By 2 13 BC (the thirty-fourth year of Qin Shihuang), Dr. Chun Yuyue put forward the idea of restoring the enfeoffment system. Prime Minister Reese refuted it. He pointed out that different times should have different governance methods. Confucian scholars "never forget the past and learn from the future", if not prohibited, may undermine unity. So he suggested:
1. Except for Ji Qin, medicine, divination, agricultural books and poems, books and hundreds of languages collected by national doctors, all privately collected Confucian classics, philosopher's works and other ancient history books should be handed over to the government for destruction within a time limit. If they fail to do this within the time limit, they will be punished and fined as a city Dan (that is, in the morning, it is a kind of building a city to start in the morning.
Second, those who talk about "poetry" and "books" are put to death, and those who are not today are extinct;
Third, private schools are strictly prohibited, and "taking officials as teachers".
Qin Shihuang supported Li Si's suggestion. This is the "book burning" incident in history.
In 2 12 BC, some alchemists and Confucian scholars discussed slandering Qin Shihuang. So Qin Shihuang ordered an investigation, and * * * arrested 460 people, all of whom were killed in Xianyang. This is the "cheating Confucianism" incident in history.
After Qin Shihuang unified the six countries, he took two important measures to control ideology and culture. During the Warring States Period, due to the drastic changes in social relations, the academic circles showed a new atmosphere of hundred schools of thought contending. In its last few years, the country split into unity; Correspondingly, there has also been a trend of eclecticism and integration of various theories in ideology and culture. After Qin Shihuang unified the six countries, he used the power of feudal countries to implement the policy of ideological and cultural control. Burning books and burying Confucianism happened under such a historical background.
After Qin Shihuang unified the six countries, he changed the originally divided vassal states into counties. Dr. Chun Yuyue opposed the county system and said, "If you don't follow the previous system and customs, it won't last long." This statement caused controversy among the people.
Li Si, the prime minister, objected to this statement, arguing that the laws and regulations should depend on the specific circumstances, and the ancient system could not be applied to today. At the same time, he also pointed out that the above remarks disturb the people's hearts and are not conducive to the implementation of government decrees, and should be strictly prohibited. Therefore, he suggested that all poems, books, hundreds of languages and history books should be burned except the official collection and the history books of Qin state, and some people dare to say it. Books on medicine, divination and agriculture are not burned; Private schools are prohibited. Qin Shihuang accepted Reese's suggestion and ordered books to be burned.
After the establishment of the centralized feudal administrative system of absolutism in the Qin Dynasty, some Confucian scholars and refugees quoted poems, books and hundred sayings in view of current politics, taking the past as the past, saying that "it is wrong to advance, but it is wrong to discuss when you leave." In thirty-four years, Dr. Chun Yuyue suggested that children's heroes should be supported, on the grounds that "those who can live for a long time without learning from the past will not hear their voices." Li Si, the prime minister, put forward the suggestion of "burning books" to put an end to the phenomenon that "all students learn from the past instead of the present, confusing the first place with the present", which was recognized by Qin Shihuang. The books burned at that time included two parts: one was the historical records of various countries before reunification, and the other was poems, books and hundreds of languages hidden by the people; As for the history books of Qin, books collected by doctors and folk books on medicine, divination and tree planting, they are not included. All banned books must be handed over to the local government for burning within 30 days. For this reason, a series of laws and regulations have been formulated. For example, even those who talk about "poetry" and "books" abandon the market, take those who are not present in ancient times as their homes, and those who don't mention it when they see it, make it a city pill and don't burn it for the next 30 days. Burning books is a great destruction of ancient cultural classics. Due to the burning of the historical records of the six countries, the chronology of the Warring States period has not been fully clarified so far.
The book burning happened the year after the book burning. In nature, burning books to bury Confucianism is a continuation of burning books, but the causes are different. In his later years, Qin Shihuang sought immortality and hoped that alchemists would look for elixirs. Therefore, the alchemist Hou Sheng and Lu Sheng are very favored. There are two alchemists, Lu and Hou Sheng, who are trusted by Qin Shihuang on weekdays. It was these two men who talked about Qin Shihuang behind his back and accused him of being cruel and easy to kill. One night, the two men abandoned their posts and ran away. Hearing this, Qin Shihuang was furious, thinking that most Confucian scholars were confusing leaders with evil words, so he ordered a proposal and asked all students.
After Qin Shihuang knew these things, he flew into a rage in different ways: "I was so kind to these alchemists, but they talked about me behind my back and betrayed me." Alchemists are always like this. There are hundreds of scholars in Xianyang now, and they must often spread lies to mislead people. Be sure to check it thoroughly this time. "Later, he asked Shi Yu to arrest Xianyang scholars and tortured and questioned them. At first, all these scholars shouted injustice, but they were beaten one by one and they all confessed. Qin Shihuang ordered the killing of all these scholars. Fu Su, the son, pleaded for them, but was scolded by Qin Shihuang. Seeing Qin Shihuang's great anger, the officials in charge of beheading drove all these scholars into a deep valley and buried them alive with stones, totaling more than 460 people. After this incident, even Fu Su, the eldest son of the first emperor, felt too cruel. He told Qin Shihuang that at the beginning of the world, people were miserable. I'm afraid it will cause a commotion. Hearing this, Qin Shihuang demoted Fu Su to Shang Jun to supervise Meng Tianjun. After Chen Sheng and the uprising, the Confucian scholars generally resisted, and Confucius, a descendant of Confucius, immediately took part in the peasant uprising with sacrificial vessels, which illustrated this point.
After Qin Shihuang killed more than 460 scholars in Xianyang pit, he thought of killing all the scholars in the world and uprooting them, leaving no legacy, but he was afraid that the scholars would escape, so Qin Shihuang thought of a plan. He ordered local officials to visit famous scholars all over the country and send them to work in Beijing. However, in a few months, more than 700 scholars who wanted to be officials were sent from all over the country. Qin Shihuang ordered more than 700 people to be Langguan, which made these scholars dance with joy.
This winter, it was reported that Ma Gu in Lishan was fruitful. Everyone thought it was very strange, so Qin Shihuang asked more than 700 scholars to visit Magu. When these 700 scholars visited Magu, they found several melons and fruits, which were very fresh. Just then, everyone heard a loud explosion, and then the stone head fell from the valley like raindrops. In an instant, more than 700 scholars were killed in Magu. The so-called melon and fruit is because there are hot springs underground in Magu, so the seasons are like spring. Qin Shihuang secretly ordered his confidants to plant melons and fruits in the valley first, and later it really worked. Where did these scholars know about Qin Shihuang's sinister and vicious plans? They all died in the valley.
Burning books and burying Confucianism exposed the tyranny of the Qin government, the growing social contradictions at that time, and the alienation of morality within the ruling class. Qin Shihuang wanted to take severe measures to consolidate his rule, but in the end he failed to achieve the expected goal. Forcibly unifying thoughts with state power will only block thoughts, undermine the development of academic culture and arouse the general resistance of the people. The result of burning books and burying Confucianism accelerated the demise of the Qin Dynasty.
Calling a deer a horse-deliberate misinterpretation
zhǐlùwéI mü
Qin Ershi's prime minister, Zhao Gao, is ambitious, planning to usurp the throne all day long. However, he doesn't know how many people can be at his mercy and how many people are against him. So he thought of a way to test his prestige and find out who dared to oppose him.
One day, Zhao Gao brought a deer into the palace and said to Qin Ershi with a big smile, "Your Majesty, I will give you a good horse." Qin Ershi looked at it and thought: This is not a horse, this is obviously a deer! He smiled and said to Zhao Gao, "The Prime Minister has made a mistake. There is a deer here. How can you say it's a horse? " Zhao Gao said with a straight face: "Please see clearly, this is indeed a swift horse." Qin Ershi looked at the deer again and said incredulously, "Why does a horse have horns on its head?" Zhao Gao turned around, pointed to the ministers and said loudly, "Your Majesty can ask the ministers if you don't believe me."
Ministers were all at a loss by Zhao Gao's nonsense, and whispered privately: What is this Zhao Gao doing? It's obviously a deer or a horse! Ministers see Zhao Gao sinister smile on his face, eyes staring at Zhao Gao in turn, eyes staring at everyone in turn, suddenly understand Zhao Gao's intention.
Some timid people with a sense of justice bow their heads and dare not speak, because telling lies is sorry for their conscience, and telling the truth is afraid of being hurt by Zhao Gao in the future. Some honest people insist that this is a deer rather than a horse. There are also some adulterers who usually follow Zhao Gao closely and immediately support Zhao Gao's statement and say to the emperor, "This is indeed a swift horse!"
Afterwards, Zhao Gao punished those honest ministers who did not obey him by various means, and even copied them.
The story comes from Historical Records of Qin Shihuang. The idiom "referring to a deer as a horse" is a metaphor for deliberately reversing right and wrong and confusing black and white.