Sima Qian is a well-known figure in the history of our country, and his magnum opus "Records of the Historian" is undoubtedly the pinnacle of Chinese history, and is known as a model of Chinese history books with far-reaching influence. In this seminal historiography, how do you record the life and deeds of Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of the ages?
The Historical Records Volume VI: The Benji of Qin Shi Huang records in detail the course of Qin Shi Huang's reign and major events. He was the son of King Xiang of Qin Zhuang, who succeeded to the throne at a young age and was initially assisted by an auxiliary minister. In the form of a general history in the form of a biography, the "Records of the Historians" comprehensively presents the governance and reform of the Qin Shi Huang period.
Although Qin Shi Huang reigned for only 37 years, his influence was far-reaching and widespread. He unified the six countries and laid the political pattern for more than 2,000 years. However, even so, Sima Qian's evaluation of Qin Shi Huang in the "Historical Records" is quite critical: "The king of Qin harbored a heart of greed, practiced the wisdom of self-exertion, did not believe in meritorious heroes, did not favor the people, abolished the royal way, established private rights, banned documents and tortured the law, first deceit and then benevolence, and tyranny as the beginning of the world." ”
This passage expresses Sima Qian's criticism of Qin Shi Huang, portraying him as a greedy, arbitrary, and brutal image. However, history's evaluation of Qin Shi Huang is quite complicated. In some respects, he has indeed achieved some remarkable achievements.
During his reign, Qin Shi Huang did not kill meritorious ministers indiscriminately, which is rare among previous monarchs. He enacted strict laws and is considered one of the first laws in the world to protect the rights of prisoners. Even in the incident of Jing Ke's assassination of the King of Qin, the Qin army did not take drastic measures such as slaughtering the city after the victory, showing some benevolence.
Of course, the burning of books and the pit of Confucianism was also a controversial act of Qin Shi Huang. Although he burned the books of the people, the documents of the palace were not affected. As for the behavior of pit Confucianism, it is actually the burial of warlocks rather than Confucian scholars, which has also been interpreted more objectively in later historical theories.
For Qin Shi Huang, there are various perspectives on historical evaluation, and different people have different opinions. His short reign established the unification of the Qin Dynasty and implemented a series of changes, which undoubtedly left a strong mark on Chinese history.