Ten Crimes of Qin
| Ten Crimes of Qin | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 過秦論 | ||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 过秦论 | ||||||||||
| Literal meaning | Disquisition Finding Fault with Qin | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Confucian historians condemned the emperor Qin Shi Huang in the Ten Crimes of Qin, a list that was compiled to highlight his tyrannical actions. The famous Han poet and statesman Jia Yi concluded his essay The Faults of Qin (zh:过秦论) with what was to become the standard Confucian judgment of the reasons for Qin's collapse. Jia Yi's essay, admired as a masterpiece of rhetoric and reasoning, was copied into two great Han histories and has had a far-reaching influence on Chinese political thought as a classic illustration of Confucian theory. He explained the ultimate weakness of Qin as a result of its ruler's ruthless pursuit of power, the precise factor which had made it so powerful; for as Confucius had taught, the strength of a government ultimately is based on the support of the people and virtuous conduct of the ruler. [1]
References
- ^ William Thedore de Bary, ed. Sources of Chinese Tradition (New York: Columbia University Press, 1st ed. 1960) pp. 228-231
- v
- t
- e
Qin dynasty topics
- Xianyang
- Epang Palace
- Mr. He's jade
- Terracotta Army
- The Acrobats
- Twelve Metal Colossi
- Shuihudi Qin bamboo texts
- Ten Crimes of Qin
- The First Emperor
- Qin Shi Huang
  | This article related to the history of China is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- v
- t
- e
 | This Confucianism-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
- v
- t
- e
