Sentence:  Many of the latter were <WSD>destroyed</WSD> in their turn , during the burning of the vast Ch ' in palace some ten years later ; yet some must have survived , because the old interest in number symbolism , divination , and magic persisted on into the Han dynasty , which succeeded in reuniting China and keeping it together for a longer period ( from 202 B. C. to A. D. 220 ) . 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  destroy completely; damage irreparably