Fragments of the history of Confucianism in the burning of books

Mondo History Updated on 2024-01-30

In 212 BC, Qin Shi Huang made a decision that shocked the world. Here, he ordered the killing of 460 Confucian scholars, an area that would later become known as the Qinkeng Confucian Valley. The evaluation of Qin Shi Huang has always been difficult to get rid of the label of tyrant, which mainly stems from his famous book-burning and Confucian incident. However, book burning and confucianism are actually two separate things.

First of all, the book burning took place in 213 BC, when there were different voices in the court and the county system about the feudal system and the county system. As a wise monarch, Qin Shi Huang chose the county system, so he ordered the burning of some books about the feudal system, which became known as the book burning incident.

The Confucianism incident occurred after Qin Shi Huang unified the six kingdoms. He longed for immortality, so he ordered some alchemists in the rivers and lakes to find the elixir of immortality for him. Among them, the famous Fang Shi Xu Fu took 500 boys and girls to Japan and disappeared since. And Lu Sheng and Hou Sheng, the two monks, slipped away. When these plots were revealed, Qin Shi Huang was furious. At that time, Xianyang, the capital of Qin, gathered a large number of alchemists and warlocks. Qin Shi Huang found these 460 monks and warlocks, and finally killed them all here. This place has thus become a witness to history and will be remembered forever by future generations.

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