The Travels of Qin Ye

After Qin Shi Huang unified the six kingdoms (approximately 221–210 BCE), the realm was newly settled, but undercurrents of unrest persisted. Remnants of the old aristocracy waited for a chance to restore their kingdoms, harsh rule and forced labor stirred public resentment, and events such as Xu Fu's voyage east in search of immortality and the quest for elixirs followed one after another. Tensions between central authority and local interests grew acute.