卷六·秦始皇本纪第六

卷六·秦始皇本纪第六

司马迁

秦始皇帝者，秦庄襄王子也。庄襄王为秦质子于赵，见吕不韦姬，悦而取之，生始皇。以秦昭王四十八年正月生于邯郸。及生，名为政，姓赵氏。年十三岁，庄襄王死，政代立为秦王。当是之时，秦地已并巴、蜀、汉中，越宛有郢，置南郡矣；北收上郡以东，有河东、太原、上党郡；东至荥阳，灭二周，置三川郡。吕不韦为相，封十万户，号曰文信侯。招致宾客游士，欲以并天下。李斯为舍人。蒙骜、王齮、麃公等为将军。王年少，初即位，委国事大臣。

晋阳反，元年，将军蒙骜击定之。二年，麃公将卒攻卷，斩首三万。三年，蒙骜攻韩，取十三城。王齮死。十月，将军蒙骜攻魏氏畼、有诡。岁大饥。四年，拔畼、有诡。三月，军罢。秦质子归自赵，赵太子出归国。十月庚寅，蝗虫从东方来，蔽天。天下疫。百姓内粟千石，拜爵一级。五年，将军骜攻魏，定酸枣、燕、虚、长平、雍丘、山阳城，皆拔之，取二十城。初置东郡。冬雷。六年，韩、魏、赵、卫、楚共击秦，取寿陵。秦出兵，五国兵罢。拔卫，迫东郡，其君角率其支属徙居野王，阻其山以保魏之河内。七年，彗星先出东方，见北方，五月见西方。将军骜死。以攻龙、孤、庆都，还兵攻汲。彗星复见西方十六日。夏太后死。八年，王弟长安君成蟜将军击赵，反，死屯留，军吏皆斩死，迁其民于临洮。将军壁死，卒屯留、蒲鶮反，戮其尸。河鱼大上，轻车重马东就食。

嫪毐封为长信侯。予之山阳地，令毐居之。宫室车马衣服苑囿驰猎恣毐。事无小大皆决于毐。又以河西太原郡更为毐国。九年，彗星见，或竟天。攻魏垣、蒲阳。四月，上宿雍。己酉，王冠，带剑。长信侯毐作乱而觉，矫王御玺及太后玺以发县卒及卫卒、官骑、戎翟君公、舍人，将欲攻蕲年宫为乱。王知之，令相国昌平君、昌文君发卒攻毐。战咸阳，斩首数百，皆拜爵，及宦者皆在战中，亦拜爵一级。毐等败走。即令国中：有生得毐，赐钱百万；杀之，五十万。尽得毐等。卫尉竭、内史肆、佐弋竭、中大夫令齐等二十人皆枭首。车裂以徇，灭其宗。及其舍人，轻者为鬼薪。及夺爵迁蜀四千余家，家房陵。是月寒冻，有死者。杨端和攻衍氏。彗星见西方，又见北方，从斗以南八十日。十年，相国吕不韦坐嫪毐免。桓齮为将军。齐、赵来置酒。齐人茅焦说秦王曰：“秦方以天下为事，而大王有迁母太后之名，恐诸侯闻之，由此倍秦也。”秦王乃迎太后于雍而入咸阳，复居甘泉宫。

大索，逐客，李斯上书说，乃止逐客令。李斯因说秦王，请先取韩以恐他国，于是使斯下韩。韩王患之。与韩非谋弱秦。大梁人尉缭来，说秦王曰：“以秦之强，诸侯譬如郡县之君，臣但恐诸侯合从，翕而出不意，此乃智伯、夫差、湣王之所以亡也。愿大王毋爱财物，赂其豪臣，以乱其谋，不过亡三十万金，则诸侯可尽。”秦王从其计，见尉缭亢礼，衣服食饮与缭同。缭曰：“秦王为人，蜂准，长目，挚鸟膺，豺声，少恩而虎狼心，居约易出人下，得志亦轻食人。我布衣，然见我常身自下我。诚使秦王得志于天下，天下皆为虏矣。不可与久游。”乃亡去。秦王觉，固止，以为秦国尉，卒用其计策。而李斯用事。

十一年，王翦、桓齮、杨端和攻邺，取九城。王翦攻阏与、橑杨，皆并为一军。翦将十八日，军归斗食以下，什推二人从军。取邺安阳，桓齮将。十二年，文信侯不韦死，窃葬。其舍人临者，晋人也逐出之；秦人六百石以上夺爵，迁；五百石以下不临，迁，勿夺爵。自今以来，操国事不道如嫪毐、不韦者籍其门，视此。秋，复嫪毐舍人迁蜀者。当是之时，天下大旱，六月至八月乃雨。

十三年，桓齮攻赵平阳，杀赵将扈辄，斩首十万。王之河南。正月，彗星见东方。十月，桓齮攻赵。十四年，攻赵军于平阳，取宜安，破之，杀其将军。桓齮定平阳、武城。韩非使秦，秦用李斯谋，留非，非死云阳。韩王请为臣。

十五年，大兴兵，一军至邺，一军至太原，取狼孟。地动。十六年九月，发卒受地韩南阳假守腾。初令男子书年。魏献地于秦。秦置丽邑。十七年，内史腾攻韩，得韩王安，尽纳其地，以其地为郡，命曰颍川。地动。华阳太后卒。民大饥。

十八年，大兴兵攻赵，王翦将上地，下井陉，端和将河内，羌瘣伐赵，端和围邯郸城。十九年，王翦、羌瘣尽定取赵地东阳，得赵王。引兵欲攻燕，屯中山。秦王之邯郸，诸尝与王生赵时母家有仇怨，皆阬之。秦王还，从太原、上郡归。始皇帝母太后崩。赵公子嘉率其宗数百人之代，自立为代王，东与燕合兵，军上谷。大饥。

二十年，燕太子丹患秦兵至国，恐，使荆轲刺秦王。秦王觉之，体解轲以徇，而使王翦、辛胜攻燕。燕、代发兵击秦军，秦军破燕易水之西。二十一年，王贲攻荆。乃益发卒诣王翦军，遂破燕太子军，取燕蓟城，得太子丹之首。燕王东收辽东而王之。王翦谢病老归。新郑反。昌平君徙于郢。大雨雪，深二尺五寸。

二十二年，王贲攻魏，引河沟灌大梁，大梁城坏，其王请降，尽取其地。

二十三年，秦王复召王翦，强起之，使将击荆。取陈以南至平舆，虏荆王。秦王游至郢陈。荆将项燕立昌平君为荆王，反秦于淮南。二十四年，王翦、蒙武攻荆，破荆军，昌平君死，项燕遂自杀。

二十五年，大兴兵，使王贲将，攻燕辽东，得燕王喜。还攻代，虏代王嘉。王翦遂定荆江南地；降越君，置会稽郡。五月，天下大酺。

二十六年，齐王建与其相后胜发兵守其西界，不通秦。秦使将军王贲从燕南攻齐，得齐王建。

秦初并天下，令丞相、御史曰：“异日韩王纳地效玺，请为藩臣，已而倍约，与赵、魏合从畔秦，故兴兵诛之，虏其王。寡人以为善，庶几息兵革。赵王使其相李牧来约盟，故归其质子。已而倍盟，反我太原，故兴兵诛之，得其王。赵公子嘉乃自立为代王，故举兵击灭之。魏王始约服入秦，已而与韩、赵谋袭秦，秦兵吏诛，遂破之。荆王献青阳以西，已而畔约，击我南郡，故发兵诛，得其王，遂定其荆地。燕王昏乱，其太子丹乃阴令荆轲为贼，兵吏诛，灭其国。齐王用后胜计，绝秦使，欲为乱，兵吏诛，虏其王，平齐地。寡人以眇眇之身，兴兵诛暴乱，赖宗庙之灵，六王咸伏其辜，天下大定。今名号不更，无以称成功，传后世。其议帝号。”丞相绾、御史大夫劫、廷尉斯等皆曰：“昔者五帝地方千里，其外侯服夷服，诸侯或朝或否，天子不能制。今陛下兴义兵，诛残贼，平定天下，海内为郡县，法令由一统，自上古以来未尝有，五帝所不及。臣等谨与博士议曰：‘古有天皇，有地皇，有泰皇，泰皇最贵。’臣等昧死上尊号，王为‘泰皇’。命为‘制’，令为‘诏’，天子自称曰‘朕’。”王曰：“去‘泰’，著‘皇’，采上古‘帝’位号，号曰‘皇帝’。他如议。”制曰：“可。”追尊庄襄王为太上皇。制曰：“朕闻太古有号毋谥，中古有号，死而以行为谥。如此，则子议父，臣议君也，甚无谓，朕弗取焉。自今已来，除《谥法》。朕为始皇帝。后世以计数，二世三世至于万世，传之无穷。”

始皇推终始五德之传，以为周得火德，秦代周德，从所不胜。方今水德之始，改年始，朝贺皆自十月朔。衣服旄旌节旗皆上黑。数以六为纪，符、法冠皆六寸，而舆六尺，六尺为步，乘六马。更名河曰德水，以为水德之始。刚毅戾深，事皆决于法，刻削毋仁恩和义，然后合五德之数。于是急法，久者不赦。

丞相绾等言：“诸侯初破，燕、齐、荆地远，不为置王，毋以填之。请立诸子，唯上幸许。”始皇下其议于群臣，群臣皆以为便。廷尉李斯议曰：“周文武所封子弟同姓甚众，然后属疏远，相攻击如仇雠，诸侯更相诛伐，周天子弗能禁止。今海内赖陛下神灵一统，皆为郡县，诸子功臣以公赋税重赏赐之，甚足易制。天下无异意，则安宁之术也。置诸侯不便。”始皇曰：“天下共苦战斗不休，以有侯王。赖宗庙，天下初定，又复立国，是树兵也，而求其宁息，岂不难哉！廷尉议是。”

分天下以为三十六郡，郡置守、尉、监。更名民曰“黔首”。大酺。收天下兵，聚之咸阳，销以为钟鐻，金人十二，重各千石，置廷宫中。一法度衡石丈尺。车同轨。书同文字。地东至海暨朝鲜，西至临洮、羌中，南至北向户，北据河为塞，并阴山至辽东。徙天下豪富于咸阳十二万户。诸庙及章台、上林皆在渭南。秦每破诸侯，写放其宫室，作之咸阳北阪上，南临渭，自雍门以东至泾、渭，殿屋复道周阁相属。所得诸侯美人钟鼓，以充入之。

二十七年，始皇巡陇西、北地，出鸡头山，过回中。焉作信宫渭南，已更命信宫为极庙，象天极。自极庙道通郦山，作甘泉前殿。筑甬道，自咸阳属之。是岁，赐爵一级。治驰道。

二十八年，始皇东行郡县，上邹峄山。立石，与鲁诸儒生议，刻石颂秦德，议封禅望祭山川之事。乃遂上泰山，立石，封，祠祀。下，风雨暴至，休于树下，因封其树为五大夫。禅梁父。刻所立石，其辞曰：

皇帝临位，作制明法，臣下脩饬。二十有六年，初并天下，罔不宾服。亲巡远方黎民，登兹泰山，周览东极。从臣思迹，本原事业，祗诵功德。治道运行，诸产得宜，皆有法式。大义休明，垂于后世，顺承勿革。皇帝躬圣，既平天下，不懈于治。夙兴夜寐，建设长利，专隆教诲。训经宣达，远近毕理，咸承圣志。贵贱分明，男女礼顺，慎遵职事。昭隔内外，靡不清净，施于后嗣。化及无穷，遵奉遗诏，永承重戒。

于是乃并勃海以东，过黄、腄，穷成山，登之罘，立石颂秦德焉而去。

南登琅邪，大乐之，留三月。乃徙黔首三万户琅邪台下，复十二岁。作琅邪台，立石刻，颂秦德，明得意。曰：

维二十八年，皇帝作始。端平法度，万物之纪。以明人事，合同父子。圣智仁义，显白道理。东抚东土，以省卒士。事已大毕，乃临于海。皇帝之功，勤劳本事。上农除末，黔首是富。普天之下，抟心揖志。器械一量，同书文字。日月所照，舟舆所载。皆终其命，莫不得意。应时动事，是维皇帝。匡饬异俗，陵水经地。忧恤黔首，朝夕不懈。除疑定法，咸知所辟。方伯分职，诸治经易。举错必当，莫不如画。皇帝之明，临察四方。尊卑贵贱，不逾次行。奸邪不容，皆务贞良。细大尽力，莫敢怠荒。远迩辟隐，专务肃庄。端直敦忠，事业有常。皇帝之德，存定四极。诛乱除害，兴利致福。节事以时，诸产繁殖。黔首安宁，不用兵革。六亲相保，终无寇贼。驩欣奉教，尽知法式。六合之内，皇帝之土。西涉流沙，南尽北户。东有东海，北过大夏。人迹所至，无不臣者。功盖五帝，泽及牛马。莫不受德，各安其宇。

维秦王兼有天下，立名为皇帝，乃抚东土，至于琅邪。列侯武城侯王离、列侯通武侯王贲、伦侯建成侯赵亥、伦侯昌武侯成、伦侯武信侯冯毋择、丞相隗林、丞相王绾、卿李斯、卿王戊、五大夫赵婴、五大夫杨樛从，与议于海上。曰：“古之帝者，地不过千里，诸侯各守其封域，或朝或否，相侵暴乱，残伐不止，犹刻金石，以自为纪。古之五帝三王，知教不同，法度不明，假威鬼神，以欺远方，实不称名，故不久长。其身未殁，诸侯倍叛，法令不行。今皇帝并一海内，以为郡县，天下和平。昭明宗庙，体道行德，尊号大成。群臣相与诵皇帝功德，刻于金石，以为表经。”

既已，齐人徐巿等上书，言海中有三神山，名曰蓬莱、方丈、瀛洲，仙人居之。请得斋戒，与童男女求之。于是遣徐巿发童男女数千人，入海求仙人。

始皇还，过彭城，斋戒祷祠，欲出周鼎泗水。使千人没水求之，弗得。乃西南渡淮水，之衡山、南郡。浮江，至湘山祠。逢大风，几不得渡。上问博士曰：“湘君何神？”博士对曰：“闻之，尧女，舜之妻，而葬此。”于是始皇大怒，使刑徒三千人皆伐湘山树，赭其山。上自南郡由武关归。

二十九年，始皇东游。至阳武博狼沙中，为盗所惊。求弗得，乃令天下大索十日。

登之罘，刻石。其辞曰：

维二十九年，时在中春，阳和方起。皇帝东游，巡登之罘，临照于海。从臣嘉观，原念休烈，追诵本始。大圣作治，建定法度，显箸纲纪。外教诸侯，光施文惠，明以义理。六国回辟，贪戾无厌，虐杀不已。皇帝哀众，遂发讨师，奋扬武德。义诛信行，威燀旁达，莫不宾服。烹灭强暴，振救黔首，周定四极。普施明法，经纬天下，永为仪则。大矣哉！宇县之中，承顺圣意。群臣诵功，请刻于石，表垂于常式。其东观曰：

维二十九年，皇帝春游，览省远方。逮于海隅，遂登之罘，昭临朝阳。观望广丽，从臣咸念，原道至明。圣法初兴，清理疆内，外诛暴强。武威旁畅，振动四极，禽灭六王。阐并天下，甾害绝息，永偃戎兵。皇帝明德，经理宇内，视听不怠。作立大义，昭设备器，咸有章旗。职臣遵分，各知所行，事无嫌疑。黔首改化，远迩同度，临古绝尤。常职既定，后嗣循业，长承圣治。群臣嘉德，祗诵圣烈，请刻之罘。旋，遂之琅邪，道上党入。

三十年，无事。

三十一年十二月，更名腊曰“嘉平”。赐黔首里六石米，二羊。始皇为微行咸阳，与武士四人俱，夜出逢盗兰池，见窘，武士击杀盗，关中大索二十日。米石千六百。

三十二年，始皇之碣石，使燕人卢生求羡门、高誓。刻碣石门。坏城郭，决通隄防。其辞曰：

遂兴师旅，诛戮无道，为逆灭息。武殄暴逆，文复无罪，庶心咸服。惠论功劳，赏及牛马，恩肥土域。皇帝奋威，德并诸侯，初一泰平。堕坏城郭，决通川防，夷去险阻。地势既定，黎庶无繇，天下咸抚。男乐其畴，女修其业，事各有序。惠被诸产，久并来田，莫不安所。群臣诵烈，请刻此石，垂著仪矩。

因使韩终、侯公、石生求仙人不死之药。始皇巡北边，从上郡入。燕人卢生使入海还，以鬼神事，因奏录图书，曰“亡秦者胡也”。始皇乃使将军蒙恬发兵三十万人北击胡，略取河南地。

三十三年，发诸尝逋亡人、赘婿、贾人略取陆梁地，为桂林、象郡、南海，以適遣戍。西北斥逐匈奴。自榆中并河以东，属之阴山，以为四十四县，城河上为塞。又使蒙恬渡河取高阙、阳山、北假中，筑亭障以逐戎人。徙谪，实之初县。禁不得祠。明星出西方。三十四年，適治狱吏不直者，筑长城及南越地。

始皇置酒咸阳宫，博士七十人前为寿。仆射周青臣进颂曰：“他时秦地不过千里，赖陛下神灵明圣，平定海内，放逐蛮夷，日月所照，莫不宾服。以诸侯为郡县，人人自安乐，无战争之患，传之万世。自上古不及陛下威德。”始皇悦。博士齐人淳于越进曰：“臣闻殷周之王千余岁，封子弟功臣，自为枝辅。今陛下有海内，而子弟为匹夫，卒有田常、六卿之臣，无辅拂，何以相救哉？事不师古而能长久者，非所闻也。今青臣又面谀以重陛下之过，非忠臣。”始皇下其议。丞相李斯曰：“五帝不相复，三代不相袭，各以治，非其相反，时变异也。今陛下创大业，建万世之功，固非愚儒所知。且越言乃三代之事，何足法也？异时诸侯并争，厚招游学。今天下已定，法令出一，百姓当家则力农工，士则学习法令辟禁。今诸生不师今而学古，以非当世，惑乱黔首。丞相臣斯昧死言：古者天下散乱，莫之能一，是以诸侯并作，语皆道古以害今，饰虚言以乱实，人善其所私学，以非上之所建立。今皇帝并有天下，别黑白而定一尊。私学而相与非法教，人闻令下，则各以其学议之，入则心非，出则巷议，夸主以为名，异取以为高，率群下以造谤。如此弗禁，则主势降乎上，党与成乎下。禁之便。臣请史官非秦记皆烧之。非博士官所职，天下敢有藏诗、书、百家语者，悉诣守、尉杂烧之。有敢偶语诗书者弃市。以古非今者族。吏见知不举者与同罪。令下三十日不烧，黥为城旦。所不去者，医药卜筮种树之书。若欲有学法令，以吏为师。”制曰：“可。”

三十五年，除道，道九原抵云阳，堑山堙谷，直通之。于是始皇以为咸阳人多，先王之宫廷小，吾闻周文王都丰，武王都镐，丰镐之间，帝王之都也。乃营作朝宫渭南上林苑中。先作前殿阿房，东西五百步，南北五十丈，上可以坐万人，下可以建五丈旗。周驰为阁道，自殿下直抵南山。表南山之颠以为阙。为复道，自阿房渡渭，属之咸阳，以象天极阁道绝汉抵营室也。阿房宫未成；成，欲更择令名名之。作宫阿房，故天下谓之阿房宫。隐宫徒刑者七十余万人，乃分作阿房宫，或作丽山。发北山石椁，乃写蜀、荆地材皆至。关中计宫三百，关外四百余。于是立石东海上朐界中，以为秦东门。因徙三万家丽邑，五万家云阳，皆复不事十岁。

卢生说始皇曰：“臣等求芝奇药仙者常弗遇，类物有害之者。方中，人主时为微行以辟恶鬼，恶鬼辟，真人至。人主所居而人臣知之，则害于神。真人者，入水不濡，入火不爇，陵云气，与天地久长。今上治天下，未能恬倓。愿上所居宫毋令人知，然后不死之药殆可得也。”于是始皇曰：“吾慕真人，自谓‘真人’，不称‘朕’。”乃令咸阳之旁二百里内宫观二百七十复道甬道相连，帷帐钟鼓美人充之，各案署不移徙。行所幸，有言其处者，罪死。始皇帝幸梁山宫，从山上见丞相车骑众，弗善也。中人或告丞相，丞相后损车骑。始皇怒曰：“此中人泄吾语。”案问莫服。当是时，诏捕诸时在旁者，皆杀之。自是后莫知行之所在。听事，群臣受决事，悉于咸阳宫。

侯生卢生相与谋曰：“始皇为人，天性刚戾自用，起诸侯，并天下，意得欲从，以为自古莫及己。专任狱吏，狱吏得亲幸。博士虽七十人，特备员弗用。丞相诸大臣皆受成事，倚辨于上。上乐以刑杀为威，天下畏罪持禄，莫敢尽忠。上不闻过而日骄，下慑伏谩欺以取容。秦法，不得兼方不验，辄死。然候星气者至三百人，皆良士，畏忌讳谀，不敢端言其过。天下之事无小大皆决于上，上至以衡石量书，日夜有呈，不中呈不得休息。贪于权势至如此，未可为求仙药。”于是乃亡去。始皇闻亡，乃大怒曰：“吾前收天下书不中用者尽去之。悉召文学方术士甚众，欲以兴太平，方士欲练以求奇药。今闻韩众去不报，徐巿等费以巨万计，终不得药，徒奸利相告日闻。卢生等吾尊赐之甚厚，今乃诽谤我，以重吾不德也。诸生在咸阳者，吾使人廉问，或为訞言以乱黔首。”于是使御史悉案问诸生，诸生传相告引，乃自除。犯禁者四百六十余人，皆阬之咸阳，使天下知之，以惩后。益发谪徙边。始皇长子扶苏谏曰：“天下初定，远方黔首未集，诸生皆诵法孔子，今上皆重法绳之，臣恐天下不安。唯上察之。”始皇怒，使扶苏北监蒙恬于上郡。

三十六年，荧惑守心。有坠星下东郡，至地为石，黔首或刻其石曰“始皇帝死而地分”。始皇闻之，遣御史逐问，莫服，尽取石旁居人诛之，因燔销其石。始皇不乐，使博士为仙真人诗，及行所游天下，传令乐人歌弦之。秋，使者从关东夜过华阴平舒道，有人持璧遮使者曰：“为吾遗滈池君。”因言曰：“今年祖龙死。”使者问其故，因忽不见，置其璧去。使者奉璧具以闻。始皇默然良久，曰：“山鬼固不过知一岁事也。”退言曰：“祖龙者，人之先也。”使御府视璧，乃二十八年行渡江所沈璧也。于是始皇卜之，卦得游徙吉。迁北河榆中三万家。拜爵一级。

三十七年十月癸丑，始皇出游。左丞相斯从，右丞相去疾守。少子胡亥爱慕请从，上许之。十一月，行至云梦，望祀虞舜于九疑山。浮江下，观籍柯，渡海渚。过丹阳，至钱唐。临浙江，水波恶，乃西百二十里从狭中渡。上会稽，祭大禹，望于南海，而立石刻颂秦德。其文曰：

皇帝休烈，平一宇内，德惠脩长。三十有七年，亲巡天下，周览远方。遂登会稽，宣省习俗，黔首斋庄。群臣诵功，本原事迹，追首高明。秦圣临国，始定刑名，显陈旧章。初平法式，审别职任，以立恒常。六王专倍，贪戾傲猛，率众自强。暴虐恣行，负力而骄，数动甲兵。阴通间使，以事合从，行为辟方。内饰诈谋，外来侵边，遂起祸殃。义威诛之，殄熄暴悖，乱贼灭亡。圣德广密，六合之中，被泽无疆。皇帝并宇，兼听万事，远近毕清。运理群物，考验事实，各载其名。贵贱并通，善否陈前，靡有隐情。饰省宣义，有子而嫁，倍死不贞。防隔内外，禁止淫泆，男女絜诚。夫为寄豭，杀之无罪，男秉义程。妻为逃嫁，子不得母，咸化廉清。大治濯俗，天下承风，蒙被休经。皆遵度轨，和安敦勉，莫不顺令。黔首脩絜，人乐同则，嘉保太平。后敬奉法，常治无极，舆舟不倾。从臣诵烈，请刻此石，光垂休铭。

还过吴，从江乘渡。并海上，北至琅邪。方士徐巿等入海求神药，数岁不得，费多，恐谴，乃诈曰：“蓬莱药可得，然常为大鲛鱼所苦，故不得至，愿请善射与俱，见则以连弩射之。”始皇梦与海神战，如人状。问占梦，博士曰：“水神不可见，以大鱼蛟龙为候。今上祷祠备谨，而有此恶神，当除去，而善神可致。”乃令入海者赍捕巨鱼具，而自以连弩候大鱼出射之。自琅邪北至荣成山，弗见。至之罘，见巨鱼，射杀一鱼。遂并海西。

至平原津而病。始皇恶言死，群臣莫敢言死事。上病益甚，乃为玺书赐公子扶苏曰：“与丧会咸阳而葬。”书已封，在中车府令赵高行符玺事所，未授使者。七月丙寅，始皇崩于沙丘平台。丞相斯为上崩在外，恐诸公子及天下有变，乃秘之，不发丧。棺载辒凉车中，故幸宦者参乘，所至上食。百官奏事如故，宦者辄从辒凉车中可其奏事。独子胡亥、赵高及所幸宦者五六人知上死。赵高故尝教胡亥书及狱律令法事，胡亥私幸之。高乃与公子胡亥、丞相斯阴谋破去始皇所封书赐公子扶苏者，而更诈为丞相斯受始皇遗诏沙丘，立子胡亥为太子。更为书赐公子扶苏、蒙恬，数以罪，赐死。语具在李斯传中。行，遂从井陉抵九原。会暑，上辒车臭，乃诏从官令车载一石鲍鱼，以乱其臭。

行从直道至咸阳，发丧。太子胡亥袭位，为二世皇帝。九月，葬始皇郦山。始皇初即位，穿治郦山，及并天下，天下徒送诣七十余万人，穿三泉，下铜而致椁，宫观百官奇器珍怪徙臧满之。令匠作机弩矢，有所穿近者辄射之。以水银为百川江河大海，机相灌输，上具天文，下具地理。以人鱼膏为烛，度不灭者久之。二世曰：“先帝后宫非有子者，出焉不宜。”皆令从死，死者甚众。葬既已下，或言工匠为机，臧皆知之，臧重即泄。大事毕，已臧，闭中羡，下外羡门，尽闭工匠臧者，无复出者。树草木以象山。

二世皇帝元年，年二十一。赵高为郎中令，任用事。二世下诏，增始皇寝庙牺牲及山川百祀之礼。令群臣议尊始皇庙。群臣皆顿首言曰：“古者天子七庙，诸侯五，大夫三，虽万世世不轶毁。今始皇为极庙，四海之内皆献贡职，增牺牲，礼咸备，毋以加。先王庙或在西雍，或在咸阳。天子仪当独奉酌祠始皇庙。自襄公已下轶毁。所置凡七庙。群臣以礼进祠，以尊始皇庙为帝者祖庙。皇帝复自称‘朕’。”

二世与赵高谋曰：“朕年少，初即位，黔首未集附。先帝巡行郡县，以示强，威服海内。今晏然不巡行，即见弱，毋以臣畜天下。”春，二世东行郡县，李斯从。到碣石，并海，南至会稽，而尽刻始皇所立刻石，石旁著大臣从者名，以章先帝成功盛德焉：

皇帝曰：“金石刻尽始皇帝所为也。今袭号而金石刻辞不称始皇帝，其于久远也如后嗣为之者，不称成功盛德。”丞相臣斯、臣去疾、御史大夫臣德昧死言：“臣请具刻诏书刻石，因明白矣。臣昧死请。”制曰：“可。”遂至辽东而还。

于是二世乃遵用赵高，申法令。乃阴与赵高谋曰：“大臣不服，官吏尚强，及诸公子必与我争，为之柰何？”高曰：“臣固愿言而未敢也。先帝之大臣，皆天下累世名贵人也，积功劳世以相传久矣。今高素小贱，陛下幸称举，令在上位，管中事。大臣鞅鞅，特以貌从臣，其心实不服。今上出，不因此时案郡县守尉有罪者诛之，上以振威天下，下以除去上生平所不可者。今时不师文而决于武力，愿陛下遂从时毋疑，即群臣不及谋。明主收举余民，贱者贵之，贫者富之，远者近之，则上下集而国安矣。”二世曰：“善。”乃行诛大臣及诸公子，以罪过连逮少近官三郎，无得立者，而六公子戮死于杜。公子将闾昆弟三人囚于内宫，议其罪独后。二世使使令将闾曰：“公子不臣，罪当死，吏致法焉。”将闾曰：“阙廷之礼，吾未尝敢不从宾赞也；廊庙之位，吾未尝敢失节也；受命应对，吾未尝敢失辞也。何谓不臣？愿闻罪而死。”使者曰：“臣不得与谋，奉书从事。”将闾乃仰天大呼天者三，曰：“天乎！吾无罪！”昆弟三人皆流涕拔剑自杀。宗室振恐。群臣谏者以为诽谤，大吏持禄取容，黔首振恐。

四月，二世还至咸阳，曰：“先帝为咸阳朝廷小，故营阿房宫。为室堂未就，会上崩，罢其作者，复土郦山。郦山事大毕，今释阿房宫弗就，则是章先帝举事过也。”复作阿房宫。外抚四夷，如始皇计。尽徵其材士五万人为屯卫咸阳，令教射狗马禽兽。当食者多，度不足，下调郡县转输菽粟刍藁，皆令自赍粮食，咸阳三百里内不得食其谷。用法益刻深。

七月，戍卒陈胜等反故荆地，为“张楚”。胜自立为楚王，居陈，遣诸将徇地。山东郡县少年苦秦吏，皆杀其守尉令丞反，以应陈涉，相立为侯王，合从西乡，名为伐秦，不可胜数也。谒者使东方来，以反者闻二世。二世怒，下吏。后使者至，上问，对曰：“群盗，郡守尉方逐捕，今尽得，不足忧。”上悦。武臣自立为赵王，魏咎为魏王，田儋为齐王。沛公起沛。项梁举兵会稽郡。

二年冬，陈涉所遣周章等将西至戏，兵数十万。二世大惊，与群臣谋曰：“柰何？”少府章邯曰：“盗已至，众强，今发近县不及矣。郦山徒多，请赦之，授兵以击之。”二世乃大赦天下，使章邯将，击破周章军而走，遂杀章曹阳。二世益遣长史司马欣、董翳佐章邯击盗，杀陈胜城父，破项梁定陶，灭魏咎临济。楚地盗名将已死，章邯乃北渡河，击赵王歇等于钜鹿。

赵高说二世曰：“先帝临制天下久，故群臣不敢为非，进邪说。今陛下富于春秋，初即位，柰何与公卿廷决事？事即有误，示群臣短也。天子称朕，固不闻声。”于是二世常居禁中，与高决诸事。其后公卿希得朝见，盗贼益多，而关中卒发东击盗者毋已。右丞相去疾、左丞相斯、将军冯劫进谏曰：“关东群盗并起，秦发兵诛击，所杀亡甚众，然犹不止。盗多，皆以戍漕转作事苦，赋税大也。请且止阿房宫作者，减省四边戍转。”二世曰：“吾闻之韩子曰：‘尧舜采椽不刮，茅茨不翦，饭土塯，啜土形，虽监门之养，不觳于此。禹凿龙门，通大夏，决河亭水，放之海，身自持筑臿，胫毋毛，臣虏之劳不烈于此矣。’凡所为贵有天下者，得肆意极欲，主重明法，下不敢为非，以制御海内矣。夫虞、夏之主，贵为天子，亲处穷苦之实，以徇百姓，尚何于法？朕尊万乘，毋其实，吾欲造千乘之驾，万乘之属，充吾号名。且先帝起诸侯，兼天下，天下已定，外攘四夷以安边竟，作宫室以章得意，而君观先帝功业有绪。今朕即位二年之间，群盗并起，君不能禁，又欲罢先帝之所为，是上毋以报先帝，次不为朕尽忠力，何以在位？”下去疾、斯、劫吏，案责他罪。去疾、劫曰：“将相不辱。”自杀。斯卒囚，就五刑。

三年，章邯等将其卒围钜鹿，楚上将军项羽将楚卒往救钜鹿。冬，赵高为丞相，竟案李斯杀之。夏，章邯等战数卻，二世使人让邯，邯恐，使长史欣请事。赵高弗见，又弗信。欣恐，亡去，高使人捕追不及。欣见邯曰：“赵高用事于中，将军有功亦诛，无功亦诛。”项羽急击秦军，虏王离，邯等遂以兵降诸侯。八月己亥，赵高欲为乱，恐群臣不听，乃先设验，持鹿献于二世，曰：“马也。”二世笑曰：“丞相误邪？谓鹿为马。”问左右，左右或默，或言马以阿顺赵高。或言鹿，高因阴中诸言鹿者以法。后群臣皆畏高。

高前数言“关东盗毋能为也”，及项羽虏秦将王离等钜鹿下而前，章邯等军数卻，上书请益助，燕、赵、齐、楚、韩、魏皆立为王，自关以东，大氐尽畔秦吏应诸侯，诸侯咸率其众西乡。沛公将数万人已屠武关，使人私于高，高恐二世怒，诛及其身，乃谢病不朝见。二世梦白虎齧其左骖马，杀之，心不乐，怪问占梦。卜曰：“泾水为祟。”二世乃斋于望夷宫，欲祠泾，沈四白马。使使责让高以盗贼事。高惧，乃阴与其婿咸阳令阎乐、其弟赵成谋曰：“上不听谏，今事急，欲归祸于吾宗。吾欲易置上，更立公子婴。子婴仁俭，百姓皆载其言。”使郎中令为内应，诈为有大贼，令乐召吏发卒，追劫乐母置高舍。遣乐将吏卒千余人至望夷宫殿门，缚卫令仆射，曰：“贼入此，何不止？”卫令曰：“周庐设卒甚谨，安得贼敢入宫？”乐遂斩卫令，直将吏入，行射，郎宦者大惊，或走或格，格者辄死，死者数十人。郎中令与乐俱入，射上幄坐帏。二世怒，召左右，左右皆惶扰不斗。旁有宦者一人，侍不敢去。二世入内，谓曰：“公何不蚤告我？乃至于此！”宦者曰：“臣不敢言，故得全。使臣蚤言，皆已诛，安得至今？”阎乐前即二世数曰：“足下骄恣，诛杀无道，天下共畔足下，足下其自为计。”二世曰：“丞相可得见否？”乐曰：“不可。”二世曰：“吾愿得一郡为王。”弗许。又曰：“愿为万户侯。”弗许。曰：“愿与妻子为黔首，比诸公子。”阎乐曰：“臣受命于丞相，为天下诛足下，足下虽多言，臣不敢报。”麾其兵进。二世自杀。

阎乐归报赵高，赵高乃悉召诸大臣公子，告以诛二世之状。曰：“秦故王国，始皇君天下，故称帝。今六国复自立，秦地益小，乃以空名为帝，不可。宜为王如故，便。”立二世之兄子公子婴为秦王。以黔首葬二世杜南宜春苑中。令子婴斋，当庙见，受王玺。斋五日，子婴与其子二人谋曰：“丞相高杀二世望夷宫，恐群臣诛之，乃详以义立我。我闻赵高乃与楚约，灭秦宗室而王关中。今使我斋见庙，此欲因庙中杀我。我称病不行，丞相必自来，来则杀之。”高使人请子婴数辈，子婴不行，高果自往，曰：“宗庙重事，王柰何不行？”子婴遂刺杀高于斋宫，三族高家以徇咸阳。子婴为秦王四十六日，楚将沛公破秦军入武关，遂至霸上，使人约降子婴。子婴即系颈以组，白马素车，奉天子玺符，降轵道旁。沛公遂入咸阳，封宫室府库，还军霸上。居月余，诸侯兵至，项籍为从长，杀子婴及秦诸公子宗族。遂屠咸阳，烧其宫室，虏其子女，收其珍宝货财，诸侯共分之。灭秦之后，各分其地为三，名曰雍王、塞王、翟王，号曰三秦。项羽为西楚霸王，主命分天下王诸侯，秦竟灭矣。后五年，天下定于汉。

太史公曰：秦之先伯翳，尝有勋于唐虞之际，受土赐姓。及殷夏之间微散。至周之衰，秦兴，邑于西垂。自缪公以来，稍蚕食诸侯，竟成始皇。始皇自以为功过五帝，地广三王，而羞与之侔。善哉乎贾生推言之也！曰：

秦并兼诸侯山东三十余郡，缮津关，据险塞，修甲兵而守之。然陈涉以戍卒散乱之众数百，奋臂大呼，不用弓戟之兵，鉏耰白梃，望屋而食，横行天下。秦人阻险不守，关梁不阖，长戟不刺，强弩不射。楚师深入，战于鸿门，曾无藩篱之艰。于是山东大扰，诸侯并起，豪俊相立。秦使章邯将而东征，章邯因以三军之众要市于外，以谋其上。群臣之不信，可见于此矣。子婴立，遂不寤。藉使子婴有庸主之材，仅得中佐，山东虽乱，秦之地可全而有，宗庙之祀未当绝也。

秦地被山带河以为固，四塞之国也。自缪公以来，至于秦王，二十余君，常为诸侯雄。岂世世贤哉？其势居然也。且天下尝同心并力而攻秦矣。当此之世，贤智并列，良将行其师，贤相通其谋，然困于阻险而不能进，秦乃延入战而为之开关，百万之徒逃北而遂坏。岂勇力智慧不足哉？形不利，势不便也。秦小邑并大城，守险塞而军，高垒毋战，闭关据阨，荷戟而守之。诸侯起于匹夫，以利合，非有素王之行也。其交未亲，其下未附，名为亡秦，其实利之也。彼见秦阻之难犯也，必退师。安土息民，以待其敝，收弱扶罢，以令大国之君，不患不得意于海内。贵为天子，富有天下，而身为禽者，其救败非也。

秦王足己不问，遂过而不变。二世受之，因而不改，暴虐以重祸。子婴孤立无亲，危弱无辅。三主惑而终身不悟，亡，不亦宜乎？当此时也，世非无深虑知化之士也，然所以不敢尽忠拂过者，秦俗多忌讳之禁，忠言未卒于口而身为戮没矣。故使天下之士，倾耳而听，重足而立，拑口而不言。是以三主失道，忠臣不敢谏，智士不敢谋，天下已乱，奸不上闻，岂不哀哉！先王知雍蔽之伤国也，故置公卿大夫士，以饰法设刑，而天下治。其强也，禁暴诛乱而天下服。其弱也，五伯征而诸侯从。其削也，内守外附而社稷存。故秦之盛也，繁法严刑而天下振；及其衰也，百姓怨望而海内畔矣。故周五序得其道，而千余岁不绝。秦本末并失，故不长久。由此观之，安危之统相去远矣。野谚曰“前事之不忘，后事之师也”。是以君子为国，观之上古，验之当世，参以人事，察盛衰之理，审权势之宜，去就有序，变化有时，故旷日长久而社稷安矣。

秦孝公据殽函之固，拥雍州之地，君臣固守而窥周室，有席卷天下，包举宇内，囊括四海之意，并吞八荒之心。当是时，商君佐之，内立法度，务耕织，修守战之备，外连衡而斗诸侯，于是秦人拱手而取西河之外。

孝公既没，惠王、武王蒙故业，因遗册，南兼汉中，西举巴、蜀，东割膏腴之地，收要害之郡。诸侯恐惧，会盟而谋弱秦，不爱珍器重宝肥美之地，以致天下之士，合从缔交，相与为一。当是时，齐有孟尝，赵有平原，楚有春申，魏有信陵。此四君者，皆明知而忠信，宽厚而爱人，尊贤重士，约从离衡，并韩、魏、燕、楚、齐、赵、宋、卫、中山之众。于是六国之士有宁越、徐尚、苏秦、杜赫之属为之谋，齐明、周最、陈轸、昭滑、楼缓、翟景、苏厉、乐毅之徒通其意，吴起、孙膑、带佗、兒良、王廖、田忌、廉颇、赵奢之朋制其兵。常以十倍之地，百万之众，叩关而攻秦。秦人开关延敌，九国之师逡巡遁逃而不敢进。秦无亡矢遗镞之费，而天下诸侯已困矣。于是从散约解，争割地而奉秦。秦有余力而制其敝，追亡逐北，伏尸百万，流血漂卤。因利乘便，宰割天下，分裂河山，强国请服，弱国入朝。延及孝文王、庄襄王，享国日浅，国家无事。

及至秦王，续六世之余烈，振长策而御宇内，吞二周而亡诸侯，履至尊而制六合，执棰拊以鞭笞天下，威振四海。南取百越之地，以为桂林、象郡，百越之君俯首系颈，委命下吏。乃使蒙恬北筑长城而守藩篱，卻匈奴七百余里，胡人不敢南下而牧马，士不敢弯弓而报怨。于是废先王之道，焚百家之言，以愚黔首。堕名城，杀豪俊，收天下之兵聚之咸阳，销锋铸鐻，以为金人十二，以弱黔首之民。然后斩华为城，因河为津，据亿丈之城，临不测之溪以为固。良将劲弩守要害之处，信臣精卒陈利兵而谁何，天下以定。秦王之心，自以为关中之固，金城千里，子孙帝王万世之业也。

秦王既没，余威振于殊俗。陈涉，瓮牖绳枢之子，甿隶之人，而迁徙之徒，才能不及中人，非有仲尼、墨翟之贤，陶朱、猗顿之富，蹑足行伍之间，而倔起什伯之中，率罢散之卒，将数百之众，而转攻秦。斩木为兵，揭竿为旗，天下云集响应，赢粮而景从，山东豪俊遂并起而亡秦族矣。

且夫天下非小弱也，雍州之地，殽函之固自若也。陈涉之位，非尊于齐、楚、燕、赵、韩、魏、宋、卫、中山之君；鉏耰棘矜，非錟于句戟长铩也；適戍之众，非抗于九国之师；深谋远虑，行军用兵之道，非及乡时之士也。然而成败异变，功业相反也。试使山东之国与陈涉度长絜大，比权量力，则不可同年而语矣。然秦以区区之地，千乘之权，招八州而朝同列，百有余年矣。然后以六合为家，殽函为宫，一夫作难而七庙堕，身死人手，为天下笑者，何也？仁义不施而攻守之势异也。

秦并海内，兼诸侯，南面称帝，以养四海，天下之士斐然乡风，若是者何也？曰：近古之无王者久矣。周室卑微，五霸既殁，令不行于天下，是以诸侯力政，强侵弱，众暴寡，兵革不休，士民罢敝。今秦南面而王天下，是上有天子也。既元元之民冀得安其性命，莫不虚心而仰上，当此之时，守威定功，安危之本在于此矣。

秦王怀贪鄙之心，行自奋之智，不信功臣，不亲士民，废王道，立私权，禁文书而酷刑法，先诈力而后仁义，以暴虐为天下始。夫并兼者高诈力，安定者贵顺权，此言取与守不同术也。秦离战国而王天下，其道不易，其政不改，是其所以取之守之者无异也。孤独而有之，故其亡可立而待。借使秦王计上世之事，并殷周之迹，以制御其政，后虽有淫骄之主而未有倾危之患也。故三王之建天下，名号显美，功业长久。

今秦二世立，天下莫不引领而观其政。夫寒者利裋褐而饥者甘糟糠，天下之嗷嗷，新主之资也。此言劳民之易为仁也。乡使二世有庸主之行，而任忠贤，臣主一心而忧海内之患，缟素而正先帝之过，裂地分民以封功臣之后，建国立君以礼天下，虚囹圉而免刑戮，除去收帑汙秽之罪，使各反其乡里，发仓廪，散财币，以振孤独穷困之士，轻赋少事，以佐百姓之急，约法省刑以持其后，使天下之人皆得自新，更节修行，各慎其身，塞万民之望，而以威德与天下，天下集矣。即四海之内，皆讙然各自安乐其处，唯恐有变，虽有狡猾之民，无离上之心，则不轨之臣无以饰其智，而暴乱之奸止矣。二世不行此术，而重之以无道，坏宗庙与民，更始作阿房宫，繁刑严诛，吏治刻深，赏罚不当，赋敛无度，天下多事，吏弗能纪，百姓困穷而主弗收恤。然后奸伪并起，而上下相遁，蒙罪者众，刑戮相望于道，而天下苦之。自君卿以下至于众庶，人怀自危之心，亲处穷苦之实，咸不安其位，故易动也。是以陈涉不用汤武之贤，不藉公侯之尊，奋臂于大泽而天下响应者，其民危也。故先王见始终之变，知存亡之机，是以牧民之道，务在安之而已。天下虽有逆行之臣，必无响应之助矣。故曰“安民可与行义，而危民易与为非”，此之谓也。贵为天子，富有天下，身不免于戮杀者，正倾非也。是二世之过也。

襄公立，享国十二年。初为西畤。葬西垂。生文公。

文公立，居西垂宫。五十年死，葬西垂。生静公。

静公不享国而死。生宪公。

宪公享国十二年，居西新邑。死，葬衙。生武公、德公、出子。

出子享国六年，居西陵。庶长弗忌、威累、参父三人，率贼贼出子鄙衍，葬衙。武公立。

武公享国二十年。居平阳封宫。葬宣阳聚东南。三庶长伏其罪。德公立。

德公享国二年。居雍大郑宫。生宣公、成公、缪公。葬阳。初伏，以御蛊。

宣公享国十二年。居阳宫。葬阳。初志闰月。

成公享国四年，居雍之宫。葬阳。齐伐山戎、孤竹。

缪公享国三十九年。天子致霸。葬雍。缪公学著人。生康公。

康公享国十二年。居雍高寝。葬竘社。生共公。

共公享国五年，居雍高寝。葬康公南。生桓公。

桓公享国二十七年。居雍太寝。葬义里丘北。生景公。

景公享国四十年。居雍高寝，葬丘里南。生毕公。

毕公享国三十六年。葬车里北。生夷公。

夷公不享国。死，葬左宫。生惠公。

惠公享国十年。葬车里。生悼公。

悼公享国十五年。葬僖公西。城雍。生剌龚公。

剌龚公享国三十四年。葬入里。生躁公、怀公。其十年，彗星见。

躁公享国十四年。居受寝。葬悼公南。其元年，彗星见。

怀公从晋来。享国四年。葬栎圉氏。生灵公。诸臣围怀公，怀公自杀。

肃灵公，昭子子也。居泾阳。享国十年。葬悼公西。生简公。

简公从晋来。享国十五年。葬僖公西。生惠公。其七年。百姓初带剑。

惠公享国十三年。葬陵圉。生出公。

出公享国二年。出公自杀，葬雍。

献公享国二十三年。葬嚣圉。生孝公。

孝公享国二十四年。葬弟圉。生惠文王。其十三年，始都咸阳。

惠文王享国二十七年。葬公陵。生悼武王。

悼武王享国四年，葬永陵。

昭襄王享国五十六年。葬茝阳。生孝文王。

孝文王享国一年。葬寿陵。生庄襄王。

庄襄王享国三年。葬茝阳。生始皇帝。吕不韦相。

献公立七年，初行为市。十年，为户籍相伍。

孝公立十六年。时桃李冬华。

惠文王生十九年而立。立二年，初行钱。有新生婴儿曰“秦且王”。

悼武王生十九年而立。立三年，渭水赤三日。

昭襄王生十九年而立。立四年，初为田开阡陌。

孝文王生五十三年而立。

庄襄王生三十二年而立。立二年，取太原地。庄襄王元年，大赦，脩先王功臣，施德厚骨肉，布惠于民。东周与诸侯谋秦，秦使相国不韦诛之，尽入其国。秦不绝其祀，以阳人地赐周君，奉其祭祀。

始皇享国三十七年。葬郦邑。生二世皇帝。始皇生十三年而立。

二世皇帝享国三年。葬宜春。赵高为丞相安武侯。二世生十二年而立。

右秦襄公至二世，六百一十岁。

孝明皇帝十七年十月十五日乙丑，曰：

周历已移，仁不代母。秦直其位，吕政残虐。然以诸侯十三，并兼天下，极情纵欲，养育宗亲。三十七年，兵无所不加，制作政令，施于后王。盖得圣人之威，河神授图，据狼、狐，蹈参、伐，佐政驱除，距之称始皇。

始皇既殁，胡亥极愚，郦山未毕，复作阿房，以遂前策。云“凡所为贵有天下者，肆意极欲，大臣至欲罢先君所为”。诛斯、去疾，任用赵高。痛哉言乎！人头畜鸣。不威不伐恶，不笃不虚亡，距之不得留，残虐以促期，虽居形便之国，犹不得存。

子婴度次得嗣，冠玉冠，佩华绂，车黄屋，从百司，谒七庙。小人乘非位，莫不怳忽失守，偷安日日，独能长念卻虑，父子作权，近取于户牖之间，竟诛猾臣，为君讨贼。高死之后，宾婚未得尽相劳，餐未及下咽，酒未及濡唇，楚兵已屠关中，真人翔霸上，素车婴组，奉其符玺，以归帝者。郑伯茅旌鸾刀，严王退舍。河决不可复壅，鱼烂不可复全。贾谊、司马迁曰：“向使婴有庸主之才，仅得中佐，山东虽乱，秦之地可全而有，宗庙之祀未当绝也。”秦之积衰，天下土崩瓦解，虽有周旦之材，无所复陈其巧，而以责一日之孤，误哉！俗传秦始皇起罪恶，胡亥极，得其理矣。复责小子，云秦地可全，所谓不通时变者也。纪季以酅，春秋不名。吾读秦纪，至于子婴车裂赵高，未尝不健其决，怜其志。婴死生之义备矣。

Fascicle Six · Basic Annals of the First Emperor of Qin, Sixth

司马迁

The First Emperor of Qin was the son of King Zhuangxiang of Qin. King Zhuangxiang had been a hostage prince of Qin in Zhao, and seeing a concubine of Lü Buwei he was pleased and took her, and she bore the First Emperor. He was born at Handan in the first month of the forty-eighth year of King Zhao of Qin. At his birth he was named Zheng, with the surname Zhao. At the age of thirteen, King Zhuangxiang died and Zheng succeeded him as king of Qin. At that time Qin's territory had already annexed Ba, Shu and Hanzhong; beyond Wan it held Ying and had set up the commandery of Nan; in the north it had taken Shangjun and eastward, and held the commanderies of Hedong, Taiyuan and Shangdang; in the east it reached Xingyang, had destroyed the two Zhou and set up the commandery of Sanchuan. Lü Buwei was chief minister, enfeoffed with a hundred thousand households and styled the Marquis of Wenxin. He called in retainers and travelling scholars, meaning to annex the world. Li Si was a retainer of his household. Meng Ao, Wang Yi, Lord Biao and others were generals. The king being young and newly come to the throne, he entrusted the affairs of state to his great ministers.

Jinyang revolted, and in the first year the general Meng Ao struck and settled it. In the second year Lord Biao led troops to attack Juan, beheading thirty thousand. In the third year Meng Ao attacked Han and took thirteen cities. Wang Yi died. In the tenth month the general Meng Ao attacked Chang and Yougui of the Wei clan. There was a great famine. In the fourth year he took Chang and Yougui. In the third month the army was disbanded. The hostage prince of Qin came home from Zhao, and the heir apparent of Zhao went home to his own state. In the tenth month, on the gengyin day, locusts came from the east and darkened the sky. There was pestilence throughout the land. Those of the people who contributed a thousand piculs of grain were granted one degree of rank. In the fifth year the general Ao attacked Wei, settled Suanzao, Yan, Xu, Changping, Yongqiu and the city of Shanyang, taking them all, and took twenty cities. The commandery of Dong was first set up. There was thunder in winter. In the sixth year Han, Wei, Zhao, Wei and Chu together struck at Qin and took Shouling. Qin sent out troops, and the armies of the five states withdrew. He took Wei and pressed on the commandery of Dong; its ruler Jiao led his collateral kin and moved to dwell at Yewang, relying on its hills to hold Henei for Wei. In the seventh year a comet first appeared in the east, then was seen in the north, and in the fifth month was seen in the west. The general Ao died. Having attacked Long, Gu and Qingdu, he turned his troops and attacked Ji. The comet appeared again in the west for sixteen days. The Dowager Xia died. In the eighth year the king's younger brother, the Lord of Chang'an, Chengjiao, led troops to strike Zhao and revolted, and died at Tunliu; his officers were all beheaded and their people removed to Lintao. The general Bi died, and the soldiers of Tunliu and Puhe revolted, and his corpse was dismembered. The fish of the He came up in great numbers, and light carriages and heavy horses went east in search of food.

Lao Ai was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Changxin. He was given the lands of Shanyang and ordered to dwell there. Palaces and chambers, carriages and horses, clothing, parks and preserves, and the chase were all at Ai's pleasure. Affairs great and small were all decided by Ai. Moreover the commandery of Taiyuan west of the He was renamed Ai's state. In the ninth year a comet appeared, at times stretching across the whole sky. He attacked Yuan and Puyang of Wei. In the fourth month the king lodged at Yong. On the jiyou day the king was capped and girded with the sword. The Marquis of Changxin, Ai, made rebellion and it was discovered; he had counterfeited the king's seal and the Dowager's seal in order to call out the county troops, the guards, the officers' cavalry, the lords of the Rong and Di, and his own retainers, meaning to attack the Qinian Palace and make rebellion. The king learned of it and ordered the chancellors, the Lord of Changping and the Lord of Changwen, to call out troops and attack Ai. They fought at Xianyang, beheading several hundred, and all were granted rank; and the eunuchs who took part in the fighting were likewise granted one degree of rank. Ai and his men were defeated and fled. He at once proclaimed throughout the state: whoever took Ai alive should be given a million cash, and whoever killed him, five hundred thousand. Ai and all his men were taken. The Guard Commandant Jie, the Prefect of the Capital Si, the Assistant Archer Jie, the Director of the Palace Grandees Qi and some twenty others all had their heads exposed. They were torn apart by chariots and paraded, and their clans were destroyed. As for their retainers, the lighter offenders were made ghost-firewood gatherers. And more than four thousand households were stripped of rank and removed to Shu, settled at Fangling. In that month there was bitter cold and some died. Yang Duanhe attacked Yanshi. A comet appeared in the west, and again in the north, passing south from the Dipper for eighty days. In the tenth year the chief minister Lü Buwei was dismissed on account of Lao Ai. Huan Yi became a general. Qi and Zhao came to hold a drinking feast. Mao Jiao, a man of Qi, urged the king of Qin: "Qin is making the world its business, and Your Majesty has the name of having banished your mother the Dowager; I fear that when the lords hear of it they will on this account turn against Qin." The king of Qin then welcomed the Dowager back from Yong and brought her into Xianyang, and she dwelt again in the Ganquan Palace.

There was a great search and the expulsion of aliens. Li Si submitted a memorial urging against it, and so the order expelling aliens was halted. Li Si thereupon urged the king of Qin, asking that Han be taken first in order to frighten the other states; so he sent Si down to Han. The king of Han was troubled by it and plotted with Han Fei to weaken Qin. Wei Liao, a man of Daliang, came and urged the king of Qin: "With Qin's strength, the lords are like the rulers of its commanderies and counties; your servant fears only that the lords may join in a vertical alliance, gathering and coming out unexpectedly — this is how the Earl of Zhi, Fuchai and King Min came to ruin. I wish Your Majesty not to grudge goods and valuables, but to bribe their powerful ministers so as to throw their plans into disorder; at a cost of no more than three hundred thousand in gold, the lords may be finished." The king of Qin followed his plan, and treated Wei Liao with the courtesy of an equal, wearing the same clothes and eating the same food as Liao. Liao said: "The king of Qin as a man has a high nose bridge, long eyes, the breast of a bird of prey and the voice of a jackal; he is sparing of kindness and has the heart of a tiger or wolf. In straits he readily humbles himself before others; having got his will, he as readily devours men. I am a commoner, yet when he sees me he always puts himself below me. If the king of Qin truly gets his will over the world, the whole world will be his captives. He is not one to keep company with long." So he fled away. The king of Qin discovered it and firmly detained him, made him Commandant of Qin, and in the end used his plans. And Li Si took charge of affairs.

In the eleventh year Wang Jian, Huan Yi and Yang Duanhe attacked Ye and took nine cities. Wang Jian attacked Eyu and Liaoyang, and combined them all into one army. Jian was in command eighteen days, and sent home from the army those below the rank of dou-ration, taking two men out of every ten to stay with the army. Taking Ye and Anyang, Huan Yi was in command. In the twelfth year the Marquis of Wenxin, Buwei, died and was buried in secret. Of his retainers who attended the mourning: those who were men of Jin were expelled; those of Qin with salaries of six hundred piculs or more were stripped of rank and removed; those below five hundred piculs who had not attended were removed but not stripped of rank. From now on, any who took charge of state affairs without principle like Lao Ai and Buwei should have their households registered, and let this serve as the rule. In autumn the retainers of Lao Ai who had been removed to Shu were restored. At that time there was a great drought in the land, and it did not rain from the sixth month to the eighth.

In the thirteenth year Huan Yi attacked Pingyang of Zhao, killed the Zhao general Hu Zhe and beheaded a hundred thousand. The king went to Henan. In the first month a comet appeared in the east. In the tenth month Huan Yi attacked Zhao. In the fourteenth year he attacked the Zhao army at Pingyang, took Yi'an, broke them and killed their general. Huan Yi settled Pingyang and Wucheng. Han Fei was sent as envoy to Qin; Qin used Li Si's plan and detained Fei, and Fei died at Yunyang. The king of Han asked to become a subject.

In the fifteenth year troops were raised in great numbers, one army reaching Ye and one reaching Taiyuan, and it took Langmeng. There was an earthquake. In the ninth month of the sixteenth year troops were sent out to receive the lands of Nanyang of Han from its acting governor Teng. Men were first ordered to register their ages. Wei presented land to Qin. Qin set up the town of Li. In the seventeenth year the Prefect of the Capital Teng attacked Han, captured An, king of Han, took in all his lands and made them a commandery, named Yingchuan. There was an earthquake. The Dowager Huayang died. The people suffered a great famine.

In the eighteenth year troops were raised in great numbers to attack Zhao. Wang Jian commanded the upper lands and came down by Jingxing; Duanhe commanded Henei; Qiang Huai attacked Zhao; and Duanhe besieged the city of Handan. In the nineteenth year Wang Jian and Qiang Huai settled and took the whole of Zhao's lands at Dongyang and captured the king of Zhao. They led troops meaning to attack Yan and camped at Zhongshan. The king of Qin went to Handan, and all those who had held grudges against his mother's family in the days when he was born in Zhao were buried alive. The king of Qin returned, going home by way of Taiyuan and Shangjun. The First Emperor's mother the Dowager died. The Zhao prince Jia led several hundred of his clan to Dai and set himself up as king of Dai, and joined his troops with Yan in the east, camping at Shanggu. There was a great famine.

In the twentieth year the heir apparent Dan of Yan, troubled that the Qin troops were reaching his state, was afraid and sent Jing Ke to stab the king of Qin. The king of Qin discovered it, dismembered Ke and paraded his body, and sent Wang Jian and Xin Sheng to attack Yan. Yan and Dai sent out troops to strike the Qin army, and the Qin army broke Yan west of the Yi River. In the twenty-first year Wang Ben attacked Jing. More troops were then sent to Wang Jian's army, and so they broke the army of the heir apparent of Yan, took Ji, the city of Yan, and got the head of the heir apparent Dan. The king of Yan gathered Liaodong in the east and was king there. Wang Jian pleaded illness and old age and went home. Xinzheng revolted. The Lord of Changping was removed to Ying. There was heavy snow, two chi five cun deep.

In the twenty-second year Wang Ben attacked Wei, led the canal of the He to flood Daliang; the walls of Daliang collapsed, its king asked to surrender, and all its lands were taken.

In the twenty-third year the king of Qin summoned Wang Jian again and pressed him to rise, sending him to lead the attack on Jing. He took the land from Chen southward to Pingyu and captured the king of Jing. The king of Qin travelled as far as Ying and Chen. The Jing general Xiang Yan set up the Lord of Changping as king of Jing and revolted against Qin south of the Huai. In the twenty-fourth year Wang Jian and Meng Wu attacked Jing and broke the Jing army; the Lord of Changping died, and Xiang Yan then killed himself.

In the twenty-fifth year troops were raised in great numbers and Wang Ben was sent in command to attack Liaodong of Yan, and he captured Xi, king of Yan. Turning back he attacked Dai and took Jia, king of Dai, captive. Wang Jian then settled the lands of Jing south of the Jiang; the ruler of Yue surrendered, and the commandery of Kuaiji was set up. In the fifth month there was a great feasting throughout the land.

In the twenty-sixth year Jian, king of Qi, with his chief minister Hou Sheng sent out troops to guard his western border and cut off communication with Qin. Qin sent the general Wang Ben to attack Qi from the south of Yan, and he captured Jian, king of Qi.

Qin having first united the world, the king ordered the chancellors and the Grandee Secretary: "In other days the king of Han presented his lands and offered up his seal, asking to be a frontier vassal; but afterwards he went back on the agreement and joined in a vertical alliance with Zhao and Wei against Qin, and therefore we raised troops and punished him and captured their king. I thought it well done, and hoped thereby to put an end to war. The king of Zhao sent his chief minister Li Mu to make a covenant, and therefore we sent back his hostage son; but afterwards he went back on the covenant and turned against us at Taiyuan, and therefore we raised troops and punished him and got their king. The Zhao prince Jia then set himself up as king of Dai, and therefore we raised troops and struck and destroyed him. The king of Wei at first agreed to submit and come in to Qin, but afterwards plotted with Han and Zhao to attack Qin by surprise, and the officers of our troops punished him and so broke him. The king of Jing presented the lands west of Qingyang, but afterwards went back on the agreement and struck at our commandery of Nan, and therefore we sent out troops to punish him, got their king and settled the lands of Jing. The king of Yan was benighted and disorderly, and his heir apparent Dan secretly had Jing Ke act as assassin; the officers of our troops punished him and destroyed his state. The king of Qi used Hou Sheng's plan, cut off the Qin envoys and meant to make trouble; the officers of our troops punished him, took their king captive and pacified the lands of Qi. I, with my insignificant person, raised troops to punish violence and disorder; relying on the spiritual power of the ancestral temple, the six kings have all submitted to their punishment, and the world is greatly settled. Now if the title be not changed, there will be no way to celebrate the achievement and hand it down to later ages. Deliberate on the imperial title." The chancellor Wan, the Grandee Secretary Jie, the Commandant of Justice Si and the others all said: "Of old the territory of the Five Emperors was a thousand li square, and beyond it were the Lords' Service and the Yi Service; the lords came to court or did not, and the Son of Heaven could not control them. Now Your Majesty has raised a righteous army, punished the cruel and rebellious, settled the world, made all within the seas into commanderies and counties, and brought laws and ordinances under one rule — a thing never known from high antiquity, and beyond the Five Emperors. Your servants have carefully deliberated with the learned scholars, who say: 'Anciently there was the Heavenly August, the Earthly August and the Supreme August, and the Supreme August was the most honoured.' Your servants, braving death, submit the honoured title: let the king be 'Supreme August.' Let his orders be called 'edicts' and his commands 'decrees,' and let the Son of Heaven call himself 'We.'" The king said: "Drop 'Supreme' and keep 'August'; take from high antiquity the title 'Emperor,' and let it be 'August Emperor.' In other respects let it be as deliberated." The edict said: "Approved." He honoured King Zhuangxiang posthumously as the Grand Supreme August. The edict said: "We have heard that in highest antiquity there were titles but no posthumous names; in middle antiquity there were titles, and at death a posthumous name was given according to conduct. In this way the son passes judgement on the father and the subject on the ruler, which is quite without meaning, and We will not have it. From now on, abolish the Rules of Posthumous Names. We are the First August Emperor, and later generations shall be counted in order, the Second, the Third, down to the Ten Thousandth, handing it down without end."

The First Emperor worked out the succession of the Five Powers, holding that the Zhou had the power of fire and that Qin, replacing the Zhou's power, must follow what fire does not overcome. Now was the beginning of the power of water: he changed the beginning of the year so that court congratulations all began on the first day of the tenth month. Garments, pennons, banners and standards all honoured black. Six was taken as the unit of number: tallies and legal caps were six cun, carriages six chi; six chi made a pace, and a team was six horses. He renamed the He the Water of Power, to mark the beginning of the power of water. Being firm, harsh and deeply severe, he had all matters decided by law; cutting and paring, without humaneness, kindness or accord with right — only so would it fit the number of the Five Powers. Thereupon the laws were made urgent, and those long in prison were not pardoned.

The chancellor Wan and others said: "The lords have only just been broken; Yan, Qi and Jing are distant lands, and unless kings are set up there, there will be no means of holding them down. We beg that your sons be set up, if Your Majesty will graciously allow it." The First Emperor sent the proposal down to his ministers, and they all thought it convenient. The Commandant of Justice Li Si argued: "King Wen and King Wu of Zhou enfeoffed very many sons, younger brothers and men of their own surname; but afterwards their descendants grew distant and attacked one another like enemies, and the lords punished and warred on one another, and the Zhou Son of Heaven could not stop it. Now all within the seas, relying on Your Majesty's divine power, is unified and made into commanderies and counties; let your sons and meritorious ministers be richly rewarded with the public revenues, and they will be quite easy to control. That the world should have no divided purpose is the art of peace and quiet. To set up territorial lords is not convenient." The First Emperor said: "The world has suffered together from unceasing warfare, and this is because there have been marquises and kings. Relying on the ancestral temple, the world is newly settled; and to set up states again is to plant arms, and to seek quiet and rest after that — would it not be hard! The Commandant of Justice's argument is right."

He divided the world into thirty-six commanderies, each commandery having a governor, a commandant and an inspector. He renamed the people "the black-headed." There was great feasting. He collected the weapons of the world, gathered them at Xianyang, and melted them down into bells and bell-stands and twelve figures of metal, each weighing a thousand piculs, and set them in the palace courts. He made uniform the measures of law, weights, and lengths of zhang and chi. Carriages had the same gauge. Writing had the same characters. His lands reached east to the sea and to Chaoxian; west to Lintao and the Qiang lands; south to the Doors Facing North; and in the north the He was held as a barrier, running along Yinshan to Liaodong. He removed a hundred and twenty thousand households of the world's powerful and wealthy to Xianyang. The many temples and the Zhangtai and Shanglin parks were all south of the Wei. Whenever Qin broke one of the lords, it copied the plan of his palaces and built the like on the northern slope at Xianyang, facing the Wei to the south, from the Yong Gate eastward as far as the Jing and the Wei, with halls, chambers, covered walks and encircling galleries joined one to another. The beauties, bells and drums taken from the lords were placed in them to fill them.

In the twenty-seventh year the First Emperor toured Longxi and Beidi, went out by Mount Jitou and passed Huizhong. He then built the Xin Palace south of the Wei, and afterwards renamed the Xin Palace the Ultimate Temple, in the likeness of the pole of heaven. From the Ultimate Temple a road ran through to Mount Li, and he built the front hall of Ganquan. He built a walled road joining it to Xianyang. In that year one degree of rank was granted. He built the speedways.

In the twenty-eighth year the First Emperor travelled east through the commanderies and counties and climbed Mount Yi in Zou. He set up a stone, and deliberating with the various scholars of Lu, he had the stone inscribed to praise Qin's virtue, and deliberated on the matter of the feng and shan sacrifices and the distant sacrifices to hills and rivers. Then he went up Mount Tai, set up a stone, performed the feng sacrifice and made offerings. Coming down, wind and rain came on suddenly and he rested under a tree, and on that account enfeoffed the tree as a Grandee of the Fifth Rank. He performed the shan sacrifice at Liangfu. He had the stone he set up inscribed, and its words were:

The August Emperor came to the throne, made ordinances and clarified the laws, and his subjects cultivated and corrected themselves. In the twenty-sixth year he first united the world, and there were none who did not submit as guests. He himself toured among the people of distant regions, climbed this Mount Tai and looked all about the eastern limit. His attending ministers, considering his traces, tracing to their source his undertakings, reverently recite his merit and virtue. The way of government runs its course, all products get what suits them, and all have their standards and forms. His great righteousness is excellent and bright, to be handed to later ages, followed and carried on without change. The August Emperor is himself a sage; having pacified the world, he does not slacken in governing. Rising early and sleeping late, he establishes lasting benefits and devotes himself to spreading instruction. His teachings are set forth and proclaimed; far and near all is put in order, and all follow his sage purpose. Noble and base are clearly distinguished, men and women are courteous and compliant, and all carefully follow their duties. The inner and outer are made clear and separate, and there is nowhere not pure and clean, and this is passed on to his heirs. His transforming influence reaches without end; let all honour and uphold his testamentary decree and forever carry on his weighty admonitions.

Thereupon he went along the Bohai eastward, passed Huang and Chui, went to the end of Mount Cheng, climbed Zhifu, and set up a stone praising Qin's virtue, and departed.

He went south and climbed Langye, delighted greatly in it, and stayed three months. He then removed thirty thousand households of the black-headed people to below the terrace of Langye, exempting them from taxes for twelve years. He built the Langye terrace and set up a stone inscription, praising Qin's virtue and making clear that he had gained his purpose. It said:

In the twenty-eighth year the August Emperor made a beginning. He made upright and even the laws and measures, the cords of the myriad things. He made human affairs clear and brought fathers and sons into accord. In sagacity, wisdom, humaneness and righteousness, he made the way and its principles plain and white. In the east he comforted the eastern lands and reviewed his soldiers and men. The affair being fully completed, he came down to the sea. The August Emperor's merit lies in diligent labour at the fundamental occupations. He raised up agriculture and abolished the secondary pursuits, and the black-headed people are thereby made rich. Under the whole of heaven, hearts are gathered and purposes joined. Vessels and implements have one measure, and writing has the same characters. Wherever sun and moon shine, wherever boat and carriage carry, all live out their allotted span, and there is none who does not gain his wish. To act with the seasons and set affairs in motion — this is the August Emperor. He corrects and orders differing customs, crosses waters and traverses the land. He is anxious and tender toward the black-headed people, and does not slacken morning or evening. He removes doubts and settles the laws, and all know what to avoid. The regional chiefs have their divided offices, and all governing is regular and easy. His measures are always fitting, and there is nothing not as if drawn to plan. The August Emperor's brightness looks down and examines the four quarters. High and low, noble and base, none oversteps his rank and course. Wickedness and depravity are not tolerated, and all strive to be upright and good. In small things and great all use their strength, and none dares be idle or negligent. Far and near, in remote and hidden places, all devote themselves to gravity and dignity. Upright, straightforward, earnest and loyal, their undertakings have constancy. The August Emperor's virtue preserves and settles the four extremities. He punishes the disorderly and removes harm, raises up benefit and brings blessing. He regulates affairs by the seasons, and all products multiply. The black-headed people are at peace, and arms and armour are not used. The six degrees of kin protect one another, and there are no robbers or thieves in the end. Gladly they receive his teaching, and fully know the laws and forms. Within the six directions is the August Emperor's land. Westward it crosses the Flowing Sands, southward it reaches the Doors Facing North. Eastward there is the Eastern Sea, northward it passes Daxia. Wherever the footsteps of men reach, there are none who are not his subjects. His merit covers the Five Emperors, and his bounty reaches to oxen and horses. There is none who does not receive his virtue, and each is at peace in his dwelling.

Now that the king of Qin has united the world and set up the title of August Emperor, he has comforted the eastern lands and come to Langye. The full marquis Wang Li, Marquis of Wucheng; the full marquis Wang Ben, Marquis of Tongwu; the lesser marquis Zhao Hai, Marquis of Jiancheng; the lesser marquis Cheng, Marquis of Changwu; the lesser marquis Feng Wuze, Marquis of Wuxin; the chancellor Wei Lin; the chancellor Wang Wan; the minister Li Si; the minister Wang Wu; the Grandee of the Fifth Rank Zhao Ying; and the Grandee of the Fifth Rank Yang Jiu attended him, and deliberated with him by the sea. They said: "Of the emperors of old, their territory did not exceed a thousand li; the lords each guarded their own enfeoffed domains, coming to court or not; they encroached on one another with violence and disorder, and their cruel attacks did not cease, yet they still carved on metal and stone to make records of themselves. Of the Five Emperors and Three Kings of old, their teaching and knowledge were not alike and their laws and measures were not clear; they borrowed the awe of ghosts and spirits to deceive distant regions, and the substance did not match the name, and so they did not last long. Before their own bodies had perished, the lords turned against them and their laws and orders were not carried out. Now the August Emperor has united all within the seas into commanderies and counties, and the world is at peace. He has made bright the ancestral temple, embodies the Way and practises virtue, and his honoured title is greatly accomplished. His assembled ministers together recite the August Emperor's merit and virtue and carve it on metal and stone, to serve as a model and canon."

This done, Xu Fu and others of Qi submitted a memorial saying that in the sea were three divine mountains named Penglai, Fangzhang and Yingzhou, where immortals dwelt; and they asked leave to purify themselves and go with boys and girls to seek them. Thereupon he sent Xu Fu, who set out with several thousand boys and girls, to enter the sea and seek the immortals.

The First Emperor returned, and passing Pengcheng he purified himself and prayed and sacrificed, wishing to bring up the Zhou tripod from the Si River. He sent a thousand men to dive in the water and look for it, but they did not find it. Then he crossed the Huai to the southwest and went to Mount Heng and the commandery of Nan. He sailed on the Jiang and came to the shrine on Mount Xiang. He met a great wind and could barely cross. The Emperor asked the learned scholars, "What spirit is the Lord of Xiang?" The scholars answered, "We have heard that she was Yao's daughter and Shun's wife, and is buried here." Thereupon the First Emperor was greatly angered, and sent three thousand convict labourers to cut down all the trees of Mount Xiang and lay the mountain bare. The Emperor went home from the commandery of Nan by way of the Wu Pass.

In the twenty-ninth year the First Emperor travelled east. At Bolangsha in Yangwu he was startled by brigands. They searched and did not find them, and so he ordered a great search throughout the land for ten days.

He climbed Zhifu and had a stone inscribed. Its words were:

In the twenty-ninth year, the season being mid-spring, when the warmth of yang was rising, the August Emperor travelled east, toured and climbed Zhifu, and looked out over the sea. His attending ministers admired the sight, traced back his excellent achievements and recited the origin and beginning. The Great Sage set up his rule, established laws and measures, and made manifest the guiding cords. Abroad he taught the lords, shone forth his cultured favour, and made clear the principles of right. The six states were perverse and crooked, greedy and violent and unsatisfied, and their cruel killing did not cease. The August Emperor pitied the multitude and so sent forth a punishing host and made manifest his martial virtue. His righteous punishments and trustworthy conduct, his awe blazing and reaching on every side, brought all to submit as guests. He boiled and destroyed the strong and violent, rescued the black-headed people, and everywhere settled the four extremities. He spread clear laws universally, weaving the world warp and weft, to be forever a rule and model. Great indeed! Within the compass of the world all follow and obey his sage will. His assembled ministers recite his merit and ask that it be carved in stone, to be set forth and handed down as a constant model. Its eastern inscription said:

In the twenty-ninth year the August Emperor travelled in spring, viewing and inspecting distant regions. Reaching the corner of the sea, he then climbed Zhifu, shining as he looked toward the morning sun. Gazing at the broad splendour, his attending ministers all bethought themselves how the way he traced was utterly clear. When the sage laws first arose, he cleansed and ordered all within the borders and abroad punished the violent and strong. His martial awe spread on every side, shook the four extremities, and captured and destroyed the six kings. He opened and united the world, and calamity and harm were cut off and ceased, and arms were forever laid down. The August Emperor's bright virtue orders and manages all within the world, and he does not slacken in seeing and hearing. He sets up the great principles of right, makes manifest the appointed implements, and all have their emblems and banners. His officers follow their divisions, each knowing what he is to do, and affairs are without doubt or ambiguity. The black-headed people are transformed; far and near are of one measure, and looking to antiquity none surpasses this. The constant offices being fixed, his heirs will follow the work and long carry on his sage rule. The assembled ministers praise his virtue and reverently recite his sage achievements, and ask that it be carved at Zhifu. Turning back, he then went to Langye and returned by way of Shangdang.

In the thirtieth year there was nothing to record.

In the twelfth month of the thirty-first year the La festival was renamed "Jiaping." He granted the black-headed people, by hamlets, six piculs of rice and two sheep. The First Emperor went out incognito in Xianyang with four armed men, and going out at night he met brigands at Lanchi and was hard pressed; the armed men struck and killed the brigands, and there was a great search within the Pass for twenty days. A picul of rice cost sixteen hundred.

In the thirty-second year the First Emperor went to Jieshi and sent Lu Sheng, a man of Yan, to seek Xianmen and Gaoshi. He had an inscription carved at the gate of Jieshi. He pulled down city walls and outworks and opened the dykes and embankments. Its words were:

Then he raised armies and put to death those without principle, and rebellion was extinguished. By arms he destroyed the violent and rebellious; by culture he restored the guiltless; and the hearts of the multitude all submitted. He assessed merit and labour with kindness, and his rewards reached even to oxen and horses, and his bounty enriched the soil of his domains. The August Emperor roused his awe, and his virtue brought the lords together, and for the first time all was united in great peace. He threw down the city walls and outworks, opened the river embankments, and levelled away barriers and defiles. The lie of the land being settled, the common people have no forced labour, and the world is everywhere comforted. Men delight in their fields and women attend to their work, and all affairs have their order. His kindness covers all products; long united, they come to the fields, and there is none not at peace in his place. His assembled ministers recite his achievements and ask that this stone be carved, to set forth and record the model and rule.

He then sent Han Zhong, Lord Hou and Shi Sheng to seek the immortals' drug of deathlessness. The First Emperor toured the northern frontier and came in by way of Shangjun. Lu Sheng, the man of Yan, whom he had sent into the sea, returned, and on the strength of matters of ghosts and spirits presented a prophetic writing, which said, "What will destroy Qin is Hu." The First Emperor then sent the general Meng Tian with three hundred thousand troops to strike the Hu in the north, and seized the lands south of the He.

In the thirty-third year he sent those who had once fled and absconded, adopted sons-in-law and merchants to seize the Luliang lands, making them the commanderies of Guilin, Xiang and Nanhai, and sent convicts to garrison them. In the northwest he drove off the Xiongnu. From Yuzhong along the He eastward, joining Yinshan, he made forty-four counties and walled the bank of the He as a barrier. He also sent Meng Tian across the He to take Gaoque, Yangshan and Beijiazhong, and to build watchtowers and forts to drive off the Rong. He removed convicts to fill the newly made counties. Sacrifices were forbidden. A bright star appeared in the west. In the thirty-fourth year he sent the officers who had judged cases unjustly to build the Long Wall and to the lands of Nanyue.

The First Emperor set out wine in the palace at Xianyang, and seventy learned scholars came forward to drink his health. The Supervisor Zhou Qingchen came forward with a eulogy: "In other days the land of Qin did not exceed a thousand li; relying on Your Majesty's divine power and sage brightness, you have settled all within the seas and driven off the Man and Yi, and wherever sun and moon shine there are none who do not submit as guests. You have made the lords' domains into commanderies and counties, and every man is at peace and content, without the calamity of war, and it will be handed down for ten thousand generations. From high antiquity none has matched Your Majesty's awe and virtue." The First Emperor was pleased. The learned scholar Chunyu Yue, a man of Qi, came forward and said: "Your servant has heard that the Yin and Zhou were kings for more than a thousand years, and enfeoffed their sons, younger brothers and meritorious ministers to be branches and supports to themselves. Now Your Majesty holds all within the seas, but your sons and brothers are common men; should there suddenly be ministers like Tian Chang or the six ministers, without supporters and helpers, how would you be saved? That an affair not modelled on antiquity could long endure is a thing I have not heard of. Now Qingchen further flatters you to your face and so deepens Your Majesty's fault; he is no loyal minister." The First Emperor sent down the proposal. The chancellor Li Si said: "The Five Emperors did not repeat one another and the Three Dynasties did not copy one another; each governed in its own way, not because they were contrary to one another but because the times had changed. Now Your Majesty has founded a great enterprise and established a merit of ten thousand generations, which is certainly not for foolish scholars to understand. Moreover what Yue speaks of is the affairs of the Three Dynasties — what is there in them fit to be followed? In other times the lords contended together and richly invited itinerant scholars. Now the world is settled and laws and orders issue from one source; the common people at home should exert themselves in farming and craft, and gentlemen should study the laws, orders and prohibitions. Now the scholars do not take the present as their model but study antiquity, and by it condemn the present age and confuse and mislead the black-headed people. Your servant the chancellor Si, braving death, says: In antiquity the world was scattered and in disorder and none could unite it, and therefore the lords all arose, and in speech all invoked antiquity to injure the present and dressed up empty words to confuse the real; men thought well of their own private learning, and by it condemned what their superiors established. Now the August Emperor has united and holds the world, has distinguished black from white and settled a single object of reverence. Yet private learning joins in condemning the laws and teachings; when men hear that an order has been sent down, they each discuss it according to their own learning; within, their hearts condemn it, and without, they debate it in the lanes; they make a name by boasting before their ruler and count it lofty to take a different line, and they lead their inferiors to fabricate slander. If such things are not forbidden, then above, the ruler's power will sink, and below, factions will form. To forbid it is expedient. Your servant asks that all records of the scribes save those of Qin be burned. Except for those in the charge of the office of learned scholars, any in the world who dare to keep the Odes, the Documents or the sayings of the hundred schools shall take them all to the governors and commandants to be burned together. Any who dare to speak together of the Odes and Documents shall be executed in the market. Those who use antiquity to condemn the present shall have their clans put to death. Officers who see and know of it and do not report it shall share the same crime. Those who have not burned them within thirty days of the order coming down shall be branded and sent to build walls. What shall not be discarded are books of medicine, pharmacy, divination and the planting of trees. If any wish to study the laws and orders, let them take the officers as their teachers." The edict said: "Approved."

In the thirty-fifth year he opened a road from Jiuyuan to Yunyang, cutting through hills and filling valleys to run straight. Thereupon the First Emperor, thinking that the people of Xianyang were many and the palaces of the former kings small, said: "I have heard that King Wen of Zhou made his capital at Feng and King Wu at Hao; the region between Feng and Hao is the capital of emperors and kings." So he laid out and built a court palace in the Shanglin park south of the Wei. First he built the front hall, Epang, five hundred paces from east to west and fifty zhang from north to south; above, it could seat ten thousand men, and below, a banner of five zhang could be set up. All round it ran a gallery road, and from below the hall it ran straight to the Southern Hills. He marked the peak of the Southern Hills as its gate-towers. He made a double road from Epang across the Wei, joining it to Xianyang, in the likeness of the gallery road of the pole of heaven crossing the Milky Way to reach the Encampment. The Epang Palace was not finished; when it was finished, he meant to choose a fine name and name it. Because the palace was built at Epang, the world called it the Epang Palace. More than seven hundred thousand men who had been castrated or condemned to labour were divided between building the Epang Palace and building at Mount Li. He quarried stone for outer coffins from the northern hills, and had timber brought from Shu and Jing, all of it arriving. Within the Pass the palaces numbered three hundred, and beyond the Pass more than four hundred. Thereupon he set up a stone at Qu on the Eastern Sea, to be the eastern gate of Qin. And he removed thirty thousand households to the town of Li and fifty thousand to Yunyang, all exempted from service for ten years.

Lu Sheng urged the First Emperor: "Your servants seek magic fungus, rare drugs and immortals, and constantly fail to meet them; it is as if something harms us. In the arts it is held that the ruler of men should at times move about incognito in order to avoid evil spirits; evil spirits being avoided, the Perfected Man arrives. If the place where the ruler of men dwells is known to his ministers, it harms his spirit. The Perfected Man enters water without getting wet, enters fire without being burned, rides on cloud vapours, and endures as long as heaven and earth. Now Your Majesty governs the world but has not been able to attain quiet and calm. I wish that the palace where Your Majesty dwells might not be known to men, and then the drug of deathlessness may perhaps be got." Thereupon the First Emperor said: "I admire the Perfected Man; I shall call myself 'the Perfected Man' and not use 'We.'" So he ordered that the two hundred and seventy palaces and lodges within two hundred li around Xianyang be joined by double roads and walled roads, and filled them with curtains and hangings, bells and drums, and beautiful women, each registered to a post and not to be moved. Wherever he went and stayed, whoever spoke of the place was to be put to death. The First Emperor went to the Liangshan Palace, and from the hill saw that the chancellor's carriages and outriders were many, and was not pleased. Someone of the palace told the chancellor, and the chancellor afterwards reduced his carriages and riders. The First Emperor was angry and said, "Someone in the palace has leaked my words." He questioned them and none confessed. At that time he decreed the arrest of all who had been beside him then, and had them all killed. From this time on no one knew where he went. In hearing affairs, and when the ministers received decisions on matters, it was all at the Xianyang Palace.

Lord Hou and Lu Sheng plotted together, saying: "The First Emperor as a man is by nature harsh, perverse and self-willed; he rose from among the lords and annexed the world, and having got his wish and followed his desires, he holds that from antiquity none has matched him. He entrusts everything to prison officers, and the prison officers alone are favoured. Though the learned scholars number seventy, they merely fill the roll and are not used. The chancellor and the great ministers all receive matters already settled and rely on the ruler to decide them. The ruler delights in using punishment and killing as his majesty, and the world, fearing to offend and clinging to their salaries, dare not give their full loyalty. The ruler does not hear of his faults and grows daily more arrogant, and those below cower and practise deceit to win his favour. By Qin law one may not hold two arts at once, and if they do not prove out, death follows at once. Yet those who watch the stars and vapours number three hundred, all of them good men, but from fear and taboo they flatter and dare not speak straight of his faults. Affairs of the world great and small are all decided by the ruler, and the ruler goes so far as to weigh documents by the picul, with a set quota for day and night, and until the quota is reached he does not rest. Being so greedy of power and position as this, he is not one for whom the immortals' drug may be sought." So they fled away. When the First Emperor heard they had fled he was greatly angered and said: "I formerly collected the world's writings and got rid of all that were of no use. I summoned in great numbers men of letters and masters of arts, meaning to raise up an age of great peace, and the masters of arts were to refine drugs and seek rare medicines. Now I hear that Han Zhong has gone off without reporting; Xu Fu and the others have spent millions and in the end got no drug, and I hear daily only of their reporting one another for corrupt profit. Lu Sheng and the others I honoured and rewarded most generously, and now they slander me and make my lack of virtue the heavier. Of the scholars in Xianyang, I have sent men to investigate, and some spread wild talk to confuse the black-headed people." Thereupon he sent the Grandee Secretary to question all the scholars, and the scholars informed on one another to clear themselves. Those who had broken the prohibitions numbered more than four hundred and sixty, and all were buried alive at Xianyang, and the world was made to know it, as a warning for the future. He sent still more convicts to the frontiers. The First Emperor's eldest son Fusu remonstrated: "The world is newly settled and the black-headed people of distant regions are not yet gathered in; the scholars all recite and take Confucius as their model, and now Your Majesty binds them all with severe laws. Your servant fears the world will not be at peace. May Your Majesty look into it." The First Emperor was angry and sent Fusu north to oversee Meng Tian in Shangjun.

In the thirty-sixth year Mars lodged in the Heart constellation. A star fell in the commandery of Dong, and reaching the ground became a stone, and one of the black-headed people carved on the stone: "When the First August Emperor dies the land will be divided." When the First Emperor heard of it he sent the Grandee Secretary to investigate, and none confessed; so he seized all who lived near the stone and put them to death, and burned and destroyed the stone. The First Emperor was not pleased, and had the learned scholars compose poems on immortals and Perfected Men, and wherever he travelled in the world he ordered the musicians to sing and set them to strings. In autumn an envoy passing at night by the Pingshu road at Huayin from east of the Pass was stopped by a man holding a jade disc, who said, "Give this for me to the Lord of Haochi." And he said, "This year the Primal Dragon dies." When the envoy asked the reason, the man suddenly vanished, leaving the disc behind. The envoy presented the disc and reported the whole matter. The First Emperor was silent a long while, then said, "A mountain spirit can surely know no more than a year's affairs." Withdrawing, he said, "The Primal Dragon is the forefather of men." He had the palace storehouse examine the disc, and it was the very disc he had sunk when crossing the Jiang in the twenty-eighth year. Thereupon the First Emperor divined about it, and the oracle said that travelling and moving would be auspicious. He removed thirty thousand households to Yuzhong on the North He, and granted one degree of rank.

In the tenth month of the thirty-seventh year, on the guichou day, the First Emperor set out on his travels. The chancellor of the left, Si, accompanied him; the chancellor of the right, Quji, remained in charge. His youngest son Huhai, being fond of him, asked to go along, and the Emperor allowed it. In the eleventh month he travelled to Yunmeng and sacrificed from afar to Shun of Yu at Mount Jiuyi. He sailed down the Jiang, viewed Jike and crossed the isles of the sea. Passing Danyang he came to Qiantang. Coming to the Zhe River, the waves were rough, so he went a hundred and twenty li west and crossed at a narrow place. He climbed Kuaiji, sacrificed to the Great Yu, sacrificed from afar to the Southern Sea, and set up a stone inscription praising Qin's virtue. Its text was:

The August Emperor's excellent achievements: he has levelled and unified all within the world, and his virtue and kindness are long-lasting. In the thirty-seventh year he himself toured the world and looked all about distant regions. He then climbed Kuaiji, proclaimed and examined the customs, and the black-headed people are pure and grave. His assembled ministers recite his merit, trace to their source his deeds, and look back to the highest brightness. When the Qin sage came to rule the state, he first fixed punishments and names, and made manifest the old statutes. He first levelled the forms of the law, examined and distinguished duties and charges, so as to set up what is constant. The six kings were wilful and perverse, greedy, violent, arrogant and fierce, and led their multitudes to make themselves strong. They acted cruelly and wantonly, relied on force and grew proud, and repeatedly moved armour and arms. They secretly sent go-between envoys to work at vertical alliances and acted crookedly. Within they dressed up deceitful schemes and without they came to invade the borders, and so brought on calamity. By righteous majesty he punished them, wiped out the violent and perverse, and the rebels and traitors were destroyed. His sage virtue is broad and close-woven; within the six directions his bounty is spread without limit. The August Emperor has united the world, hears all matters together, and far and near all is made clear. He orders and manages the host of things, examines and tests the facts of affairs, and each is recorded under its name. Noble and base alike have access, good and bad are set forth before him, and nothing is concealed. He adorns and examines and proclaims what is right: a woman who has a son and remarries turns her back on the dead and is unchaste. He separates inner and outer, forbids licentiousness, and men and women are pure and sincere. If a husband plays the wandering boar, to kill him is no crime, and men hold to the rule of righteousness. If a wife runs off to marry, her son may not treat her as mother, and all are transformed to purity and honesty. His great rule cleanses customs, the world receives the influence and is covered by his excellent canon. All follow the measures and tracks, harmonious, peaceful, earnest and diligent, and there is none who does not obey his orders. The black-headed people are cultivated and pure, men delight in a common standard, and gladly preserve the great peace. Later ages will reverently uphold the laws, and constant rule will be without end, and carriage and boat will not overturn. His attending ministers recite his achievements and ask that this stone be carved, so that a glorious inscription may be handed down.

Returning, he passed Wu and crossed at Jiangcheng. He went along the sea and north to Langye. The master of arts Xu Fu and the others had entered the sea to seek the divine drug, and for several years had not got it; having spent much, and fearing reproach, they lied, saying: "The drug of Penglai can be got, but we are constantly troubled by great sharks, and so cannot reach it. We beg that good archers be sent with us, so that when they appear we may shoot them with repeating crossbows." The First Emperor dreamed that he fought with a sea god in the shape of a man. He asked the interpreter of dreams, and the learned scholar said: "The water god cannot be seen; he takes great fish and dragons as his sign. Now Your Majesty's prayers and sacrifices have been complete and careful, yet there is this evil god; he should be removed, and then the good god may be brought." So he ordered those entering the sea to carry gear for catching great fish, and he himself waited with a repeating crossbow for the great fish to appear, to shoot it. From Langye north as far as Mount Rongcheng he saw none. Coming to Zhifu he saw great fish and shot and killed one. Then he went west along the sea.

At the ford of Pingyuan he fell ill. The First Emperor hated to speak of death, and none of his ministers dared speak of the matter of death. The Emperor's illness grew worse, and he then wrote a sealed letter bestowed on the prince Fusu, saying: "Meet the funeral cortege at Xianyang and bury me." The letter having been sealed, it was in the keeping of Zhao Gao, the Director of the Palace Carriage Office, who had charge of the seal, and had not been handed to a messenger. In the seventh month, on the bingyin day, the First Emperor died at the Sand Hill terrace. The chancellor Si, because the Emperor had died away from the capital, feared that the princes and the world might make trouble, and so kept it secret and did not announce the death. The coffin was carried in a cool-and-warm carriage, and the favoured eunuchs rode with it; wherever they came, food was presented. The hundred officials submitted affairs as before, and the eunuchs would approve their submissions from within the cool-and-warm carriage. Only his son Huhai, Zhao Gao, and five or six favoured eunuchs knew that the Emperor was dead. Zhao Gao had formerly taught Huhai writing and the matters of prison law and ordinances, and Huhai privately favoured him. Gao then plotted secretly with the prince Huhai and the chancellor Si to destroy the sealed letter the First Emperor had bestowed on the prince Fusu, and instead falsely made out that the chancellor Si had received the First Emperor's testamentary decree at Sand Hill setting up his son Huhai as heir apparent. They further made a letter bestowed on the prince Fusu and Meng Tian, charging them with crimes and granting them death. The words of this are all in the biography of Li Si. Travelling on, they went by Jingxing to Jiuyuan. It being hot, and the Emperor's cool carriage stinking, a decree was given to the attending officers that each carriage should carry a picul of salted fish, to confuse the stench.

Travelling by the straight road they reached Xianyang and announced the death. The heir apparent Huhai succeeded to the position and became the Second August Emperor. In the ninth month the First Emperor was buried at Mount Li. When the First Emperor first came to the throne he had begun tunnelling and working at Mount Li, and when he had annexed the world, more than seven hundred thousand convicts were sent there from all over the empire. They dug through three springs, poured bronze below and set the outer coffin in place; palaces and lodges, the hundred officials, and rare vessels and marvels were moved in and filled it. He ordered craftsmen to make crossbows worked by triggers, so that any who tunnelled near would be shot. With quicksilver he made the hundred streams, the Jiang, the He and the great sea, with machinery to make them flow into one another; above were set out the heavenly bodies, below the features of the earth. Whale oil was used for torches, reckoned to burn a long while without going out. The Second Emperor said, "Of the former Emperor's harem, those who have no sons should not be sent out." He ordered them all to follow him in death, and those who died were very many. When the burial had been completed, someone said that the craftsmen had made the machinery and that all of them knew what was stored there, and that the treasure was heavy and would be leaked. When the great work was finished and the storing done, they closed the middle passage and lowered the outer gate of the passage, shutting in all the craftsmen and those who had done the storing, and none came out again. Grass and trees were planted to make it look like a hill.

In the first year of the Second August Emperor he was twenty-one years old. Zhao Gao became Director of the Palace Gentlemen and was entrusted with affairs. The Second Emperor sent down an edict increasing the sacrificial victims at the First Emperor's sleeping temple and the rites of the hundred sacrifices to hills and rivers. He ordered his ministers to deliberate on honouring the First Emperor's temple. The ministers all bowed their heads to the ground and said: "In antiquity the Son of Heaven had seven ancestral temples, the lords five, the great officers three, and though ten thousand generations passed they were not removed and destroyed. Now the First Emperor has the Ultimate Temple, and all within the four seas present their tribute and offices; the victims are increased and the rites are complete, and nothing can be added. Of the former kings' temples, some are at Yong in the west and some at Xianyang. By the Son of Heaven's proper ceremony, he should himself alone pour the libation at the First Emperor's temple. From Duke Xiang downward they should be removed and destroyed. The temples set up will be seven in all. The ministers will offer sacrifice according to the rites, honouring the First Emperor's temple as the ancestral temple of the Emperor. The August Emperor shall again call himself 'We.'"

The Second Emperor plotted with Zhao Gao, saying: "We are young and newly come to the throne, and the black-headed people are not yet gathered and attached. The former Emperor toured the commanderies and counties to show his strength and to overawe all within the seas. Now if We sit still and do not tour, it will look like weakness, and there will be no way to hold the world as our subjects." In spring the Second Emperor travelled east through the commanderies and counties, with Li Si attending. Coming to Jieshi, he went along the sea and south as far as Kuaiji, and had inscriptions added to all the stones the First Emperor had set up, with the names of the great ministers who accompanied him carved beside the stone, to make manifest the former Emperor's accomplished merit and abundant virtue:

The August Emperor said: "The inscriptions on metal and stone were all made by the First August Emperor. Now that We have succeeded to the title, if the inscriptions on metal and stone do not name the First August Emperor, then in the distant future it will look as if a successor had made them, and will not celebrate his accomplished merit and abundant virtue." The chancellors, your servants Si and Quji, and the Grandee Secretary, your servant De, braving death, say: "Your servants ask that the edict be carved in full upon the stones, and then it will be plain. Your servants, braving death, request it." The edict said: "Approved." So he went as far as Liaodong and returned.

Thereupon the Second Emperor followed and employed Zhao Gao and made the laws and orders stricter. He then plotted secretly with Zhao Gao, saying: "The great ministers do not submit, the officials are still strong, and the princes are sure to contend with me. What shall be done about it?" Gao said: "Your servant has long wished to speak of this and has not dared. The former Emperor's great ministers are all men of famed and noble houses of accumulated generations in the world, whose merits and labours have been handed down for a long time. Now Gao is by origin low and mean, and Your Majesty has graciously raised me up and set me in a high place to manage affairs within. The great ministers are discontented and only outwardly comply with your servant, while in their hearts they truly do not submit. Now when Your Majesty goes out, if you do not take this occasion to investigate the governors and commandants of the commanderies and counties who are guilty and put them to death, then above you will not overawe the world, and below you will not be rid of those the former Emperor could not abide. Now is a time not to follow culture but to decide by force. I wish Your Majesty to follow the times without hesitation, so that the ministers cannot plot in time. An enlightened ruler gathers up the remaining people, raising the low to honour and the poor to riches and bringing the distant near; then high and low are gathered together and the state is at peace." The Second Emperor said, "Good." So he put to death the great ministers and the princes, and on charges of crime he arrested the lesser attendant officers of the three ranks, so that none was left standing; and six princes were put to death at Du. The prince Jianglü and his two brothers were imprisoned in the inner palace, and judgement on their crime was left to the last. The Second Emperor sent a messenger to order Jianglü: "You have been unsubmissive as a subject; your crime deserves death, and the officers will apply the law to you." Jianglü said: "In the ceremonies of the palace court I have never dared not to follow the masters of ceremony; in my place in the halls of state I have never dared to lose my proper bearing; in receiving commands and making reply I have never dared to misspeak. What is meant by unsubmissive? I beg to hear my crime before I die." The messenger said: "Your servant is not privy to the deliberations; I act on the written order." Jianglü then looked up to heaven and cried out three times, "Heaven! I am guiltless!" The three brothers all wept and drew their swords and killed themselves. The imperial clan was shaken with fear. Ministers who remonstrated were held to be slanderers, the high officers clung to their salaries and sought favour, and the black-headed people were shaken with fear.

In the fourth month the Second Emperor returned to Xianyang and said: "The former Emperor thought the court at Xianyang small, and therefore built the Epang Palace. Before the chambers and halls were completed, it happened that he died, and the workmen were dismissed and put to carrying earth at Mount Li. The work at Mount Li being largely finished, if we now set aside the Epang Palace and do not complete it, this is to make manifest that the former Emperor was mistaken in undertaking it." So he set to work again on the Epang Palace. Abroad he comforted the four barbarian peoples, as the First Emperor had planned. He levied all their able-bodied men, fifty thousand of them, to garrison and guard Xianyang, and ordered them to be taught archery and the handling of dogs, horses, birds and beasts. Those to be fed being many, and reckoning that there was not enough, he sent down orders to the commanderies and counties to transport beans, grain, fodder and straw, and made them all bring their own provisions, and within three hundred li of Xianyang none might eat of their own grain. The application of the law grew harsher and deeper.

In the seventh month the garrison soldier Chen Sheng and others revolted in the old lands of Jing, calling it "Zhang Chu." Sheng set himself up as king of Chu, dwelt at Chen, and sent his generals to overrun the land. In the commanderies and counties east of the mountains the young men, suffering under the Qin officials, all killed their governors, commandants, prefects and assistants and revolted, in answer to Chen She, setting one another up as marquises and kings, joining in a vertical alliance and facing west, calling it attacking Qin — such beyond counting. An usher coming from the east reported the rebels to the Second Emperor. The Second Emperor was angry and handed him to the officers. Afterwards, when a messenger came and the Emperor asked him, he answered, "A band of brigands; the governors and commandants of the commanderies are pursuing and arresting them, and have now taken them all; there is nothing to worry about." The Emperor was pleased. Wu Chen set himself up as king of Zhao, Wei Jiu as king of Wei, and Tian Dan as king of Qi. The Lord of Pei rose at Pei. Xiang Liang raised troops in the commandery of Kuaiji.

In the winter of the second year Zhou Zhang and the others whom Chen She had sent led troops west as far as Xi, several hundred thousand of them. The Second Emperor was greatly alarmed and took counsel with his ministers, saying, "What is to be done?" The Privy Treasurer Zhang Han said: "The brigands have already come, and their numbers are strong; now it is too late to call out the troops of the nearby counties. The convicts at Mount Li are many; I beg that they be pardoned and given arms to strike at them." The Second Emperor then proclaimed a great pardon throughout the land and sent Zhang Han in command; he broke Zhou Zhang's army and it fled, and he then killed Zhang at Caoyang. The Second Emperor sent still more men, the Chief Clerk Sima Xin and Dong Yi, to assist Zhang Han in striking the brigands; they killed Chen Sheng at Chengfu, broke Xiang Liang at Dingtao and destroyed Wei Jiu at Linji. The famed generals of the brigands in the lands of Chu being dead, Zhang Han then crossed the He northward and struck at Xie, king of Zhao, and the others at Julu.

Zhao Gao urged the Second Emperor: "The former Emperor ruled the world a long while, and therefore the ministers dared not do wrong or put forward depraved counsels. Now Your Majesty is rich in years, newly come to the throne — how should you decide affairs in open court with the great officers? If an affair goes wrong, it shows your shortcomings to the ministers. The Son of Heaven calls himself 'We,' and properly his voice is not heard." Thereupon the Second Emperor constantly dwelt within the palace and settled all affairs with Gao. After this the high officers rarely got audience, the brigands grew more numerous, and troops from within the Pass were sent out east against the brigands without cease. The chancellor of the right Quji, the chancellor of the left Si, and the general Feng Jie came forward to remonstrate: "East of the Pass the bands of brigands have risen together; Qin sends out troops to punish and strike them, and those killed and lost are very many, yet still it does not stop. The brigands are many because garrison duty, transport by water and land, and building works are hard, and the taxes are heavy. We beg that the work on the Epang Palace be stopped for the present, and the garrisons and transport on the four frontiers reduced." The Second Emperor said: "I have heard from Master Han: 'Yao and Shun had rafters of unplaned wood and thatch untrimmed; they ate from earthen bowls and drank from earthen vessels, and even a gatekeeper's keep is not meaner than this. Yu cut through Longmen, opened Daxia, dredged the He and dammed the waters and let them out to the sea; he himself held the tamper and spade until there was no hair on his shins, and the toil of a slave is not worse than this.' Now what makes it valuable to possess the world is that one may follow one's will and carry one's desires to the utmost; the ruler makes the laws weighty and clear, those below dare not do wrong, and so all within the seas is controlled. The rulers of Yu and Xia were honoured as Sons of Heaven, yet themselves dwelt in the reality of bitter hardship in order to serve the hundred clans — what then had they to do with law? We are honoured with ten thousand chariots, but have not the substance of it; We wish to make an equipage of a thousand chariots and an array of ten thousand, to fill out Our title and name. Moreover the former Emperor rose from among the lords and annexed the world; the world being settled, abroad he drove off the four barbarian peoples to secure the frontiers, and he built palaces and chambers to make manifest that he had got his wish — and you have seen that the former Emperor's undertakings had their order. Now in the two years since We came to the throne, bands of brigands have risen together, and you cannot stop them, and moreover you wish to abolish what the former Emperor did; this is above to have nothing with which to repay the former Emperor, and next to give Us no loyal effort — how then are you in office?" He handed Quji, Si and Jie to the officers, who investigated and charged them with other crimes. Quji and Jie said, "Generals and ministers are not to be disgraced," and killed themselves. Si was at last imprisoned and subjected to the five punishments.

In the third year Zhang Han and the others led their troops to besiege Julu, and Xiang Yu, Chu's supreme general, led the Chu soldiers to relieve Julu. In winter Zhao Gao became chancellor and at last pressed the case against Li Si and killed him. In summer Zhang Han and the others had been repeatedly driven back in battle, and the Second Emperor sent men to reprove Han. Han was afraid and sent the Chief Clerk Xin to ask instructions. Zhao Gao would not see him and did not trust him. Xin was afraid and fled away, and Gao sent men to pursue and arrest him but they did not catch him. Xin saw Han and said, "Zhao Gao is in charge within; if the general has merit he will be put to death, and if he has no merit he will be put to death." Xiang Yu pressed his attack on the Qin army, took Wang Li captive, and Han and the others then surrendered with their troops to the lords. In the eighth month, on the jihai day, Zhao Gao wished to make rebellion, and fearing that the ministers would not obey, he first set a test: he took a deer and presented it to the Second Emperor, saying, "A horse." The Second Emperor laughed and said, "Is the chancellor mistaken? He calls a deer a horse." He asked those about him, and some were silent, while some said "a horse" to fall in with Zhao Gao. Some said "a deer," and Gao thereupon secretly had all those who said "deer" caught by the law. After this the ministers all feared Gao.

Gao had repeatedly said before that "the brigands east of the Pass can do nothing"; but when Xiang Yu had taken the Qin general Wang Li and the others captive below Julu and pressed forward, and Zhang Han and the others had been repeatedly driven back and sent up memorials asking for more help, and Yan, Zhao, Qi, Chu, Han and Wei had all set up kings, and from the Pass eastward almost all had revolted from the Qin officials in answer to the lords, and the lords were all leading their multitudes westward — the Lord of Pei with several tens of thousands had already massacred Wu Pass and sent a man privately to Gao. Gao, fearing that the Second Emperor would be angry and that punishment would reach his own person, pleaded illness and did not attend court. The Second Emperor dreamed that a white tiger bit the left trace-horse of his carriage and killed it; his heart was uneasy, and finding it strange he asked the interpreter of dreams. The divination said, "The Jing River is working the mischief." The Second Emperor then purified himself at the Wangyi Palace, meaning to sacrifice to the Jing and sink four white horses. He sent a messenger to reprove Gao over the matter of the brigands. Gao was afraid, and so plotted secretly with his son-in-law Yan Le, the prefect of Xianyang, and his younger brother Zhao Cheng, saying: "The Emperor does not listen to remonstrance, and now that matters are urgent he means to lay the calamity on my clan. I mean to replace the Emperor and set up the prince Ying instead. Ziying is humane and thrifty, and the people all bear his words in mind." He had the Director of the Palace Gentlemen act as an inside accomplice, pretended that there were great brigands, and ordered Le to summon officers and call out soldiers; and he seized Le's mother and held her in Gao's own house. He sent Le with more than a thousand officers and soldiers to the gate of the Wangyi Palace, where they bound the Supervisor of the Guard and said, "Brigands have entered here; why did you not stop them?" The Supervisor said, "The guard posts around the palace are manned most carefully; how could brigands dare enter the palace?" Le then beheaded the Supervisor, led his officers straight in, and shot as he went; the gentlemen and eunuchs were greatly alarmed, some fleeing and some resisting, and those who resisted were killed at once, several dozen dying. The Director of the Palace Gentlemen entered together with Le and shot at the curtains of the Emperor's canopied seat. The Second Emperor was angry and called those about him, and they were all in panic and did not fight. Beside him was one eunuch who attended him and dared not leave. The Second Emperor went within and said to him, "Why did you not tell me sooner? And now it has come to this!" The eunuch said, "Your servant did not dare to speak, and so has kept his life. Had your servant spoken sooner, we would all have been put to death long ago; how should I have lived till now?" Yan Le came forward, faced the Second Emperor and enumerated his faults: "You have been arrogant and wilful, and have killed without principle; the world has together revolted from you. Consider for yourself what to do." The Second Emperor said, "May I see the chancellor?" Le said, "You may not." The Second Emperor said, "I wish to have one commandery and be king of it." This was not allowed. Again he said, "I wish to be a marquis of ten thousand households." This was not allowed. He said, "I wish to become one of the black-headed people with my wife and children, on a footing with the princes." Yan Le said: "Your servant has received his command from the chancellor, to put you to death for the world. Though you say much, your servant dares not report it." And he signalled his soldiers forward. The Second Emperor killed himself.

Yan Le went back and reported to Zhao Gao, and Zhao Gao then summoned all the great ministers and princes and told them how the Second Emperor had been put to death. He said: "Qin was formerly a kingdom; the First Emperor became ruler of the world, and therefore took the title of Emperor. Now the six states have set themselves up again, Qin's territory grows smaller, and to hold the title of Emperor on an empty name will not do. It is fitting to be king as before; that is expedient." He set up the Second Emperor's elder brother's son, the prince Ying, as king of Qin. He buried the Second Emperor with the rites of one of the black-headed people, in the Yichun park south of Du. He ordered Ziying to purify himself, that he might appear in the temple and receive the royal seal. After five days of purification, Ziying plotted with his two sons, saying: "The chancellor Gao killed the Second Emperor at the Wangyi Palace, and fearing that the ministers would put him to death, he pretends to set me up out of righteousness. I have heard that Zhao Gao has made a compact with Chu to destroy the Qin ruling house and be king within the Pass. Now he makes me purify myself and appear in the temple; this is because he means to kill me there. If I plead illness and do not go, the chancellor will certainly come himself, and when he comes I will kill him." Gao sent several men to summon Ziying, and Ziying would not go; Gao did indeed come himself and said, "This is a weighty affair of the ancestral temple; why does the king not go?" Ziying then stabbed Gao to death in the purification palace and had Gao's three degrees of kin put to death and paraded through Xianyang. Ziying had been king of Qin forty-six days when the Chu general, the Lord of Pei, broke the Qin army and entered the Wu Pass, and so reached Bashang, and sent a man to arrange Ziying's surrender. Ziying at once tied a cord about his neck and, with white horses and a plain carriage, bore the Son of Heaven's seals and tallies and surrendered beside the Zhi road. The Lord of Pei then entered Xianyang, sealed up the palaces, storehouses and treasuries, and returned with his army to Bashang. After a month or so the troops of the lords arrived, with Xiang Ji as leader of the alliance; he killed Ziying and the princes and clansmen of Qin. Then he massacred Xianyang, burned its palaces, took its sons and daughters captive, and collected its treasures and goods, and the lords divided them among themselves. After Qin was destroyed, its lands were divided into three, named the king of Yong, the king of Sai and the king of Di, and called the Three Qin. Xiang Yu became the Hegemon King of Western Chu, and took charge of dividing the world and making the lords kings, and Qin was at last destroyed. Five years later the world was settled under the Han.

The Lord Grand Astrologer says: Qin's forebear Boyi had merit in the time of Tang and Yu, received land and was granted a surname. Between the Yin and the Xia they declined and scattered. When the Zhou grew weak, Qin arose and made its town in the western marches. From Duke Mu onward it gradually ate away at the lords, and came at last to produce the First Emperor. The First Emperor held that his merit surpassed the Five Emperors and his territory was broader than the Three Kings, and was ashamed to be put on a level with them. How well did Master Jia set it forth! He said:

Qin annexed the lords' lands east of the mountains, more than thirty commanderies, repaired its fords and passes, held its strongholds and defiles, and kept them in order with armour and arms. Yet Chen She, with a few hundred scattered and disordered garrison soldiers, bared his arm and gave a great shout; without the weapons of bow and halberd, with hoes and rakes and white staves, eating wherever they saw a roof, they marched across the world. The men of Qin did not hold their strongholds, the passes and bridges were not shut, the long halberds did not stab, the strong crossbows did not shoot. The Chu host entered deep and fought at Hongmen, and there was not so much as the difficulty of a hedge. Thereupon east of the mountains was in great confusion, the lords rose together, and the bold and outstanding set one another up. Qin sent Zhang Han to lead an eastern campaign, and Zhang Han, with the host of three armies, used them to strike a bargain abroad and plot against his own ruler. That the ministers were untrustworthy may be seen from this. Ziying was set up and still did not awaken. Suppose Ziying had had the capacity of a mediocre ruler and had got no more than middling assistance: though east of the mountains was in disorder, the lands of Qin might have been kept whole and held, and the sacrifices of the ancestral temple need not have been cut off.

The land of Qin, girt with mountains and belted by the He, was secure — a state walled on four sides. From Duke Mu onward, down to the king of Qin, more than twenty rulers were constantly the champions among the lords. Was this because generation after generation was worthy? It was the position they occupied that made it so. Moreover the world once joined hearts and combined strength to attack Qin. In that age the worthy and the wise stood together, good generals led their armies and worthy chancellors made known their plans; yet they were hemmed in by the strongholds and defiles and could not advance. Qin then drew them in to battle and opened the passes for them, and a host of a million fled in rout and so collapsed. Was it that their courage, strength, wisdom and understanding were not enough? The lie of the land was unfavourable and their position was not convenient. Qin made its small towns into great walled cities, guarded its strongholds and defiles and encamped, raised high ramparts and did not fight, shut the passes and held the narrows, and stood guard shouldering the halberd. The lords rose from among common men, joined for gain, and had not the conduct of uncrowned kings. Their friendship was not close, their followers were not attached; in name they were destroying Qin, but in truth they sought their own advantage. Seeing that Qin's defences were hard to assail, they were bound to withdraw their armies. Had Qin quieted its lands and rested its people, and waited for the others to wear themselves out, gathering up the weak and supporting the exhausted, and so given commands to the rulers of the great states, it need not have feared to gain its will within the seas. Honoured as Son of Heaven and possessed of the wealth of the world, yet he became a captive: this was because his way of saving himself from ruin was wrong.

The king of Qin was self-satisfied and did not ask questions, and so went on in error and did not change. The Second Emperor received it, followed on and did not reform, and by cruelty made the calamity heavier. Ziying stood alone without kin, in peril and weakness without support. The three rulers were deluded and to the end of their lives did not awaken; that they perished — is it not fitting? In that age it was not that the world lacked men of deep thought who understood change; but the reason they dared not give their full loyalty and correct his faults was that the customs of Qin had many taboos and prohibitions, so that a loyal word was not out of the mouth before the man was killed and his family destroyed. Thus the gentlemen of the world inclined their ears and listened, stood with their feet together, clamped their mouths and did not speak. And so the three rulers lost the Way, loyal ministers dared not remonstrate, wise men dared not plan, and when the world was already in disorder the wickedness did not reach the ruler's ears — is this not pitiable! The former kings knew that blockage and concealment injure a state, and therefore set up dukes, ministers, great officers and officers to dress the laws and establish punishments, and the world was well governed. In their strength they forbade violence and punished disorder, and the world submitted. In their weakness the Five Hegemons campaigned and the lords followed. In their decline they kept guard within and had adherents without, and the altars of soil and grain survived. So when Qin was flourishing, its laws were manifold and its punishments severe, and the world shook; and when it declined, the hundred clans resented it and all within the seas revolted. Therefore the Zhou's five orders got the Way, and for more than a thousand years it was not cut off. Qin lost both root and branch, and so did not last long. Looking at it this way, the threads of safety and danger are far apart indeed. A rustic proverb says, "Not forgetting what went before is the teacher of what comes after." Therefore when a gentleman governs a state, he looks at high antiquity, tests it against the present age, adds to it the affairs of men, examines the principles of rise and decline, considers what is fitting in power and position, so that removal and appointment have their order and change has its season; and so through long days the altars of soil and grain are at peace.

Duke Xiao of Qin, holding the strongholds of Yao and Han and the lands of Yongzhou, with ruler and ministers holding firm and eyeing the house of Zhou, had the intent of rolling up the world like a mat, of gathering in all within the universe, of putting the four seas in a bag, and the heart to swallow the eight wastes. At that time the Lord of Shang assisted him: within, he set up laws and measures, attended to ploughing and weaving, and made ready for defence and war; without, he formed horizontal alliances and set the lords fighting. Thereupon the men of Qin with folded hands took the lands beyond the western He.

Duke Xiao having died, Kings Hui and Wu received the inherited enterprise and followed the plan left them: in the south they annexed Hanzhong, in the west they took Ba and Shu, in the east they cut off the richest lands and gathered in the commanderies that commanded the key points. The lords were afraid and met in covenant to plot how to weaken Qin; they did not grudge precious vessels, weighty treasures, rich and fertile lands, and so drew in the gentlemen of the world, joined in vertical alliance and made compacts and became as one. At that time Qi had the Lord of Mengchang, Zhao the Lord of Pingyuan, Chu the Lord of Chunshen, and Wei the Lord of Xinling. These four lords were all enlightened and wise, loyal and trustworthy, generous and kind, and loved men; they honoured the worthy and valued gentlemen, made vertical compacts and broke the horizontal, and brought together the multitudes of Han, Wei, Yan, Chu, Qi, Zhao, Song, Wei and Zhongshan. Thereupon among the gentlemen of the six states there were Ning Yue, Xu Shang, Su Qin, Du He and their like to plan for them; Qi Ming, Zhou Zui, Chen Zhen, Zhao Hua, Lou Huan, Di Jing, Su Li and Yue Yi and their fellows to convey their purposes; Wu Qi, Sun Bin, Dai Tuo, Ni Liang, Wang Liao, Tian Ji, Lian Po and Zhao She and their company to direct their arms. With lands ten times as great and a host of a million, they knocked at the pass and attacked Qin. The men of Qin opened the pass and drew in the enemy, and the armies of the nine states hesitated, fled and dared not advance. Qin was at no cost of a lost arrow or a spent arrowhead, and the lords of the world were already in difficulty. Thereupon the vertical alliance scattered and the compacts dissolved, and they vied in cutting off land to serve Qin. Qin had strength to spare and took advantage of their exhaustion, pursuing the fleeing and chasing the routed; a million corpses lay fallen, and the flowing blood floated the great shields. Taking advantage and following the opportunity, it carved up the world and split apart its rivers and hills; the strong states asked to submit and the weak states came to court. It came down to King Xiaowen and King Zhuangxiang, who enjoyed the state but a short while, and the state had no affairs.

When it came to the king of Qin, he carried on the accumulated glory of six generations, brandished the long whip and drove all within the universe, swallowed the two Zhou and destroyed the lords, trod upon the most honoured seat and controlled the six directions, grasped the rod and the cudgel and flogged the world, and his awe shook the four seas. In the south he took the lands of the Hundred Yue and made them the commanderies of Guilin and Xiang, and the rulers of the Hundred Yue bowed their heads and put ropes about their necks and entrusted their lives to his petty officers. Then he sent Meng Tian to build the Long Wall in the north and hold the frontier, driving back the Xiongnu more than seven hundred li, so that the Hu dared not come south to pasture their horses and their knights dared not bend the bow to avenge their grudges. Thereupon he abolished the way of the former kings and burned the sayings of the hundred schools, to make the black-headed people stupid. He threw down the famous city walls, killed the bold and outstanding, collected the weapons of the world and gathered them at Xianyang, melted the blades and cast bell-stands, making twelve figures of metal, in order to weaken the people. Then he cut Mount Hua for a wall and took the He for a moat, held a wall of a hundred million zhang and looked down on a fathomless gorge as his stronghold. Good generals with strong crossbows guarded the key points, and trusted ministers and picked soldiers set out sharp weapons and challenged all comers, and the world was settled. The king of Qin's heart held that the strongholds within the Pass, a wall of metal a thousand li long, were an enterprise for his sons and grandsons to reign over for ten thousand generations.

The king of Qin having died, his lingering awe still shook alien customs. Yet Chen She was a son of a house with a window of a jar-mouth and a door hinged with rope, a man of the peasantry and a conscript on the move; his talents did not match the middling man, he had not the worth of a Zhongni or a Mo Di, nor the wealth of a Tao Zhu or an Yi Dun. He set foot among the ranks and rose up out of the rows of ten and a hundred; he led weary and scattered soldiers, commanded a host of some hundreds, and turned to attack Qin. They cut wood for weapons and raised poles for banners, and the world gathered like clouds and answered like echoes, bringing their own provisions and following like shadows, and the bold and outstanding east of the mountains rose together and destroyed the house of Qin.

Moreover the world was not small or weak; the lands of Yongzhou and the strongholds of Yao and Han were as they had been. Chen She's position was not more honoured than that of the rulers of Qi, Chu, Yan, Zhao, Han, Wei, Song, Wei and Zhongshan; hoes and rakes and thorn-wood staves were not sharper than hooked halberds and long lances; a host of conscript garrison troops was no match for the armies of the nine states; and in deep plans and far-reaching thought, in the ways of marching armies and using troops, they were not the equals of the gentlemen of the former time. Yet success and failure turned out otherwise, and their achievements were the reverse. If one tries measuring the states east of the mountains against Chen She for length and greatness, comparing their power and weighing their strength, they cannot be spoken of in the same breath. Yet Qin, with its tiny territory and the power of a thousand chariots, drew in the eight regions and made its equals come to court, and did so for more than a hundred years. Afterwards it made the six directions its house and Yao and Han its palace; and one man raised a difficulty and the seven ancestral temples fell, and its ruler died by another's hand and became the laughing-stock of the world. Why? Because humaneness and righteousness were not practised, and the positions of attack and defence had changed.

Qin united all within the seas, annexed the lords, faced south and called itself Emperor, and so nourished the four seas, and the gentlemen of the world turned to it like grass before the wind. Why was this so? I say: it was long since there had been a king in recent antiquity. The house of Zhou was low and weak, the Five Hegemons had passed away, and its commands did not run in the world; therefore the lords governed by force, the strong encroached on the weak, the many oppressed the few, arms and armour did not rest, and knights and commons were worn out. Now Qin faced south and was king over the world; this meant that above there was a Son of Heaven. And since the common people hoped to be able to rest their lives in peace, there were none who did not empty their hearts and look up to the ruler. At such a time, to keep his awe and make his achievement secure — the root of safety and danger lay in this.

The king of Qin harboured a greedy and mean heart, followed a self-assertive wisdom, did not trust his meritorious ministers and was not close to his knights and commons; he abolished the kingly way and set up private power, forbade writings and made punishments cruel, put deceit and force first and humaneness and righteousness after, and made cruelty the foundation of the world. Now he who annexes exalts deceit and force; he who settles and makes secure values compliance with circumstance — this is to say that taking and holding are not the same art. Qin left the age of the Warring States and became king of the world, but its way did not change and its government was not reformed: that is, what it took by and what it held by were the same. Holding it alone and without support, its fall could be awaited on tiptoe. Had the king of Qin reckoned up the affairs of former ages, joined to them the traces of the Yin and Zhou, and by them controlled his government, then though there were later rulers given to excess and arrogance, there would have been no calamity of collapse. Therefore the Three Kings, in establishing their rule over the world, had names and titles glorious and fine, and their achievements were long-lasting.

Now when the Second Emperor was set up, there were none in the world who did not crane their necks to watch his government. One who is cold finds coarse cloth good and one who is hungry finds chaff sweet; the wailing of the world is the new ruler's capital. This is to say that with a toil-worn people it is easy to be humane. Had the Second Emperor had the conduct of a mediocre ruler and employed the loyal and worthy, with minister and ruler of one heart grieving over the troubles within the seas; had he put on plain white and corrected the former Emperor's faults, divided lands and people to enfeoff the descendants of meritorious ministers, established states and set up rulers so as to treat the world with courtesy, emptied the prisons and remitted executions, done away with the foul crime of confiscating men's wives and children so that each might return to his own village, opened the granaries and scattered wealth and coin to relieve the orphaned, solitary and destitute, lightened taxes and reduced services to help the people in their urgent need, simplified the laws and spared punishment so as to hold them for the future, making all the men of the world able to renew themselves, change their conduct and cultivate themselves, each careful of his own person, so as to satisfy the hopes of the myriad people, and had he met the world with awe and virtue, then the world would have been gathered in. Then within the four seas all would have been glad and at peace each in his own place, fearing only that there might be a change; and though there were cunning men among the people, they would have had no heart to leave their ruler, and lawless ministers would have had no way to dress up their cleverness, and the wickedness of violence and disorder would have stopped. The Second Emperor did not practise this art, but made it worse by his want of principle: he destroyed the ancestral temples and the people, began again the building of the Epang Palace, multiplied punishments and made executions severe, and his officers governed harshly and deeply; rewards and punishments were not fitting, taxes and levies were without measure, the world had too many affairs and the officers could not keep count, the hundred clans were poor and in straits and the ruler did not gather and relieve them. Thereupon wickedness and falsehood arose together, high and low deceived one another, those bearing charges were many, and the punished and executed were in sight of one another along the roads, and the world suffered under it. From lords and ministers down to the common people, every man harboured a heart of self-endangerment and himself dwelt in the reality of bitter hardship; none was at ease in his place, and so they were easily moved. Therefore Chen She did not use the worth of a Tang or a Wu, nor borrow the honour of a duke or marquis; he bared his arm at Daze and the world answered like an echo, because his people were in peril. Therefore the former kings saw the changes of beginning and end and knew the springs of survival and ruin, and so their way of shepherding the people lay simply in making them secure. Then though the world had ministers who acted perversely, there would surely be none to answer and aid them. Hence it is said, "With a secure people one may practise righteousness; with an endangered people it is easy to do wrong" — this is what is meant. Honoured as Son of Heaven and possessed of the wealth of the world, yet his person did not escape being killed: this is because he corrected what was toppling in the wrong way. This was the Second Emperor's fault.

Duke Xiang was set up, and enjoyed the state twelve years. He first made the western altar. He was buried in the western marches. He begot Duke Wen.

Duke Wen was set up and dwelt in the palace of the western marches. He died in the fiftieth year and was buried in the western marches. He begot Duke Jing.

Duke Jing did not enjoy the state, and died. He begot Duke Xian.

Duke Xian enjoyed the state twelve years and dwelt at the new town in the west. He died and was buried at Ya. He begot Duke Wu, Duke De and Chuzi.

Chuzi enjoyed the state six years and dwelt at Xiling. The three Chiefs Fuji, Weilei and Sanfu led assassins to murder Chuzi at Biyan, and he was buried at Ya. Duke Wu was set up.

Duke Wu enjoyed the state twenty years. He dwelt in the Feng Palace at Pingyang. He was buried southeast of the settlement of Xuanyang. The three Chiefs suffered for their crime. Duke De was set up.

Duke De enjoyed the state two years. He dwelt in the Great Zheng Palace at Yong. He begot Duke Xuan, Duke Cheng and Duke Mu. He was buried at Yang. The Fu sacrifices were first held, to ward off noxious influences.

Duke Xuan enjoyed the state twelve years. He dwelt in the Yang Palace. He was buried at Yang. The intercalary month was first recorded.

Duke Cheng enjoyed the state four years and dwelt in the palace at Yong. He was buried at Yang. Qi attacked the Mountain Rong and Guzhu.

Duke Mu enjoyed the state thirty-nine years. The Son of Heaven conferred on him the title of hegemon. He was buried at Yong. Duke Mu learned and made men manifest. He begot Duke Kang.

Duke Kang enjoyed the state twelve years. He dwelt in the high chamber at Yong. He was buried at Jushe. He begot Duke Gong.

Duke Gong enjoyed the state five years and dwelt in the high chamber at Yong. He was buried south of Duke Kang. He begot Duke Huan.

Duke Huan enjoyed the state twenty-seven years. He dwelt in the great chamber at Yong. He was buried north of the mound at Yili. He begot Duke Jing.

Duke Jing enjoyed the state forty years. He dwelt in the high chamber at Yong, and was buried south of Qiuli. He begot Duke Bi.

Duke Bi enjoyed the state thirty-six years. He was buried north of Cheli. He begot Duke Yi.

Duke Yi did not enjoy the state. He died and was buried at the left palace. He begot Duke Hui.

Duke Hui enjoyed the state ten years. He was buried at Cheli. He begot Duke Dao.

Duke Dao enjoyed the state fifteen years. He was buried west of Duke Xi. He walled Yong. He begot Duke Ligong.

Duke Ligong enjoyed the state thirty-four years. He was buried at Ruli. He begot Duke Zao and Duke Huai. In his tenth year a comet appeared.

Duke Zao enjoyed the state fourteen years. He dwelt in the Shou chamber. He was buried south of Duke Dao. In his first year a comet appeared.

Duke Huai came from Jin. He enjoyed the state four years. He was buried at Liyushi. He begot Duke Ling. The ministers surrounded Duke Huai and Duke Huai killed himself.

Duke Suling was the son of Zhaozi. He dwelt at Jingyang. He enjoyed the state ten years. He was buried west of Duke Dao. He begot Duke Jian.

Duke Jian came from Jin. He enjoyed the state fifteen years. He was buried west of Duke Xi. He begot Duke Hui. In his seventh year the people first wore swords.

Duke Hui enjoyed the state thirteen years. He was buried at Lingyu. He begot Chuzi.

Chuzi enjoyed the state two years. Chuzi killed himself and was buried at Yong.

Duke Xian enjoyed the state twenty-three years. He was buried at Xiaoyu. He begot Duke Xiao.

Duke Xiao enjoyed the state twenty-four years. He was buried at Diyu. He begot King Huiwen. In his thirteenth year he first made his capital at Xianyang.

King Huiwen enjoyed the state twenty-seven years. He was buried at Gongling. He begot King Daowu.

King Daowu enjoyed the state four years, and was buried at Yongling.

King Zhaoxiang enjoyed the state fifty-six years. He was buried at Zhiyang. He begot King Xiaowen.

King Xiaowen enjoyed the state one year. He was buried at Shouling. He begot King Zhuangxiang.

King Zhuangxiang enjoyed the state three years. He was buried at Zhiyang. He begot the First August Emperor. Lü Buwei was chief minister.

In Duke Xian's seventh year markets were first established. In the tenth year households were registered and grouped in fives.

Duke Xiao was on the throne sixteen years. At that time peach and plum flowered in winter.

King Huiwen was nineteen years old when he was set up. In his second year coinage was first issued. There was a newborn infant who said, "Qin will be king."

King Daowu was nineteen years old when he was set up. In his third year the water of the Wei was red for three days.

King Zhaoxiang was nineteen years old when he was set up. In his fourth year the field paths and boundaries were first opened.

King Xiaowen was fifty-three years old when he was set up.

King Zhuangxiang was thirty-two years old when he was set up. In his second year he took the lands of Taiyuan. In King Zhuangxiang's first year there was a great pardon; he honoured the meritorious ministers of the former kings, showed kindness and generosity to his own flesh and blood, and spread favour among the people. The Eastern Zhou plotted against Qin with the lords, and Qin sent the chief minister Buwei to punish him and took his whole state. Qin did not cut off his sacrifices, but bestowed on the ruler of Zhou the land of Yangren to maintain his sacrifices.

The First Emperor enjoyed the state thirty-seven years. He was buried at the town of Li. He begot the Second August Emperor. The First Emperor was thirteen years old when he was set up.

The Second August Emperor enjoyed the state three years. He was buried at Yichun. Zhao Gao was chancellor and Marquis of Anwu. The Second Emperor was twelve years old when he was set up.

The above, from Duke Xiang of Qin to the Second Emperor, is six hundred and ten years.

On the fifteenth day of the tenth month of the seventeenth year of the Filial and Enlightened August Emperor, the yichou day, it was said:

The calendar of Zhou had already shifted, and humaneness does not replace the mother. Qin held its position rightly, but Lü Zheng was cruel and violent. Yet with thirteen of the lords' states he annexed the world, carried feeling and desire to the utmost, and nourished his clan and kin. For thirty-seven years there was nowhere his arms did not reach; he made institutions and ordinances and handed them on to later kings. It may be that he obtained a sage's awe: the god of the He bestowed the chart on him, he held the Wolf and the Fox, he trod on Shen and Fa, and aided his rule in sweeping away, and on this ground he was called the First Emperor.

The First Emperor being dead, Huhai was utterly foolish: Mount Li was not finished and he built the Epang Palace again, to carry out the earlier plan. He said, "What makes it valuable to possess the world is to follow one's will and carry one's desires to the utmost, and the great ministers go so far as to wish to abolish what the former ruler did." He put Si and Quji to death and employed Zhao Gao. Painful are such words! A man's head and a beast's bray. Without awe he did not attack wickedness; without earnestness he did not fail to perish in emptiness; opposing him, he could not be kept; by cruelty he hastened his term; and though he dwelt in a state of favourable terrain, he still could not survive.

Ziying by the order of succession obtained the inheritance; he wore the jade cap, girded the flowered sash, rode in the yellow-canopied carriage, followed by the hundred offices, and paid his respects at the seven temples. When a small man occupies a place not his own, there is none who is not dazed and loses his footing, snatching ease day by day; but he alone was able to take long thought and consider carefully, and father and son contrived a stratagem and took him close at hand, between door and window, and in the end put the crafty minister to death and punished the traitor for his lord. After Gao's death, before guests and kin could finish condoling with one another, before the food could be swallowed or the wine wet the lips, the Chu troops had already massacred within the Pass, the Perfected Man soared over Bashang, and with a plain carriage and a cord about his neck he bore his tallies and seals and gave them up to the emperor. As the Earl of Zheng with rush banner and phoenix knife made King Zhuang withdraw his camp. When the He bursts it cannot be dammed again; when the fish rots it cannot be made whole. Jia Yi and Sima Qian said: "Suppose Ying had had the capacity of a mediocre ruler and had got no more than middling assistance: though east of the mountains was in disorder, the lands of Qin might have been kept whole and held, and the sacrifices of the ancestral temple need not have been cut off." Qin's decline had accumulated, the world crumbled and fell apart like tiles; and though one had the talent of Dan, the Duke of Zhou, there would have been no place to set forth his skill; and to lay the blame on an orphan of a single day is an error! It is commonly handed down that the First Emperor began the wickedness and Huhai carried it to the extreme, and that gets the principle of it. But to blame the lad further, saying the lands of Qin could have been kept whole, is what is called not understanding the changes of the times. Ji Ji with Xi — the Spring and Autumn does not name him. When I read the annals of Qin and come to Ziying tearing Zhao Gao apart with chariots, I have never failed to admire his decision and pity his purpose. In Ying the meaning of life and death was complete.