Based on the following analysis: Historical Records of Qin, Chronicles of Qin Shihuang, "Han Feizi" and "Wei Liao Zi".

Many scholars in the past believe that Qin Shihuang's tyranny and harsh laws after establishing the Qin Dynasty are related to Han Feizi and Shang Yang's Legalist thoughts are inseparable. The Legalist thoughts are summarized as: "Use your strength in peacetime, use your death in war." So much so that Qin Shihuang sent Meng Tian and Wang Li to lead thousands of Qin troops to attack the Xiongnu Zhijiu in the north. In the original county, the Great Wall and Qin Zhidao were overhauled; Renxiao and Zhao Tuo were ordered to lead thousands of Qin troops to Nanping, and Xiang County, Guilin County, and Nanhai County were established in the south of Lingnan; tens of thousands of prisoners were sent to build Qin Mausoleum and Afang Palace, which made the people suffer from tyranny and harsh laws.

However, I think that the conclusion that Qin Shihuang governed the country completely in accordance with Legalist ideas is far-fetched. The reasons are as follows:

First: Han Fei in "The Main Way" ", "Jie Lao" and "Yu Lao" explain what is Mingzhu? Mingzhu is the one who leads the way, and the monarch should not have hobbies. If the monarch has hobbies and shows them, he will be criticized by the important ministers around him (important ministers are powerful officials) Use, flatter according to the monarch's hobbies to win the monarch's trust, form cliques for personal gain, and harm the country, while the monarch is deceived by superficial phenomena. Secondly, Han Fei believes that the monarch cannot have too many desires, as having desires will lead to chaos. Han Fei It explains that King Zhou of Shang Dynasty wanted to use a pair of ivory chopsticks, which caused his ministers to be very worried. With the ivory chopsticks, they wanted to eat bear paws and tiger meat. After eating bear paws and tiger meat, they could not live in thatched houses. Due to King Zhou's temporary desire , under the influence of the butterfly effect, finally led to the demise of the Shang Dynasty. And Qin Shihuang's approach was similar to that of Zhou, who exhausted the world's manpower and financial resources to overhaul the Qin Mausoleum and Afang Palace for his own selfish desires. Therefore, it can be seen that Qin Shihuang is not Han Fei The so-called master of Taoism is not the so-called enlightened master of the Legalists.

Second: Han Fei wrote in "Ai Chen", "Binei", "Eight Traitors", "Treachery and Robbery", "Shi Guo" elaborates on the power skills that the monarch must master - the art of the emperor, that is, the monarch cannot overly trust the ministers around him who have too much merit, and cannot trust his own family members too much. Important ministers may collude with the monarch's relatives to plot against the monarch, and may involve cronies. Seeking personal gain. And Qin Shihuang did not conform to Legalist thinking at this point. In his later years, Qin Shihuang trusted too much in Zuo Prime Minister Li Si, CRRC Assistant Minister Zhao Gao and his second son Hu Hai. After the death of the First Emperor, the three planned and implemented the Sand Dune Change, tampering with The last edict of the First Emperor was a fake edict to kill Prince Fusu and destroy the Mengtian clan. After Hu Hai, the second emperor of Qin, came to power, he neglected the government every day. The doctor ordered Zhao Gaoyou to take the opportunity to frame the left prime minister Li Si, the right prime minister Feng Jie and the imperial censor Feng Qu. Ji. Feng Jie and Feng Quji's father and son committed suicide in prison. Li Siqu was beaten and killed in the Xianyang market. After that, Zhao Gao became the prime minister and sent people to force Hu Hai to death. In the end, the Qin Dynasty only lasted for a short few years. If the fundamental reason for the rapid demise of the Qin Dynasty was Qin Shihuang's tyranny and harsh laws, then Qin Shihuang's excessive trust in Zhao Gao, Hu Hai and Li Si was the direct cause of its demise. Therefore, Qin Shihuang did not follow the legalist methods.

Third: The Qin laws enacted by Shang Yang's reform emphasized equal emphasis on rewards and punishments. Han Fei elaborated: "No one should be spared in rewarding good deeds, and no one should be spared in punishment.""Avoid ministers," "Rewards are generous but trustworthy, punishments are severe but necessary" - the principle of "Han Feizi rapes, robs and kills ministers". "Han Feizi's Two Handles" explains that the law includes rewards and punishments, and neither can be neglected. "Han Feizi Decorates Evil" "China and South Korea are opposed to excessive rewards and punishments: "Those who have been rewarded will lose their people, and those who have been punished will not be feared." After the unification of Qin Shihuang, more harsh laws such as the "Yaoyan Order" were added to the already harsh Qin laws. In essence, it is a literary prison. This is completely opposite to the idea advocated by Han Fei.

Fourth: Han Fei clearly pointed out in "Decoration of Evil" that astrology and other theories of ghosts and gods are not credible. Therefore, Legalist thought A very important principle is not to believe in ghosts and gods. But in his later years, Qin Shihuang listened to the alchemists and looked for the elixir of immortality. What's more, one of these alchemists named Lu Sheng couldn't find the elixir, but he brought back a turtle shell with a It is engraved with: "The one who destroyed Qin is Hu Ye". Qin Shihuang used this to send troops to attack the Xiongnu, which is completely opposite to the materialism advocated by Legalism.

"Use your strength in peacetime, use your death in war" There are also problems with the explanation: According to "Wei Liao Zi" - Qin State's Military Book and Military Law written by Wei Liao during the Qin Dynasty. If a general or soldier dies in the same corps and the same rank, the soldiers and generals of the same corps and ranks must be together. Being punished, it can be reflected that the Qin army's combat thinking is to maximize its own protection while attacking the enemy to the maximum extent. Therefore, the "death" in "use it to die in war" should be understood as fighting to the death, rather than fighting to the death. Soldiers are treated as victims.

The thoughts of Pre-Qin Legalists mainly include law, technique, and power. Law is the law. While adopting criminal laws such as clan punishment and continuous sitting method, it also emphasizes heavy rewards, and uses clear rewards and punishments as The basic principle of law. The art of power is the art of the emperor, that is, the monarch uses it to prevent the important ministers around him from forming cliques for personal gain, using power for personal gain, and endangering the country and the monarch.

What is the thought of prophecy in the Han Dynasty?

The ancient Chinese nation also created its own star division system. In order to understand the stars and observe celestial phenomena, people grouped several stars in the sky and gave each group a name. Such star combinations are called star officials.

The number of stars contained in each star official varies from one to dozens, and the sky area it occupies is also different. According to preliminary statistics, the number of star officials in the pre-Qin period is There are about 38 star officials recorded in classics.

In order to understand the stars and study celestial bodies, ancient people artificially divided the starry sky into several areas very early. China called them star officials and the West called them constellations. In ancient China, the sky was divided into three walls and twenty-eight constellations. The earliest complete written record can be found in "Historical Records·Tianguan Shu".

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Gande, Shishen, Wuxian, etc. established their own In the Three Kingdoms period, Chen Zhuo, the Taishi Ling of Wu State, combined the three star officials of Gan, Shi and Wu to compile a star catalog of 283 officials and 1,464 stars, and drew it into a star map.

The Jin, Sui and Tang Dynasties inherited and developed the star division system in our country, which has become more mature and has been used by successive dynasties for thousands of years. The most important star officials are Sanyuan and Erbasu.

Extended information:

Ancient China Understanding of celestial phenomena

The three walls are Ziweiyuan, Taiweiyuan and Tianshiyuan. Each wall is a relatively large sky area, containing a number of (small) star officials (or constellations). According to the "Qing Huidian", the divisions of the Gan family, Shi family and Wu family are different from each other. Each wall has the stars of the two vassals of the east and west, surrounding it on the left and right. It is shaped like a wall, so it is called "wall".

Ziweiyuan is the middle wall of the Three Yuans, located in the center of the north sky, so it is also called Zhonggong or Ziwei Palace. Ziwei Palace means imperial palace, and most of the stars are named after officials. It has the North Pole as its center and a total of fifteen stars for the East and West vassals. The two bows join together and form a wall.

According to observation records during the reign of Emperor Huangyou of the Song Dynasty, the entire Ziweiyuan has a total of 37 constellations, 2 additional constellations, 163 positive stars, and 181 additional stars. Its sky area is roughly equivalent to the current internationally accepted constellations of the Little Bear, the Big Bear, the Dragon, the Hound, the Shepherd, the Wuxian, the Fairy King, the Fairy Queen, the Fairy, and the Deer and the Leopard.

Taiwei Yuan is the upper wall of the Three Yuans, located in the northeast under Ziwei Yuan and south of Beidou. It occupies about 63 degrees of the sky, with the Five Emperors constellation as the center, and contains a total of 20 constellations, 78 positive stars and 100 additional stars. It contains parts of the signs of Virgo, Cognac, Leo, and others. Taiwei means government, and star names are often named after official names. For example, the law enforcement on the left is Tingwei, the law enforcement on the right is Yushi Dafu, etc.

Baidu Encyclopedia - Ancient Chinese Astrology

Baidu Encyclopedia - Tianguan Shu

Confucian classics and prophecies are both special phenomena that appeared in the academic circles of the Han Dynasty. Confucian classics mainly talks about the principles of life and governing the country, so it continues to spread and profoundly affects the spirit of the Chinese nation. The prophecies were superstitious, and the rulers only used them temporarily and then abandoned them, so they quickly disappeared.

The so-called prophecy and wei are the combined name of prophecy and wei. Prophecy refers to the cryptic words and pictures that predict good or bad luck. It is a mysterious prophecy. This kind of prophecy appeared relatively early. For example, during the time of Qin Shihuang, there was a prophecy that "Hu Ye will destroy Qin". Qin Shihuang made great efforts to build the Great Wall to prevent the "Hu" people from invading. Prophecies became popular, and there were many believers in the people all over the world. Therefore, many people began to create prophecies and use them to serve their own political purposes. Chen Sheng rose up because he believed that "King Chen Sheng" was hidden in the belly of a fish.

The "Hongwu Tongbao" of the Ming Dynasty carries pictures of cattle herding and is better than Qianwei. It is the general name of works that combine theology with Confucian classics. The Weishu of the seven classics including "Poetry", "Book", "Li", "Yue", "Yi", "Spring and Autumn" and "Filial Piety" are collectively called "Qiwei". Produced in the late Western Han Dynasty.

The propagandists of prophecies strive to prove that its predictions are "credible" afterwards, so they are also called "talents" (in line with divine will). Because this kind of "talisman" comes from destiny, it is also called"Fu Ming". In order to facilitate popularization and promotion, these religious and superstitious works have pictures and text, and are also called "books". These prophecies read "Hou Wang Xingqi and disaster auspiciousness" (astrology), also known as "Hou".

Weishu deified emperors and saints. Taking Confucius as an example, the Book of Wei says: Zhongni Haikou, ox lips, tongue management seven layers, tiger palms, turtle spine, and auxiliary throat. It also says: Niqiu Mountain, the first type, is ten feet long and nine circumferences large. Confucius is described here A very grotesque image. Confucius in the prophecies is not a person, but a god. Since he is a god, he must have different characteristics from mortals.

Weishu is the product of the fusion of prophecies and classics. The combination of prophecies and classics marks the formation of an all-encompassing theological system. In the late Western Han Dynasty, many scholars studied Confucian classics. Some people elaborated new insights and attached them to the classics, becoming a tributary of Confucian classics. They also named Confucius to explain his teachings. The warp is the longitudinal thread of the fabric and the weft is the horizontal thread of the fabric. The "Five Classics" have been determined and difficult to falsify, and a new book was compiled, called Wei Shu, which means that it is consistent with the classics, and it is named after Confucius to facilitate its popularity. From the end of the Western Han Dynasty to the early Eastern Han Dynasty, the compilation of Weishu became an academic fashion. Tu prophecy was attached to the classics, and the weisu was also attached to the classics. Therefore, the tu prophecy and the weishu merged into a trend of thought, and later generations were collectively called prophecies.

The reason why prophecy thought became popular in the late Western Han Dynasty is that it has its social and political roots. The rule of the Han Dynasty was no longer easy to maintain. Under the pressure of natural disasters and peasant uprisings, the rulers could only resort to religious and superstitious propaganda, hoping to delay the life of the Liu dynasty under the pretext of "mandate of heaven" and "revelation from God"; Some political careerists also use this religious superstition to create "divine will" excuses for themselves to usurp political power.

Weishu promotes religious prophecy. It believes that the rise and fall of the country's chaos and the birth of emperors and generals are all arranged by God and destiny. There must be auspiciousness in its prosperity, and evildoers in its demise. In order to create the legitimacy and sanctity of the Western Han Dynasty regime. "The Book of Filial Piety: The Deed of Supporting the Gods" says: Confucius knelt down to receive it and read it, saying: "The treasure text came out, Liu Ji held it, and the golden sword was in the north of Zhen, with the word Hezi, and the world was convinced." There is "Yan Kong Tu" in it. : "Someone's money will bring prosperity." The so-called "Maojin Dao" is the word for "to" (Liu), and Hezi is the word for "Ji". Feng is the hometown of the great ancestor Liu Ji. This means that God has already told the world about the rise of the Han Dynasty in advance.

Wang Mang made extensive use of prophecies during his regency and succession to the Han Dynasty. For example, a minister named Xia Heliang presented the "Prophecy of Red Jing Jing" to Emperor Ai, publicly declaring that "the fortunes of the Han family have been declining, and they should be appointed again." This actually resonated with the ministers and scholars of the Manchu Dynasty. Emperor Ai was threatened by this trend. , staged a farce of changing the name of the Yuan Dynasty and abdicating himself, exacerbating the ideological crisis of the Han Dynasty, and preparing public opinion for Wang Mang to abolish the Han Dynasty and become independent. In the end, Wang Mang passed away with the White Stone Pill "Proclaiming An Han Gong Mang to be the Emperor" The usurper of Han establishes himself, thereby affirming the sanctity and legitimacy of his own source of power. However, the anti-mang forces also used prophecies to achieve their own political goals. At that time, there was an endless stream of people who used prophecies to plot rebellion and raise armies.

It is said in "The Prophecy": "Liu Xiu sent troops to arrest the Taoist, but he spent gold and cultivated Taoism for heaven."son. "Liu Xiu also ascended the throne and became emperor based on the popular prophecy at that time, "Liu Xiu will be the emperor." This kind of using prophecies as the basis for decision-making in political activities may seem absurd to future generations, but the politicians at that time were very Seriously, because the society at that time had already formed the custom of worshiping Chenwei. The establishment of the Eastern Han Dynasty regime benefited from many things about Chenwei, so admiring Chenwei became a natural choice. Although Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu was a wise ruler of a generation, Only on the issue of worshiping prophecies, he behaved almost unreasonably. Whenever he encountered major national problems, he would use the words of prophecies to make decisions. Minister Heng Tan pointed out in Shangshu that Emperor Guangwu believed in prophecies: Confucianism Governing the country should be based on benevolence, righteousness and justice, and there should be no absurd things. However, the art of prophecy, in the name of Confucius, adding and modifying scriptures, used to deceive the world, confuse the people, and mislead the monarch, should be severely devalued. But Emperor Guangwu was furious after hearing this He was furious and believed that Hengtan's opposition to Chen Wei was "impossible for non-sages." For Emperor Guangwu, criticism of Chen Wei was not an academic dispute, but a political principle related to the foundation of the country, and no criticism was allowed at all. Because the emperor believed in the art of prophecy, many scholars taught it out of utilitarian considerations. Confucian scholars also took it as an honor to know the art of prophecy, so much so that they respectfully called it "internal science" and "secret scripture". Its status has exceeded that of Confucian classics. Above.

The explanation of the rise of the Han Dynasty in the Book of Prediction is very superficial and absurd. However, because it uses a relatively obscure and ballad-like language, it emphasizes the prophecy in the form of myth and exaggeration. Mysterious and credible, it can be used as an ideological tool for feudal rulers to deceive and paralyze the people to maintain their rule.

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