Chapter 7 Seven, dominate the world

Unification began after Shi Huang proclaimed himself emperor. This is strange.Didn't he put Han, Zhao, Wei, Chu, Yan, Qi and Qin together before?Isn't this "unification of China"? of course not. What is "unification"?Unity is relative to division.For example, Jin became Zhao, Wei, and Han, which means splitting.If it becomes Jin again, it will be unified.The same is true of the Western Jin Dynasty after the Eastern Han Dynasty.Because the previous Eastern Han Dynasty was a whole.To become the Three Kingdoms of Wei, Shu, and Wu is to split.The Western Jin Dynasty, of course, was unified.

Qin did things differently.Because the previous Zhou was not a unified country (the Zhou Empire), but a national alliance (the Zhou Tianxia).The countries of the confederation had independent governance during the Western Zhou Dynasty, semi-independent sovereignty during the Spring and Autumn Period, and complete independent sovereignty during the Warring States Period.They are originally independent, how can they be said to be split? Without division, there is no unity. Such as the United States.The thirteen States that first constituted the United States of America (now translated as states, should actually be translated as states) were independent at the beginning.When they declared from Colonies (colonies) to States in 1776, they had their own constitutions and laws, as well as democratically elected "sovereign, free and independent" governments, and the States were completely equal.Excuse me, can this be called a "split state"?

Therefore, when they finally become a country, they can only be called "union", not "unification".Their country name, United States, has also been accurately translated as "United States", that is, "the United States is a country". Therefore, no one would say "Washington unified America". Similarly, it cannot be said that "Qin Shihuang unified China". What should I say then? merger. Qin merged with the world, Qin merged with the world, and Qin destroyed the six countries, all right. This is actually what the ancients said.When Chinese ancient books refer to this period of history, they all call it "consolidation", or "concurrent", or "consolidation", and there is no such thing as "unification".

However, after the merger, "China", which was originally a country with many states, became "one country", and it was centralized.At this time, unified work is not only reasonable and legal, but also feasible. That's right, unification of the world is what the empire needs. Don't states need to be united?unnecessary.The characteristics of Bangguo are "three levels of ownership, decentralization at different levels, independent governance, and multiple coexistence".Everyone is "one", no one is "only".If unification is required, who will do it?

Therefore, the state only seeks "unity", not "unification".The so-called "identity" is only "identification".For example, they all agreed that Zhou Tianzi was the co-lord of the world, and Chinese civilization was an advanced culture, that's all. Seeking common ground means reserving differences.Qi Dong "wild language", Chu people "鴃 tongue" (鴃 read like a decision), Wu people "cut hair and tattoos", and Yue people "do not walk on foot". No one asked them to change their ways, change their appearance, and unite.

This is Spring and Autumn.By the time of the Warring States period, the co-owners were gone, and everyone was an independent kingdom, and no one would buy anyone else's account.As a result, "the fields are different, the carts are painted differently, the law is different, the clothes are different, the speech is different, and the characters are different", and even the so-called "bird script" and "tadpole script" appeared—— Currencies also vary.Briefly speaking, Zhou, Zhao, Wei, and Han used to distribute coins, Yan and Qi used knives, Chu used copper shells and gold coins, and Qin used to win coins.Moreover, even if they are knife coins or cloth coins, the shapes and weights are different, and the conversion is extremely troublesome.

This, of course, cannot be tolerated by a centralized empire.Because the empire not only requires "counties and counties in the sea", but also requires "unification of laws and regulations".If the text and currency are not unified, then, should the emperor's edict be written in different texts, and the treasury is full of cloth coins and knife coins? So Qin Shihuang ordered the unification of the country, including the unified currency, unified weights and measures, unified mu system (two hundred and forty square steps are one mu), and unified track (the width of the car is six feet).It is said that this is what Confucius also yearned for. For example, "The Book of Rites The Doctrine of the Mean" advocates that "cars are on the same track, books are on the same text, and actions are on the same path."

But the most significant is the unified text. The unified approach is to abolish variant characters and promote simplified characters.For this reason, they did not hesitate to kill themselves first.In the old place of Qin Dynasty and Western Zhou Dynasty, Zhenwen (籀 read like Zhou), also known as Dazhuan, is popular.The strokes of the big seal script are heavy, so the first emperor asked Li Si to simplify it into a small seal script, also called Qin seal script.Later, Cheng Miao was simplified to Qin Li.Even low-level officials and people at the bottom can understand this, so it is called "Clerical Script".

This is really a matter of boundless merit.It not only popularized culture, but also continued civilization.In fact, the civilization of our nation has been uninterrupted for three thousand years, and the role of writing is indispensable.From oracle bones to bronze inscriptions, from Zhou seal script to Qin seal script, from seal script to clerical script, Chen and Chen are related to each other and come down in one continuous line.So the Shang culture continued to be the Zhou culture, the Zhou culture continued to be the Qin culture, and the Qin culture continued to be the Han culture.It is Qin Shihuang's "book with text" that connects the past and the future.

The result of the same text is the birth of a larger nation.This nation is Han.The Han nationality is an upgraded version of the Chinese nation.Her formation actually began with Qin.In fact, if it hadn’t been for the fall of the Qin Empire II, and the Han Dynasty had lasted for more than 400 years, then Chinese, Chinese characters, Han nationality, and Han people should be called Qin language, Qin characters, Qin family, and Qin people. These are the three major revolutions of Qin Shihuang: proclaiming the emperor, anti-feudalism, and great unification.As a result of the revolution, the imperial system replaced the state system, which lasted for more than two thousand years and had an extremely far-reaching impact.Its political significance and historical status can only be compared with the feudalism of the Western Zhou Dynasty and the Revolution of 1911.

However, a revolution is not a dinner party, and any revolution has a price.To carry out a profound revolution in ancient society, some people even had to offer sacrifices, and some people had to try their own methods as sacrifices.This is an unavoidable tragedy. History has chosen Qin again. Twelve years after Qin Shihuang's revolution, the anti-Qin movement swept across the world, and the Great Qin Empire quickly perished.Of course, Qin Shihuang never expected this.What made him even more unexpected was that the first to raise the flag of rebellion was not the nobles and elders of the six countries whom he had deliberately planned to guard against, but a small person. This little man is Chen Sheng.

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