"The King of Qin sweeps Liuhe, how magnificent is the tiger's gaze. Swing his sword to cut through the floating clouds, and all the princes come to the west." This heroic poem comes from Li Bai's "The King of Qin Sweeps Liuhe". Li Bai used this poem to mock the Tang Dynasty Xuanzong was superstitious about gods and would eventually end up like Qin Shihuang.
Throughout the ages, many historians have commented on Qin Shihuang, but it is difficult for anyone to truly explain Qin Shihuang's achievements and faults thoroughly. The reason lies in the time span and the lack of historical facts and materials. No one dares to say that what they think is correct.
Some people say that Qin Shihuang was cruel, bloody, and inhumane. He killed surrendered soldiers, burned books to harass Confucian scholars, and asked for medicine and immortality. It seems that what this person said is right, but subsequent historical research has proved that this This statement is not quite right.
Is Ying Zheng really the "Tiger and Wolf King"? We have picked out three of Qin Shihuang's most famous "mistakes" to "see through the lens" and find out the truth of history. The truth may be different from what you know.
First of all, we need to make it clear that "burning books" and "conquering Confucianism" are two different things. Although they cannot be said to be unrelated, the causes and results of the two things are indeed not related.
Burning books
"Historical Records: The Chronicles of the First Emperor of Qin" records: "The ministers invited historians to burn them all except those who were in the Qin Dynasty. Anyone who is not a doctor or official would dare to have a collection of poems, books, hundreds of books, etc. in the world." Those who speak in the family should be informed by Yi Shou and Wei Za to burn them."
According to "Historical Records", Qin Shihuang did burn books. He ordered the burning of history books other than the history of the Qin Dynasty, except for doctors who were in office. People in the world are not allowed to keep private quotations from other schools of thought.
I believe many people will say that Qin Shihuang is too tyrannical. Why should he burn other people’s books? Those books are the treasures of our descendants. Don't worry, Qin Shi Huang had no choice but to do this.
Back in the thirty-fourth year of Qin Shihuang, the country implemented a system of prefectures and counties. Facts have proved that it was a wise decision to replace the feudal system with the county system. However, in the eyes of people at the time, the county system violated the ancient system.
As a result, many people disagreed with the administration of prefectures and counties. Even the doctors around Qin Shihuang (such as Chun Yuyue) advocated enfeoffing children according to the ancient system. So, what is the basis for their disagreement with the county system? It’s those Baijia books.
When Qin Shihuang wanted to truly unify the nation (ideological, political, and economic), it was obvious that his thoughts must come first. Qin Shihuang understood the importance of ideas to the people and the harm to the country (such as the Western Enlightenment), so he ordered the burning of books. From this perspective, can you say that Qin Shihuang did something wrong?
Entrapment of Confucianism
According to later archaeological discoveries, it has been proved that there is a certain misunderstanding of "entrapment of Confucianism" here. According to the records of "Historical Records": "Lu Sheng and others have been given very generous gifts by me, but now they are slandering me to emphasize my immorality."
Who is Lu Sheng? He was the alchemist sent by Qin Shihuang to ask for medicine. According to this ancient saying, Qin Shihuang spent huge sums of money to send Xu Fusheng and other methods to ask for medicine. As a result, Lu Sheng not only ran away, but also insulted and slandered Qin Shihuang during the trial. This changed No one can bear it.
So there is a record in "Historical Records: Biographies of Scholars": "By the end of the Qin Dynasty, poems and books were burned, and magicians were trapped, and the six arts were lacking from then on." Note, the one being tricked here is the alchemist.
The ancients’ belief in immortals did not begin with Qin Shihuang. Although Confucius said: “The Master did not talk about strange powers and confuse the gods.” However, Confucianism was not a big group at that time. Most people were willing to believe in gods. Qin Shihuang was the great One of the many, he believed too.
So, why don’t people criticize the majority of people who believe in gods, but why do they criticize Qin Shihuang? Because he is the emperor.
It is recorded in "Historical Records" that Qin Shihuang Yingzheng sent Xu Fu to lead boys and girls to ask for medicine. Where did Xu Fu go? No follow-up.
After Qin Shihuang suffered this loss, did he seek immortality and medicine again? The answer is: probably not. Because I just said "Burning poems and books, trapping warlocks", all the warlocks in the world are frightened after hearing this, who dares to come and feel unhappy?
Moreover, in the subsequent years of Qin Shihuang, Qin Shihuang no longer indulged in magical arts, and lived the life of "one emperor through the ages" conscientiously.
From today’s perspective, no one should think that Qin Shihuang’s building of the Great Wall was a wrong thing. If not, why did the emperors of later dynasties take over the torch of Qin Shihuang and continue to build the Great Wall? They are obviously not stupid.
After the fall of the Qin Dynasty, the Western Han Dynasty continued to build the Great Wall. From Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty to Emperor Xuan of the Han Dynasty, a Great Wall was built that started from Dayuan Ershi City in the west and ended at the mouth of the Datong River in southern Pyongyang, North Korea in the east.
Qin Shihuang built the Great Wall based on strategic considerations, and even the breadth of the time dimension he considered was embarrassing. In other words, Qin Shihuang was not based on the interests of the Qin Empire, but on the interests of the entire Chinese nation. Although this was too much of a burden for the Qin Dynasty at that time, he had to make this move.
Because he understood that even if the Qin Dynasty was destroyed, future Central Plains dynasties would still have to face the powerful enemy in the north - the Xiongnu.
He is right about this, and he does have such a broad mind, because Qin Shihuang once said this:
Two thousand years of time cannot wash away people's prejudices, and they cannot be "one emperor through the ages." Zhaoxue, because the historical data are still insufficient to this day, but we believe that one day the truth will be revealed. Obviously, if Qin Shihuang were alive, he would probably just laugh at it.