The main content of "On the Passage of Qin" is: The first part first tells the reasons why Qin gradually became stronger from Duke Xiao to the First Emperor. It has geographical advantages, the idea of ??implementing reforms to strengthen itself, correct war strategies, and the painstaking management of several generations of Qin kings, etc. Later, it was written that although Chen She had little power, he was able to destroy the powerful Qin State. From the comparison, he came to the conclusion that Qin's downfall was due to his "absence of benevolence and righteousness".
The middle part analyzes that Qin did not have correct policies after unifying the world. Qin II failed to correct Qin Shihuang's wrong policies, and mainly blamed Qin II for his mistakes. The second article writes about Qin's critical situation, and Qin Prince Ying's inability to save the nation and support others, and mainly blames Qin Prince Ying's fault.
Writing characteristics:
1. The author writes his arguments using a method of comparison throughout the article.
The author uses four aspects of comparison: that is, the comparison between Qin itself being strong first and then weak, prosperous first and then declining, prosperous first and then destroyed; the comparison between Qin and the Six Kingdoms; the comparison between Qin and Chen She ; Comparison between Chen She and the Six Kingdoms. Several contrasts are intertwined, the structure is naturally grand, the momentum is naturally majestic, and the words appear to have more weight.
2. Use the technique of writing a poem to write reasoning prose.
Writing a poem requires extravagance and exaggeration. It can be said that Jia Yi used this technique throughout writing this article. For example, in the first paragraph of the four sentences "you have swept the world", the words "sweep", "baoju", "include" and "annex" are basically synonymous. If you write several sentences in a row with the same meaning, it is already There is parallelism and opposition, which is the exaggerated technique of writing a poem.
3. Narrative presentation and comparison.
The author uses a thousand words to summarize the history of more than a hundred years from Qin Xiaogong to the fall of Qin, and briefly explains the entire process and main phenomena of Qin's rise and fall. At the same time, he also The author's own point of view is used throughout to explain the key to its rise and fall.
Extended information
About the author:
"On the Passage of Qin" is the representative work of Jia Yi's political prose. Jia Yi (200 BC - 168 BC), known as Jia Taifu, Jia Changsha and Jia Sheng, was born in Luoyang (now east of Luoyang, Henan Province). A political commentator and writer in the early Western Han Dynasty.
Jia Yi's main literary achievement is political essays, and he has written ten volumes of "New Books". His representative works include "On Guo Qin", "Chen Zheng Shi Shu" (also known as "Public Security Policy"), "On Accumulation and Storage", etc.
Creative background:
The era of Emperor Wen of the Western Han Dynasty was the so-called "Peaceful Age" of the Han Dynasty, that is, the early stage of the "Government of Wen and Jing". Jia Yi used his keen insight to see through the surface and see the lurking crisis in the Western Han Dynasty. At that time, the rich and powerful embezzled a large amount of peasant land, forcing the peasants to go into bankruptcy and exile. Severe oppression, exploitation, and cruel punishments also intensified class conflicts.
The contradiction between domestic feudal separatism and centralized power, the contradiction between the ruling class and the working people, and the contradiction between ethnic groups are increasingly intensifying, and the status of the ruler is in danger of being shaken. In order to reconcile various contradictions and ensure long-term stability of the Western Han Dynasty, Jia Yi put forward many political proposals to the Han Dynasty to reform current shortcomings in famous political treatises such as "Chen Zheng Shi Shu", "On Accumulation and Storage" and "Guo Qin Lun".
This article uses an admonishing tone and analyzes the political successes and failures of the Qin Dynasty from the perspective of summarizing historical experience and lessons, so as to provide reference for Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty to reform politics.
When talking about the purpose of writing, Jia Yi said that the reason why he wanted to "observe the past, experience the present, participate in human affairs, observe the reasons for rise and fall, and review the expediency of power" and advocated "going out in order" "Changes are due to time", and its purpose is to achieve "a long-lasting and stable society" (Part 2). The article "On the Passage of Qin" summarizes the lessons of the rise and fall of the Qin Dynasty, which is actually the fault of Zhao and Han.