The First Emperor of Qin

The First Emperor of Qin known as Qin Shihuangdi was motivated by a vision of
national unity. He was able to defeat six rival states and create China as a unified
empire. China comes from the name Qin. The First Emperor of China assumed
power in 221 BC.

Excerpts from the Historical Record by Sima Qian

Li Ssu: Advisor to the First Emperor

Memorial on Annexation of Feudal States [from Shih chi, 87:2a-b)

He who waits on others misses his opportunities, while a man aiming at great
achievements takes advantage of a critical juncture and relentlessly follows it
through. Why is it that during all the yers that Duke Mu of Chin was overlord among
the feudal princes, he did not try to annex the Six States to the east? It was because
the feudal lords were still numerous and the power of the imperial Chou had not yet
decayed. Hence, as the Five Overlords succeeded one another, each in turn upheld
the house of Chou. But since the time of Duke Hsiao of Chin [361-338 BC], the House
of Chou has been declining, the feudal states have been annexing one another, and
east of the pass there remain only Six States.

Through military victories, the State of Chin has, in the time of the last six
kings, brought the feudal lords into submission. And by now the feudal states yield
obeisance to Chin as if they were its commanderies and prefectures. Now, with the
might of Chin and the virtues of Your Highness, at one stroke, like sweeping off the
dust from a kitchen stove, the feudal lords can be annihilated, imperial rule can be
established, and unification of the world can be brought about. This is the one
moment in ten thousand ages. If Your Highness allows it to slip away and does not
press the advantage in haste, the feudal lords will revive their strength and organize
themselves into an anti-Chin alliance. Then no one, even though he possessed the
virtues of the Yellow Emperor, would be able to annex their territories.

Memorial on the Abolition of Feudalism. [From Shih chi, 6:12b)

Numerous were the sons, younger brothers, and other members of the royal
family that were enfeoffed by King Wen and King Wu at the founding of the Chou
dynasty. But as time passed, these relatives became estranged and alienated from
one another; they attacked each other as if they were enemies. Eventually the
feudal lords started wars and sent punitive expeditions against one another, and the
king could do nothing to stop them. Now, owing to the divine intelligence of Your
Majesty, all the land within the seas is unified and it has been divided into
commanderies and prefectures. The royal princes and the meritorious ministers
have been granted titles and bountifully rewarded from the government treasury
and it has proven sufficient. When the government institutions have been thus
changed and there has been no contrary opinion in the empire, it is evidently the
way to keep peace and quiet. To institute a feudal nobility again would not be
advantageous.

Memorial on the Burning of Books [From Shih chi, 87:6b-7a]
In earlier times the empire disintegrated and fell into disorder, and no one
was capable of unifying it. Thereupon the various feudal lords rose to power. In
their discourses they all praised the past in order to disparage the present and
embellished empty words to confuse the truth. Everyone cherished his own favorite
school of learning and criticized what had been instituted by the authorities. But at
present Your Majesty possesses a unified empire, has regulated the distinctions of
black and white, and has firmly established for yourself a position of sole
supremacy. And yet, these independent schools, joining with each other, criticize the
codes of laws and instructions. ..They seek a reputation by discrediting their
sovereign; they appear superior by expressing contrary views, and they lead the
lowly multitude in the spreading of slander. If such license is not prohibited, the
sovereign power will decline above and partisan factions will form below. It would
be well to prohibit this.

Your servant suggests that all books in the imperial archives, save the
memoirs of Chin, be burned. People wishing to pursue learning should take
officials as their teachers.

Memoir on Exercising Heavy Censure [From Shih chi, 87:15 a-18a]Empe

The fact that intelligent rulers and sage-kings were able for a long time to
occupy the exalted position, hold great power, and monopolize the benefits of the
empire is due to nothing other than their being able, on their own responsibility, to
exercise censure without neglect and to apply severe punishments without fail. It
was for this reason that none in the empire dared to be rebellious. If, now, a ruler
does not busy himself with what prevents rebellion, but instead engages in the same
practices by which the affectionate mother spoils her children, indeed he has not
understood the principles of sages. When one fails to practice the statecraft of sages,
what else does he do except make himself the slave of the empire? Is this not a pity?



Epilogue:

The harsh principles by which the First Emperor ruled were known as
legalism. The First Emperor of Chin accomplished quite a lot. He brought all of
China under direct control of the Chin court by setting up an administrative system
of prefectures and counties. His regime enacted laws which standardized weights,
measures and the written script. Better roads were constructed. Most well known,
thousands and thousands of people constructed the Great Wall, to defend China
against invaders from the north. Yet, his regime was short lived. The expenses of the
central government meant unbearable taxes for the farmers. During the First
Emperors life, the people were terrorized. Enforcement of the laws was so harsh,
that any stirrings of rebellion among the populace were quashed. There were,
however, many attempts to assassinate him. The 2002 film Hero with Jet Li is
probably based on the story of Jing Ke, an assassin from the state of Yan.
The First Emperor became obsessed with his immortality. He had the huge
tomb built which housed thousands and thousands of terra cotta warriors to serve
him after death. However, a comfortable afterlife was not enough. He wanted to live
forever, and ingested mercury pills which were suppose to help him achieve that
goal. Instead, the mercury caused him to become mentally unstable and ruined his
physical health. He died at the age of 51. On his death, a struggle for power broke
out. Li Ssu and the powerful eunuch Chao Kao, by keeping the death of the emperor
secret and forging orders in his name, were able to seize power. The Second
Emperor became their puppet ruler. Then Chao Kao betrayed Li Ssu and destroyed
him and his family. Popular revolts broke out all over the nation, but rural officials
were afraid to tell the court because of the harsh punishments meted out to anyone
who dissented. Finally, the Second Emperor, was forced to commit suicide and the
eunuch was Chao Kao was murdered. The Chin dynasty came to a violent end ,
lasting only 15 years. It was succeeded by the dynasty of rulers known as the Han.
The Han dynasty was to last almost 400 years. Instead of the harsh principles of
Legalism, the Han rulers espoused the philosophy of Confucius (551-479 BC).


Confucius ideas on government:
These ideas were set down by his students in a book called The Analects.

Confucius said: Lead the people by laws and regulate them by penalties, and the
people will try to keep out of jail, but will have no sense of shame. Lead the people
by virtue and restrain them by the rules of decorum and the people will have a sense
of shame, and moreover will become good. [II:3]

Let the ruler be a ruler, the minister a minister, the father be a father, and the son be
a son. {This is Confucius famous doctrine of the Rectification of Names]

Chi Kang Tzu asked Confucius about government, saying: Suppose I were to kill the
lawless for the good of the law abiding, how would that do? Confucius answered:
Sir, why should it be necessary to employ capital punishment in your government?
Just so you genuinely desire the good, the people will be good. The virtue of the
gentleman many be compared to the wind and that of the commoner to the weeds.
The weeds under the force of the wind cannot but bend. [XII:19]

The Duke of She asked about good government. Confucius said: [A government is
good when] those near are happy and those far off are attracted.

This handout contains material from Theodore De Barys Sources of Chinese
Tradition, Columbia University Press, 1960.