Qin Dynasty Textbook PDF

## The Daoist Answer to Confucianism ### Religion & Philosophy _The Dao De Jing_ (The Way of the Tao) is the great classic of philosophical Daoism (Taoism). Traditionally attributed to the legendary Chinese philosopher Lao Zi (Old Master), it was probably written during the era of Confucius. This...

## The Daoist Answer to Confucianism ### Religion & Philosophy _The Dao De Jing_ (The Way of the Tao) is the great classic of philosophical Daoism (Taoism). Traditionally attributed to the legendary Chinese philosopher Lao Zi (Old Master), it was probably written during the era of Confucius. This opening passage illustrates two of the key ideas that characterize Daoist belief: it is impossible to define the nature of the universe, and inaction (not Confucian action) is the key to ordering the affairs of human beings. ### The Way of the Tao * The Tao that can be told of is not the eternal Tao; * The name that can be named is not the eternal name. * The Nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth; * The Named is the mother of all things. * Subtlety. Therefore let there always be nonbeing, so we may see their subtlety. And let there always be being, so we may see their outcome. The two are the same, But after they are produced, they have different names. They both may be called deep and profound. Deeper and more profound, The door of all subtleties! * When the people of the world all know beauty as beauty, There arises the recognition of ugliness. * When they all know the good as good, There arises the recognition of evil. Therefore: * Being and nonbeing produce each other; * Difficult and easy complete each other; * Long and short contrast each other; * High and low distinguish each other; * Sound and voice harmonize each other; * Front and behind accompany each other. Therefore the sage manages affairs without action And spreads doctrines without words. All things arise, and he does not turn away from them. He produces them but does not take possession of them. He acts but does not rely on his own ability. He accomplishes his task but does not claim credit for it. It is precisely because he does not claim credit that his accomplishment remains with him. What is Lao Zi, the presumed author of this document, trying to express about the basic nature of the universe? Based on the Confucian Analects and The Way of the Tao, how do you think the Chinese attempted to understand the order of nature through their philosophies? ## 3‑ 3 THE FIRST CHINESE EMPIRE: THE QIN DYNASTY **Focus Question**: How did the first emperor of the Qin dynasty transform the political, social, and economic institutions of early China? During the last two centuries of the Zhou dynasty (the fourth and third centuries BCE), the authority of the king became increasingly nominal, and several of the small principalities into which the Zhou kingdom had been divided began to evolve into powerful states that presented a potential challenge to the Zhou ruler himself. Chief among these were Qu (CHOO) in the central Yangzi Valley, Wu (WOO) in the Yangzi delta, and Yue (yoo-EH) along the southeastern coast. At first, their mutual rivalries were held in check, but by the late fifth century BCE, competition intensified into civil war, giving birth to the so-called Period of the Warring States (see "The Art of War," p. 80). Powerful principalities vied with each other for preeminence and largely ignored the now purely titular authority of the Zhou court (see Map 3.2). New forms of warfare also emerged. with the invention of iron weapons and the introduction of the foot soldier. Cavalry, too, made its first appearance, armed with the powerful crossbow. Cities were now threatened by larger and more competent armies. When they sought to protect themselves by erecting high walls, their opponents countered by developing new techniques in siege warfare. Eventually, the relatively young state of Qin (CHIN), located in the original homeland of the Zhou, emerged as a key player in these conflicts. By the mid-fourth century BCE, it had become a major force in the contest for hegemony in late-Zhou China by adopting a number of reforms in agriculture, government administration, military organization, and fiscal policy. As a result of policies put into effect by the adviser Shang Yang (SHAHNG yahng) in the mid-fourth century BCE, Qin society was ruled with ruthless efficiency. In the words of Sima Qian (SUH-mah chee-AHN), a famous historian of the Han dynasty: > He commanded that the people be divided into tens and fives > and that they supervise each other and be mutually liable. > Anyone who failed to report criminal activity would be chopped > in two at the waist, while those who reported it would receive > the same reward as that for obtaining the head of an enemy. Benefiting from a strong defensive position in the mountains to the west of the great bend of the Yellow River, as well as from their control of the rich Sichuan plains, the Qin gradually subdued their main rivals through conquest or diplomatic maneuvering. In 221 BCE, the Qin ruler declared the establishment of a new dynasty - the first truly unified government in Chinese history. ## 3‑ 3 The First Chinese Empire: The Qin Dynasty 79 ## The Art of War ### Politics & Government **With the possible exception of the nineteenth-century German military strategist Carl von Clausewitz, there is probably no more famous or respected writer on the art of war than the ancient Chinese thinker Sun Tzu (SOON dzuh). Yet surprisingly little is known about him. Recently discovered evidence suggests that he lived in the fifth century BCE, during the chronic conflict of the Period of Warring States, and that he was an early member of an illustrious family of military strategists who advised Zhou rulers for more than two hundred years. But despite the mystery surrounding his life, there is no doubt of his influence on later generations of military planners. Among his most avid followers in our day have been the revolutionary leaders Mao Zedong and Ho Chi Minh, as well as the Japanese military strategists who planned the attacks on Port Arthur and Pearl Harbor. The following brief excerpt from his classic, The Art of War, provides a glimmer into the nature of his advice, still so timely today.** ### Selections from Sun Tzu Sun Tzu said: > "In general, the method for employing the military is > this: > Attaining one hundred victories in one hundred > battles is not the pinnacle of excellence. Subjugating the > enemy's army without fighting is the true pinnacle of > excellence.... > "Thus the highest realization of warfare is to attack > the enemy's plans; next is to attack their alliances; next > to attack their army; and the lowest is to attack their > fortified cities. > "This tactic of attacking fortified cities is adopted only > when unavoidable. Preparing large movable protective shields, > armored assault wagons, and other equipment and devices > will require three months. Building earthworks will require > another three months to complete. If the general cannot > overcome his impatience but instead launches an assault > wherein his men swarm over the walls like ants, he will kill > one-third of his officers and troops, and the city will still > not be taken. This is the disaster that results from attacking > [fortified cities]. > "Thus, one who excels at employing the military > subjugates other people's armies without engaging in battle, > captures other people's fortified cities without attacking > them, and destroys others people's states without prolonged > fighting. He must fight under Heaven with the paramount > aim of 'preservation.'... > "In general, the strategy of employing the military is > this: If your strength is ten times theirs, surround them; if > five, then attack them; if double, then divide your forces. If > you are equal in strength to the enemy, you can engage him. > If fewer, you can circumvent him. If outmatched, you can > avoid him... > "Thus, there are five factors from which victory can be > known: > "One who knows when he can fight, and when he cannot fight, > will be victorious. > "One who recognizes how to employ large and small numbers will > be victorious. > "One whose upper and lower ranks have the same desires will be > victorious. > "One who, fully prepared, awaits the unprepared will be > victorious. > "One whose general is capable and not interfered with by the > ruler will be victorious. > "These five are the Way (Tao) to know victory... > "Thus it is said that one who knows the enemy and knows > himself will not be endangered in a hundred engagements. > One who does not know the enemy but knows himself will > sometimes be victorious, sometimes meet with defeat. One > who knows neither the enemy nor himself will invariably be > defeated in every engagement." Why are the ideas of Sun Tzu about the art of war still so popular among military strategists after 2,500 years? How might he advise U.S. and other statesmen to deal with the problem of international terrorism today? ## 3‑ 3a The Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE) One of the primary reasons for the triumph of the Qin was probably the character of the Qin ruler, known to history as Qin Shi Huangdi, or the First Emperor of Qin. A man of forceful personality and immense ambition, Qin Shi Huangdi had ascended to the throne of Qin in 246 BCE at the age of thirteen. Described by the Han dynasty historian Sima Qian as having "the chest of a bird of prey, the voice of a jackal, and the heart of a tiger," the new king found the Legalist views of his adviser Li Su (lee SUH) all too appealing. In 221 BCE, Qin Shi Huangdi defeated the last of his rivals and founded a new dynasty with himself as emperor. ### Political Structures The Qin dynasty transformed Chinese politics. Philosophical doctrines that had proliferated during the late Zhou period were prohibited, and Legalism was adopted as the official ideology. Those who opposed the policies of the new regime were punished and sometimes executed. ## The Qin Empire, 221-206 BCE The Qin dynasty was equally aggressive in foreign affairs. His armies continued the gradual advance to the south that had taken place during the final years of the Zhou dynasty, extending the border of China to the edge of the Red River in modern Vietnam. To supply the Qin armies operating in the area, a canal was dug that provided direct inland navigation from the Yangzi River in central China to what is now the modern city of Guangzhou (gwahng-JOE) (Canton) in the south. ## MEMORANDUM ON THE BURNING OF BOOKS ### Politics & Government LI SU, who is quoted in the following passage, was a chief minister of the First Emperor of Qin. An exponent of Legalism, Li Su hoped to eliminate all rival theories of government. His recommendation to the emperor on how to accomplish this was recorded by the Han dynasty historian Sima Qian. The emperor approved the proposal and ordered all books contrary to the spirit of Legalist ideology to be destroyed on pain of death. Fortunately, some texts were preserved by being hidden or even memorized by their owners and were thus available to later generations. For centuries afterward, the First Emperor of Qin and his minister were singled out for criticism because of their intolerance and their effort to control the minds of their subjects. Totalitarianism, it seems, is not a modern concept. ### Sima Qian, Historical Records In antiquity all under Heaven was divided and in chaos, and nobody was capable of bringing unity to the rest, and it was for this reason that the feudal lords became active together. In their utterances they all spoke of the past in order to injure the present, and they made a display of empty verbiage in order to throw the truth into confusion. People approved what they had learnt in private in order to reject what their superiors laid down. Now Your Majesty has unified and taken possession of all under Heaven. You have distinguish white from black and fixed a single focus of adulation. But those who have studied privately in fact collaborate with each other to reject the regulations laid down by law and teaching; and when they hear orders promulgated, each criticizes them in accordance with his private studies. Indoors they mentally reject them, and outdoors they make criticisms in the byways. To reject their sovereign they consider a source of fame, disagreement they regard as noble, and they encourage all the orders to fabricate slander. If such things are not prohibited then above the sovereign's power will decline, and below factions will form. To prohibit this would be expedient. Your servant requests that all who possess literature such as the Songs, the Documents, and the sayings of the hundred schools should get rid of it without penalty. If they have not got rid of it a full thirty days after the order has reached them, they should be branded and sent to do forced labour on the walls. There should be exemption for books concerned with medicine, pharmacy, divination by tortoise-shell..., the sowing of crops, and the planting of trees. If there are those who wish to study, they should take the law officers as their teachers. Why did the Legalist thinker Li Su believe that his proposal to destroy dangerous ideas was justified? Are there examples of similar thinking in our own time? Are there occasions when it might be permissible to outlaw unpopular ideas? ## Beyond the Frontier: The Nomadic Peoples and the Great Wall The main area of concern for the Qin emperor, however, was in the north, where a nomadic people, known to the Chinese as the Xiongnu (SHYOHNG-noo) and possibly related to the Huns (see Chapter 5) or to Indo-European-speaking people in the area, had become increasingly active in the area of the Gobi Desert. The area north of the Yellow River had been sparsely inhabited since prehistoric times. During the Qin period, the climate of northern China was somewhat milder and moister than it is today, and parts of the region were heavily forested. The local population probably lived by hunting and fishing, practicing limited forms of agriculture, or herding animals such as cattle or sheep. As the climate gradually became drier, people were forced to rely increasingly on animal husbandry as a means of livelihood. Their response was to master the art of riding on horseback and to adopt the nomadic life. Organized loosely into communities consisting of a number of kinship groups, they ranged far and wide in search of pasture for their herds of cattle, goats, or sheep. As they moved seasonally from one pasture to another, they often traveled several hundred miles carrying their goods and their circular felt tents, called yurts. But the new way of life presented its own challenges. Increased food production led to a growing population, which in times of drought outstripped the available resources. Rival groups then competed for the best pastures. After they mastered the art of fighting on horseback in the middle of the first millennium BCE, territorial warfare became commonplace throughout the entire frontier region, from the Pacific Ocean to Central Asia. By the end of the third century BCE, the nomadic Xiongnu had unified many of the groups operating in the region and began to pose a serious threat to the security of China's northern frontier. A number of Chinese principalities in the area began to build walls of tamped earth or stones to keep them out, but warriors on horseback possessed significant advantages over the infantry of the Chinese. Qin Shi Huangdi's answer to the problem was to introduce archers, mounted on sturdy horses imported from Central Asia, into his military units stationed in the north to counter nomad attacks. He also strengthened the system of walls that had already been erected under the Zhou, while adding fortifications at strategic points to keep the marauders out. In the historian Sima Qian's words: > First Emperor of the [Qin]... seized control of all the lands > south of the Yellow River and established border defenses > along the river, constructing forty-four walled district cities > overlooking the river and manning them with convict laborers > transported to the border for garrison duty. Thus, he utilized > the natural mountain barriers to establish the border defenses, > scooping out the valleys and constructing ramparts and > building installations at other points where they were needed. > The whole line of defenses stretched over ten thousand li [a li > is one-third of a mile]....9 Today, of course, we know Qin Shi Huangdi's project as the Great Wall, which extends nearly 5,000 miles from the sandy wastes of Central Asia to the sea. Some of it is constructed of massive granite blocks, and its top is wide enough to serve as a roadway for horse-drawn chariots (see Chapter 10). Although the wall that appears in most photographs today was built during the Ming dynasty, 1,500 years after the Qin, some of the walls built by the Qin remain standing. Their construction was a massive project that required the efforts of thousands of laborers, many of whom met their deaths there and, according to legend, are buried within the wall (see illustration "The Great Walls of China" in Chapter 10 in Section 10-3). ## The Fall of the Qin The Legalist system put in place by the First Emperor of Qin was designed to achieve maximum efficiency as well as total security for the state. It did neither. Qin Shi Huangdi was apparently aware of the dangers of factions within the imperial family and established a class of eunuchs (castrated males) who served as personal attendants for himself and female members of the royal family. The original idea may have been to restrict the influence of male courtiers, and the eunuch system later became a standard feature of the Chinese imperial system. But as confidential advisers to the royal family, eunuchs were in a position of influence. The rivalry between the "inner" imperial court and the "outer" court of bureaucratic officials led to tensions that persisted until the end of the imperial system. By ruthlessly gathering control over the empire into his own hands, Qin Shi Huangdi had hoped to establish a rule that, in the words of Sima Qian, "would be enjoyed by his sons for ten thousand generations." In fact, his centralizing zeal alienated many key groups. Landed aristocrats and Confucian intellectuals, as well as the common people, groaned under the censorship of thought and speech, harsh taxes, and forced labor projects. "He killed men," recounted the historian, "as though he thought he could never finish, he punished men as though he were afraid he would never get around to them all, and the whole world revolted against him."10 Shortly after the emperor died in 210 BCE, the dynasty descended into factional rivalry, and four years later it was overthrown. ## 3‑ 4 THE GLORIOUS HAN DYNASTY (202 BCE-221 CE) **Focus Questions**: Why and to what degree did the Han dynasty turn to Confucianism as an ideology of the state? How in turn did Han rulers adjust Confucian ideas to serve their own needs? The fall of the Qin dynasty in 206 BCE was followed by a brief period of civil strife as aspiring successors competed for hegemony. Out of this conflict emerged one of the greatest and most durable dynasties in Chinese history-the Han (HAHN). The Han dynasty would later become so closely identified with the advance of Chinese civilization that even today the Chinese sometimes refer to themselves as "people of Han" and to their language as the "language of Han." The founder of the Han dynasty was Liu Bang (lyoo BAHNG), a commoner of peasant origin who would be known historically by his imperial title of Han Gaozu (HAHN gow-DZOO), or Exalted Emperor of Han. Under his strong rule and that of his successors, the new dynasty quickly moved to consolidate its control over the empire and promote the welfare of its subjects. Efficient and benevolent, at least by the standards of the time, Gaozu maintained the centralized political institutions of the Qin but abandoned its harsh Legalistic approach to law enforcement. Han rulers discovered in Confucian principles a useful foundation for the creation of a new state philosophy. Under the Han, Confucianism, supplemented by elements from the surviving classics of the "hundred schools" period, began to take on the character of an official ideology. ## 3‑ 4a Confucianism and the State The integration of Confucian doctrine with Legalist institutions, creating a system generally known as State Confucianism, took a while to accomplish. At first, Emperor Han Gaozu departed from the Qin policy of centralized rule by rewarding some of his key allies with vast fiefdoms, restricting his own territory to lands around the new capital of Chang'an (CHENG-AHN). But chronic unrest throughout the countryside eventually forced a change in policy. By the mid-second century BCE, the influence of unruly aristocratic forces had been curbed, and once again power was concentrated at the imperial court. Once this was accomplished, the Han rulers sought to restore key components of the Qin system of centralized government. For example, they borrowed the tripartite division of the central government into civilian and military authorities and a censorate. The government was headed by a "grand council" including representatives from all three segments of government. The Han also retained the system of local government, dividing the empire into provinces and districts. ## 3‑ 4 The Glorious Han Dynasty (202 BCE-221 CE) 83