burn books and bury the literati in pits

burn books and bury the literati in pits

Burning classics and pitching scholars, a Chinese idiom, Pinyin is f é NDI ǎ NK ē NgR ú, which means burning classics and killing scholars. It is the same as "burning books and pitching scholars". It comes from Hua Guansuo's biography.

The origin of Idioms

"The emperor of Qin dominates the city of the princes, burning the classics, pitching the Confucians, and mourning the Scriptures."

Idiom explanation

Burning books and burying Confucians is also known as "burning poems and books, burying warlocks" (i.e. Confucian scholars), and "burning books and burying Confucians" after the Western Han Dynasty. In 213 BC and 212 BC, Qin Shihuang burned books and killed more than 460 "outlaws". The word "burning books and pitching scholars" comes from the biography of scholars in Shiji · vol.121, which says that "when it comes to the Ji Shi of Qin Dynasty, burning poems and books and pitching warlocks, the six arts will be lacking from then on.". It is Fusu, the eldest son of the first emperor of Qin, who is often cited as evidence by the viewpoint of "pitching Confucianism" in the historical records of the first emperor of Qin: "the world has been decided at the beginning, the head of Guizhou has not been collected in the distance, all the students recite Confucius, and now they all attach importance to the law, and the officials are afraid that the world will be disturbed, so they only observe it." ）At the end of the Western Han Dynasty, the preface to Shangshu written by Kong Anguo (the 10th grandson of Confucius) also said: "the first emperor of Qin destroyed the ancient books, burned books and trapped scholars, and the scholars of the world fled and dissolved." Liu Xiang of the Western Han Dynasty wrote in the preface to the Warring States policy: "to be punished is to govern, to believe in small skills is to govern. So he burned poems and books and killed Confucians. At the same time, Qin Shihuang did not burn practical books on medicine, agriculture and animal husbandry.

History of Idioms

Burning the book of the first emperor of the Qin Dynasty in historical records: it is not the records of the Qin Dynasty that all the historiographers are invited to burn. He who is not a doctor's official and dares to have poems, books, and a hundred languages in the world knows how to keep them and how to burn them. Those who dare to write poems and books abandon the market. The ancient is not the present. Officials see that those who do not know are guilty of the same crime. The next 30 days do not burn, Tsing for the city Dan. Those who do not want to go are books of medical divination and tree planting. If you want to learn laws and regulations, take officials as teachers. In the 34th year of the first emperor of Qin Dynasty (213 BC), Chunyu Yue, a doctor of Qi, opposed the "Prefecture and county system" implemented at that time and demanded the enfeoffment of children according to the ancient system. Li Si, the prime minister, refuted it and advocated that the people should be forbidden to defame the government by private learning. The first emperor of Qin adopted Lisi's suggestion and ordered the burning of historical records of other countries except Qin Ji, and the private collection of poems and books that did not belong to the doctor's office was also required to be handed over and burned within a time limit. Those who dare to talk about the execution of poems and books will destroy their families in the past rather than in the present. Private learning is prohibited, and those who want to learn laws should learn from officials. This is called "burning books". "The first emperor of Qin" in historical records: when the first emperor heard of the death of Hou Sheng and Lu Sheng, he was furious and said, "I have received books from all over the world, and those who are not good at using them will go. There are many scholars who want to promote peace, and they want to practice for miraculous medicine. Today, I heard that the Han people didn't report it, and that Xu Shi and other people spent tens of thousands of money, but eventually they couldn't take any medicine. They told the Japanese that they were traitors and profiteers. Lu Sheng and others have given me a lot. Now they slander me to show that I am immoral. "For those who were born in Xianyang, I asked people to be honest, or I said that they would make Qianshou chaotic." So he made the censor know about the case and asked all the students. The biographies of all the students told him that they had been punished after they got rid of the four hundred and sixty people who broke the ban. He was banished to the border. Fu Su, the eldest son of the first emperor, remonstrated: "the world has been decided at first, but the head of Guizhou has not been collected in the distance. All the students recite Confucius, and now they attach great importance to the law. I am afraid that the world will be disturbed. It's just a matter of observation. " In his anger, the first emperor sent Meng Tian, the northern governor of Fusu, to Shangjun. Biographies of the scholars in historical records: when the Qin Dynasty came to the end of the century, the six arts were lacking because of the burning of poems and books and the pit of warlocks. in the 35th year of the first emperor of Qin (212 BC), after the failure of seeking immortality for the first emperor of Qin, Lu Sheng, Hou Sheng and others privately talked about the first emperor of Qin's conduct, governance and seeking immortality, and then fled with huge sums of money. The first emperor of Qin was very angry when he knew about it, so he was angry with the alchemists. He ordered a search and interrogation in the capital, arrested 460 people and buried them alive.