Why did Qin Shihuang pit books and burn Confucianism?

The incident of burning books and burying Confucianism was the cruel suppression of scholars with different political views by Qin Shihuang in the ideological field. In the thirty-fourth year of the first emperor (213 BC), Qin Shihuang held a banquet in Xianyang Palace, and the first emperor was very happy. But there was a conservative doctor named Chun Yuyue, who was originally from Qi. On the spot, he criticized Zhou Qingchen for being flattering. He said: "The king of Yin and Zhou is over a thousand years old, and he has made contributions to his children and helped himself." He criticized Qin Shihuang for abolishing enfeoffment and setting up counties. Said that if the minister usurped power, there was no way to save himself. He also sarcastically said: "Those who can last for a long time without learning from the past are not heard." Li Si, the Prime Minister, refuted on the spot. He accused Chun Yuyue of being a "foolish Confucian" and also accused the Confucian scholars of "learning from the past without learning from the present, confusing the leaders of Guizhou" and "being insincere when entering, gossiping when leaving, praising the Lord for his name, taking different things for high, and leading a group to slander". He thought such a group of Confucian scholars were a dangerous force, suggested that the first emperor resolutely stop their illegal activities, and put forward the suggestion of burning books. Main contents:

(1) Except Qin Ji, all the history books of the six countries were burned;

(2) Except for those collected by doctors, all the books of Poems, Books and Hundred Languages were collected in the county and burned under the supervision of the county magistrate and commandant;

(3) Those who even speak "Poetry" and "Book" abandon the market, regard the ancient as the family that is not the present, and those who do not mention it when officials see it are the same crime, and order them not to burn for the next 3 days, which will make them a city.

(4) Books such as medicine, divination and tree planting are not prohibited;

(5) If you learn laws and regulations, you should learn from officials.

Qin Shihuang approved this proposal, so book burning happened all over the country.

in the second year, there was another incident of cheating Confucianism. The reason is that some Confucian scholars and alchemists were dissatisfied with the first emperor, saying that he was a "full-time jailer", happy to punish and kill as a threat, and greedy for power. Qin Shihuang thought that they were "or evil words, so they were arrested and tortured severely." More than 46 Confucian scholars have been arrested, all of whom were killed in Xianyang.

Burning books and burying Confucian scholars was Qin Shihuang's action to suppress political opponents. These people's political thoughts were conservative, and they yearned for the system of the Western Zhou Dynasty and opposed the current autocratic centralization of authority. However, Qin Shihuang's suppression was barbaric and cruel. It was an atrocity to burn and kill all of them, regardless of the circumstances. It is a very serious destruction to the ancient culture of China.