According to the Chronicle of History? The "book burning" incident began at a banquet at the Xianyang Palace in the thirty-fourth year of the first emperor (213 BC).
At this banquet, 70 people of the doctor came forward to toast the first emperor and toast his birthday. The servant Zhou Qingchen took the opportunity to pay tribute, said the words of praise for the merits of the song, and praised the county system. Bo Tu Chun Yuyue was very disgusted with Zhou Qingchen's "face-to-face" and advocated emulating Shang Zhou and implementing the system of sub-sealing, believing that "those who can do things that are not from the past and can last for a long time are not unheard of."
The First Emperor submitted Chun Yuyue's opinion to his courtiers for deliberation. The chancellor Li Si refuted Chun Yuyue's views, and then made a harsh criticism of the scholarly habits of the time: "Today's beings do not learn from the present and learn from the past, and confuse the head of the people in the non-current world. ... Private learning and illegal teaching, under the orders of people, each of them will discuss it according to his learning, enter the wrongdoing, go out of the alley, praise the name of the lord, take the difference and think high, and lead the group to create slander. He believes that if this kind of behavior is not stopped, "the main force will fall to the top, and the party will become the next ''", and suggests that an order be issued to prohibit it, and the specific provisions are prepared as follows:
Historians who are not Qin ji are all burned; those who are not doctoral officials, those who dare to hide "poems", "books", and hundreds of languages in the world, Xi Yishou and Wei Zaozhi; those who dare to speak "poems" and "books" in the language of the occasional language, abandon the city; those who are not in the past and the present; those who do not know and do not do the same sin; order the next thirty days not to burn, and tuo is a city. Those who do not go, medicine, rafting, and the book of planting trees. If you want to learn the law, take the official as your teacher.
Qin Shi Huang immediately approved it, and said, "Yes." That is to say, the above proposals are promulgated throughout the country as official decrees. This is where prohibitions such as book burning come from.
That is to say, the real sense of "book burning" refers to the burning of hundreds of books such as "Poems" and "Books" that Qin Shi Huang ordered to be burned in addition to the "Book of Qin" and "Poems" and "Books" that did not belong to the Doctoral Library. In addition, during the "book burning" period, he also strictly forbade people to talk about "poetry" and "books" privately, and vigorously eradicated private learning. If someone talks privately, he will be punished with the death penalty or even exterminated; if anyone wants to learn the law, he must worship the officials as a teacher.
Qin Shi Huang did not burn all folk literature, nor did he forbid all ways of learning. Books such as medicine, divination, and tree planting are not included in the burning list. Of course, some of the contents of book burning have long been printed into people's minds, avoiding the "Qin Fire". Like many ancient books that appeared later, they were restored by the memories of these people. The greatest impact of Qin Shi Huang's burning of books in academic history was the rise of "sinology", that is, the study of chapter and verse exegesis. The New Tang Dynasty Book Of Art Literature Zhi ZhiYun "Since the Six Classics were burned in Qin and restored to the Han Dynasty, its teacher's way of transmission is extinct, and the compendium is free from chaos and lack, the scholar can not get its true nature, and the hand is the study of the Confucian chapters and sentences. "The dispute between the two Han dynasties over ancient chinese classics, as well as the dispute over the authenticity of classics such as the Book of Shang under the Han Dynasty, is directly related to the qin emperor's burning of books.
Qin Shi Huang did not reject Confucianism at first. After unifying the country, he spent most of his time using both Confucianism and Dharma officials, and raised seventy doctors for advice. It is said that this number is deliberately modeled on the number of Confucius's disciples. In addition, judging from the stone tablets he left behind, he seems to be very protective of etiquette. It's just that he's an extremely confident man who never allows anyone to question everything about him. Therefore, the doctor's advocacy of restoring the sub-feudal system is tantamount to criticizing the county system and denying Qin Shi Huang.
As for the term "pit Confucianism", modern historians still have different views.
For example, the "skeptical school" that arose in the Republic of China believes that there is no "pit Confucianism" at all, which is fabricated by later generations. But archaeological discoveries in recent years have gradually shattered this view. More and more scholars believe that "pit Confucianism" is suspected of taking meaning out of context. Qin Shi Huang did pit some people, but these people were not "Confucians", but "alchemists" who quoted Confucian classics to criticize current politics.
This view is roughly consistent with Sima Qian's "Records of History", which records this: It is said that Qin Shi Huang sent many alchemists into the sea to seek immortality and immortal medicine in order to live forever. Not only did this cost a lot of money, but the alchemists mostly never returned. In the second year of the "book burning", Fang Shihou and Lu Ersheng promised to find medicine for Qin Shi Huang, but they knew that they were fruitless, and they were afraid of being executed, so they fled with a huge amount of money. What is even more heinous is that before fleeing, they also slandered Qin Shi Huang for being violent and conceited, a dedicated imperial official, and coveting power. When Qin Shi Huang heard this, he was furious and immediately ordered people to thoroughly investigate the rest of the alchemists in Xianyang City. Unexpectedly, these alchemists pointed at each other, and more than 460 people were involved, and finally Qin Shi Huang buried them all alive.
In this regard, Qin Shi Huang's pit "fangshi" is excusable. And these alchemists always used the banner of Confucianism, so Qin Shi Huang was even more disgusted with Confucianism. The author agrees with this "pit Confucian" view, after all, Sima Qian was in the same era as Emperor Wu of Han, and he was only 120 years away from the fall of the Qin Dynasty. What's more, he traveled all over China in his teens, and in the third year of the Han Jing Emperor (147 BC), at the age of twenty-two, he inherited his father's business and served as a Taishi Ling. So to be precise, he is only 65 years away from the "book burning pit Confucianism" incident. In such a narrow span of time, with Sima Qian's knowledge and status, it is absolutely impossible not to be unaware of such a major event as "burning books and pit Confucianism".
Records and locations of "pit Confucianism" in ancient texts
The "Literature Examination and School Examination I" records:
The First Emperor asked Yushi about the case, and the various beings passed on the rumors, killing more than 460 people. He also ordered the winter planting of Melon Li Mountain, the real life, the life of the doctor, the life of the doctor, as a ambush, killed more than 700 people. In the second century, Chen Shengqi summoned the doctors to discuss, and dozens of people sat down with "inappropriate words".
According to the above quotation, Qin Shi Huang had two pits, and the latter pit and the person who committed the crime of Qin II (the method of punishment is unknown) were both "doctoral students", that is, the students of the state. The first pit Ru is the one in the "History of the Pit of Chengyang", and the specific location and plot are unknown. The plot of the second "Ambush Machine" pit Confucianism is found in Tang Yanshigu's commentary on the "Preface to the Biography of Ru Lin of Han". Note Cloud:
The place of present-day Xinfeng County is called Mercy Ru Township. There is a horse valley in the southwest of Wentang, and there is a pit on the west bank of the valley, so the old legend is that the Qin pit is also in the Ru place. Wei An's "Preface to the Ancient Texts and Shang Shu" Yun: "Qin burned books, and the suffering world did not change the law from what it had, but those who came to life worshiped as langs, seven hundred people before and after." Naimi ordered the winter melon to be planted in the middle of the Valley of Lishan Pit. Gua Shicheng, Dr. Zhao said, everyone is different. It is destiny to regard it as an ambush, and all beings are virtuous and virtuous. Fang Xiang is indecisive, because of the engine, from the top to fill the soil, all pressed, and finally silent. ”
This is the so-called "Curse of Guaqiu", which is located in the "Lishan Pit Valley", a hundred miles away from the Qin capital Chengyang in the west.
Of course, the historical data is not 100% correct, but from this we can infer the reason why Qin Shi Huang burned books and hated Confucianism. Perhaps in addition to his inability to tolerate criticism from others, it also stems from his thick and thin thinking, extremely strong desire for control, and chagrin of not being able to find a magic elixir. All of these were the political needs of the Qin Dynasty to establish an absolutist monarchical system. It's just that Qin Shi Huang's drugging was too fierce, resulting in the damage of the Hundred Classics.