The+Burning+of+the+Books

=__Burning of the Books__= by: Natanya L.L. //A map of the Qin dynasty.//

The bon fire raged and crackled, waiting to consume its next load of books. The Confucian texts going up in smoke along with the other books. Books full of information. Books that people had spent their whole live writing.

The first emperor, Qin Shi Huang Di stood by, supervising the burning. Every book that was not “approved” of by him was fed to the flames, who would lick the pages with their firery tongues until the book gave up on the fight and would fall to ashes underneath the bon fire that would rage all night.

Li Si, Shi Huang Di’s adviser, told Shi Huang Di that it would be “smart” to burn all the books that told people about different ways of life. Shi Huang Di was a legalist. He ruled by setting cruel rules and having gruesome punishments if you broke one of the rules. Unfortunately for him scholars were reading books that told of different ways of life. If the people found out about different, kinder ruling styles then they would rebel.

So Li Si came up with the “brilliant” idea of burning the books that told of these life styles. These books were gathered from all over the land. Some were handed over without a thought but others were struggled for. In the end a lot were burned. Too many were burned. The impact of this horrible deed was that a lot of books were lost. Along with these books their secrets were lost. Many of these secrets will never be found.

The flames that leapt into the air only recently are starting to die down. The burning is done. The damage is. The secrets of these books are lost forever.

Still people burn books. The Nazis burnt books that were about things they did not want people to know. Many people also burn Harry Potter books. In some cases these people are Shi Huang Di’s of their time. Burning books they do not “approve” of.

Questions 1. Why did Shi Huang Di burn books? Why did other people follow in his footsteps later on? 2. What was impact of this of this horrible deed? 3. What are the reasons for burning books now, or in the Qin dynasty?

Chinese writing Analects