Burning many books and burying many
scholars alive.(焚書坑儒)
China's Qin Dynasty was founded by Qin Shi
Huang. The systems he established had a profound impact on China, and history
books tell the story of his life.
In 221 AD, the Qin Kingdom defeated six
other kingdoms, unifying China and establishing the Qin dynasty.
His most trusted prime minister offered Qin
Shi Huang some advice. The prime minister said to Qin Shi Huang:
'Before the Qin Dynasty was established,
many scholars promoted policies and laws they supported in various kingdoms.
Even after the Qin Dynasty was established, these scholars remained unwilling
to respect its laws and regulations.
Some other scholars have proposed restoring
the legal system and social norms of the Zhou dynasty. I believe these
scholars' ideas are extremely foolish.
They criticise our current political system
and laws, and even now, they believe that their own policies and laws are more
suitable for governing a vast kingdom.
Not only do these scholars criticise the
new policies and laws we are implementing, they also actively promote their own
ideas and concepts. I believe that the ideas and practices of these scholars
are inappropriate and that we must find a solution to this problem. Qin Shi
Huang agreed with the prime minister that this phenomenon needed to be
addressed.
Following the prime minister's advice, Qin
Shi Huang ordered that Qin's own history books and all books related to
medicine, divination, agriculture and forestry be preserved. All books written
by scholars of various schools of thought, as well as historical books from
other countries, were to be burned.
The following year, another major incident
occurred within the Qin dynasty.
Two alchemists claimed to have mastered
methods and techniques that could grant immortality. Qin Shi Huang invited them
to use their knowledge to achieve this.
However, the two alchemists failed to
fulfil their mission.
The two alchemists failed to complete their
mission and, fearing the death penalty at the hands of Qin Shi Huang, fled the
capital city of the Qin dynasty.
Before leaving, they harshly criticised Qin
Shi Huang, angering him greatly.
He ordered the arrest of 460 scholars
associated with the alchemists. In a fit of rage, he ordered the massacre of
these scholars.
This idiom literally means 'burning many
books and burying many scholars alive'.
It is used to describe rulers attacking and
harming culture and intellectuals.
Dear friends, what are your thoughts on
this story, and what inspiration have you gained from it?
Do you think freedom of speech should be
limited? Is the completely unregulated publication of books a good thing?
I hope this story gives you some new
insights.
焚書坑儒(Burning many books and burying many
scholars alive.
中國的秦王朝的建立者是秦始皇，他所制定的很多制度對中國產生了深遠的影響，歷史書上記載了一個他的故事。
西元前221年，秦王國打敗了另外六個王國統一了中國並建立了秦王朝。
秦始皇最信任的宰相對他提出了一些建議，宰相對秦始皇說。
秦王朝建立之前，有許多學者在各個王國中推動著他們所認同的政策與法律，這些學者在秦王朝建立之後，仍然不願意尊崇秦王朝所制定的法律與規範。
另外有一些學者提出了一些建議，他們建議你應該要恢復到周王朝的法律制度與社會規範，我認為這些學者的想法是極其愚蠢的。
這些學者批評我們現在的政治制度與法律，這些學者到現在還認為他們所認同與信仰的政策與法律更適合治理一個巨大的王國。
這些學者不只是批評我們所推行的新的政策與法令，他們還積極地對外宣傳他們的想法與觀念，這些學者的想法與做法我認為是不合適的，我們必須要針對這個現象找出一個解決的方式。
秦始皇認同宰相的觀點，他也認同需要針對這個現象進行管理。
在這位宰相的建議下，秦始皇頒布了一條命令，他下令保留秦王國本國的歷史書和醫藥與占卜與農業和林業相關的所有書籍，除了上述的所有書籍外的所有各著學派的學者所寫的書與各國的歷史書都要全部焚毀。
這件事情發生的第二年，秦王朝內又發生了一件重大的事件。
有兩個方士表示他們掌握了可以讓人變成長生不老的方法與技巧，秦始皇這兩個方士的話，就請這兩個方士用自己所知道的技巧與方法讓自己長生不老。
這兩個方士後來沒有完成自己的任務，他們兩個人怕被秦始皇處以死刑所以他們兩個人就逃離的秦王朝的首都。
這兩個方士在離開秦王國的首都前還大肆地批評秦始皇，他們兩個人的行為讓秦始皇非常的憤怒。
秦始皇就下令逮捕了跟這兩個方士有關聯的460個學者，為了排解自己的憤怒，秦始皇下令坑殺了這460個學者。
這句成語直接翻譯的意思是焚燒很多書籍與坑殺很多學者。
這句成語被用來形容統治者對文化和知識份子的打擊與傷害。
親愛的朋友，你聽完這個故事有什麼樣的或有什麼樣的啟發呢。
你認為言論自由有其界限嗎?你認為書籍的出版自己如果完全放鬆而不管制是好的嗎?
我希望這個故事能讓你產生一些新的收穫。
出處為史記-秦始皇本記
https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E5%8F%B2%E8%A8%98/%E5%8D%B7006
https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/%E5%8F%B2%E8%A8%98/%E5%8D%B7006