Greetings fellow members! I am Grouchio and I would like to ask some what-ifs and make some challenges. You see, I have witnessed a severe lack of either interest, enthusiasm, and/or knowledge about this subject, and so there have been few ATLs about China or Korea that began from those said areas. I understand that this is mostly a western forum, but I'm sure that the history of the exotic east may catch your eye. Sooo....
1. What if the outcome of the warring states period was vastly different from that of OTL? What if Qi Shi Huang was assassinated by that Jing Ke guy and was thus unable to unify China under his iron fist?
2. What if Legalism did not have much of an effect on Chinese society and/or policy? If I remember correctly, Li Si that famous Legalist was Shi Huang's chancellor.
3. I challenge you to make the Qin Dynasty last longer than it did (i.e Shi Huang refuses to eat mercury balls that slowly killed him, or if Er Shi is as willy as his father, something like that)
4. What if the Chu-han Contention went differently and Xiang Yu managed to defeat Liu Bang and found the Chu Dynasty?
5. What if the Rebellion of the Seven States suceeded in decentralizing Han rule? What would China be like without the guided rule of Wu?
6. What if Modu Shanyu was killed by the Yuezhi in retaliation for an attack his father made, and was thus unable to drive out the Yuezhi and found the Hunnic Xiongnu Empire? What would a Tocharian-Wusun Mongolia look like and what would it do with China? Also since the Yuezhi aren't evicted, neither would the Sakae (Eastern Scythians) and they wouldn't invade Bactria! Would Greco-Bactria possibly be able to stay around longer and make it's inhabitants speak more Greek? And so on.
7. What if the Xiongnu were able to conquer most of China and consolidate their rule there for a century or so? How much would that influence Northern China?
8. I challenge you to make the Yue peoples of the Yangtze River, not the northern Huang He River peoples the dominant culture and power of China!
One last thing! Can any of these PoDs be converted into ATL stories? I will have more ideas as time goes by. So until then, Enjoy!
