The Emperor and the Assassin, there are actually several heroic journeys going on all at once, even amidst all the palace intrigue. Ying Zheng, the emperor, has come to the end of his heroic journey and must now figure out how to successfully rule his kingdom. As a young man, he fought to depose tyranny and to become a benevolent ruler. He was strong, courageous, and had nobility of purpose and was honorable in his intentions. In addition, he has honorably followed his familyÆs aspiration, to unite all of China. Yet, in trying to force the unification of China and centralize the government, he made many choices, such as burying the children of Zhou alive, or killing everyone in a family he sees as traitorous, that undermine his own rule. He ends up sacrificing his own family, Lady Zhao, the goodwill of the people, his sanity, and eventually his life not as a hero for noble purposes, but as a despot, to feed his own vision of how China should be ruled.
Lady Zhao also makes the heroÆs journey. She continually attempts to remind Ying Zheng of the heroic part of himself, sacrificing her needs for what she sees to be his noble cause û a unified China û and strives to behave honorably throughout. Ultimately, however, she chooses Jing Ke to support, as Ying Zheng slowly loses his honor, heroic status, and sense of self and Jing Ke demonstrates repeatedly his nobility of purpose and honorable nature. It is Jing Ke, who comes closest to the heroic ideal as depicted in the ôTwo Avengers.ö Like Nie Zheng, Jing Ke had chosen to live away from his previous profession but he believed in being dutiful and honoring his promise. Part of living away was a spiritual journey, a coming to terms with who he is and what his purpose is in life. Once he took up his cause, however, he believed in following the course to its final conclusion, in this case death to himself as well as to his target (Chen 1; Ebrey 2 40).
In The Great Conqueror...