The most fascinating thing about this story is the sense of mystery it communicates. Of course Segalen is looking for the event. He believes that the event that will mark his life lies in deep China. In the counties of its anti-native, in the antipodes of its Western culture. A French doctor wants to attend the birth of the Chinese Empire. How? From its statuary, knowing that the sculptures define a culture a lot, characterize it, mark it, make it quite transparent, because through them it is possible to perceive the degree of civilization of a people. Segalen knows that with a single sculpture from the time of the First Emperor (260-210 BC) coming to him, suddenly, a whole historical period emerges from that one object, just as the entire universe of the Guermantes emerges from the magdalene of Proust