Qin Shi Huang, a controversial monarch in history. When people mention him, what comes to people's minds is the unification of the six countries, the unification of weights and measures, the same train track, the same book, and the establishment of a multi-ethnic unified country. These achievements made him known as "the first emperor of the ages" by later generations.
However, we cannot ignore the various negative deeds in the historical records: book burning and Confucianism, brutal rule, labor and loss of money (such as the construction of the Great Wall and Afang Palace), severe punishment and law, and the pursuit of immortality. These black histories constitute a lot of his "sins".
From a practical point of view, we can't help but ask, did Qin Shi Huang really have so many "sins"?Perhaps the truth will uncover the "grievances" of the first emperor.
Qin Shi Huang: The pinnacle of the boy's counterattack.
In our impression, Qin Shi Huang is a monarch with a crazy image and a cool tyrant. However, going back to his youth when he was not yet the "First Emperor", his experience was really a counterattack script for the big male protagonist.
Ying Zheng's teenage years are quite legendary. He was in Handan, Zhao State, and was helped by Lü Buwei to change his name to Zichu. Yingzheng, who was born between him and Lü Buwei's concubine Zhao Ji, did not become the crown prince until his grandfather An Guojun succeeded to the throne. After the death of An Guojun, Zichu succeeded to the throne and worshiped Lü Buwei as prime minister. However, due to his connection with Zhao Ji, Ying Zheng faced many obstacles in his ascension to power.
Yingzheng's counterattack road.
Yingzheng succeeded to the throne at the age of 13, but because he was too young to handle the government on his own, he respected Lü Buwei as his middle father. By the age of 21, Brother Wang launched a rebellion, and Empress Dowager Zhao's male favorite also rebelled, and was finally sentenced to car splitting. Next, Lü Buwei was dismissed from office and even committed suicide, purging Lü Buwei's party. From then on, Qin Shi Huang's counterattack officially began.
Ying Zheng began to reuse Li Si, Wei Yi and others, and Bashu and Hanzhong were already annexed before they succeeded to the throne, laying the foundation for further development. From 230 BC onwards, Qin Shi Huang pretended to form an alliance and skillfully encroached on the power of other countries, taking the lead in taking Korea and Zhao. By 221 BC, the four kingdoms of Wei, Chu, Yan, and Qi had perished one after another, and within ten years, the land and people of the six kingdoms had all been owned by the Qin state. In the end, Yingzheng obtained the collective title of "Three Emperors and Five Emperors" and became the first "emperor" in history.
The mystery of Qin Shi Huang's eternal emperor.
However, the title of "Emperor of the Ages" does not stem entirely from his unifying deeds. Qin Shi Huang established the first centralized power, implemented the system of three princes and nine secretaries, abolished the division of feuds, and established counties. In this way, local power was better concentrated in **, which was convenient for the state to manage, and had a profound impact on the dynastic ruling order of later generations. In addition, he reformed the law and the system of forced labor, and implemented the Shang Dynasty Reform Law.
Codes for the use of script, coins, languages, weights and measures, and roads have been formulated, which have removed obstacles to cultural, economic, and political exchanges in China, a multi-ethnic country, and promoted the country's development.
For the common people, Qin Shi Huang built water conservancy canals, improved the land system, and abolished the well field system. In the face of foreign invasion, he advocated rebuilding the Great Wall to intercept the footsteps of foreign invasion. From these aspects, he achieved the unification of the land, system, decrees, and economic exchanges of the entire country, and had a far-reaching impact on later generations, and he can indeed be called "the first emperor of the ages".
Qin Shi Huang's "black spot" exploration.
However, even though Qin Shi Huang made the greatest contribution in history, he was also degraded by posterity. Among them, some typical "black spots" have received widespread attention, let us uncover the truth behind these black spots one by one, and see how valuable these evaluations are.
Severe punishment and cruelty
The so-called harsh punishments, such as car splitting, beheading and other punishments, have made many people change their faces. However, compared to other successive emperors, Qin Shi Huang did not order the execution of a single meritorious person. Even after Jing Ke's failure to assassinate Qin, Yan did not become the target of revenge. He even used terracotta warriors and horses to accompany the burial, instead of looking for living people. Compared to other historical monarchs, the name of "brutality" on the back of Qin Shi Huang seems rather unjust.
Book Burning and Confucianism: Misunderstanding and Distortion.
One of the most well-known black spots was the book-burning pit of Confucianism, an incident that drew intense criticism from Qin Shi Huang. However, in reality, it was not the academic classics that were burned, but the history books of the Six Kingdoms. Due to the rise of the rebel forces of the Six Nations, in order to eliminate the influence of the original Six Nations regimes, it was ordered that all the original books, except for medicine and laws, be burned. This decision was actually a suggestion by Li Si, not a unilateral decision of Qin Shi Huang. This also shows that there are many misunderstood elements in the "book burning and Confucianism" incident.
As for the "pit Confucianism", it actually stems from a pursuit of the elixir of life. After being deceived by the charlatans, these people spread rumors about Qin Shi Huang's brutality, leading Qin Shi Huang to order the capture and burial alive of these deceitfuls. Although this move seemed brutal at the time, the reason behind it was not simply Confucian suppression.
Building the Great Wall, costing people and money: a necessary act of defense.
Finally, regarding the construction of the Great Wall and the Afang Palace, many people believe that this is an irresponsible act of Qin Shi Huang to the people. However, the construction of the Great Wall did not begin with Qin Shi Huang, but was a major project that lasted from the Warring States period to the Ming and Qing dynasties. The construction of the Great Wall was to defend against the fierce peoples of the north, and the large-scale garrison would increase the burden on the people at the border gates, and the construction of fortifications would be twice the result with half the effort.
As for Afang Palace, although it was described as a luxurious place by Du Mu, archaeologists' research has revealed a different truth. More than 200,000 square meters of land were excavated, and only a few clods were found, and the conclusion was that it was "unbuilt". For the palace that "covers more than 300 miles and isolates the sky", there is actually a lack of conclusive evidence.
Epilogue. In Sima Qian's "Historical Records", his ridicule of radical ideas has long been revealed: "Qin took the world more violently, but the world changed and achieved great success. It is said that the 'Queen of Law', why not?It is similar to its own proximity and vulgarity, and it is easy to discuss humility. Scholars are concerned with what they hear, and when they see that Qin is on the throne of the emperor, they don't notice the end of it, and they laugh at it because of their actions, and they don't dare to say, which is no different from eating by ear. Sad husband!”
On the whole, Qin Shi Huang's contribution and black spots exist in the long river of history. His series of reforms and reunification initiatives have had a profound impact on China's development, and at the same time, the negative imprint on him cannot be ignored. In evaluating this monarch, we need to take into account the complexity of history and look at his reign from a more holistic perspective.
Qin Shi Huang: The unifier of light and shadow.
Qin Shi Huang was a controversial emperor in Chinese history, and he was hailed as "the first emperor of the ages" by later generations for his unification of the six kingdoms, the implementation of weights and measures, the same track of cars, and the same text of books. However, his reign was also accompanied by "black spots" such as book burning, brutal rule, and loss of money and labor, making his image both brilliant and gloomy.
First of all, on the positive side, Qin Shi Huang's contribution to the unification of the country cannot be ignored. He established the first centralized power and promoted the implementation of the system of three public and nine secretaries, the abolition of separation, and the establishment of counties and counties. This centralized management method effectively concentrated local power to the first place, which provided convenience for the management of the state and had a profound impact on the ruling order of later dynasties. He also carried out the reform of the law and the conscription system, and implemented the Shang Dynasty reform, which made the rule of law stricter and the economic exchanges more orderly. This series of reforms has had a profound impact on the evolution of Chinese history.
In terms of cultural, economic, and political exchanges, Qin Shi Huang promoted the use of script, coins, languages, weights and measures, and chariots, horses, and roads, breaking down cultural barriers for the development of a multi-ethnic country and promoting the prosperity of the country. He built water conservancy canals, improved the land system, and abolished the well-field system, which had a positive impact on the lives of the people. In the face of foreign invasion, he advocated the rebuilding of the Great Wall, a fortification that became one of the miracles of Chinese history, effectively resisting the invasion of the fierce peoples of the north.
However, the reign of Qin Shi Huang was also accompanied by a series of "black spots" that became the focus of historical controversy. The incident of burning books and pit Confucianism is considered to be a forced unification of freedom of thought, and has had a serious negative impact on the withering of a hundred schools of thought. Although it was the history books of the Six Kingdoms rather than the academic classics that were burned, the act aroused deep resentment. In addition, the severe punishment of the warlock**, although out of consideration for the ***, also reveals its brutal side to a certain extent.
The construction of the Great Wall and the construction of the Afang Palace are seen by some as a costly move. However, the construction of the Great Wall should be seen as a necessary measure taken by many dynasties in Chinese history to defend against the northern peoples, rather than as a personal mistake by Qin Shi Huang. Regarding the controversy over the Afang Palace, its scale is actually disputed, but in any case, this move also became a sign of evaluation of Qin Shi Huang.
Overall, Qin Shi Huang was a ruler who had both glorious historical contributions and controversy. In assessing his rule, we need to look at his actions dialectically, both in terms of his positive contributions to nation-building, but also in the sense that he was overly tough and brutal in some areas. His life is not only a glorious period in China's history, but also a warning to think about the relationship between power and people. There are many lessons to be learned from this and to look at periods in history in a more rational and comprehensive light.
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