Qin Shi Huang (Chinese: 秦始皇; 18 February 259 – 12 July 210 BC) was the founder of the Qin dynasty and the first emperor of a unified China.[9] Rather than maintain the title of "king" (王, wáng) borne by the previous Shang and Zhou rulers, he ruled China from 221 to 210 BC as the first "emperor" (皇帝, huáng dì) of the Qin dynasty. This title, which he invented for himself, would see continuous use by Chinese monarchs for the next two millennia.
He was born Ying Zheng of the State of Qin to a dancing girl named Zhao Ji and King Zhuangxiang of Qin. According to the historian Szuma Chien (Sima Qian, 145/35-86 BCE) he was not actually Zhuangxiang' s son as his mother was already pregnant by Lu Buwei, the wealthy merchant who brought Zhao Ji to the king. As Szuma Chien was hostile to Shi Huangdi this claim has been often disputed. Shi Huangdi is best remembered as the emperor who initiated the building of the Great Wall of China and an early version of the Grand Canal.
Rise to Power
The young prince grew up at the Qin court and assumed the throne at age 12 or 13 following his father's death. Lu Buwei had risen in the court to become a minister and was made regent until Ying Zheng came of age. Again according to Szuma Chien, Lu Buwei became concerned that his son would recognize him as father and so lose the throne and he therefore distanced himself from Zhao Ji and encouraged another of the court, Lao Ai, to keep her company in his place.
Lao Ai disguised himself as a palace eunuch and so came and went from the queen's chamber without suspicion. They had two sons together who were kept a secret from everyone at court except Lu Buwei. It occurred to Lu that one of these secret sons could better serve as King of Qin as he would then no longer have to worry about being exposed as the boy's father and so organized a coup.
In 238 BCE, when the young king was away from court on travels, Lao Ai used the signet ring of Zhao Ji to mobilize a segment of the army in revolt. The king sent his army against Lao Ai's forces, defeated them, and had Lao executed by being torn apart. He then had Lao's entire family executed and placed Zhao Ji in seclusion under virtual house arrest. Lu Buwei committed suicide by poison. King Ying Zheng then named his close associate Li Siu as Prime Minister and ruled fully over the state of Qin.
Victory over the Warring States
The Warring States Period in China (c. 481-221 BCE) was a time when the central government of the Zhou Dynasty, located at Luoyang, was no longer able to administrate effectively. The country had broken into seven separate states, Chu, Han, Qi, Qin, Wei, Yan, and Zhao who continuously fought each other for supremacy. None of these states felt confident enough to wrest the Mandate of Heaven (the principle by which a ruler was legitimized) from the Zhou Dynasty as none were able to gain advantage over any other.
Every state fought using the same tactics and strategies as the others and their aims were further hampered by the efforts of the pacifist philosopher Mo Ti, an able engineer, who seems to have provided each state with the same types of technology in order to neutralize any advantage. Although the state of Qin had a formidable army, iron weapons, and war chariots, King Zheng was unable to make any significant headway in victory over the other states.
At the Battle of Changping (260 BCE), the Qin employed Shang's ideology to defeat the state of Zhao but, afterwards, made little further progress. King Zheng, making full use of Shang Yang's philosophies, and leading an army of considerable size, swiftly defeated the six other states. Han fell in 230 BCE, Zhao in 228, Wei in 225, Chu, in 223, Yan in 222, and Qi in 221BCE. Zheng then united the states under his single rule, claimed the Mandate of Heaven from the Zhou Dynasty, and proclaimed himself First Emperor of China – `Shi Huangdi', founder of the Qin Dynasty.
The Qin Empire
Having consolidated his empire, he turned his attention to administration and, with the help of Li Siu, “resolved to base Chinese society not, as heretofore, upon custom and local autonomy, but upon explicit law and a powerful central government” (Durant, 695). Initially, this government served the people in that Shi Huangdi's policies allowed for substantial building projects and prosperity.
In all ways, the early Qin Dynasty worked to improve the lives of the people. The walls and fortifications which once enclosed the borders of the separate warring states were destroyed and the Great Wall was begun from their ruins, marking the northern boundary of the empire and protecting the land from marauding nomad tribes. In the south, the Lingqu Canal was built to aid in transport and in trade. Weapons of the defeated states were melted down and made into works of art.
This time of peace and prosperity, however, was short-lived. In 213 BCE Li Siu, having grown tired of hearing Confucian scholars criticize the regime by comparing it to the past dynasties of a `golden age', Although life during The Warring States Period had been difficult, it had given rise to The Hundred Schools of Thought which comprised writings such as those of Confucius, Mo Ti, Mencius, Teng Shih, and Yang Zhu, among many, many others.
Maintaining Shang Yang's strict philosophy of Legalism as the official policy of the government (which he had instituted at the start of his reign) Shi Huangti re-wrote the legal codes, suppressed writers, burned the books, and put to death all that refused to comply. This period of his reign is known as the `Burning of the Books and the Burying of Philosophers'.
Shi Huangti's Death & the Fall of the Qin
Shi Huangdi had been subject to assassination attempts in the past but now they increased. “He sat on his throne with a sword across his knees and let no man know in what room of his many palaces he would sleep” (Durant, 697). He became obsessed with death and sought elixirs of immortality. Failing in that, he set about to provide himself with as comfortable and secure an afterlife as the present one he was living.
In 210 BCE, Shi Huangdi died on a trip to find the elixir of life which would grant him immortality. Some sources indicate that he died by poisoning after drinking what he thought was the elixir. (probably mercury) Li Siu kept his death a secret until he could change the emperor's will to name his young, pliable son as heir, whom Li Siu thought he could manipulate. He had Shi Huangdi's body brought back to the capital concealed in a merchant caravan of dead fish in order to hide the smell of the decomposing corpse, changed the will, and then announced the passing of the First Emperor and the accession of his son, Hu-Hai, who took the name Qin Er Shi.
The new king reigned poorly for three years and was famous for killing messengers who brought him bad news (marking his only legacy, the origin of the saying, `Don't kill the messenger'). During this time Li Siu was executed and his co-conspirator in raising Qin Er Shi to power, Zhao Gao, forced the young emperor to commit suicide.
Following this coup, Qin Er Shi's nephew took the throne and had Zhao Gao executed. At this point, with the government in complete disarray and no competent heir to the throne, the country rose in rebellion and the Qin Dynasty collapsed.
The Complete Story Of Qin Shi Huang: China's First Emperor :some-controversy:
Qin Shi Huang - The Rise and Fall of the First Emperor of China :china-stars:
The First Emperor of China's Ridiculously Dramatic Life :china:
Quin Shi Huang vs Hades :lea-bounce:
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Saw a friend today who is doing well in life, high salary and stable tech job. After the last few years and with the way the world is spinning he stated to me that he now just hates other people. I told him I find that very sad and that I could never think that, never was able to hate even my bullies as a kid. He said that this is because of my values.
I don't know. Doesn't feel like a value thing to me, feels to me like this is what is happening to these alienated western workers in computer touching factories because they fully lack material understanding and class consciousness. The bad things happening in the world turns into hate, not solidarity. And this is the slippery slope to fascism.
I dunno, just needed to share this moment. It made me sad and worried. This person saying this lacks nothing materially, yet they hate other people. I am poor, I genuinely think people opt for solidarity if given the change. And that "bad" things or actions stem from this system we live in, it breeds nihilism and hate. It's not the people.
I feel that. I've been very disapointed in people, broadly, the last few years, but i've also seen people do beautiful, courageous, loving things too. Things can be better, they've been better before and we can do that, again, but better still. One of the nice things about being a filthy commie is having a clear, grounded explanation for why everything sucks, and because it's grounded in real, material processes the potential for change is there. "People suck" is a complete philosophy of life. It's just a fact, so nothing can get better. So you just sink in to the swamps of sadness, because you're trapped in a view of the world where misery and suffering are a law of nature, and there's no point trying to change it or make anything better. Any bad thing that happens confirms your beliefs bc you don't have a materialist theory that can explain things like poverty, warfare, violence. Things are just bad because people are bad, nothing further is required.
It's a sad way to live life.
So much this. It also feels like an easy out. He also stated that he has now decided there is no point in avoiding covid and death in general either, because nothing matters. I told him I very much like living and will do everything in my power to stay on this amazing earth as long as possible, life feels really short as it is. Felt like he is going very dark.
I have in the past asked him if anecdotally he doesn't think people are helpful and nice to each other in general, say someone slips on the street or has a health emergency in public I think most people will go help the person in distress. Not sure he has paid attention to that.
Also I have a statistics class right now and got to spin some data around where there were questions like whether one thinks other people treat others well and it looked like men in general think other people suck more than women do and this gap also widens with age, boomers being the most negative. This guy is a millenial and in a very laddish environment, might explain some of it. He is a very gentle and sort of tender guy at his core, not a tough guy at all.
And honestly I too fell for the hate a bit in early covid times with the anti-vax and bourge stuff, the way the rich kept partying like it's 2019 and all that. But I soon noticed that giving into those feelings is the worst possible thing to do. I had to learn to understand why these things happen and why people do them. There are always reasons, but if armed with understanding I think majority of people choose to do less harm.
Honestly that guy sounds like he may be on the edge of radicalization. "Have you considered that your hate of other humans is a way to justify how your high living standard is built on their exploitation? You despise them because confronting your privilege and complicity in their suffering makes you angry with yourself."
This could be it too. I have been slowly radicalizing him with my worldview for some years now and he might be stuck in the point where there is no understanding yet, but a clear view to all that is bad in the world. I have been dropping stories about human solidarity and lightly testing the discussion of "human nature is greed" which he also still holds. I hope that there is hope, he sounds like it could also be turning very dark, he made some ecofashy remarks not long ago that I called him out on. I think there are a lot of people like him tbh.