Li Si
| Li Si | |
|---|---|
| Chancellor of the Qin dynasty | |
| Born | 280 BC |
| Died | 208 BC (aged 71–72) |
| Li Si | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 李斯 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Lǐ Sī |
| Gwoyeu Romatzyh | Lii Sy |
| Wade–Giles | Li3 Ssu1 |
| IPA | [lì sɨ́] |
| Yue: Cantonese | |
| Yale Romanization | Léih Sī |
| Jyutping | Lei5 Si1 |
| Southern Min | |
| Tâi-lô | Lí Su |
| Old Chinese | |
| Baxter-Sagart | *C.rəʔ [s]e |
Li Si (Chinese: 李斯; c. 280 BC – September or October 208 BC) was a Chinese politician of the Qin dynasty. He served as the Chancellor (or Prime Minister) of the Qin dynasty from 246–208 BC, well known Legalist writer and politician, and notable calligrapher. He served under two rulers: Qin Shi Huang, the king of the Qin state and later the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty; and Qin Er Shi, Qin Shi Huang's youngest son and the Second Emperor. Concerning administrative methods, Li "indicated that he admired and utilized the ideas of Shen Pu-hai", repeatedly referring to the technique of Shen and Han Fei, but regarding law followed Shang Yang.
Stanford University's John Knoblock considered Li Si "one of the two or three most important figures in Chinese history". Having a clear vision of universal empire and "one world comprising all Chinese, bringing with universal dominion universal peace", Li Si was "largely responsible for the creation of those institutions that made the Qin dynasty the first universal state in Chinese history".
Li Si unified the laws, governmental ordinances, weights and measures, and standardized chariots, carts, and the characters used in writing... [facilitating] the cultural unification of China. He "created a government based solely on merit, so that in the empire sons and younger brothers in the imperial clan were not ennobled, but meritorious ministers were", and "pacified the frontier regions by subduing the barbarians to the north and south". He had the weapons of the feudal states melted and cast into musical bells and large human statues, and relaxed taxes and the draconian punishments inherited from Shang Yang.
Li Si was originally from Shang Cai (上蔡) in the State of Chu. As a young man he was a minor functionary in the local administration of Chu. According to the Records of the Great Historian, one day Li Si observed that rats in the outhouse were dirty and hungry but the rats in the barnhouse were well fed. He suddenly realized that "there is no set standard for honor since everyone's life is different. The values of people are determined by their social status. And like rats, people's social status often depends purely on the random life events around them. And so instead of always being restricted by moral codes, people should do what they deemed best at the moment." He made up his mind to take up politics as a career, which was a common choice for scholars not from a noble family during the Warring States period.
...
Wikipedia