funeral and deaths of officials unless Sheng reformed his ways, he chose not to do so and instead fulfilled the prophecy himself… by slaughtering his wife, her father and uncle, as well as important officials.
Surely that’s all though? Nope.
The beloved emperor took great delight in killing people on the merest of whims. He once had a man killed, along with his sons and grandsons, because of a dream he had about a fish eating leaves! Nothing seemed to infuriate him more than being contradicted though. In fact, when his uncle tried to correct his ways, Fu Sheng took a hammer to his skull and smashed it, before having him executed.
And yet, there’s worse still.
One of his particular fancies was torture — specifically, skinning animals alive. Dropping them in boiling water was also another method he enjoyed, and he reportedly revelled in delight as the wounded animals ran around the palace in terror. He wasn’t against torturing people either, and on one occasion, skinned one of his subordinate’s face off before ordering him to dance for Sheng’s own amusement.
With sadism like that, as well as so much monarchic power and a reputation as a physically powerful man who could even fight wild beasts, it’s no wonder people feared him.
Fortunately, his reign only lasted two years, and the one thing that had probably fuelled his violent tendencies was his downfall — alcohol. When a coup d’etat was launched against him by his cousin, he was more easily apprehended because he was drunk.
