[英译]

THE FAULTS OF QIN

Jia Yi

Notes to the author；

Jia Yi(200 B. C. 一168 B, C. )is a noted politician and man of letters of the early Han Dynasty. He is from Luoyang, Henan Province and enjoys the fame of Jiasheng (Mr. Jia). At the time of Emperor Wen of Han, he was the Bashi (minister in charge of both historical and up-to date documents and books). He was also a Taizhong Dafu (advisor to the emperor). On his post, he forwarded many memorials to Emperor Wen on pohtical reforms and on strengthening the centralization of the monarchy. But he was opposed and excluded by some of the old ministers led by Zhou Bo, and was demoted to Changsha as Changshawang Taifu (the Imperial Tutor to Prince Changsha). He is, therefore, also called J ia Changsha and Jia Taifu. Four years later he became Lianghuaiwang Taifu (the Imperial 

Tutor to Prince Huai of Liang). When Prince Huai died by falling off a horse, jia Yi wounded himself deliberately and lost his post. He died of melancholy at the age of 33. Over seventy pieces of his writing are extant. The comparatively complete collection of his works is A Collection of Jia Yi published by Shanghai People's Publishing House in 1976.

Introduction the treatise：

This passage is the first section of The Faults of Qin that condemns the Qin Dynasty for its faults. It recounts ihe waying and waning of Qin from Duke Xiao to Prince Ying. By summarizing the historical lessons of Qin's fall, it points out that the root cause of Qin's collapse is that "it failed to rule with humanity and righteousness" .

Duke Xiao of Qin(1), relying upon the strength of the Hangu Pass(2) and basing himself in the area of Yongzhou(3)，with his ministers held fast to his land and eyed the house of Zhou, for he cherished a desire to roll up the empire like a mat, to bind into one the whole world, to bag all the land within the four seas; he had it in his heart to swallow up everything in the eight directions. At this time he was aided by Lord Shang(4) who set up laws for him, encouraged agriculture and weaving, built up the instruments of war, contracted military alliances and attacked the other feudal lords. Thus the men of Qin were able with case to acquire territory cast of the upper reaches of the Yellow River.

After the death of Duke Xiao, Kings Huiwen, Wu, and Zhaoxiang carried on the undertaking and，following the plans he had laid, seized Hanzhong in the south and Ba and Shu in the west，acquired rich land in the east and strategic areas in the north. The other feudal lords in alarm came together in council to devise some plan to weaken Qin, sparing nothing in gifts of precious objects and rich lands to induce men from all over the empire to come and join with them in the Vertical Alliance. . . which united all the peoples of the states of Han, Wei, Yan, Chu，Qi，Zhao，Song, Wei and Zhongshan. . .(5) With ten times the area of Qin and a force of a million soldiers they beat upon the pass and pressed forward to Qin. But the men of Qin opened the pass and went out to meet the enemy, and the armies of the nine states were blocked and did not dare to advance. Qin, without wasting a single arrow or losing a single arrowhead, at one stroke made trouble for the whole empire.

With this the Vertical Alliance collapsed，its treaties came to naught and the various states hastened to present Qin with parts of their territories as bribes for peace. With its superior strength Qin pressed the crumbling forces of its rivals, pursued those who had fled in defeat, and overwhelmed the army of a million until their shields floated upon a river of blood. Following up the advantages of its victory. Qin gained mastery over the empire and divided up the land as it saw fit. The powerful states begged to submit to its sovereignty and the weak ones paid homage as its court.

Then followed Kings Xiaowen and Zhuangxiang whose reigns were short and uneventful. After this the First Emperor arose to carry on the glorious achievements of six generations. Cracking his long whip, he drove the universe before him, swallowing up the eastern and western Zhou and overthrowing the feudal lords. He ascended to the highest position and ruled the six directions, scourging the world with his rod, and his might shook the four seas. In the south he seized the land of Yue and made of it the Cassia Forest and Elephant commanderies(6), and the hundred lords of Yue bowed their heads, hung halters from their necks and pleaded for their lives with the lowest officials of Qin. Then he caused Meng Tian to build the Great Wall and defend the borders, driving back the Xiongnu over seven hundred li so that the barbarians no longer dared to come south to pasture their horses and their men dared not take up their bows to avenge their hatred. Thereupon he discarded the ways of the former kings and burned the writings of the hundred schools in order to make the people ignorant. He destroyed the major fortifications of the states, assassinated their powerful leaders, collected all the arms of the empire, and had them brought to his capital at Xianyang where the spears ynd arrowheads were melted down to make twelve human statue, all in order to weaken the people of the empire. Alter this he ascended and fortified Mount Hua and set up fords along the Yellow River, strengthening the heights and precipices overlooking the deep valleys. He garrisoned the strategic points with skilled generals and expert bowmen and stationed trusted ministers and well-trained soldiers to guard the land with arms and question all who passed back and forth. When he had thus pacified the empire, the First Emperor believed in his heart that with the strength of his capital within the Pass and his walls of metal extending a thousand miles，he had established a rule that would be enjoyed by his descendants for ten thousand generations.