Is Qin Shihuang really a tyrant? How to objectively evaluate Qin Shihuang

When people mention Qin Shihuang, they will immediately think of many words about him, such as Jing Ke stabbing the king of Qin, burning books and burying Confucianism, and looking for an elixir of life. Even Meng Jiangnv's Crying on the Great Wall is related to Qin Shihuang. To sum up, Qin Shihuang can be summed up in almost one word: tyranny.

Since Qin Shihuang is so famous, why should we talk about him? In my opinion, at present, people's understanding of Qin Shihuang is largely limited to his literary image and folk image, but the historical image of Qin Shihuang is very vague.

When historians study history, they usually divide historical figures into three categories: historical images, literary images and folk images. To judge whether Qin Shihuang was a tyrant, we must first understand these three concepts.

What is the historical image?

Historical images come from the first-hand information of historical figures. In ancient China, every dynasty had people who specialized in historical records, generally called "historians". Since the Spring and Autumn Period, there have been special historians in China to record state affairs, especially the monarch of a country, who records them every day. Like keeping a diary, there is a saying that "the monarch and the minister must write a book." Among the officials who record history, there are also official positions such as grand history, mini-history, internal history, foreign history, left history and right history. Great history governs the codes of the six countries, small history governs the aspirations of the country, internal history governs the lives of kings, and external history governs the books in China, making it almost everywhere. Thus, in ancient China, the record of history was very strict, and the division of labor and responsibilities of historians was also very detailed and clear.

2. What is a literary image?

Literary images are generally rewritten by later writers according to historical records, giving new life to historical figures and events, which we call re-creation. For example, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, one of the four classical novels, was written by the author Luo Guanzhong according to the History of the Three Kingdoms written by Chen Shou, a historian in the Western Jin Dynasty. In the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Luo Guanzhong made great changes to historical figures and plots, making the story more profound and exciting, enhancing the literariness of the work and weakening the authenticity. Therefore, there is a certain difference between literary image and historical image. This reconstructed and deductive work is called literary image.

3. What is a folk image?

Not all historical events can be adapted into novels by writers, but more are passed down from mouth to mouth by ordinary people. In your passage, there will inevitably be some processing, fabrication, exaggeration and even adaptation. Moreover, folk stories are more about expressing the aspirations and aspirations of the general public, so there are folk images of historical figures. For example, "Meng Jiangnv cries at the Great Wall" has been rumored in history. Meng Jiangnv does exist, but crying on the Great Wall is nothing. The saying of "crying down the Great Wall" more reflects the working people's disgust and disgust at Qin Shihuang's construction of the Great Wall.

Well, the above basic lessons are finished, and then we will really get to the point: was Qin Shihuang a tyrant?

I don't think so. Many literary works have always portrayed Qin Shihuang as a tyrannical emperor, which is really unfair. Since it is a literary work, subjective adaptation is bound to be the majority. However, in historical records, Qin Shihuang was not like this. Compared with many benevolent kings in later generations, the behavior of this ancient emperor is sometimes more wise, kind and wise!

First, it is wrong to say that "books are burned to bury Confucianism". One of the reasons why Qin Shihuang was tyrannical was that he "burned books to bury Confucianism" and burned Confucian classics, killing many scholars. However, this story is not true!

After Qin Shihuang unified the world, in order to improve the country's political system, he adopted the legalist thought headed by Li Si as the concept of governing the country, and changed the enfeoffment system into the county system. This reform was opposed by Confucian scholars at that time, especially the Confucianism headed by Chun, who preferred to follow the previous week's enfeoffment system and improve the former Qin Shihuang. However, Qin Shihuang did not adopt it, and he supported Li Sifei's idea of setting up counties. Some Confucian scholars criticized the current political situation and opposed the political reform, which made Qin Shihuang furious, so he ordered the burning of Confucian classics, including foreign historical books outside Ji Qin, and private collections of poems and books that did not belong to the doctor's museum were also handed in for burning within a time limit. Some people dare to talk about the execution of "poems" and "books", and private schools are forbidden. People who want to study law should take officials as teachers. At that time, Fu Su, the son of Confucius, and Wang Ke, the prime minister, were also extremely opposed to Ying Zheng's practice and suggested that the country should be governed by Confucius' Confucianism. Qin Shihuang refused to listen, and even ordered the killing of many Confucian scholars in order to suppress them.

It should be said that only half of the above story conforms to the historical facts, and it is indeed an order to burn Confucian classics, but Ying Zheng is not a "pit Confucian" but a "pit warlock". Sima Qian's Historical Records did not record the theory of "cheating Confucianism".

Warlocks are people who specialize in fortune telling. According to Records of the Historian, Qin Shihuang was obsessed with immortality in his later years, so he hired Lu Sheng and Hou Sheng to help the first emperor get the fairy medicine. They knew it was impossible to get the fairy medicine, so they left the capital with huge sums of money and ran away. When Qin Shihuang knew this, he was furious and arrested all the magicians in the capital and buried them alive.

In addition, it is also wrong to equate "scholar" with "Confucian scholar" in the story. After Qin Shihuang unified the six countries, the land of China is still a hundred schools of thought contend. There were many schools of scholars at that time, including Confucianism, Legalism, Taoism, Mohism and strategists. The supporters of these schools are all knowledgeable scholars, and Confucianism is only one of them, which does not represent all scholars.

Second, be kind to heroes and don't kill innocent people! After Qin Shihuang unified the six countries, he was kind to heroes. For example, Wang Ke, the prime minister who succeeded for 20 years. Wang Geng was the leader who advocated the enfeoffment system, which was completely contrary to the idea of county system promoted by Qin Shihuang. The monarch and ministers have many differences in political views. But instead of punishing him, Ying Zheng burned some books to warn those who disagreed.

Compared with Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty and Cao Cao of the Three Kingdoms, Zheng Can was a moderate emperor.

Dou Ying, the prime minister of the Western Han Dynasty, helped Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty to pacify the rebellion of Wu Chu in his early years and made great contributions. Later, he was imprisoned for offending Uncle Tian, and Liang Wudi ordered his death. Another hero, Zhu, helped Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to implement the law of favor, which effectively weakened the political power of local governors, but was later ordered by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty to exterminate the nation because of a small incident.

Cao Cao of the Three Kingdoms is also an overlord who is famous for killing ministers. Cao Cao's men are full of talents, and Xun is the most prominent counselor. He has followed Cao Cao for decades and helped him fight in the north. He was the chief hero of Cao Cao, and later he was forced to death by Cao Cao because he opposed Cao Cao's reign. In this contrast, Qin Shihuang can really be called "broad-minded". At the very least, Qin Shihuang made extensive suggestions, dared to accept different opinions, and was tolerant enough to treat ministers.

Li Xin, a general around Qin Shihuang, once boasted that Chu could be won in two or three months, but he was defeated by Xiang Yan, a famous Chu. Later, Qin Shihuang resurrected veteran Wang Jian and attacked Chu again. However, he still put Li Xin in the position of deputy marshal. This is a kind of trust in the liegeman, which is not a quality that a tyrant can possess.

Let me talk about Wang Jian again. He was one of the four famous soldiers in the Warring States and the right-hand man of Qin Shihuang. In the great cause of the reunification of the six countries destroyed by Qin, except South Korea, the other five countries were destroyed by Wang Jian and his son. It can be said that Wang Jian and his son have made outstanding contributions to the reunification of China, and their contributions can be compared with those of Han Xin in the early Han Dynasty. After the establishment of the Qin Dynasty, Qin Shihuang always took care of their father and son, and Wang Jian had to enjoy his old age.

On the other hand, another emperor, Liu Bang, did the opposite to his lieutenants.