Apr 14th, 2007
Lessons from the Qin dynasty
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I used to be an avid reader of Chinese history and classics, until I left secondary school. Chinese history has always been fascinating to me. I did an European history course in my first year and I didn’t quite like it. Chinese history seems more to my liking. And of course, history is fascinating because of the tendency for it to repeat itself in the course of time.
Anyway, of all the various dynasties in ancient China, the Qin dynasty is perhaps one of the most intriguing ones. The founding emperor, 秦始皇 (Qin Shi-huang, meaning Qin, the First Emperor) is an iron-fisted ruler. Some would even call him a brutal tyrant. He abolished the system of feudal lords that caused much of the chaos of the Warring States, and instead divided the country into 36 districts, and he could appoint or dismiss commanders at will. To prevent the building of a base of power, commanders were constantly rotated. Each district also had an inspector to report back to court everything about the district, thus sealing the control of the court over the districts.
Unifying the Warring States, Qin Shih-huang ordered all the members of royalty of the conquered states to move to Xianyang so that he could monitor them closely in case they decided to rebel. He was also known for burning most of the books in existence and the live burial of a large number of intellectuals who refuse to conform to state dogma. And, who can forget that he was responsible for the building of the Great Wall of China, which many people were forcibly conscripted to carry out the job?
Qin Shih-huang is arguably a very talented person. Yet, the Qin dynasty collapsed within 3 years of his death, and it’s the shortest dynasty in Chinese history, lasting about 20 years. The collapse of the Qin dynasty has been attributed to his harsh policies and iron-fisted rule. In fact, when Qin Shih-huang died (during a tour of the country), his Prime Minister, afraid that the news will immediately spark rebellion and uprising, kept the news from the entire royal entourage until they returned to the capital 2 months later. The inevitable, though delayed, still occurred, and the dynasty fell.
The source of the success of the Qin dynasty, i.e. harsh laws and unbearable burdens placed on the subjects (in the form of conscription for the emperor’s various mega-projects and extravagances) eventually led to its downfall. According to Confucius, a government can only last if the ruler is virtuous and win the whole-hearted support of the people. Well, to modify the Confucian idea a little, I would say that a government can only last if the ruler is perceived to be virtuous by the subjects. Therefore, for any government to have a lasting legacy, it would be wise to keep in touch with the ground and understand what the subjects perceive to be a virtuous ruler that they will follow whole-heartedly.
Personal Note:
I think I’ve re-discovered my passion for Chinese language, culture and history. Unfortunately, I’ve not been doing much reading on Chinese culture and history for many years, and I’ve also let my command of Chinese language rust away. I think I’ll set up a blog in Chinese in a couple of weeks to help me practise and revive both knowledge and command of Chinese language.
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http://aserialnumberonmyvote.blogspot.com/2006/08/identifying-ideological-construct-used.html
This is an interesting article comparing legalism and the Singapore system.
Aaron,
A good reminder. Man is, after all, make of fresh and blood.
I always heard people saying history repeats itself. For those who have undesirable aims in life, they would also read the past histories of mankind. Are they able to avoid the final outcome of those past leaders of our histories? You know, the great and the worst leaders also learned from history. So, can they stop history repeating itself for themselves?
No need for Qin shihuang
I recommend the speeches of Sylvia Lim and Thio Li Ann. Sums up all the key issues squarely.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/parliament/videoarchives.htm
Good post Aaron.
I do fear for the future of Singapore. There was a post on an interview Susan Long did with Mr Ngiam Tong Dow some time back which discussed this in a very succint way. Here’s the link.
Another Reader,
It depends on whether people think that they can create history.
Craftsman,
Ngiam Tong Dow is very intelligent indeed. Although I cannot be sure that his ideas will definitely work (as with me being unsure that the current PAP model will actually work), but I agree that the one thing we should take away from all of his speech is that Singapore is bigger than the PAP.
Very interesting read on Ngiam Tong Dow. Apparently while he was in public service he was one of the few civil servants who has the gonads and can get away with saying ‘no’ to the highest powers that be in govt. Speaks of the influence and power he wielded relative to his public profile.
Aaron,
The similarity between Qin and PAP Gov run Lee empire is that Emperor Qin force people to build The Great Wall OF China whereas in Singapore the Lee forced the people to build the Great Wealth of Singapore, only that the great wealth belong to Lee and their Yes-MEN only !!!
Don’t believe, just think for a moment.
In building great wall, people die physically.
In Singapore, people die immorally and financially. The pattern are the same but component are different !!!
“I think I’ll set up a blog in Chinese in a couple of weeks to help me practise and revive both knowledge and command of Chinese language.”
Thus thoroughly embarrassing yourself. You might like to keep it private. (I jest.)
Palisade,
If there’s no criticism, there’s no improvement.
Dear Aaron,
If you are really interested in Chinese history, you should look at some of these books written by professional historians of China:
Introduction to broad political and intellectual history of China:
Philip Kuhn, Origins of the Modern Chinese State (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2003)
Intro book for Chinese social and economic history:
Lloyd Eastman, Family, Fields, and Ancestors: Constancy and Change in China’s Social and Economic History, 1550-1949 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997).
My favorite book on Chinese history:
Prasenjit Duara, Sovereignty and Authenticity: Manchukuo and the East Asian Modern (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers: 2004).
Let me know if you want more recommendations! Cheers!
Apparently while he was in public service he was one of the few civil servants who has the gonads and can get away with saying ‘no’ to the highest powers that be in govt.
Francis:
Hainanese as a rule, are very ‘toot’. My father say one.
Hi Aaron,
In case if you are not aware, I find that some TV programs at Channel 50 for 凤凰å«è§†ä¸æ–‡å° (starhub cable tv) is pretty informative, mainly about Chinese culture.
I also look forward to your Chinese blog. I have not yet found any good Chinese blog locally (pls let me know if there is). Guess after so many years of English education, most of us find typing Chinese a painful and dragging process (and I don’t even want to mention writing Chinese characters with pen and paper)
If you’re interested, you can try watching this series of videos of this Professor from China giving lectures on the history of the Three Kingdoms period…
å“三国
Hi Wayne,
Let me finish your current recommendations first. After that, I’ll ask for more. Thanks for the generous offer. æ„Ÿæ¿€ä¸å°½ï¼(Very much appreciated!)
BK,
I don’t know of any good local Chinese blog. I’m not sure how my attempt to do a local Chinese blog will turn out, because as you said, most of us find typing and writing chinese painful because we are so used to English in our daily lives. I already foresee huge problems in terms of technical terms. But, let’s just see how it goes. 一分耕耘，一分收获 （for every piece of land you cultivate, you get a piece of the harvest)
LCC,
Thanks for the link!
写ä¸æ–‡åšå®¢ï¼Ÿä¸»ä¹‰ä¸é”™ã€‚ä»¥ä½ çš„æ°´å¹³ï¼Œåº”è¯¥æ˜¯æ²¡é—®é¢˜å§ï¼
Michael è€å¸ˆï¼Œ
我已多年没åšä¸æ–‡å†™ä½œï¼Œæ‰€ä»¥æ²¡å¤šå°‘把æ¡.
å°å¼Ÿä¸æ‰ï¼Œè‹¥æ°´å‡†ä¸åŠæ‚¨çš„è¦æ±‚，请多多指教。
Translation:
Sensei Michael,
I’ve not written Chinese compositions for a long while, so I am not confident.
I’m not very proficient, and therefore if my standard is unable to meet your expectation, please feel free to give me pointers!
Your standards are actually better than mine, Aaron. I’m actually an English teacher, not a Chinese one. It does sound so odd to hear a Singaporean call me è€å¸ˆ. Only the Chinese, Taiwanese, Japanese and Koreans here call me that!
Aaron:
Qin dynasty is not exactly the shortest in Chinese history.
IrCTP,
To my knowledge, Qin lasted around 20 years, at most 25 years, depending on which version of history one reads. I do not know of any dynasty shorter than Qin, and it would be pretty amazing to have a dynasty that’s even shorter than 20 years. If you know, it would be nice of you to share with everyone else, as well as to correct my knowledge gap.
Hmm… Actually, if I’m not wrong, the Qin only lasted for 15 years, from 221 B.C.E. to 206 B.C.E.
However, the shortest dynasty, technically, would have to be the Later Han Dynasty(åŽæ±‰), which only lasted for 3 years from 947 C.E. to 950 C.E. during the Five Dynasties (五代) period unless one wants to consider the “dynasty” under Yuan Shikai (è¢ä¸–凯) which only lasted 83 days.
LCC,
Hmm.. I always looked at Han dynasty as a whole period (including Northern Han). Thanks for pointing it out though.
看æ¥ï¼Œæˆ‘们改天è§é¢æ—¶å¯ä»¥è¯ä¸å›½åŽ†å²ã€‚最近，在看《于å•çš„论è¯å¿ƒå¾—》。å¯ä»¥ä»‹ç»ç»™ä½ 。
He had two sons.
The first was a good soldier. The second was an idiot.
PM plotted with another chappie to have the first son commit suicide by order of the emperor.
Dumb chap did that.
The idiot son was put on the throne by the wicked PM and his crony.
The rebels kill them all.
Correct?
Indeed, the first son was killed due to an evil plot by the PM and chief eunuch. The second son was then put on the throne. The lesson is that power is perhaps more addictive than drugs! Even though the PM and chief eunuch were already very powerful, it wasn’t enough.
The story goes on… the Eunuch Zhao Gao eventually had the PM Li Si tortured which involved the removal of some body parts and his family was executed to the 3rd generation. Then after rebellions broke out, Zhao Gao forced Huhai (Second Emperor) to commit suicide and made the son of the first son (Fusu) emperor. Ziying as the third emperor was known then killed Zhao Gao, surrendered to Liu Bang and then was killed by Xiang Yu.
Thus we see that a system which revolves around a strong figure could lead to disaster for the country should there be no strong figure left. The Qin Dynasty’s example was quick; there were other empires whose decline took centuries.
Chinese history thought provoking, necessary read. Nearer our time, late Chinese PM Zhou Enlai…comrade type, is interesting.. diplomacy and typical Chinese old ways but admired. Any good insightful read on him besides the one by his Goddaughter? Anyone.
Through out the history of China, eunuchs have been the cause of corruption and collapse of kingdoms.
Zheng Ho seems to be the only good eunuch.
Mainly because he was busy sailing the seven seas seven times.
Strong man Gengshi Khan had four sons who doubled his empire after his death.
The Yuan dynasty lasted until the Mongols grew weak in the knees and stomach after years of good easy living.
Extremely frugal PM with no wardrobe for his probably 3 sets of formal wear? In wiki, found there’s nothing on “his own written experiences or bio”.
There’s China’s FM/VPM Qian Qichen’s exps..another good insight.
Passing thought. That shows the leader do listens to the ones “closest’ not necessary the official adviser(s). Today, somebody’s blog of rarity may be playing part of that part for better or worst.
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30 The Crane // Apr 22, 2007 at 9:16 am
Through out the history of China, eunuchs have been the cause of corruption and collapse of kingdoms.
Eunuchs are responsible for red-tape. So the impt info never gets anywhere.
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30 The Crane // Apr 22, 2007 at 9:16 am
Through out the history of China, eunuchs have been the cause of corruption and collapse of kingdoms.
Hello,
I’m Sue , a college student form China.If you are interested in learning something about China you can concact me by e-mail if you like.
me again, u may want to consider reading on japanese and korean history as well because they’re pretty similar to the chinese ones. pre-modern that is.
iyah very sad not many people take history as a mirror to reflect.