Ch 1 - In the Beginning

The Rule of Law

Founded on the precepts of Legalism, the authoritarian Qin Dynasty emerged as a bright and explosive period in Chinese history only to disappear in less than a single generation.

Ying Zheng, the King of Qin, stood in his capital at Xianyang along the Wei River in central Shaanxi Province and declared himself Qin Shih Huang Di, "The First Exalted Emperor of the Qin." Sitting at the head of a strong utilitarian government centered around the emperor and his ministers, Qin Shih Huang Di, with advice from Grand Counselor Li Si, established a government based on rigid Legalist doctrines that profoundly influence later Chinese dynasties. His practical application of Legalism resulted in the "rule of law," the notion that laws are supreme over every individual and that individuals only have authority to administer the law. Qin laws were strict and the penalties for violating those laws were severe, particularly for government officials. Political dissention, corruption, or literally anything the emperor deemed improper became a capital crime punishable by death.  Qin Legalists also adopted Mozi's ideas on "equality under the law," the concept that nobody should be punished any more or less severely because of their social status. This view has remained, with few changes, a central concept in theories of Chinese government.

Qin Shih Huang Di broke the autonomous power of the old aristocracy by confiscating their lands and distributing them to the peasants. He also replaced the noblemen with a strong, hierarchical bureaucracy whose members, as well as state ministers, were appointed by a central government. He divided his new empire into 36 (later 48) commanderies, or jun, each with its own governor, military commandant, and superintendent. To finance this new bureaucracy, the Emperor instituted compulsory taxes and levied conscript labor services on a registered population.

The Qin government standardized the writing system and embarked on an ambitious campaign to standardize money and weights and measures, all of which profoundly affected the cohesiveness of Chinese culture. The taxation process was streamlined by taking taxes directly from peasants rather than letting money pass through the hands of noblemen. The government clamped down hard on trade and mercantilism by imposing heavy taxes on businesses and executing merchants for the most trivial offenses. The Qin Dynasty's uniform totalitarianism reached into every corner of society. In 213 BC, Grand Counselor Li Si complained that scholars who studied antiquity and criticized contemporary life just misled and confused people. He recommended that any discussion of the Emperor's laws be prohibited and that all historical records other than Qin's be burned.

The Qin's greatest enemy was not thinking, but fast-moving Xiungnu horsemen. These extremely formidable opponents constantly harassed the northern territories throughout the Zhou Dynasty. The northern military forces were primarily infantry, not cavalry, so they began building earthen walls and fortifications along their borders to defend against Xiungnu attacks. An army of 300,000 men under General Meng T'ien spent ten years fighting the Xiungnu along the Ordos Plateau and building defensive fortifications to defend the Qin Empire. Despite Qin Shih Huang Di's claim that he had freed the masses from forced labor, thousands of conscript laborers worked to tear down all local walls and fortifications, improve waterways and build canals. Legend attributes Qin Shih Huang Di with building China's Great Wall, but most of his fortified outposts were small, earthen structures faced with stone. There is no archaeological evidence to show that any Great Wall existed at that time or any other time for the next sixteen hundred years until the Ming Dynasty. Nevertheless, the fortification and wall-building projects of the Qin Dynasty were truly amazing.

Qin Shih Huang Di loved palaces. Each time the Qin conquered a new kingdom, he had replicas of its palaces built in Xianyang. After stripping the aristocracy of their hereditary rights, he moved some 120,000 dispossessed aristocratic families from across the empire to his capital and built them extravagant mansions furnished with beautiful women and treasures taken from the conquered states. These elegant houses in the capital, with their fenced pavilions and elevated walkways, made it much easier for the emperor to monitor their activities. Members of former ruling families were executed whenever and wherever they could be found.

In 212 BC, Qin Shih Huang Di ordered the construction of a new palace in the Shanglin Gardens beneath Li Shan (Mount Li), a tall peak on the south bank of the Wei River some 50 km east of the capital. When completed, the massive Afang Palace measured almost half a mile in length and could easily seat 10,000 people. Afang Palace and the Xianyang palace were connected by an elevated causeway across the Wei River. At the urging of his priests, the emperor increased his construction program to include secret passageways, elevated walks and walled roads to connect all buildings and palaces in the Xianyang area so that evil spirits could not find him. Anyone revealing where the Emperor was visiting at the moment was put to death.

From the moment he ascended the throne at the age of thirteen, Qin Shih Huang Di began preparing for his death. Nearly 700,000 convict laborers were called into service to build the Emperor's secret mausoleum at Li Shan, a monumental construction project spread over 56 km2 (22 mi2) that rivaled the building of Egypt's great pyramids. Working from a camp that housed some 30,000 families, laborers spent 36 years building the Emperor's tomb complex and were still working on it the day he died.

Wherever Qin Shih Huang Di traveled, artisans erected stone markers with inscriptions praising his accomplishments and claiming that "all is gauged by law and pattern." In 211 BC, someone inscribed on a large stone, "The First Emperor will die and his land be divided." Unable to locate the author of such scurrilous words, the Emperor ordered everyone in the area put to death and had the stone pulverized. A year later, while on tour in the company of his youngest son Hu-hai and Grand Counselor Li Si, Qin Shih Huang Di fell gravely ill. He wrote a letter under the Imperial Seal to his eldest son, Fusu, directing him to carry out the burial in the capital and gave the letter to Zhao Kao, the palace eunuch in charge of the seals. Before the letter could be entrusted to a messenger, the forty-nine year-old Emperor died.

Only Prince Huhai, his tutor Zhao Kao, Grand Counselor Li Si and five or six trusted eunuchs knew the Emperor was dead. Since the imperial traveling party was far from the capital, and since no heir had yet been designated, Li Si decided to keep the emperor's death secret. Zhao Kao convinced Prince Huhai to go along with the conspiracy. The two men continued their ruse after returning to the capital by pretending the Emperor's letter to Fusu was an edict making Hu-hai the successor. After installing the young prince as a puppet emperor, Li Si and Zhao Kao took virtual control of the entire government. The twenty-one year-old Second Emperor was no more enlightened than his father and entrusted the management of state affairs to his long-time friend Zhao Kao. Zhao convinced him to decree tougher laws and penalties that extended to accomplices and families so chief ministers who spread dissention could be eliminated and replaced with trusted men.

The resumption of construction work on the Afang Palace and new roads triggered dramatic tax increases and levies for labor. In order to feed the 50,000 crossbowmen brought to the capital from all over the empire food had to be shipped in from surrounding areas. Government officials could not supervise all the Emperor's assigned tasks and the increased hardships alienated people and drove many into poverty and destitution. Villainy and deceit erupted across the empire and the number of accused criminals grew dramatically. Throughout the empire, the people's growing sense of fear and distrust erupted in mutiny and challenges to authority. People lived on the verge of revolt and were easily aroused to violent rebellion. Local officials feared reporting the outbreak of a revolt to government authorities, believing such a report would be construed as criticism of the government and lead to their execution. Ironically, government inaction in the face of mounting civil unrest only encouraged the rebels.

In late summer 209 BC, heavy rains delayed a group of 900 convicts from arriving in Xianyang. Chen Sheng, a former laborer charged with transporting the prisoners, knew the penalty for his tardiness would be death. He armed his group with plow handles and sticks, declared himself King of Chu, and instigated a bloody rebellion. Gangs of young men calling themselves the "Magnifiers of Chu" began murdering Qin officials and joined forces with a plan to attack Xianyang. Grand Counselor Li Si's son, the Provincial Governor of Chu, could not stop the rebels, yet the Emperor ignored Li Si whenever he tried to bring the problem to his attention. When a dutiful Qin official returning from the area reported the rebellion, the Emperor became so enraged he ordered the hapless man punished. Afterward, no envoy reported disturbances in the outlying regions except for small gangs of bandits they claimed would soon be captured. The territorial uprisings soon became so severe however, they could no longer be ignored.

Chen Sheng's rebel army numbered several hundred thousand men in the winter of 209 BC. By the time the Qin court learned the truth, it was already too late. As they approached Xianyang, General Chang Han assembled an army and defeated the rebels at Hanku Pass. The Emperor reprimanded Li Si for permitting such outbreaks and inadvertently gave Zhao Kao an opening wedge to use against the Grand Counselor, whose growing influence was a great irritation. Zhao Kao convinced the Emperor not to expose his shortcomings in open court, but to make his decisions in the inner recesses of the palace where he and a few other eunuchs could attend him. Soon, the powerful Zhao Kao was making all decisions. He asked Li Si to speak with the Emperor about an urgent matter. Li Si replied he would, but not while the Emperor remained in seclusion. Zhao Kao offered to tell Li Si the best times to request an interview, but actually gave him times when the Emperor would be relaxing and did not want to be disturbed. After a few such ill-timed visits, Zhao Kao easily persuaded the already perturbed Emperor to investigate Li Si and his son. After Li Si wrote the Emperor warning of Zhao Kao's dangerous power, the Emperor ordered his arrest. Zhao Kao had him beaten in prison until he confessed to a long list of false crimes against Qin, then ordered Li Si and all his relatives executed. In 208 BC, Zhao Kao became Grand Counselor.

Dispossessed aristocrats began reviving their formerly independent states and reestablishing their own governments. The Xiang family from the State of Chu, with its long history of prominent military men, became a commanding presence in the growing resurgence of power. Xiang Liang, the son of Grand General Xiang Yan, murdered a man in his home town and fled with his family to escape arrest. After establishing himself in Xuzhou in Jiangsu Province, he became a self-appointed organizer and care-taker and retained the services of a great many people whom he privately gave military training. Xiang Liang earned widespread popular support from peasants and aristocrats alike. His nephew, Xiang Yu, was far more egocentric and ambitious than his uncle. The first time Xiang Yu saw Qin Shih Huang Di during one of his many inspection tours, he declared the arrogant emperor could be replaced. Just two months after the Chen Sheng Uprising began, Xiang Yu killed the Wu Prefecture chief in Xuzhou and, with help from his uncle, organized an army of nearly 8,000 men.

Liu Bang was born to an obscure peasant family, but had no interest in becoming a farmer. With just a minimal education, he became a low-level Qin government official in the town of Si Xian in Jiangsu Province. Generous and easy going, he attracted a lot of friends, but his drinking, womanizing, cheating, and failure to repay debts marked him as an idle scoundrel. While escorting a group of convicted criminals to the Li Shan work camp, Liu Bang's lack of devotion to duty resulted in so many prisoner escapes it became apparent that few prisoners would actually reach their destination. He knew the penalty for failing to bring them all, so he released the remaining prisoners and went into hiding. About a dozen prisoners followed, making Liu Bang the leader of an outlaw gang even before the Qin rebellions got underway. Many of Liu Bang's former colleagues joined him after the Chen Sheng Uprising to form a powerful local force of about 3,000 men ready to ride against the Qin.

In 208 BC, not long after Xiang Liang gave Liu Bang five thousand infantry, they learned that Chen Sheng had died fighting General Chang Han. The two men found the sheep herding grandson of the former King of Chu, enthroned him as King Huai, and for a time, fought under his banner. Xiang Liang, who boasted of his victories over the Qin, also died in battle against General Chang Han, whose mounting successes prompted King Huai to appoint Liu Bang a marquis and Xiang Yu a duke and second general under the veteran General Song Yi. King Huai ordered everyone to march west to Xianyang as soon as possible, promising that whoever entered the Hanku Pass first and conquered the Qin would become ruler of the Wei River valley. While Liu Bang and Xiang Yu planned their attack, an urgent message arrived from the city of Julu, about 75 km north of the Zhao capital at Handan. The city had been under siege by Qin troops for nearly a month and desperately needed relief. The king's veteran generals argued against allowing Xiang Yu to attempt the Hanku Pass, noting his cruelty and impetuousness had led him to butcher the inhabitants of Hsiang-ch'eng. Heeding their advice, King Huai ordered generals Sung Yi and Xiang Yu north to rescue Zhao from General Chang's attacks.

General Song Yi halted his army at the Zhang River south of Anyang, where he decided to postpone his attack until the Qin army wore itself out taking Julu. Xiang Yu saw no military advantage in waiting and urged Song Yi to press forward. Still, the army sat through 46 days of cold, wet weather. Food supplies ran low. During a morning conference with General Song, a furious Xiang Yu suddenly leapt to his feet, drew his sword and decapitated the general, claiming he ignored the suffering of his own men and was actually plotting with the State of Qin. The stunned generals quickly submitted to Xiang Yu and confirmed him as Supreme General. Xiang Yu ordered his entire army into battle. Once across the Zhang River, he ordered all boats destroyed and every house along the river bank burned to the ground. Each man was issued three-days of food and ordered to destroy all cooking pots and the remaining food supplies. With no avenue of retreat and only two options left - fight or die - Xiang Yu pushed forward and defeated the Qin army in a series of nine separate battles. Flushed with success, General Xiang Yu turned his army toward the Qin capital at Xianyang.

General Chang Han sent his aide to Xianyang to describe the situation and ask for instructions, but Zhao Kao disbelieved the message and refused to see him. When General Chang learned that Zhao Kao controlled the government and that, win or lose, he would be executed, he and his subordinate generals surrendered their armies. By now Zhao Kao realized the former states had actually set up kings and were defeating Qin forces around the empire. The eunuch feared he would be severely punished for misleading the Emperor about the seriousness of the situation, so he and his son-in-law executed a fake rebel attack on the palace, killed thirty or forty guards, and forced the Emperor to commit suicide. Before he died, Hu Hai asked the one eunuch who had remained loyal why he did not warn him sooner. The eunuch replied that had he spoken out he would have been executed long ago.

Zhao Kao summoned the royal family and all government officials to announce the Second Emperor's death. Knowing the independent states would make a mockery of the title "emperor," he installed the Emperor's nephew, Ziying, as King of Qin. It was a fateful choice. Ziying feared he would be put to death in the temple, so he waited for Zhao Kao to come get him. When the eunuch arrived, Ziying stabbed him to death and had his relatives executed.

Meanwhile, Liu Bang readied his army of 100,000 men for the assault on Xianyang. Fighting under orders not to plunder towns and villages or seize prisoners, his men defeated the remaining Qin armies within seven weeks. In 206 BC, Liu Bang captured Xianyang intact. He ordered Qin's treasures sealed and collected all the Qin's important charts, registers, and documents. He abolished all oppressive laws except those for murder and reasonable punishments for assault and theft. When he learned that General Xiang Yu's onrushing army of 400,000 men was approaching the capital, he withdrew north to avoid a collusion. Already angry about failing to conquer the capital first, Xiang Yu became infuriated when he learned that Liu Bang had taken Xianyang's treasure. He ordered the city's destruction, including the Qin palaces, and led the slaughter of 200,000 men he had tricked into surrendering. Ziying, the King of Qin, surrendered to General Xiang with a rope around his neck and was executed along with the rest of the royal family. Not even the infant crown prince was spared the knife. The Qin Dynasty was dead.

Chinese historians consider Qin Shih Huang Di an autocratic, repressive, authoritarian ruler who led the world in violence and cruelty. Putting deceit first and humanity and justice last served him well in seizing an empire, but it did not preserve the victory. He staffed his government with brilliant political theorists and reformers whose Legalist government controlled the state and its bureaucracy with brutal efficiency. While his accomplishments rank him with the likes of Julius Caesar and Alexander the Great, his greed, short-sightedness, distrust of his own administrators, and ignorance of his subjects made peace an impossibility. For all Qin Shih Huang Di achieved and more, it is somehow fitting the Western name "China" has its roots in the name of his empire - Qin (Chin).