Chapter 7 1. The burning of books by Qin Shihuang—the first catastrophe in the history of Chinese books

During the Warring States Period, in order to maintain the unity of feudal laws and consolidate the rule of feudal dynasties, the kings of various countries had the practice of banning and burning classics.Qin Xiaogong once took the action of "burning poems and books to clarify laws and regulations", the purpose was to oppose some courtiers who cited "Poems" and old books to oppose the reform at that time.Although it played a certain role in promoting the establishment of the new feudal political rule at that time, it was not conducive to the spread and development of culture in the long run, and it was the destruction of traditional culture.And Qin Shihuang's book burning behavior out of the need for political rule brought misfortune to the rich classics created by our ancestors.

In 221 BC, Qin Shihuang destroyed the six kingdoms, ended the chaotic situation of the separatist regimes during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Periods, and established the first unified empire with a centralized system in Chinese history.In order to consolidate this unprecedented centralized and unified country, Qin Shihuang adopted a series of reforms including politics, economy and culture.Such as formulating various laws and regulations suitable for the development of feudal economy, implementing the system of prefectures and counties, strengthening the administrative agencies of the central government, unifying the road, unifying weights and measures and currency, etc., thus strengthening the rule of the whole country.In terms of culture, Qin Shihuang not only adopted the "Five Virtues Theory" of the Yin-Yang School of the Warring States period to maintain Qin's legal system and mystify the imperial power, but also unified the writing, using Qin's Xiaozhuan as the standard font, abolishing the writing used by other countries in the past, promulgating Distribute "Cangjie Pian" in the world.

In the thirty-fourth year of Qin Shihuang (213 B.C.), the doctoral officer Chun Yuyue advocated following the example of ancient times, enfeoffing princes, and returning to the separatist situation of feudal aristocrats.Prime Minister Li Si immediately opposed this retrogressive approach. He believed that "the five emperors will not be reunited, and the three generations will not attack each other." The difference in political measures is all due to the development of the times. To harm today.He believes that doing so is not conducive to the centralized rule and the strengthening of imperial power, so he advocates the prohibition of "Poetry", "Haijiayu".He suggested that all historical records of other countries be burned except for the historical records of the Qin State collected by historians; except for the books collected by doctoral officials, all Confucian classics and books of various schools of thought in private collections should be sent to the government to be burned.Thirty days after the order is issued, those who do not send their private books to the government will be punished as hard labor. From now on, several people will be sentenced to death for discussing poetry and books.Only books on medicine, divination, and tree planting are not allowed.Qin Shihuang adopted Li Si's suggestion, burning poems and books, and banning private studies.In addition to burning a large number of cultural classics, 460 Confucian scholars who discussed the government and slandered the government were buried alive.

The result of Qin Shihuang's burning of books and burying Confucianism destroyed the achievements of academic and cultural contention since the Spring and Autumn Period, especially since the Warring States Period, and suppressed the development of academic culture.Burning a large number of cultural classics is a catastrophe for ancient Chinese cultural classics.After the Qin Dynasty, many books in our country were lost, which is a great tragedy in the history of culture.