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Pippon, Toni. “Ch’in Shih Huang Ti and His Times,” Cultural Nippon: A Study of Nippon Culture, Vol. II, No. 11 (June, 1934), pp. 152‐159. JANG
AN EPISODE IN CHINESE HISTOI
The sixttI in, the series of lectlures delive:red at the Nippon Clultural Fec
TONI PIPPON.
nds in events the influen
hich are
3 stil:1 clearly vlslble in the :life and culture or present day
hina. TYe see in preseint Chinc3se sock11 life the operation of
-- -- lt: s u ~ ~ order
a i of the p.ast
_ :
, thert: 1s a close relation between
Id and new Ch.ins. TIne reasc~n for this histlorical ccmtinuity
lging qiuality of
~t the a,ges can be foun~din the uncha~
-1 .*- .. ~. - r
a"-.,,
ie culrural element or me miadle Kingdom.
UsuaIly in China, pollitical clnanges ;%resudden and radical.
,part from the CL~lturala]nd politic:a1 devellopment, which proceeds
.kes thousana o~f years,, China has acery SIOMrly and
2pted the theorq
~olutionrather than thalt of Evcdution.
LA---*
CL..
..s :1,11 ctLIIC ~uurbe
.." of its
Tanan, I ~ U W G \ ,
~ l l t ;~ulltrarv.
;,l
- ,h
;mpire's history become acquainted mair11y with EvoluticIn. The
riginal rapanesei concer)tion of Tenn6 and K 6d6 forbids the
-..L
-I_..^
-- 'L- 1J--- -c n---1..LI-I
1-- ----:-aruouring
of any
mougnts un Lne lines ul nevuluuun, ~nuw11ld
re11 that such would calIse the collapse of the whole z;tructure
f the State and its prin ciples.
The changes of dynasties and Emperors in China B@J&%
re historical facts. Without sacrificing the idea of " The Son of
[eaven" (X* T'ien Tzu), one ruling house succeeded the other
le philosophical iand political conception of Confucianism
5 to th e idea of Wang Tao (3s
; Jap. 0d6), which
UIIIGIJ
~litirelyfrulll CL-4
ulai of K6d4 the Chinese Emperor is obligee
to follow the Wi:11 of He;aven. Should the " Son of Heaven " fail
to fulfill the mission of Wang Tao, the Heaven, so to speak,
3
1 ~ .
A,-.
"
~
.A
- -
A~-
~ 1 _ - - - -
---.-!A-
.
A
,
L
--a.
CH' IN SHIH HUANG TI AND HIS TIMES
lld assume the right to dethrone the Emperor and 2
~ldbe chosen through the people " in the nal
rule
-In modern terms we call this "the Right of Revolt
Hea
(Uas Kecht auf Revolution). Already in the characters X
can trace the basic idea of Emperor and of the State (Sta
s c klung !). The Emperor is the " Son " F of " Heaver
and , therefore, no.t uncon~ditionally free and so
His
acticons are continu ally de]?endent on the heaven
r and
its iinstructions. Thus ne must follow Wang Tao.
The Japanese Emperor is called Tenn6, which mean1s the
nperor of Heaven " XS. Combining the principles H eaven
, .
and Earth, he has no " mission " in the sense of the Chinese
" Sc)n of Heaven ".
" The will of the Tenn6 is identical with the will of C
:
The present Empt:ror P'u . Yi of Manchukuo, who accepted
" K' ang T&"
-Tranqu illity and Benevolent Virtue) as the
ntto of his reign, rrilnn
,
,
,
,
, under Wang Tao (Od6)-the ~hin&e
:eption ; a rather interesting fact.
I am now going to deal in more detail with one of those
.
. . .
cha~
dynasty and ruler the consequences of which wr;Lr;
of t
)us importance to the future of China, and which
has provea to be a turning point in Chinese history : The Chou
after 900 years of existence, came tc an enc1, and
nost powerful and interesting personaliity introduced
wter
T,
n
,,,ew era, stamping it with his individual chaG,,,,.
,
,
, tho
,,,,
;.C. he :raised k is dukedom Ck
to the :ruling
yea1
iina.
hou:
.
. .
une event OT t h ~ srevolutionary and stormy epoch particu7 remains implrinted in the minds of literay men and
osophersi, narnfely, the so-called " burning of books "
UECHERVERBRENNUNG ") by Huang5 Ti, wliich is known
"""L
(a@-
m
.-*a*-
1 Johannes Kraus : " Einige Ideal-und Realfakitoren der K6dCibewe:gung",
Vol. 11, NO.1, No. 1, p. 66.
~ r a Nippon,
l
in East-Asiatic as well in the occidental liteirature 2is the
" h m i n g of books ".
The reign of Shih Huang Ti, which lasted from 221-210 B.C.,
contains so many interesting problems-cultural, political and
- ..
philosophical,-that I consider it well worth while to peruse the
existing literature on that subject, and thus create a desire
for deeper study. The Shih Chi &?Z, Historical Notes, written
by Szu Ma Ch'ien SJgZ,still remain the standard work on this
subject. The author is aptly called the "father of Chinese
history." I myself venture to call him "the Chinese Thucydides "? CIf cous;e other literature has been written on the
epoch of I;hih Huang Ti, but so far little has been done in
. ..
actual translation. However, for the one who is not an expert,
the existing general works in languages will provide sufficient
material for study.
The burning of books, generally called " a catastrophic
event ", waLSa novum in Chinese history, and its explanation
and criticism neeas an exposition of the political and cultural
circumstances.
C. the E
In the third cer
)f Chou was declining
,
.. . ..
and 'certainly approacning its downtau. ~t this time there were
many little states fighting each other, and thus creating a state
of utter disorder. Besides, Chou culture lacked initiative and
activity. The feudal economic system (Lehns- und Frohnsordnung) collapsed. Neither the sacred authority of antiquity,
nor the power of existing Confucianism was able to consolidate
the Empire, and just at that time there appeared on the political
horizon the rising state of Ch'in in the West. A new epoch
then began. From the resources acquired in the home country
by tenacious and untraditional state-practice, the rulers of the
new Ch'in-dynasty were founded the Unitary State (Einheits.
2 Thucydides for the first time in the occident used the critical and politicalpragmatical method in his historical writings.
31H HU,ANG TI AND HIS TIML:). The reforms of the efficient statesman, who raised hi1mself
e Emperor, under the title " Ch'in Shih Huarlg Ti" 1(%%
S@=First Emperor of Ch'in) were so drastic and revolutio
that they may be justly called the work of one of the grc
---..n in world-history. The old feudal State became a Ur
Starte. The division of China into provinces, prefectures and
districts took place at this time3.
The result was
alised and absolute state supported
he military anc
its. Naturally Huang Ti could not
tin from leaving untouched the cultural basis of the old
Chou-system, and inaugurated a new mode of thinking, free from
the chains of Confucianism and tradition. The restoration of
antiquity with its sacred books-the annals, poems and works on
Confucianism-seemed to be a great obstacle to the construction
and political and cultural organisation of the new state. If we
believe Chinese historians, the conviction would that Huang Ti
burned the books as a radical measure to destory tradition and
the hated Confucianism. On the other hand we must consider the
fact that the historians in question, headed by Szu Ma Ch'ien,
actually stood on the side of Coufucianism, strenously opr,osing
the dynasty of Ch'in. Thus we cannot expect an unbjianc~d
expcsition. Commonly Huang Ti is depicted as a desrlot, a
destroyer of literature and an enemy of science. It is the gf :neral
. .
conviction that the burning of books was an act inspirec1 only
by his unfounded antipathy towards tradition and Confuciamism.
Otto Franke4 in his valuable book on Chinese histoqr has
expllained " sine ira et studio " the fact of the lege nd, which has
beerI handec;I down and which says that Huang Ti1 was in prin- science
...- .
-ciple against
and culture. Franke is convincea
rnat
muang
lllU
L'LUL
J
. .
-1 -
-
-
-
-3
1 T.
4
T I-
-
3 In Japan the division into prefectures under governors is a system derived
from China, which ultimately means from Huang Ti. China acted as example in
" T h e Restoration of Taika " (A.D. 645649), the great reform of the Japanese
Empire. However the feudal system in Japan was not abolished a t a t this time.
4 0. Franke, Geschichte des chinesischen Reiches, I. Band.
CULTURAL NIPPON
'Ti was neither an enemy of culture, nor did he at the beginr
attack the writings of Confucius. Franke writes (I, p. 2~
" Only later the picture changed, when Confucianism bega~
use excessively its theories of the ideal state of antiquity as an
open denial of the new state, thus seriously endangering the
latter's exister- "
The bum
looks was ordered as a result of a petition
by chancellor
Incidentally, the origin and cause of the
petition was a dmner, given by Huang Ti at his residence Hien
Yang. A member of the Imperial Academy in a speech, tried
to re-introduce the old feudal system, strengthening his arguments
with reference:s to the authority of ancient times. In a masterly
way the skilft11 chanctAlor Li Si' replied, demanding, among other
requests, that all aooks should be burned. Szu Ma Ch'ien (in
Shih Chi &?il , chpt. (5 ) wrote this famous answer.
We read (accordi~
ng to Franke, Vol. I, pp. 248-249) ;
.
" Now the hmpire is pacified ; law and instructions emanate
from the one source. The heads of families among the people
turn towards rural antd other occupations. The aristocrats study
laws, regulations, rules and prohibitiorIS. The literateS, however,
do not take the lead at the present time, biR stud] antiquity,
.-:-- -->
-- m
-arm so
turn create
thus making the present appear inferiur
Altllough Your
doubts and uneasiness among the masses
Majesty has now united the Empire and seciured un iformity by
. . follow
,
their
separating the black from the white, these lirerares
own system of teaching. They secretly engage in discussions,
act against the laws, and incite others to do the same. The
moment a new decree appears, each one begins to scrutinise it
according to his own theory . . . I therefore demand: Those
in charge of archives must bum all the annals, e x c -e ~ those
t
of
Ter in .this country possesses a copy of " Shih
Ch'in. Whoe~
Ching " sjg or " Shiu Ching " @,% or of the doctr ines of the
-...h:/.al
schools must hand these books u v c r .+L, V the
various philosclplllLal
,.
I-.-
.....
.
c
-v.--
1' IN SHIH HUANG TI AND HIS TIME
cmre or police where they will be burned. vnly r
lying the position of "Po Shih " @*--a
member of the
rial Academy-are allowed to retain such works. Whcever
does not comply with this order within 30 days of its putllication, shall be convicted and branded and be sent to the " rgreat
llccu
wall
'",where he must serve in state-labour. Books which ..fi?.a
.
,e
those
dealing with medical science, the
not be destroyed ar
r e . Should anybody desire to study
art of prophecy, and agricult~
_
--- L me law and regulatiur~s,ne will have to choose the offiicals as
his teachers. "
Soon after this petition, the burning of books took place.
The chancellor's speech made it quite evident that this action
was really only a political measure to protect and secure the
structure of the new state. The obstinate Confucians to some
extent had only themselves to blame for this strong measure.
Already under the Chou-dynasty, which at this time was
lacking in activity and vitality, Confucius with his teachings
endeavoured hard to gain practical influence over the existing
state-affairs. This wise man and teacher of the people abhorred
the feudal system and party spirit so evident then ; and it is only
natural that it should take scores of years, before Confucianisrn
became an established fact. Undoubtedly, through wrong inter-. mere egoistic thought, Confucianism ir1 later :rears
preta
exerc
I unfavourable influence upon the af .fairs of the
- government, and thus wrought harm to the teachings
- of the great
nitary St:ate, wa:; not
mastcer. ShilI Huang Ti, who created the UI
reall!J an ent?my of C?onfucius, which is best proved by the fact
that he distinctly allowed the members of the Imperial Academy
(about 70 learned scholars) to own and study the books of
" Shih Ching " and " Shu Ching ". However, as one of the
greatest statesmen of China, Huang Ti had to fight against 1these
elements which, by secret as well as by open propag:andaytended
to undermine his state. His burning of books was not so much
-
Ll-
-
CULTURAL NIPPON
directed against the ideas of Confucius, as against the contemporaries of Confucianism, who misunderstood his political work.
Later, historical developments confirmed the actions of Huang Ti.
His Unitary State and his radical reform work remained throughout the succeeding dynasties, and even the revolution of 1912
could not destroy them. Despite all these events Confucianism
and its principles survived a long period of history. During the
period of restoration under the Man ~8-dynasty (206 B.C.-220
A.D.), all the lost literature was again collected and indexed.
Shih Huang Ti and his chancellor Li Si, with their superiority
over the Confucian contemporaries, conducted political activities
on the lines of Confucianism.-King Hui of Liang (%BE)once
said during a conversation with Mengtse, who was visiting him
"High and low argue with each other for personal advantages ;
therefore the country falls into danger "6.
The conditions and the situation in the time of Huang Ti
were almost the same ; and if the king desired order and strong
government, he had to use drastic measures to teach the egoistical petty politicians a lesson. Confucius himself stated that
only men of spirit and authority could work out a cultural and
political program. Authority, however, is necessary to guarantee
a good and real policy and to unite a great country." I do not
consider it an exaggeration to say that Huang Ti realised unity and
order on the principles expounded and outlined by Confucius.
The loss which Chinese literature suffered must certainly
have been great, and in conseqoence many books were lost for
ever. But the essential literature was not destroyed. We can
presume that most of the works affected by the decree were
also in the possession of the government and state-libraries, and
thus were saved. Surely many books must have been kept in
concealment and preserved from burning.
5 ) kT5E.liT.jT;Jo Tlii!Sl&Ro
6) See : Richard Wilhem, " Geschichte der chinesischen Kultur ", pp. 167-168.
CH' IN SHIH HUANG TI AND HIS TIMES
0. Franke writes regarding the result of the burning of
books :
"Be that as it may, there can be no doubt, that, if the
famous burning of books was of any importance to the presenTation of literature and to the possibility of handing down Iiterary
treasures to the future, that importance was but slight and
temporary "