The Reign of King Zheng of Qin: Impact on Chinese History and Culture

This essay delves into the rule of King Zheng of Qin (Shi Huangdi) and its profound impact on Chinese history and culture. It examines key events such as the burning of books and the persecution of Confucian scholars, highlighting how these actions drastically altered the course of Chinese civilization. The essay explores the motivations behind these controversial policies, including the desire to consolidate power and eliminate dissenting ideologies. It analyzes the consequences of Shi Huangdi's actions, such as the loss of historical knowledge and the suppression of intellectual freedom, while also acknowledging his contributions to unifying China through standardized language, currency, and infrastructure projects like the Great Wall. The essay concludes by assessing the long-term effects of Shi Huangdi's reign, emphasizing the complex legacy of a ruler whose actions both unified and damaged Chinese culture.

Running head: KING ZHENG OF QIN AGAINST CONFUCIANISM
KING ZHENG OF QIN AGAINST CONFUCIANISM
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1KING ZHENG OF QIN AGAINST CONFUCIANISM
In the essay, the history of the Asian countries is analyzed in the purview of their effect
on the future. The country chosen for this assignment is China and the history of China is
analyzed. The effect of the different events occurring in the history of the country has a great
influence on the future instances. China is one of the countries, which has been the seat of early
civilization and has a rich cultural history. The oriental countries have a culture and tradition,
which are different from the western world (Zhang, 2015). The effect of an individual ancient
event on this culture and the cultural diversity is the topic of discussion in this essay. In this
essay, the topic of choice is the rule of King Zheng of Qin – Shi Huangdi and the effect of his
rule on the history of China (Berit & Strandskogen 2015). This paper will demonstrate that the
event of book burning and the burying of Confucians in the rule of King Zheng of Qin – Shi
Huangdi greatly affected the history of the country and the effects of Shi Huangdi’s
administration.
King Zheng of Qin – Shi Huangdi, often regarded as the first emperor in the world ruled
China between 221-210 BCE and is known for his advocacy of feudalism (Cotterell, 2014). The
king ascended the throne in 221 BCE at an early age of 13 and became the first emperor of
Unified China. He brought the whole country under his rule by winning against the Warring
States of China. He destroyed the walls fortifying the borders of the different states of the tribes
and from their ruins; the construction of the Great Wall of China began (Williams, 2015). The
rule of King Shi Huangdi brought a drastic change in the working of the Chinese feudalism. One
of the major events in the history of China was the burning of book and the burying of
philosophers, which took place between 213 and 210 BCE. This caused a great loss to the study
of ancient china as most of the documents containing the history of China were destroyed
because of this (Fang, 2015). The main reason for the event of the destroying of books and the

2KING ZHENG OF QIN AGAINST CONFUCIANISM
burying of the philosophers of the country was the advice of Li Si the advisor of Emperor Zheng.
The main reason for the burning of books was to avoid any comparison of Shi Huangdi’s rule
and policies with the older rulers. Contrary, to the belief all the texts were not burned. The texts
that were to be submitted to the governor by the common people included the poems of Shih, the
Classics of History or the works of Hundred philosophers. The books were to be kept only by
academicians who had the duty of keeping the books (Pines, 2016). To avoid the dissatisfaction
of the people from the present scenario the documents were destroyed under the rule of the king
(Dolce, 2014). The books on the topics of music, astrology and medicine were exempt from this
rule of the emperor.
During his long rule, the emperor had the incessant dream of a long and eternal life for
which he took the help of two alchemists. Their failure in doing so agitated the emperor to the
point that he ordered the execution of 460 alchemists in the kingdom (Fukuyama, 2016). He also
killed anyone who wanted to save or preserve the books he ordered to be burned. He was against
the Confucian philosophy, which made him kill a number of Confucian monks, which greatly
threatened the philosophy. This caused a great furor in his empire but they were tyrannically
subdued (Huang-Ti, 2015). The mass killing is greatly criticized by the contemporary historians
and philosophers. The rule of King Shi Huangdi greatly changes the dynamics of the Chinese
history as much of the historical data about its rich cultural heritage was lost and there are no
credible sources of Chinese history today (Hou, 2015).
The tyrannical action of the Emperor had a great effect on the society culture and the
history of the country. The information that can be gathered from the action of the king varies
from tyranny to the society of China during his rule (Kulmar, 2014). Firstly, from the action it
can be deduced that the rule was tyrannical with no freedom to criticize any government policies.

3KING ZHENG OF QIN AGAINST CONFUCIANISM
The policies of the king included the unifying of China by bringing the territories under his
control. He ruled by brute force punishing anyone who tried to criticize him or stood against his
policies. Secondly, he took the right of the hierarchical rule of the governors and took upon
himself the sole right to change and appoint governors (Kulmar, 2014). Thirdly, he wanted an
imperial rule to last for a long time for which he even tried to increase his own life with the help
of alchemists.
The emperor was greatly influenced by the ideal of creating a large empire extending
throughout China. His administration greatly revolutionized China’s history and brought about a
number of changes in the country. Under his rule, the language of China developed and a
common language was accepted in the empire. In his rule, he greatly improved the canal system
for an easier transportation of vessels in China. Before the rule of Shi Huangdi, china had no
currency; he introduced a common currency throughout China. The building of the Great Wall of
China to keep vandals out of his country was a great stem in consolidating the country, which
was completed in later fourteenth century by the Ming dynasty (Williams, 2015). He wanted to
keep a complete control on the functioning of the organization. Shi Huangdi introduced a
common coinage system in the whole of China so that there are no currency discrepancies.
During the assessment of the rule of King Shi Huangdi, there are various topics to be
focused on to show the effect of his rule on the history of China. His administrative measures
were an able on to manage a huge empire but the tyrannical enforcement angered people against
him. The coinage and the canal system greatly helped in the unification of the empire. The
empire under the rule of King Shi Huangdi was a vast empire and the lack of diversity in his
approach enraged the local population. The burning of the books was an incident, which tainted
his fame not only during his time but also throughout history. The rule of Shi Huangdi brought a

4KING ZHENG OF QIN AGAINST CONFUCIANISM
change in the administration and overall culture of the country as it united the whole of china
under a rule with a common language, set of laws and currency. The rule would have lasted
longer and would have been more counter-productive for his dynasty had he refrained from
tyranny.
The major point for which the rule of Shi Huangdi is to be remembered is the burning of
books and the killing of philosophers and the alchemists who wanted to save them. The burning
of the books caused a great part of ancient history to be lost in time. The killing of the monks
greatly threatened the philosophy and had the later Han dynasty not revived it. Shi Huangdi was
even criticized by his son Fusu for killing the Confucians as it caused widespread hatred against
the emperor. The loss of the learning in the empire due to the burning of the books and killing of
the monks greatly contributed to fall of the dynasty.
There were a number of reasons for the downfall of the Qin dynasty, which in spite of
uniting the whole of China could not rule for long (Zaharia, et al., 2014). Firstly, the tyrannical
policies of Shi Huangdi greatly agitated the locals and farmer against him. Secondly, the burning
of the books greatly harmed the reputation of the king and brought about the end to the dynasty.
Thirdly, the emperor’s stance against the governors caused him the loss of support in times of
need. Fourthly, the killing of the Confucian monks greatly agitated the people of the empire
against him causing intolerance against his reign in the empire. Though he is greatly hated, some
historians argued that he might be portrayed in the wrong light by the later Confucians. It is
argued that since he was against their philosophy and took strict action against them, the later
Confucians showed him more tyrannical than he really was.

5KING ZHENG OF QIN AGAINST CONFUCIANISM
Thus, in the essay the growth and development of the culture of China is seen under the
rule of Shi Huangdi. He was and able warrior and an administrator who built and managed the
great empire long before the Roman Empire making him the first emperor of the world. His
stance against the philosophers and the books of ancient civilization greatly maligned his image.
He was an able planner, which was evident from his idea of unifying language, coinage system
and building transport canals throughout the country. He also foresaw foreign threats and laid
foundation of the Great Wall. Despite his various administrative achievement he was a tyrant
ruling with brute force and will be remembered for the loss of culture he caused by the burning
of books.

6KING ZHENG OF QIN AGAINST CONFUCIANISM
References
Berit, A., & Strandskogen, R. (2015). Lifelines in World History:" The Ancient World"," The
Medieval World"," The Early Modern World"," The Modern World". Routledge.
Cotterell, A. (2014). A History of South East Asia. Marshall Cavendish International Asia Pte
Ltd.
Dolce, J. (2014). Free speech and the skokie case. Quadrant, 58(7/8), 32.
Fang, X. (2015). Burning Books and Burying Scholars: On the Policies of the Short-lived Qin
Dynasty in Ancient China (221-207 BC). International journal of liberal arts and social
science, 3(7), 54-61.
Fukuyama, F. (2016). Reflections on Chinese governance. Journal of Chinese Governance, 1(3),
379-391.
Hou, R. (2015). The Ancient Great Wall in a New Era. In Symposium on Chinese Historical
Geography (pp. 107-109). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
Huang-Ti, S. (2015). Shi Huangdi (Qin Shi Huangdi. Lifelines in World History:" The Ancient
World"," The Medieval World"," The Early Modern World"," The Modern World", 93.
Kulmar, T. (2014). ON THE NATURE OF THE GOVERNING SYSTEM OF THE QIN
EMPIRE IN ANCIENT CHINA. Folklore-Electronic Journal of Folklore, (59), 165-178.
Pines, Y. (2016). China, imperial: 1. Qin dynasty, 221–207 bce. The Encyclopedia of Empire.

7KING ZHENG OF QIN AGAINST CONFUCIANISM
Williams, K. D. (2015). History 126 August 27, 2015 Cultural, social, and political consequences
of the unification of China. China was unified in 221 BCE for the first time in many
centuries after.
Zaharia, D., Stănculescu, E., Mihuţ-Bohîlţea, F., & Lung, E. G. (2014). Great Reformers:
Psychological Analysis Of Their Personality Justinian, Julius Caesar And Shi Huangdi.
Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 140, 212-220.
Zhang, Q. (2015). An Introduction to Chinese History and Culture. Springer.

8KING ZHENG OF QIN AGAINST CONFUCIANISM
Bibliography
Fenby, J. (2008). China's imperial dynasties: 1600 BC-AD 1912. Metro Books.
Kinoshita, H. (2007). THE FIRST EMPEROR: CHINA'S TERRACOTTA ARMY: Exhibition at
the British Museum, 13 September 2007–6 April 2008. Asian Affairs, 38(3), 371-376.
Miller, M., & Veatch, N. (2010). Teaching literacy in context: Choosing and using instructional
strategies. The Reading Teacher, 64(3), 154-165.
Rawson, J. (Ed.). (1996). Mysteries of ancient China: new discoveries from the early dynasties.
George Braziller.