Is the misunderstood historical Qin Shihuang a "potholer" or a "potholer"?

Qin Shihuang was the first real emperor in the history of China, and also the most controversial emperor, with many supporters and detractors. However, both advocates and opponents have gained great understanding-Qin Shihuang really "burned books to bury Confucianism".

Quite a few people believe that Qin Shihuang buried more than 400 Confucian scholars alive in order to strengthen his ideological control over the people. These Confucian scholars are all elites who believe in Confucian classics and have profound knowledge. In fact, this is not only a misunderstanding, but also a prejudice caused by the violent first emperor.

Sima Qian's Historical Records? The Scholars once mentioned this period of history: "By the end of Qin Dynasty, all the witches and poets were burned." Warlocks, that is, people like Lu Sheng, believe in magic. In fact, from a historical perspective, we can also find that Qin Shihuang had no reason to entrap Confucian scholars ―― it was Xu Fu who led boys and girls across the ocean to seek immortality, and it was Lu Sheng who took advantage of it and stabbed the first emperor to death. What does it have to do with Confucian scholars? No matter how ridiculous things are, Qin Shihuang can't take it out on Confucian scholars all over the world. It is very likely that some of the alchemists who were killed at that time were Confucian scholars who studied alchemy.

More importantly, "burning poetry books" and "pit magicians" are basically two different things-the background of "burning poetry books" was that Qin pursued the idea of "ruling the country according to law" at that time, but in the early Qin Dynasty, there was still a hundred schools of thought contending, especially the growing Confucianism, and domestic Confucian scholars often criticized state affairs.

What caused book burning to be put on the agenda was what Confucian scholars said: "If you don't learn from the past, you won't forget what you can do for a long time", while Legalists advocated that "today's students should not learn from today's people to confuse today's people." There is no doubt that legalists advocate being closer to the immediate interests of Qin Shihuang. So, he ordered the burning of historical records of all countries except Ji Qin, which were hidden by ordinary people, as well as the Book of Songs and Shangshu collected by the people. It is worth mentioning that the "doctor" in charge of books and texts in the Qin Dynasty can still keep these books.

Later, some scholars thought that the most direct evidence of "burning books and burying Confucianism" was Historical Records? Fu Su, the son of Qin Shihuang, has a clear record of this matter. Fu Su, the eldest son of Qin Shihuang, was kind. Seeing that so many people died in Qin Shihuang's pit, he couldn't bear it, so he advised his father that these magicians were all students of Confucius, intellectuals and pillars of the country and could not kill them indiscriminately. In fact, there is some truth in this statement, because there was no clear boundary between scientists and charlatans at that time, many deceptive magicians also read books, and many Confucian scholars also studied superstitious things. Therefore, Fu Su, my son, said that they all read Confucius, which is actually a white lie, in order to let my father kill fewer people and get a good reputation. As a result, I didn't expect to be misinterpreted by later generations, and the reputation of the first emperor was even worse. Fu Su was also implicated in this matter. Qin Shihuang didn't like his generosity. Coupled with improper suggestions, he was sent to the northern border to guard the border with Meng Tian.

The reason why "burning poetry books and pit warlocks" are linked together and gradually evolved into "burning poetry books and pit warlocks" is that in the process of historical evolution, Confucianism has continuously occupied the mainstream of public opinion and won the support of the ruling class-Liu Bang's success is inseparable from the support of Confucian scholars, and the short life of the Qin Dynasty and the rapid establishment of the Han Dynasty have further amplified the influence of "burning poetry books and pit warlocks".

(Figure) Map of Qin Dynasty (2265438 BC+0-207 BC)

After burning books to bury Confucianism, something happened in Dong Jun (now Puyang, Henan Province) that made Qin Shihuang extremely angry ―― in 2 1 1 year BC, a meteorite fell to Puyang, and someone secretly engraved six words on it because he hated the cruelty of the first emperor: "When the first emperor died, he was divided." The matter quickly spread throughout the country, and Qin Shihuang was furious. Although a large number of "detectives" were sent to pursue this matter, there was never any clue. In order to reassure himself, he ordered all the civilians living near the meteorite fall to be arrested and killed ―― this shows the degree of violence.

The first emperor was superstitious, and since this happened, he has been more suspicious all day. Later, he found a fortune teller and made a divination for himself. The other party told him: "Your Majesty has made a disaster this year, which is unlucky. Only by swimming outside can we eliminate disasters. " After listening to this, Qin Shihuang decided to go on a cruise to the East. Qin Shihuang made five large-scale cruises, and this is the last time. When passing through the plain, Tianjin and the garage desert, due to the fatigue of the journey, years of hard work and state affairs, and the high temperature outside, his body was overtired, which led to the death of a generation of emperors.