Li Kaiyuan: Book Burning and Confucianism - A History of Half a Pile of Forgery

For details about the book burning, see "Historical Records: Qin Shi Huang Benji". The chronicle says:

In the 34th year of the reign of Qin Shi Huang, at a banquet in the Xianyang Palace, there was a debate among the doctors, and the main difference in the debate was whether the Qin government should use historical traditions as a teacher and revise the policy of fully implementing the county system. Qin Shi Huang sent the issue to the imperial court to continue the discussion. In the discussion of the court meeting, Prime Minister Li Si, who has always advocated a comprehensive county system, vigorously emphasized the importance of thinning the past and the present, and then put forward a proposal to burn books. Li Si's suggestion was adopted by Qin Shi Huang and promulgated and implemented as a decree.

The book burning incident was a political event in which the Qin Empire's monarchs and ministers issued and executed major decrees after discussions. In the chronicle of the "Historical Records", the time, place, people, and events are clearly explained, and the production and issuance of the edict of book burning also conforms to the procedures of the Qin Dynasty's decree, and the credibility of the text is quite high. After in-depth investigation, Sima Qian wrote this chronicle based on the book "Recital". "Concerts" is a collection of historical materials that record the Shangluwen of the ministers of the Qin State and the inscriptions on famous mountains, and is a credible first-hand historical material. Therefore, book burning, as a historical fact, can be said to be ironclad, ancient and modern, Chinese and foreign, no one dares to be stupid and blindly question, wasting time and energy. It is completely certain that the record of book burning in the "Records of the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty" is a reliable history of letters.

The matter of pit Confucianism is also found in "Historical Records: Qin Shi Huang Benji". However, in contrast, the chronicle of the Confucian pit is very much like a story of ups and downs, which began with Qin Shi Huang's personal preference for seeking immortals and medicine, changed from the dissatisfaction of the monks, and mutated with Qin Shi Huang's anger, and then implicated the fate of Fusu. This chronicle, read as a hearsay story and appreciated as a wild village dialect, is certainly a good literary work, but as a historical chronicle, it is quite unreliable, and there are loopholes everywhere that want to be filled. Let's take a look at them one by one.

"Confucian" Suspicion 1: A strange change in the victim's title

In his later years, Qin Shi Huang was afraid of death, and his main mind was on the pursuit of immortality, which was the origin of the Confucian incident.

In ancient China, people who practiced the art of immortality and refined the elixir were called Fangshi. Fang Shi was an ancient qigong master and an ancient chemist, and was closely related to Taoism in terms of school of thought. In order to cater to Qin Shi Huang's preferences, a large number of alchemists were summoned to Qin Shi Huang's side, coming in and out, and the number was more than three hundred. Among them, the most famous are Xu Fu, Hou Sheng, Lu Sheng, Han Zhong and others, who were courteously rewarded by Qin Shi Huang and went around looking for the elixir of immortality for Qin Shi Huang.

Where can I find the elixir? Lu Sheng and Hou Sheng and a group of alchemists really couldn't play anymore, so they colluded and fled together. This was the fuse of the Confucianism incident. The "Records of the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty" records the Confucian incident that detonated as a result, saying:

When the first emperor heard of the death, he was furious and said: "I have collected all the books in the world and those who are not useful." There are many literary magicians, who want to prosper the peace, and the monks want to practice to seek miraculous medicines. Today, I heard that Han Zhong did not report it, and Xu Shi and others spent a huge amount of money, and finally they could not take medicine, and they told each other in vain. Lu Sheng and others have been very generous to me, and now they are slandering me, so as to value my immorality. Those who are born in Xianyang, I make people ask questions, or they are troubled by fallacies. So he made the imperial historian know about the case and asked all the sentient beings, and all the sentient beings passed on the case and told each other, but they were eliminated. More than 460 people who violated the ban were all in Xianyang, so that the world would know about them and punish them.

According to this chronicle, when Qin Shi Huang heard that the scholars Lu Sheng and Hou Sheng had fled, he was furious and said: "I will confiscate all the books in the world and remove all the useless books in them." A large number of scholars of literature and magic were widely gathered, hoping to revitalize the peace and let the monks seek the elixir. Now I know that Han Zhong fled and did not return, Xu Fu and others spent hundreds of millions, but in the end, they still couldn't get the immortal medicine, and all the news came from each other accusing each other for personal gain. In dealing with Lu Sheng and others, I not only respected, but also rewarded me very much, but now I slander me, so as to aggravate my immorality. I sent people to inquire about the beings in Xianyang, and some of them created gossip to confuse the people. So he sent the imperial historian to interrogate the sentient beings one by one, and the sentient beings denounced each other to free themselves. There were more than 460 people who violated the ban, and all of them were buried alive in Xianyang, so that the whole world would know about it, so as to punish future generations.

The above chronicle is the first text of the so-called Confucianism incident, and all kinds of stories and discussions about Confucianism for thousands of years have been born from this chronicle. Now, I ask you to read this text carefully, and as you do so, pay attention to the following doubts.

The people whose names are specifically mentioned in the Pit Confucian incident are all Fang Shi. Hou Sheng and Han Zhong, Fangshi from South Korea. Xu Shi is Xu Fu, a monk from Qi State. Lu Sheng, a monk from the Yan Kingdom. These famous and surnamed scholars haunted Qin Shi Huang's side for many years, fooling Qin Shi Huang, and finally aroused Qin Shi Huang's anger, and of course became the target of the Confucianism incident.

However, when Qin Shi Huang was furious, the object of condemnation changed from a scholar to a "literary magician". "Alchemist" is alchemist. "Literature" means a person of literature, which can be used to refer to a person who is erudite and literate, and can also be used to refer to a person of Confucianism. However, I would like to draw everyone's attention to the fact that none of the literature mentioned here has a real name or surname, and it is all vague and brushed aside.

Then, in the second half of this text, the literary magician is changed to "all beings". The literal meaning of Zhusheng is many, and the meaning of sheng is student, and the literal meaning of zhusheng is multiple students, which was often used later to refer to Confucian students who studied scriptures. The substitution of "literary magicians" with "all beings" dilutes the scholars and strengthens the Confucian scholars, of course, the artificial smearing between this shade is still a bit sneaky after all, and it is carried out in obscurity.

"Confucian" Doubt 2: Who added the description?

Immediately following this chronicle in the "Records of the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty" is the chronicle of Gongzi Fusu's appearance to advise Qin Shi Huang not to severely punish Confucianism. The original text of the chronicle reads:

More and more to the border. The first emperor's eldest son, Fusu, admonished: "The world is initially decided, the head of Qiantou in the distance has not been gathered, all living beings are reciting the law of Confucius, and now they are all re-disciplined, and the ministers are afraid that the world is uneasy, but they can only observe it." "The first emperor was angry and made the army of Meng Tian, the northern supervisor of the Soviet Union, in Shangjun.

This chronicle says that sinners were increasingly requisitioned to the frontiers. Fusu, the eldest son of the First Emperor, advised: "For example, if the people in the distant places have just settled down today, and the people in the distance have not yet been attached, all living beings are people who recite and learn from Confucius, and now the father and emperor punish them with heavy laws, and the sons are worried that the world will be uneasy, and I hope that my father will see clearly." Qin Shi Huang was angry and sent Fusu to Shangjun Mengtian's army as a supervisor.

Obviously, this chronicle was added as an important addition to the incident of the Confucianism. According to common sense, the Confucian incident originated from Fang Shi, Fu Su advised Qin Shi Huang, and the words should start with Fang Shi asking for medicine, the strange thing is that he did not mention these, but suddenly pulled to all beings, and the meaning of all beings in his words became very clear, that is, the Confucian students who read and taught Confucius. It can be seen that Fusu's sentence is obviously a sentence that pinches the head and removes the tail and deliberately cuts history. This sentence is not like it was said to persuade Qin Shi Huang, but it seems to be said to explain that all beings are Confucian scholars. Without this added explanation, the matter of Qin Shi Huang burying Confucianism would not be tenable.

In order to make it easier for you to see through the truth, I have compiled the changes in the names of the victims of the Confucian incident in the above materials as follows: 1 Fang Shi - 2 Literary Fang Warlock - 3 Zhusheng - 4 Confucian students who "all recite the Fa Confucius". Observing this change, it is inevitable that people will doubt the authenticity of this chronicle, and vaguely feel that behind this text, there is a hidden black hand that skillfully changes the content of history?

"Confucian" Suspicion 3: The strangeness of the victim's execution

According to the previous chronicle, after Qin Shi Huang was furious, he ordered that these literary magicians be handed over to the imperial historian for disposal, "so that the imperial historian was informed of the case and asked all the beings." Imperial history, or refers to the imperial history responsible for supervision, or it can also be an abbreviation of the imperial historian. The Imperial Historian is the Deputy Prime Minister, and the legal affairs are within his duties, and the Imperial Historians are under his jurisdiction, and the place where they work is called the Imperial Historical Observatory.

According to the system of the Qin state, the literary magicians were placed at the disposal of the imperial historian, and they were subject to strict legal trials. According to the charges dictated by Qin Shi Huang in his anger, they will be convicted of "fallacies" and sentenced to beheading. Judging from the results of the records, they were buried alive and put to death. However, according to the laws of the Qin and Han dynasties, which we have already learned a lot, especially the large number of legal documents unearthed in recent years, there are no legal texts and cases of the death penalty being buried alive. In the history of the Qin and Han dynasties, burial alive was only seen in brutal warfare, and was often recorded as condemned atrocities. For example, the Qin general Bai Qi buried 400,000 prisoners of war of Zhao alive, and Xiang Yu buried 200,000 soldiers of Qin alive. From this point of view, the person who made up this story is not very professional in the law, leaving a false foot?

"Pit Confucian" Suspicion 4: Killed the little ghost and released the king of Hades

There were about 300 monks who were active around Qin Shi Huang, including five with names and surnames, Han Zhong (Zhong), Hou Sheng, Lu Sheng, Shi Sheng, and Xu Fu (Shi). They were all courteous and bereaved by Qin Shi Huang, and actively searched for immortals and elixirs for Qin Shi Huang. Hou Sheng and Han Zhong, Koreans. Lu Sheng, a native of Yanguo. Xu Fu, a native of Qi. Shi Sheng, origin unknown.

In the so-called Confucianism incident, Fang Shi Lu Sheng, Han Zhong and Hou Sheng fled without being punished by the law, and their whereabouts have been unknown since then. Shi Sheng also had no news. Xu Fu was the one who was directly condemned by Qin Shi Huang along with Han Zhong and Hou Sheng, and named him for the most serious crimes. Strangely, Xu Fu was not affected by the incident, he did not flee, he was not prosecuted by the law, he was at large, he has been living happily in Langyatai, and continues to search for the elixir that Qin Shi Huang will never find.

According to the record of "Historical Records of Qin Shi Huang", in the second year of the Confucian incident, that is, in the 37th year of Qin Shi Huang, Qin Shi Huang toured the world for the fifth time, came to Langyatai again, and met Xu Fu again. Qin Shi Huang not only did not bring Xu Fu to justice, but once again listened to Xu Fu's rhetoric, went into the sea to shoot big fish, and personally removed the obstacles that hindered the appearance of immortal elixirs. From this point of view, in the so-called "Confucianism" incident, the people who were caged were all unknown and unknown ghosts, and the four heinous Hades either fled or escaped unharmed. As for describing this incident as a "Confucian" incident, it can certainly be fabricated with ulterior motives.

"Qin Shi Huang Pit Warlock" - the story made up by the monks, the second gossip made up by the Confucian scholars

Searching through the previous documents of the "Historical Records", there is no mention of Qin Shi Huang's pit Fangshi.

Jia Yi was a political commentator active in the era of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty, and he wrote the New Book of Passing the Qin Dynasty, which discusses Qin Shi Huang and the reasons for the failure of the Qin government.

Liu An, the king of Huainan, was active in the early years of Emperor Wu, and he edited the book "Huainanzi", which was very highly respected by Taoism. Dong Zhongshu was the perpetrator of Confucianism, and his book "Spring and Autumn Dew" is a classic of Confucianism. These two people are older than Sima Qian; These two books, both of which are earlier than the "Historical Records", do not say that Qin Shi Huang once buried Fangshi.

According to my latest investigation results, the matter of the pit Fangshi was originally a historical story that circulated in the early years of the Western Han Dynasty, and the prototype of this story can be found in the chapter "Saying Yuan: Anti-Quality". This story is more complete, more vivid, and better than the story contained in the "Records of the First Emperor of Qin". In the second half of this paragraph, the fugitive Fang Shi Hou Sheng was caught, and Qin Shi Huang personally ascended to the court for interrogation, ready to denounce the torture of the car split. The result? This Lord Hou Sheng, fearless in danger, righteous and awe-inspiring, he said a long sermon to the angry Qin Shi Huang, so straight that Qin Shi Huang was silent at first, and then his consciousness was shaken, and finally he sighed and repented and released Hou Sheng. One faction is the wild village dialect with gold on Fang Shi's face.

Sima Qian is a rigorous historian, he is tight-mouthed and does not make up stories, but he has long ears and loves to listen to stories. He compiled the Records of the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty, mainly using the records of the Qin government, edicts and stone carvings, which are relatively reliable historical materials. However, these historical materials are relatively boring and lack the style of the story. In order to make the chronicle more flesh and blood, Sima Qian also selected some materials to add to the historical stories that have been circulated since the Warring States period, which are vivid and interesting. However, the credibility of these moving stories is relatively low, and some of them are purely time-lapse Arabian Nights, and the chronicle of the pit Fangshi is one of them, which is not credible.

Sima Qian was a historian with a thoughtful and independent personality, and the Records of the Historian was a private work. Sima Qian's compilation of the "Records of the Historians" had his own purpose and compilation intention. When he wrote the "Historical Records", it was a period when Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty was keen to believe in gods and seek immortals, and the monks became popular again. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, who was fascinated by the monks, had his brain in the water, making his family and country restless, and he wanted to go to the country and leave his hometown for a while, abandon his wife and children, and ascend to heaven and become an immortal.

Sima Qian couldn't get used to these absurd things, and he couldn't say it clearly, so he used the story of Qin Shi Huang's pit in the "Historical Records", using the past to satirize the present, satirizing Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty as paranoid and superstitious as Qin Shi Huang, and also condemning and warning those who pretended to be gods and ghosts, sooner or later, you will be buried like Qin Shi Huang's pit monks, so he intercepted the first half of the pit where the monks were pitted, and abandoned the second half of Hou Sheng's education of Qin Shi Huang. Come to think of it, because he prefers to choose the meaning of this story, he did not make a strict assessment of the authenticity of this story.

Qin Shi Huang's pit Confucianism is a secondary gossip that is more absurd than the pit Fangshi. This gossip is processed and manufactured by the Confucian scholars in the adaptation of the fake story of the pit alchemists, the era of the adaptation is the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the processing method is more clever, combining the real burning books and the fake pit alchemists, mixing them together, and then replacing the burned books with Confucian scriptures in troubled waters, and replacing the pit scholars with Confucian scholars who read scriptures.

Examining the Western Han Dynasty, the term "book burning and pit Confucianism" has not yet appeared. The monks fabricated the story of Qin Shi Huang's pit of the Fangshi, originally to beautify themselves and warn the emperor who killed the Fangshi to regret it after all. This fake story exaggerates a kind of religious dedication, and the monks have exchanged their lives for the glory of justice. However, in the Western Han Dynasty, most of the other factions disagreed with the story that the monks made up and narrated and talked about, and even had a sense of schadenfreude. Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the Confucian scholars who emerged after Fang Shi began to have the same attitude, and they did not think of taking over the story and making an impostor transformation.

After Wang Mang's rebellion, the Eastern Han Dynasty was founded, and Emperor Guangwu, the king of Zhongxing, liked to use scriptures, and the second generation of Emperor Ming and the third generation of Emperor Zhang were in the same line. Confucianism became the state religion, the Confucian classics were approved by the imperial court, and the transmission of the classics was also officially recognized.

Wei Hong, a Confucian scholar active in the reign of Emperor Guangwu, wrote the preface to the Confucian classics and reconstructed the story of Qin Shi Huang's pit in the Imperial Decree of Ancient Texts and Books. In this story of transformation, the location of the pit Confucian, which was originally not there, was officially determined to be in the Lishan Mausoleum Valley south of the Mausoleum of the First Emperor, which was later the legendary Pit Ru Valley. The time of the pit burial is also more specific, in winter. The plot is more detailed, and the conspiracy is very obvious, because there is a hot spring in the Pit Confucian Valley, and the melons planted in winter bear fruit. The method of pit burial has been improved, shooting first and then filling in the soil. The number of Confucian scholars buried in the pit also increased to 700, and not only the scholars but also the doctors were added. The details of the transformation reveal the true situation of the Eastern Han Dynasty everywhere; The purpose of the reform was to mold the Confucian scholars into martyred saints.

After history was reconstructed, Confucian scholars created new terms based on the new history. Ban Biao was active in the early years of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the Book of Han was written by him with his son Ban Gu and daughter Ban Zhao. The "Book of Han and the Five Elements" counted the tyranny of Qin Shi Huang, and "burning poetry and books, pit Confucianism" began to be developed at the same time. After refining and extracting, "Burnt Books and Confucianism", as a four-character special noun, appeared in the "Hanshu Geographical Chronicles". Since then, Confucianism has emerged as a common Chinese term, as a "historical fact", and as a cultural concept.