#Emperor Qin Shi Huang

[blueiscoool]

A Rare 2,000-Year-Old Sheep-Drawn Chariot Discovered Near China’s First Emperor

Only the sheep's skeletons remain, but such vehicles appear in Chinese lore.

Archaeologists have discovered the remains of what appears to be an ancient sheep-drawn chariot near the famous "Terracotta Army" in northwestern China.

The English-language website China Daily, which is owned by the Chinese Communist Party, reported that the remains were found in the "western tomb" at the site of Emperor Qin Shi Huang's mausoleum, a few miles northeast of the city of Xi'an in Shaanxi province.

Archaeologist Jiang Wenxiao, who is leading the excavations of the tomb, told China Daily that the main structure of the chariot had rotted away after spending more than 2,000 years in the ground. (The mausoleum dates to the third century B.C.)

But the team did find a row of six sheep skeletons wearing accessories used for pulling a chariot, so they inferred this was a sheep-drawn chariot, Wenxiao said.

Drawn by sheep

Horse-drawn chariots and ox-drawn carts were common in ancient China, but a sheep-drawn chariot is an extremely rare find, Wenxiao said.

They appear in Chinese history, however, as well as in Chinese lore. The founder of the Western Jin dynasty, Emperor Wu (or Sima Yan), who ruled from A.D. 266 to 290, is said to have ridden in a sheep-drawn carriage around his palace complex every night and would sleep wherever the sheep stopped.

His practice may be the origin of the modern Chinese phrase "seeking luck in a sheep cart"; it's said the emperor had a harem of 10,000 wives, and this seems to have been Sima Yan's method of choosing among them.

Wenxiao presented the discoveries at the Fourth Congress of Chinese Archaeology, which was held in Xi'an in October, according to the state-owned website ECNS.cn.

The team hopes laboratory analysis on the western tomb's burial chamber, which is currently underway, will help them determine who was buried there, the report said.

Chinese chariots

In addition to the six-sheep chariot, archaeologists unearthed a four-wheeled wooden chariot, presumably drawn by horses, equipped with an ornate rectangular umbrella. It is the oldest of its type ever found, according to Wenxiao.

They also found a wealth of copper chariot and horse-related artifacts, as well as iron tools and copper weapons, providing new insight into the period when iron tools first began to appear.

The mausoleum of Emperor Qin Shi Huang, who ruled from 221 to 210 B.C. and is considered the first emperor of a united China, is spread over about 10 square miles (26 square kilometers) and took 38 years to complete. Three immense pits in the mausoleum site hold more than 8,000 life-sized sculptures that depict the emperor's soldiers and their horses — the so-called Terracotta Army.

By Tom Metcalfe.

[b3nc0]

@toawk

--Written Chinese vs English--

[ID: A comic titled "Evolution of Written Chinese vs English". On the left, emperor Qin Shi Huang holds up a scroll and angrily points an ink brush at the viewer and shouts, "There should not be seven different ways to write 'horse'. Starting today everyone will use the same characters-- or else!" On the right, William Shakespeare laughs gleefully while holding a skull and quill and exclaims, "The first rule of English is to have fun and to thine own self be true!" Every word uses a non-standard spelling. Below the cut are full versions of the the panels and a blank version of the Chinese one. End ID]

I'm fascinated by the evolution of chinese and english "spelling." I grew up on hard-to-read Ye Olde English, and assumed all languages were like that. Imagine my shock when I discovered the chinese language had been standardised since 221BC, and I can read words written in the Han Dynasty.

full versions:

notes under the cut

For much of it's history, the English language played it fast and loose with spelling. (No one can spell things wrong if no one can spell things right!) Standardisation only began in the late 15th century as the use of the printing press spread across Europe.

I thought the best person to show this carefree attitude was the Bard himself; Willy Shakes. We have six surviving examples of Shakespeare's signature, and none of them are spelled the same way twice.

In comparison, Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, standardised the writing system as early as 221 BC. He had conquered the six warring states and decided to do away with their writing systems. This made the administration of a centralised government easier, and it served as a demonstration of his absolute authority. The writing on the book* is "horse", and "torn apart by carriage".

**That scroll he's holding is actually called a book in Chinese, it is made up of bamboo slips, like a big sushi mat!

All designs are available on redbubble: I thought it would be fun to include a blank version of qin shi huang, so you can write stuff on him.

[colourstreakgryffin]

Are your requests open? If so, can you write for yandere Qin Shi Huang with an S/O who's very rebellious and lazy? It's okay if you don't want to 😭 I barely see any Qin Shi Huang fic here.

My requests are definitely open, just slowly getting through everything! But anyway. Yes, I absolutely can since I like Qin too. He’s actually quite the good boy AND he’s hot so golden. We’re an emperor/empress! Damn, I’m jealous!

Qin Shi Huang- My Deadweight

Qin Shi has expectations of you. Just because you’re the new powerful and influential emperor [/] empress of China via your unwanted marriage to him, doesn’t mean that you get to be so… immature and vile in front of his people and in front of Valhalla itself. He is aware that you’re not much of a fan of him but he’s giving you a luxurious life millions dream of without asking for so much from you

Is giving your love and loyalty and passion to him, in exchange for all this, so hard for you? He has learnt that it is clearly is…

He’s displeased, watching sharply and disgusted from behind his white mahogany red-centipede detailed blindfold as you relax on you and his velvety expensive bed whilst shooing off all the palace’s servants to give you privacy… he suspected better from you. Why are you behaving so childish?

Qin Shi genuinely believes that living like a powerful royalty of one of the World’s most mighty countries has gotten to your head and you believe you’re above everything, even the responsibilities and requirements you have as his Emperor [/] Empress. You’re stubbornly disregarding them all to laze around and rest about like a sloth…

The Chinese emperor is outraged you’re daring to behave like this. He spent so much time and resources into kidnapping you, obsessing over you, moving you from your designated living quarters built into the Valhalla to his magnificent palace, to marry you to him and fulfil his intense love for you. Become his and make you his permanently, even through this death battle tournament and here you are, dismissing it all for your own comfort

He won’t let this slide at all. He may love you deeply but he loves you more when you’re not being a disrespectful slacker… and he wants that person back. He’ll get you back, even if he has to use extreme measures

Qin Shi has zero limits on what he’ll do to make sure you’ve been modelled to the most perfect ruler to work together with him to maintain China, do you think he does? He is fully aware that you’ve missed up by being rebellious and selfish like this. And he doesn’t plan to let you stay this way, he needs you better for his beloved nation

Qin Shi’s around the corner of you and his shared suite of a bedroom, thinking. He doesn’t want to hurt you, he’s already quite strained any chance you’ll love him but then again, he’s providing you with the life of a royal. You’re not anywhere near related to a royal family but still, you’re gonna birth him a heir one day and you SHOULD love him for that

Especially for how amazing of a husband he is!

No other man can be a better husband for you so there is no reason you should be a lazy rebellious brat when you’re literally a King [/] Queen. Do not be so greedy, love. He’d let this go if it was only occasional but it’s not, you’re constantly rejecting everything to sleep all day. Pathetic

That is what his twisted lovesick mind tells him. That it’s your fault you’re behaving this way when it’s just your attitude. It’s just who you are, but to Qin Shi, it’s a purposeful stab to him as your husband. That you’re acting out, when you were so obedient and calm only a few days ago, to spite him…

He is just so unhappy… he really suspected better from you and he was hoping you’d stay that timid silent sweetheart from before. That is his favourite version of you, when you do everything for him— but he fails to realise you only behaved that way because you were terrified for your life but you long learned he’d never truly put his hands on you

Your rebellious nature is just apart of you but your laziness, whilst also somewhat natural, is kinda fulled by your depression since being forced in this situation after you had shown respect to Qin Shi passing by him one time in the many halls of Valhalla by helping direct him to the correct Lounge for Einherjar’s champions

Had lead to him stalking you, sending his servants to give you gifts, until it lead up to your kidnapping under the cover of midnight. All because he fell hard for your elegant and witty demeanour, the way you behave in public and he got addicted to it quickly. So much, he ignores Alvitr’s advice altogether

Qin Shi quickly bared a charming smile, he’s such a charismatic comforting figure as the King of Kings he is that he buries away all his inner rage and humiliation so expertly that he seems as if he’s had a absolutely wonderful day. He pretends to walk away from the wall hiding off the open golden-lined door of the bedroom before walking up to it, in order to trick you into thinking he wasn’t listening in

You look up bored and irritated from being so engaged in a fascinating book that you’ve gathered amongst the big nearby bookcase in this big beautiful artistic suite of a bedroom, meeting the hidden eyes of your forced husband. Your finger shining by the opulent gold and diamonds of your earring ring

Qin Shi, radiating elegance and strength effortlessly, strolls over to you with his loving smile. He may be furious at your rebellious lazy demeanour but he can’t help but soften up at how beautiful you are and his extensive possessive obsession flares up almost instantly. He makes it besides the silky thin blanketed clad bed before sitting down on it politely

Speaking up after admiring you openly for a few long seconds with you barely even responding as you’re quite use to him gawking you all the time like you’re the Mona Lisa within a deluxe gallery, he is internally planning on how to properly meld and form you into the correct ruler for his vast territory

His hand reaches over for yours, his middle and ring fingers sheathed in shining golden nailguards, which is slightly sharp so it kinda grazed against your silky soft skin as he grabs your hand in his much bulkier and veiny palm. Showing his love via the intimate connect, feeling your own cute golden dual nailguards on your index and middle fingers

Qin Shi hopes you give him a minute or two of your time to hear him out. He deserves your time as his husband whilst you couldn’t be more excited for him to leave you alone. You never wanted to be bombarded with the duties of being the secondary ruler of fucking China itself… you never asked for this and you know he does not care about your opinion at all. He only cares about himself!

His hand holding yours is uncomfortably tight as his clingy protectiveness is kicking in. He doesn’t want to lose you, he doesn’t want anybody looking at you. You’re his and only his

“Qīn'ài de… I’ve noticed that you’ve been rather unmotivated. Unmotivated to improve for the sake of our empire and I want to fix that issue. C’mon, up you get. Let’s go outside together, let’s talk”

[thepastisalreadywritten]

This is one of the only terracotta warriors that was found almost completely intact.

Note the detail on the bottom of his shoe, showing that grip and traction were considered in footwear even 2,200 years ago.

Each life-sized clay warrior was crafted to be completely unique and there are no two terracotta warriors-among the 8,000 total—that are exactly the same.

Shortly after the completion of the tomb in 210-209 BC, it was looted for weapons and burned, causing the roof to collapse, crushing the terracotta warriors.

All the other terracotta warriors that are currently on display were painstakingly restored.

What's even more remarkable is that the terracotta warriors were originally painted in bright colors by skilled artisans.

Unfortunately, when they were exposed to air and sunlight during the excavation in the 1970s, the colors began to curl up almost immediately and disappeared within minutes.

These terracotta warriors were put in place to guard the tomb of the first emperor of unified China — Qin Shi Huang (18 February 259 BC – 12 July 210 BC).

To this day, the tomb has yet to be opened.

According to ancient historians, the tomb contains an entire kingdom and palace in which the ceilings are decorated with pearls to mimic the night sky.

The tomb is also said to contain extremely rare artifacts and has been rigged with crossbows to shoot anyone trying to break in.

To keep its location a secret, the workers were entombed with the emperor.

As described by Han dynasty historian Sima Qian (145-90 BCE) in the Records of the Grand Historian, he mentioned that inside the tomb, "mercury was used to fashion the hundred rivers, the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, and the seas in such a way that they flowed."

Modern tests have indicated extremely high levels of mercury in the surrounding soil.

[aliceofblackroses]

so at what point does something became a trope again?

[grand-theft-carbohydrates]

-Ode to Grief #3-

The concubine and the musician passed each other outside the king's bedchamber. It was past midnight. The musician was on his way in, and the concubine was on her way out. Both were carted around in a litter, although for very different reasons. 

Gao Jianli could not see her, but he knew a woman was there. He could smell her perfume and hear the creak of the sandalwood chair bouncing in time to the eunuchs’ footsteps. Her chair had only four pallbearers. Gao Jianli's had eight. That probably meant something, although he did not want to dwell on it. 

He wished desperately that he could see her face, to know what she might be thinking. How he wished to see a face. Anyone's face. 

The King of Qin amused himself liberally with the women, but they were never permitted to stay the night. He slept alone and kept a sword by his side. Gao Jianli knew this because the king had swung the sword at his face the first time he entered his bedchamber--to check that he was really blind. And he was, of course, so he hadn't flinched or even understood what was happening until a lock of his hair had fallen at his feet. 

The king had relaxed after that, and thus began their present arrangement. Gao Jianli would arrive every night, kneel at the foot of the king’s bed and play for hours and hours on end, not leaving until dawn crept in, the crickets fell silent, and the birds picked up their chorus.

It was not wholly accurate to say that the king slept with no one. He slept with Gao Jianli—and the musician suspected that he could not sleep without Gao Jianli. 

The king was drafting bills at his desk when Gao Jianli was announced and ushered inside. He could hear the rattling of the bamboo and the whisper of the brush. The faint smell of perfume still lingered in the room. 

"Ah, good evening, Court Composer! No, no, please don’t ke tou. I’ve told you, it makes me feel stupid when people do that while I’m in my underwear.” The servants led Gao Jianli to his designated mat. Another handed him the zhu--which had been locked away and inspected every night--and he clung to it like a drowning man finding flotsam. The bamboo drumstick and taunt silk strings had become the only things that felt real in this terrifying new world of shades and vertigo. He only felt whole when his instruments were safely in his hands.

“How do you like your new clothes?" said the king. 

"I’m sure they’re splendid, Your Highness, but I’m afraid their beauty is lost on me.”

The king laughed, “I mean, how do they feel? Are they comfortable? Easy to move in? I hope you don’t mind, but I had my tailor hem the coat a little higher than is proper so you wouldn’t trip over.”

“That’s very thoughtful, Your Highness,” Gao Jianli ran his hands over the zhu's wooden belly, checking it for any dents and scratches. 

“The colour is very becoming. You look like a proper Sage of Music now.” 

“His Highness does me too much honour,” No, no, no! Someone had tuned it wrong! The fourth string was painfully over-drawn, and Gao Jianli quickly eased it back, letting out a sigh of relief as the instrument was returned to its proper state. 

“I say! It’s drafty in here, isn’t it?” The king rose and bustled about the room. Moments later, something soft and heavy was draped over Gao Jianli’s shoulders—one of the duvets from the bed. The smell of perfume was stronger now. A large wooden table was dragged over to his left side, plates rattling. “Would you like a snack? Let’s see, there’s beef, lamb, swan, wild boar, abalone, shark-fin…Please stop and rest as often as you wish—good health isn’t something gold can buy, you know!” 

“I don’t want to eat.” 

“Some tea, then,” the king poured him a cup and blew on it gently, “careful, it’s still quite hot.”  

------------------------ [small pov shift! I'm going to try write this part with QSH's voice. lets see if all that roleplaying helped!] 

The king settled back down at the desk and picked up his brush, although he was far too eager to resume his work. He watched Gao Jianli tune his instrument from the corner of his eye and played a little game with himself; what would the Sage of Music entertain him with tonight? The Kingdom of Yan, for all its sickening frivolity and excess, produced extraordinary artists. The fact that he had acquired their best and brightest star was just further proof of heaven's favour. 

The musician shunned the stand, preferring to balance the zhu on his knees. One of his little idiosyncrasies. It muffled the sound somewhat, softening each note into something indescribably sweet and inviting. 

Gao Jianli bowed his head, was still for a long moment, and did something he’d never done before. He opened his mouth and began to sing. 

The king was rather taken aback. Unlike his legendary skills with the zhu, Gao Jianli’s voice was not a thing of breathless beauty or a technical marvel. It was reedy and feeble, fluttering like a moth in the vast, high-walled bedroom. He had obviously been crying—again--and his nose was stuffy. And yet, the sound was still utterly bewitching. The king sat forwards, his hands upon the desk, struggling to catch the words. 

Wait. This was his song! Gao Jianli was singing Without Clothes, the Qin battle anthem. It was a simple, stout chant signifying the people’s willingness to go to war. The king had heard it sung by soldiers, a hundred thousand voices raised as one unified roar, fit to shake the heavens. He had never heard it sung like this, had never heard anything like this. This fervent, tearful whisper. The low, agonised keening of an injured beast. Gao Jianli touched the strings as if he was afraid they might break. The zhu in his lap wailed and wailed like a lost child. He played like a man in his death throes, gutted and slowly bleeding out. 

“How can you say you have no clothes?  I’ll share my coat with you. The king calls us to arms, I’ll prepare my axe and spear to fight with you.”

How can you say you have no clothes?  I’ll share my shirt with you. The king calls us to arms, I’ll prepare my spear and halberd to stand with you.

How can you say you have no clothes?  I’ll share my skirt with you. The king calls us to arms, I’ll don my armour and weapons to march with you. 

And just like that, the song was over, and the last note petered into silence. 

King Ying Zheng sat frozen in place, trembling from head to foot, unable to understand what he was feeling. His eyes stung, his throat ached as if it had been slit open, and his chest felt vice-tight. The closest he had ever felt like this was when that dagger-wielding madman chased him around the throne room, except this was much, much worse. It felt like someone had hacked off one of his limbs. Like a raw, jagged hole had been carved into his chest, leaving him hollow and so desperately empty. 

Ying Zheng’s first instinct was to have Gao Jianli dragged out and executed. No. That wasn’t enough. He needed to cut off the hands of every musician in the country and throw their instruments onto a flaming pyre. He was a fool to think he would be safe by taking Gao Jianli’s eyes. He should have torn out his tongue and locked that wretched thing away inside a box of salt, right next to Gao Jianli’s treacherous heart. 

“Play it again,” Ying Zheng said hoarsely. 

“No.” 

“No?” 

“It can’t be done.”

The king’s voice was dangerously soft, “can’t be done, or you won’t do it?” 

“Both, I suppose.” 

Ying Zheng was on his feet, scattering the bamboo books and brushes with a clatter. Hearing the commotion, the guards rushed into the room. The king held them off. 

“I have been more than lenient with you, Court Composer,” he hissed. “I have spared your life and given you the honour of serving me. I shower you with gifts and treat you with every courtesy, yet you have shown me nothing but contempt. First, you sing this seditious song and now you dare to defy me. You will play it again. Your King commands it.” 

Gao Jianli sniffed and wiped his nose on his sleeve, leaving a shiny trail of snot on the silk Ying Zheng had personally picked out for him. He was still weeping softly.

“Command the oceans to empty,” he said, “command the sun to run backwards in the sky. Command the dead to rise from their graves and bid them to speak. Once you have done all that, I will play this song again.” 

----------------------

Notes: the emperor's shadow has reached into my brain and rearranged ALL my neurones. here is the song gao jianli is singing. As you can see, I've changed the words slightly because my focus is on flow rather than accuracy. the biggest change is "the king calls us to arms" I've done it to give the song more immediacy and also to reflect the intent of the original "the king is summoning eager warriors."

[sandcrafter]

quick sketch. God-Emperor trio.

EoM from Warhammer series. Leto II from Dune. QinShiHuang from Fate/Grand Order.

[yebreed]

AI reconstruction from portraits of emperors of the Northern Song dynasty (960–1127) (北宋). Sometimes I think the AI fantasizes on its own. However, it's still curious.)

The emperors of the Northern Song dynasty come from the Zhao (趙) family. They are relatives of Zhao Zheng (趙政), who went down in history under the pseudonym of Qin Shi Huang.

[the-sill-of-all-sills]

"You disappoint me, Fusu," he hissed, his voice as dark as smoke.

-

Zack woke up to a low voice singing near his ear, gentle as a lullaby.

"There are fúsū trees on the mountains; there are lotuses in the pond..."

Just finished my reread of Zachary Ying and the dragon emperor by Xiran Jay Zhao and this scene already stuck with me on my first read so this time I just had to draw something inspired by it!

[hisokazl]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, QIN SHI HUANG !!!!!!🥳🥳🥳.

A little gift for the First Emperor.

Qin and Hades are my favorite characters from Record of Ragnarok by the way.

[graveslibrary]

Zachary Ying and the Worlds Most Inconveniencing Man

[blueiscoool]

New Terracotta Discovery at First Emperor’s Mausoleum in China

Archaeologists excavating the mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang have uncovered a terracotta warrior depicting a high-ranking commander.

The Mausoleum of the First Emperor is the burial complex and mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang, the architect of China’s unification and founder of the Qin Dynasty.

Situated in Xi’an’s Lintong District, the mausoleum was built over a span of 38 years by a workforce of 700,000 labourers, as recorded in historical texts. The main burial chamber is located beneath a 76-metre-tall hillock (mound) shaped like a truncated pyramid.

What is known about the tomb interior comes from the “Records of the Grand Historian” by Sima Qian, who describes a vast chamber containing palaces and scenic towers, a coffin cast from bronze, and rare artefacts from across China.

Previous excavations around the complex have discovered thousands of warriors, horses, officials, acrobats, strongmen, musicians made from terracotta, and around 100 wooden battle chariots.

Archaeologists excavating Pit No. 2 (thought to contain a military guard) have recently uncovered a terracotta warrior depicting a high-ranking commander. According to experts, this marks the first discovery of a commander since the pit was first opened for excavations in 1994.

Archaeologists also found two high-level officer figurines, and five figurines dressed in contemporary armour accompanying the terracotta commander.

To date, only 10 high-level officer figurines have been discovered among the Terracotta Warriors, making this find a significant contribution to the study of Qin Dynasty military organisation and systems.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the archaeological excavation of the Qin Terracotta Warriors.

By Mark Milligan.

[its-not-a-pen]

Hot take but if i was the first emperor of china going though my midlife crisis and desperate to make a vainglorious display of power to stave off the terrible inevitability of death, i would simply commission more statues of my servants and officials, artesians and concubines in excruciating detail so two thousand years in the future, random tumblr artists would not have to frantically trawl the internet at 2am, searching variations of “eunuch hat qin/han dynasty“ in english AND chinese. Hope youre having fun in the afterlife with your 8000 himbos and no one to do your laundry or paperwork, idiot.

[ismahanescorner]

Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor | Book Review

Author: Xiran Jay Zhao

Genre: Middle-Grade Fantasy, Chinese Mythology

Publisher: Margaret K. McElderry Books

Release Date: 10/05/2022

Rating: 4/5 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Synopsis:

Zachary Ying never had many opportunities to learn about his Chinese heritage. His single mom was busy enough making sure they got by, and his schools never taught anything except Western history and myths. So Zack is woefully unprepared when he discovers he was born to host the spirit of the First Emperor of China for a vital mission: sealing the leaking portal to the Chinese underworld before the upcoming Ghost Month blows it wide open. The mission takes an immediate wrong turn when the First Emperor botches his attempt to possess Zack’s body and binds to Zack’s AR gaming headset instead, leading to a battle where Zack’s mom’s soul gets taken by demons. Now, with one of history’s most infamous tyrants yapping in his headset, Zack must journey across China to heist magical artifacts and defeat figures from history and myth, all while learning to wield the emperor’s incredible water dragon powers. And if Zack can’t finish the mission in time, the spirits of the underworld will flood into the mortal realm, and he could lose his mom forever.

Review:

tw//: bullying.

First off, I loved this book; I seriously loved it! But I gotta admit that it had a significant pacing problem. It threw you into the action all willy-nilly, then did a poor job explaining things with info-dump after info-dump. However, I believe that’s very intentional since this book is inspired by Shonen anime! Anywho, I so loved how visual this book was, how I could just see almost everything Zack and the gang were doing from the vivid descriptions. I love how it pays homage to Yugi-oh!! And I adore how well it explored the different identities that makeup who Zack is. It was a bit too on the nose regarding politics, but then again, with the way most adults lack reading comprehension and critical thinking skills these days, I think it’s good that a middle grade novel is being very straightforward with its message.

[skboba-stars]

No because I read Zachary Ying and The Dragon Emperor (10/10 btw - same author as Iron Widow so it definitely slaps) but every time I read Qin Shi Huang's name, I remembered Qin SHi Huang from Record of Ragnarok cause I recently read up to the latest manhwa chapter, so my brain goes :

reads the dude's name

Me : Oh yeah - this guy

Me : wait no it's this asshole

Just very funny to remember the former and imagine the two arguing lmao

[mewmewkitten101]

I have a lot of missed posts to catch up on so here! This was day 29 of my 30 day art challenge and I had to do fanart so I took this chance to do some Zachary Ying fanart because there is not enough and I fell in love with this after I reread it recently. Ignore the emperors in the back I was gonna include them more detailed but I was tired so I focused more on Melissa, Simon and Zachary. Zachary Ying was written by Xiran Jay Zhao yall should read it btw. (Also ignore how instagram is annoying and forced this sideways if it wasn't it would only show Zachary lol)