The Emperor's Shadow (秦颂, Qín Sòng) is a 1996 Chinese Historical Drama directed by Zhou Xiaowen. It follows China's first emperor's (Jiang Wen) struggles to make his best friend (Ge You), a composer, bend to his will.

The movie also stars Xu Qing, Ge Zhijun, Wang Qingxiang, Di Guoqiang, Wang Ning, and Shu Yaoxuan.

It was released on October 31, 1996.

Tropes for the film:

• Ear Cleaning: The emperor's adult daughter cleans his ears with a wooden pick; at one point she holds his eardrum hostage with it in order to extract a favor from him.
• Historical Domain Character:
  • Ying Zheng, the first emperor of China.
  • Gao Jianli, a musician during the Warring States period.
  • Zhao Gao, a politician during the Qin dynasty.
• Period Piece: Takes place in Third Century B.C.E. China.
• Time-Shifted Actor: Tian Ming plays a younger Ying Zheng and Wang Peng plays a younger Gao Jianli.