Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China (259-210 BCE)
"Jia Yi, discussing the history of the Qin dynasty, has written as follows:
Duke Xiao of Qin [fourth century BC], relying upon the strength of the Hangu Pass and basing himself in the area of Yongzhou, with his ministers held fast to his land and eyed the house of Zhou, for he cherished a desire to roll up the empire like a mat, to bind into one the whole world, to bag all the land within the four seas; he had it in his heart to swallow up everything in the eight directions. At this time he was aided by the Legalist philosopher Lord Shang, who set up laws for him, encouraged agriculture and weaving, built up the instruments of war, contracted military alliances, and attacked the other feudal lords. Thus the men of Qin were able with ease to acquire territory east of the upper reaches of the Yellow River.
After the death of Duke Xiao, Kings Huiwen, Wu, and Zhao carried on the undertakings of their predecessor...then followed Kings Xiaowen and Zhuangxiang, whose reigns were short and uneventful. After this came the First Emperor who, carrying on the glorious spirit of his six predecessors, cracked his long whip and drove the universe before him, swallowed up the eastern and western Zhou, and overthrew the feudal lords. He ascended the throne of honor and ruled the six directions, scourging the world with his rod, and his might shook the four seas. In the south he seized the land of the hundred tribes of Yue and made of it Guilin and Xiang provinces, and the lords of the hundred Yue bowed their heads, hung halters from their necks, and pleaded for their lives with the lowest officials of Qin. Then he sent Meng Tian to build the Great Wall and defend the borders, driving back the Xiongnu over 700 li, so that the barbarians no longer ventured to come south to pasture their horses and their men dared not take up their bows to vent their hatred.
Thereupon he discarded the ways of the former kings and burned the books of the hundred schools of philosophy in order to make the people ignorant. He destroyed the walls of the great cities, assassinated the powerful leaders, and collected all the arms of the empire, which he had brought to his capital at Xianyang, where the spears and arrowheads were melted down and cast to make twelve human statues. All this he did in order to weaken the people of the empire".
-Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian (translated by Burton Watson), page 10, book I
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| Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, (259-210 BCE). An 1850 artwork by unknown artist. From Yuan, Zhongyi. China's terracotta army and the First Emperor's mausoleum: the art and culture of Qin Shihuang's underground palace. Paramus, New Jersey: Homa & Sekey Books, 2010. ISBN 978-1-931907-68-2 (p.140) |
Source:
Quote:
Sima Qian, Records of the Grand Historian (translated by Burton Watson)
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