The Grand Historian’s Judgment and Jia Yi’s “Faults of Qin”

The Grand Historian says: Qin’s ancestor Bo Yi rendered meritorious service in the age of Tang Yao and Yu Shun, receiving land and a clan name. Between the Xia and Yin dynasties his descendants grew weak and scattered. As Zhou declined, Qin rose, settling on the western frontier. From Duke Mu onward it gradually swallowed the feudal lords, until the First Emperor completed the work. He considered his achievements greater than those of the five emperors and his lands wider than those of the three kings, and thought it beneath him to rank alongside them. How well Master Jia reasoned about this! He wrote:

Qin annexed more than thirty commanderies of the lords east of the mountains, repaired the ferries and passes, occupied the strongholds, and armed its soldiers to defend them. Yet Chen She, with only a few hundred disorderly garrison troops, raised his arm and shouted. With no bows or halberds but hoes, wooden mallets, and bare staves, feeding wherever houses appeared, they swept across the realm. Qin’s defenders failed to hold their strongholds; the passes and bridges did not close; its long halberds did not strike and its powerful crossbows did not fire. Chu forces penetrated deep and fought at Hongmen, encountering not even the resistance of a hedge. The east erupted in turmoil. The lords rose together and outstanding men installed one another in power. Qin sent Zhang Han on an eastern campaign, but with three armies behind him, Zhang Han bargained outside the court to undermine his sovereign. This reveals the ministers’ disloyalty. Ziying succeeded, yet still failed to understand. Had he possessed even the abilities of an ordinary ruler and obtained a few middling advisers, Qin might have held its territory even amid eastern unrest, and its ancestral sacrifices need not have ended.

Qin’s land is girdled by mountains and rivers and protected on all four sides. From Duke Mu to the King of Qin, more than twenty rulers, it was consistently the mightiest of the feudal states. Were all its rulers wise? No: its position gave it that strength. Once the realm united its efforts against Qin. Wise men assembled, skilled generals led the armies, able chancellors coordinated their plans, yet the strongholds blocked their advance. Qin opened its passes and drew them into battle, and their million-man army fled and collapsed. Was it because they lacked courage, strength, or intelligence? The terrain was against them and their position unfavorable. Qin absorbed the great cities into its smaller fortified settlements, defended its passes, kept its ramparts high and avoided battle, closed the gates, and held the narrow ways with halberds. The lords, risen from private station, united for gain, without the conduct of true kings. Their bonds were weak and their subjects uncommitted. They claimed to seek Qin’s destruction but really sought its wealth. Faced with Qin’s impregnable barriers they would have withdrawn. If Qin had secured its land, given its people rest, awaited the enemy’s exhaustion, rallied the weak and aided the weary, it could have commanded the lords of the great states and achieved its aims within the seas. Yet a man honored as Son of Heaven and wealthy in all the realm was captured: his remedy for defeat was wrong.

The King of Qin trusted himself alone and asked no advice; he made mistakes and never changed. The Second Emperor inherited his course and did not alter it; his cruelty deepened the disaster. Ziying stood alone without family, in danger and weakness without help. All three rulers were blind and remained so to the end. Is their fall surprising? This age was not without men capable of deep reflection and knowledge of change, but they dared not speak their loyalty fully or correct the ruler’s faults. Qin’s customs were full of prohibitions and taboos: before loyal words were finished, the speaker was executed. Thus all the realm’s men listened intently, stood frozen in fear, and kept their mouths closed. The three rulers lost their way, loyal ministers dared not protest, and wise men dared not offer counsel; when the realm was in revolt, news of rebellion failed to reach the throne. How tragic! The former kings knew that isolation and ignorance injured the state; they appointed high ministers, grandees, and officers, refined laws, established punishments, and governed the realm. When strong they forbade violence and punished disorder, and the realm submitted. When weak, the five hegemons campaigned on their behalf, and the lords followed. Even when reduced, they maintained defenses within and allies without, preserving their altars of state. At Qin’s height its elaborate laws and stern punishments terrified the realm. In decline the common people resented it, and all within the seas rebelled. Zhou’s five ranks maintained the right way, and its line lasted over a thousand years. Qin lost both foundation and consequence, and so did not endure. The principles of safety and peril are very far apart. A country saying goes, “Remembering what came before is a teacher for what follows.” Thus the noble man who governs a state looks back to high antiquity, tests his judgments against the present, compares them with human affairs, examines the reasons for rise and fall, considers the proper use of power, follows an orderly course of advance and retreat, and changes with the times. In this way he preserves his state for generations.

Duke Xiao of Qin held the strongholds of Xiao and Hangu and possessed Yongzhou. Ruler and ministers defended them firmly while eyeing the Zhou royal house, aspiring to sweep up the realm, embrace all within the world, encompass the four seas, and swallow the eight wildernesses. Lord Shang assisted him. At home he established laws and standards, promoted farming and weaving, and prepared for defense and war; abroad he formed cross-state alliances to turn the lords against one another. Thus the men of Qin took the lands beyond the Western River without even lifting a hand.

After Duke Xiao died, King Hui and King Wu inherited his enterprise and followed the plans he left. Southward they annexed Hanzhong, westward they captured Ba and Shu, and eastward they seized fertile lands and key commanderies. The lords were afraid, convened in alliance, and plotted to weaken Qin. They spared no rare vessels, precious treasures, or fertile lands to attract the realm’s talented men; they forged a united alliance. At that time Qi had Lord Mengchang, Zhao Lord Pingyuan, Chu Lord Chunshen, and Wei Lord Xinling. These four were discerning, wise, loyal, and trustworthy; they were generous and loved people, honored the worthy and esteemed scholars, and united an alliance against Qin’s divisive leagues. They joined the forces of Han, Wei, Yan, Chu, Qi, Zhao, Song, Wey, and Zhongshan. Among the six states’ scholars, Ning Yue, Xu Shang, Su Qin, Du He, and their fellows devised plans; Qi Ming, Zhou Zui, Chen Zhen, Zhao Hua, Lou Huan, Zhai Jing, Su Li, Yue Yi, and others coordinated intentions; Wu Qi, Sun Bin, Dai Tuo, Ni Liang, Wang Liao, Tian Ji, Lian Po, Zhao She, and their peers commanded armies. With ten times Qin’s land and a million soldiers they repeatedly attacked its passes. Qin opened the gates to welcome its foes, yet the armies of the nine states hesitated, retreated, and dared not advance. Qin did not spend a single arrow or arrowhead; already the lords were exhausted. Their alliance broke apart, and each strove to cede territory to Qin. With strength to spare, Qin took advantage of their weakness, chased the fleeing and routed them: a million bodies lay fallen, and blood flowed deep enough to float shields. Qin pressed its advantage, carved up the realm, and divided its rivers and mountains. Strong states asked to submit; weak states came to court. Through the reigns of King Xiaowen and King Zhuangxiang, both short, the state remained free of trouble.

Then came the King of Qin. He carried on the achievements of six generations, raised his long whip to govern the world, swallowed the two Zhou states and destroyed the lords, assumed supreme power and ruled the six directions, wielding the rod to scourge the realm and shaking the four seas with his might. In the south he took the territory of the hundred Yue peoples and made it Guilin and Xiangjun commanderies; the Yue lords bowed their heads, cords around their necks, and entrusted their lives to his lesser officials. He sent Meng Tian north to build the Great Wall and defend the frontier, driving the Xiongnu back more than seven hundred li, so that Hu horsemen dared not pasture in the south, nor their warriors draw bows in revenge. He abolished the former kings’ Way and burned the writings of the hundred schools to keep the people ignorant. He tore down famous cities, killed the eminent, collected the realm’s weapons at Xianyang, melted down blades and cast twelve bronze men to weaken the people. He cut through Mount Hua to make a wall and used the Yellow River as a moat, holding a rampart ten thousand fathoms high above unfathomable ravines. Able generals with powerful crossbows guarded the vital points; trusted ministers and elite troops displayed sharp weapons and challenged all comers. The realm was settled. The King of Qin thought his fortified Guanzhong and thousand-li walls of bronze would sustain his descendants’ imperial rule for ten thousand generations.

After the King of Qin died, the fear of his power still reached distant peoples. Chen She was a man whose family had jars for windows and ropes for door hinges, a common laborer and deported convict. His abilities were below the ordinary; he had neither the wisdom of Confucius and Mozi nor the wealth of Tao Zhu and Yi Dun. He sprang up among the ranks, rose from a squad of ten or a company of a hundred, rallied weary scattered soldiers, and led several hundred men against Qin. They cut branches for weapons and raised poles for banners. The realm gathered like clouds and responded like an echo, bearing provisions and following him like shadows. The outstanding men east of the mountains all rose and destroyed Qin’s clan.

The realm had not grown smaller or weaker; Yongzhou and the strongholds of Xiao and Hangu remained as before. Chen She’s station was not higher than that of the rulers of Qi, Chu, Yan, Zhao, Han, Wei, Song, Wey, and Zhongshan. Hoes, mallets, and thornwood shafts were no sharper than hooked halberds and long spears. His garrison convicts were no match for the armies of the nine states. In planning ahead, commanding an army, and deploying troops, he did not equal the scholars of earlier days. Yet success and defeat reversed themselves, and achievements were opposite. Compare the lands, power, and strength of the eastern states with Chen She’s: they are not even comparable. Yet Qin rose from a small tract of land and the might of a thousand chariots to bring the eight regions to court and make its peers bow for over a hundred years. It then made the six directions its home and the Xiao and Hangu passes its palace. One man raised a revolt, its seven ancestral temples fell, and its ruler was killed by another’s hand and mocked by the realm. Why? Because it failed to practice humanity and justice, though the conditions for conquest differ from those for defense.

Qin united all within the seas, absorbed the feudal lords, and faced south as emperor to nurture the four seas. Scholars everywhere turned toward it eagerly. Why? For a long time there had been no king. The Zhou house was weak and the five hegemons dead; commands no longer ran across the realm. The lords governed by force: the strong invaded the weak, the many oppressed the few, wars never ceased, and soldiers and civilians were exhausted. Now Qin faced south and ruled the realm: there was a Son of Heaven above. The common people longed for security of life; all looked up to the throne in hope. At that moment the foundation of safety or peril lay in preserving authority and securing achievement.

But the King of Qin cherished greed and meanness and relied on his own stubborn cleverness. He distrusted meritorious ministers and was distant from scholars and people; he discarded the kingly Way, established his own authority, banned writings, and imposed cruel laws. He put deceit and force before humanity and justice and made tyranny the beginning of his rule. To conquer one prizes stratagem and force; to secure a realm one prizes timely accommodation. Conquest and preservation require different methods. Qin left the Warring States behind to rule the world, but did not change its ways or government; it made no distinction between how it won the realm and how it should keep it. Possessing it in isolation, Qin could expect immediate ruin. Had the King of Qin considered earlier ages and the history of Yin and Zhou in fashioning his government, even if later rulers had been wanton and arrogant, the state would not have fallen. Thus the three kings established realms whose illustrious names and achievements endured.

When the Second Emperor came to power, everyone waited expectantly to see how he would govern. To one who shivers a short rough coat is welcome; to the hungry even chaff tastes sweet. The realm’s suffering was an opportunity for its new ruler: a distressed people are easy to win through humanity. Had the Second Emperor acted even like an ordinary ruler, employed loyal and worthy men, and joined his ministers in concern for the realm; had he dressed in mourning and corrected his predecessor’s faults, divided lands and people among descendants of deserving ministers, established states and rulers in accordance with ritual, emptied the prisons and pardoned the condemned, abolished the shameful punishment of confiscating wives and children and sent them home, opened the granaries and distributed wealth to aid the solitary and poor, eased taxes and labor service to relieve the people, simplified law and reduced punishments to support them thereafter, and allowed everyone a new beginning, a changed manner of life, and the chance to cultivate their conduct and guard themselves, meeting the hopes of the people and bestowing power and virtue across the realm: then the world would have rallied to him. Throughout the four seas all would gladly have lived content in their homes and feared any change; even cunning men would not have wished to leave their sovereign, treacherous ministers would have had no place to exercise their craft, and violent rebellion would have ceased. Instead the Second Emperor rejected this course and compounded injustice. He damaged both ancestral shrines and people, resumed work on Epang Palace, multiplied harsh punishments and cruel executions, allowed officials to govern brutally, rewarded and punished without justice, levied taxes without limit, plunged the realm into turmoil beyond his officials’ control, and ignored the people’s poverty and distress. Fraud and wickedness multiplied; high and low evaded one another. So many were condemned that executions lined the roads, and the realm suffered. From ruler and high minister to commoner, each feared for his own safety and endured hardship; none felt secure in his place, and all were easily stirred to revolt. Thus Chen She, though possessing neither the wisdom of Tang and King Wu nor a lord’s rank, raised his arm in the marshlands and the realm responded, because its people lived in fear. The former kings understood how beginnings become endings and what determines survival or destruction: their way of shepherding the people was simply to make them secure. Then even when there are rebellious ministers they find no support. As the saying goes, “Secure people can be led to do right; endangered people are easily led to do wrong.” This is what it means. The Second Emperor was honored as Son of Heaven and possessed the wealth of the realm, yet could not escape a violent death because he failed to right a state on the brink. This was the Second Emperor’s fault.

The Grand Historian says: Qin's ancestor Bo Yi once rendered distinguished service in the time of Tang and Yu and was granted land and a family name. Between the Xia and Yin dynasties, his descendants became obscure and dispersed. As Zhou declined, Qin rose in the western borderlands. From Duke Mu onward, it gradually took territory from the other states, until the First Emperor completed the conquest. The First Emperor thought his achievements surpassed those of the Five Emperors, his territory exceeded that of the Three Kings, and comparison with them was beneath him. Jia Yi made an excellent argument on this subject. He said:

Qin annexed the other states and more than thirty commanderies east of the mountains. It repaired fords and passes, occupied strong defenses, and prepared weapons and armor to guard them. Yet Chen She raised his arm and shouted, leading a scattered band of a few hundred garrison soldiers. They had no bows or halberds, only hoes, farm tools, and plain wooden sticks. They lived off whatever homes they found and moved freely across the land. The Qin forces did not defend their strongholds, close their gates or bridges, thrust their long spears, or fire their powerful crossbows. Chu's army marched deep into Qin territory and fought at Hongmen without meeting even the difficulty of a fence. The lands east of the mountains then fell into turmoil. The other rulers rose, and prominent men appointed one another leaders. Qin sent Zhang Han east with an army, but Zhang used his troops to bargain with forces outside Qin and plot against his ruler. This shows how little the ministers could be trusted. When Ziying took power he still failed to see what was happening. Even if Ziying had been no more than an ordinary ruler, with only moderately capable aides, Qin could have kept all its own territory despite the disorder in the east. The sacrifices at its ancestral temples need not have ended.

Qin's land is protected by mountains and bordered by the Yellow River; it is a country enclosed by defenses on all four sides. From Duke Mu to the King of Qin, more than twenty rulers were consistently among the strongest of the other rulers. Were they all able men? No, their position made them strong. Once all the other states united their efforts to attack Qin. At that time they had wise advisers, skilled generals to lead their armies, and capable chancellors to coordinate their plans. Yet they were blocked by the difficult terrain and could not advance. Qin opened the passes to draw them in and fight, and their million soldiers fled in defeat. Was it because they lacked courage, strength, or intelligence? The terrain worked against them and their position was unfavorable. Qin could annex large cities with its small towns, station armies at fortified passes, raise strong walls without fighting, and close the gates and hold the narrow approaches with soldiers carrying halberds. The other rulers had risen from ordinary men and joined forces for profit. They did not have the standing of rightful kings from the beginning. Their alliances were not close and their followers were not loyal. They said they meant to destroy Qin, but they really sought to profit from it. When they saw how difficult Qin's defenses were to attack, they were bound to withdraw. By securing the land and letting its people rest while waiting for its enemies to weaken, and by bringing in the weak and supporting the exhausted, Qin could have given orders to the rulers of the great states and achieved whatever it wanted within the seas. But though Qin's ruler held the highest title of Son of Heaven and possessed the wealth of the world, he was captured. He had failed to respond properly to defeat.

The King of Qin trusted only himself and would not ask for advice. He made mistakes without changing his ways. The Second Emperor inherited his methods and did not correct them; his cruelty made the disaster worse. Ziying stood alone, without close allies; weak and in danger, he had no support. All three rulers were confused and never understood their errors. Is it surprising that Qin fell? There were people then who thought deeply and understood change, but they dared not speak honestly to correct the ruler's mistakes. Qin custom forbade discussion of many sensitive subjects. Before a loyal adviser could finish speaking, he might be executed. So men across the land strained their ears to listen, stood motionless in fear, and kept silent. The three rulers lost their way. Loyal ministers dared not advise them, able men dared not offer plans, and when the world fell into disorder, the ruler was not told of wrongdoing. How sad! Earlier kings knew that shutting a ruler off from the truth would harm a state. They appointed high ministers, grandees, and officials to improve the law and set punishments, and the world was governed. When they were strong, they stopped violence and punished rebellion, and the world submitted. When they were weaker, the Five Hegemons went to war and other rulers followed them. When their territory diminished, they defended their lands and sought allies abroad, and their state survived. At its height Qin used complicated laws and severe punishments, and the world trembled. As it declined, the common people grew resentful and all the lands within the seas rebelled. Zhou maintained the right order in five ranks and survived for over a thousand years. Qin went wrong at every level, and that is why it did not last. The ways that lead to safety and those that lead to danger are very different. A country saying goes: “Remember earlier events and use them to learn what to do next.” A ruler who governs well studies ancient times, tests their lessons against the present, weighs human affairs, observes why states rise and fall, and judges what suits his power and circumstances. He knows when to act and when to hold back, and changes course at the right time. Thus his state remains secure for a long time.

Duke Xiao of Qin held the strong positions of the Xiao Mountains and Hangu Pass and controlled Yongzhou. He and his ministers guarded it closely and watched the Zhou royal house. They intended to sweep up all the land, bring the world under their control, take in all the territory within the seas, and swallow the eight farthest regions. At the time Lord Shang assisted him. At home he established laws and standards, promoted farming and weaving, and prepared defenses and armies. Abroad he used separate alliances to turn the other rulers against one another. Qin thus easily took the lands beyond the West River.

After Duke Xiao died, King Hui and King Wu inherited his achievements and followed the policies he left. In the south they annexed Hanzhong, in the west they seized Ba and Shu, and in the east they cut off fertile lands and took strategically important commanderies. The other rulers were afraid. They met and formed a league to plan how to weaken Qin. They did not spare precious vessels, valuable treasures, or rich lands in their efforts to attract able men from everywhere. They made a united alliance and joined together. At that time Qi had Lord Mengchang, Zhao had Lord Pingyuan, Chu had Lord Chunshen, and Wei had Lord Xinling. All four were intelligent and trustworthy, generous and kind to people, and respectful of talented officials. They formed an alliance against Qin and broke up Qin's separate alliances, joining the forces of Han, Wei, Yan, Chu, Qi, Zhao, Song, Wei, and Zhongshan. Their advisers included Ning Yue, Xu Shang, Su Qin, and Du He. Qi Ming, Zhou Zui, Chen Zhen, Zhao Hua, Lou Huan, Zhai Jing, Su Li, and Yue Yi coordinated their plans. Wu Qi, Sun Bin, Dai Tuo, Er Liang, Wang Liao, Tian Ji, Lian Po, and Zhao She commanded their armies. More than once, with ten times Qin's territory and a million soldiers, they attacked its passes. The Qin forces opened the passes to invite them in, but the armies of the nine states hesitated, fell back, and dared not advance. Qin had not lost even an arrow or arrowhead, yet the other rulers were exhausted. Their alliance then broke up and their agreements ended. They competed to cede land to Qin. Qin used its remaining strength to exploit their weakness, pursued the fleeing armies, and left a million corpses and enough blood to float their shields. Seizing this advantage, it divided the world, carving up its mountains and rivers. Strong states asked to submit; weak states came to court. Under King Xiaowen and King Zhuangxiang, whose reigns were short, the state faced no trouble.

Then the King of Qin inherited the achievements of six generations. He took up their long policy of controlling the world. He swallowed the two Zhou states, destroyed the other rulers, took the highest title, and controlled all six directions. He used whip and club to drive the world, and his power shook all lands within the seas. In the south he took the lands of the Hundred Yue and made them Guilin and Xiang commanderies. The Yue rulers bowed their heads and tied cords around their necks, surrendering their lives to Qin's officials. He sent Meng Tian north to build the Great Wall and defend the border. Meng pushed the Xiongnu back over seven hundred li; their riders no longer dared come south to graze horses, and their soldiers dared not draw their bows to take revenge. The king rejected the ways of earlier rulers and burned the writings of the various schools to keep the common people ignorant. He demolished famous cities, killed prominent men, gathered weapons from all over the land at Xianyang, melted down their blades and cast their stands, and made twelve bronze figures, in order to weaken the people. He cut into Mount Hua to form a wall and used the Yellow River as a moat. From a wall countless yards high, above a bottomless ravine, he held a secure position. Skilled generals and powerful crossbowmen guarded the strategic points, and trusted officers with crack troops stood with sharpened weapons to challenge anyone approaching. The world was pacified. The King of Qin thought that Guanzhong's strength and its thousand-li-long defenses as solid as metal would allow his descendants to rule as emperors for ten thousand generations.

After the King of Qin died, the force of his reputation still reached distant peoples. Chen She came from a poor family whose window was a clay jar and whose door pivot was a rope. He was a farm worker, a servant, and a man sent into exile. His ability was below average. He had neither the wisdom of Confucius and Mo Di nor the wealth of Tao Zhu and Yi Dun. He took his place among the common soldiers and rose from a group of ten or a hundred men. He led exhausted, scattered troops, a few hundred people in all, and turned against Qin. They cut branches into weapons and raised poles for banners. People everywhere gathered like clouds and answered the call, carrying food and following him as closely as shadows. The leading men east of the mountains rose together and destroyed the Qin ruling family.

The Qin empire had not grown small or weak. Yongzhou and the strong defenses of the Xiao Mountains and Hangu Pass remained as before. Chen She's rank was not higher than that of the rulers of Qi, Chu, Yan, Zhao, Han, Wei, Song, Wei, and Zhongshan. His hoes, farm tools, and thornwood spears were not sharper than hooked halberds and long spears. His band of convicts sent to the border could not match the armies of the nine states. His plans and foresight, and his knowledge of marching and warfare, were no match for the advisers of former times. Yet their successes and failures turned out differently; they achieved opposite results. If we compare the states east of the mountains with Chen She in size and power, they cannot even be discussed as equals. Qin, however, started with its small territory and the power of a state with a thousand chariots. For over a hundred years it brought the eight regions under its control and made rulers of equal rank come to its court. Then it made the whole world its home and the Xiao Mountains and Hangu Pass its palace. But when one man began a rebellion, its seven ancestral temples fell, its ruler died at another's hands, and it became the laughingstock of the world. Why? Because it did not practice kindness and justice, and because the methods needed to conquer are different from those needed to hold power.

Qin united the lands within the seas, annexed the other states, faced south as emperor, and ruled over the four seas. People everywhere eagerly looked toward it. Why? For a long time in the recent past there had been no true king. The Zhou royal house was weak, and the Five Hegemons had died. No one's orders carried through the whole land. So the other rulers governed by force: the strong invaded the weak, and the many bullied the few. War never stopped, and officials and common people alike were worn out. Now Qin faced south and ruled the world, so there was a Son of Heaven over them. The ordinary people hoped to live safely. All looked toward the ruler with open hearts. This was the moment to preserve his power and secure his achievements; here lay the basis of safety or danger.

The King of Qin was greedy and mean. He followed his own aggressive ideas, distrusted ministers who had served him well, and kept officials and common people at a distance. He rejected the ways of good kings and established power for himself alone. He banned books and writings and imposed cruel laws and punishments. He put deception and force ahead of kindness and justice, beginning his rule over the world with violence. Deception and force may help a ruler annex lands; to keep them stable, he needs to use his authority in a way that wins consent. In other words, taking power and keeping it require different methods. Qin left the age of warring states behind and ruled the world, but it did not change its methods or government. It used the same methods to hold power as it had used to take it. Alone and isolated, it ruled the world, so its destruction could be expected at once. If the King of Qin had studied past events, followed the examples of the Yin and Zhou dynasties, and governed accordingly, later rulers could have been reckless and arrogant without putting the state in danger. That is why the Three Kings established their rule over the world, kept an honored and admired reputation, and left achievements that lasted.

When the Second Emperor took the throne, everyone watched eagerly to see how he would govern. Someone who is cold welcomes even a short rough coat; someone who is hungry enjoys even grain husks. The suffering people were an opportunity for the new ruler. It would have been easy to win their loyalty through kindness. Suppose the Second Emperor had behaved even as well as an ordinary ruler and employed loyal and capable ministers. Ruler and ministers could have worked together to address the world's troubles. While wearing mourning white he could have corrected the former emperor's mistakes, divided land and people into fiefs for the descendants of deserving ministers, established states and their rulers to honor the people of the world, emptied the prisons and ended executions, and abolished the shameful practice of arresting and punishing convicts' wives and children. He could have allowed everyone to return home, opened the government granaries, and distributed money and goods to aid orphans, the poor, and those in distress. He could have lowered taxes, reduced labor duties to meet the people's urgent needs, and simplified laws and punishments for the future. He could have allowed everyone a fresh start, a change in behavior, and a chance to live responsibly. By meeting the people's hopes and sharing his power and kindness with all, he would have won their support. Everyone throughout the four seas would have been happy and content where they lived and feared only a change in their circumstances. Even devious people would not have wanted to leave their ruler. Then disloyal ministers could not have disguised their schemes as clever plans, and violent rebellion would have stopped. The Second Emperor did none of this. He made matters worse with lawless conduct. He destroyed the ancestral temples and harmed the people, and began work on Epang Palace again. Punishments multiplied, executions became severe, and officials governed cruelly. Rewards and punishments were unfair, and taxes had no limit. Troubles filled the world, beyond the officials' ability to manage. The common people were poor and desperate, and the ruler offered them no care or relief. Dishonesty and fraud spread; rulers and subjects deceived one another. Many were found guilty, and the executed could be seen all along the roads. The whole world suffered. From the ruler and his senior ministers down to ordinary people, everyone feared for his own safety, lived in hardship, and felt insecure in his place. So they were easily stirred to action. Chen She was neither as wise as Tang and Wu nor a lord or marquis. Yet when he raised his arm in the Great Marsh, the world responded, because the people were in danger. Earlier kings saw how circumstances change from beginning to end and understood how states survive or fall. Their way of governing people was above all to keep them secure. Then even when treacherous ministers appear, they find no one to support them. That is what people mean when they say, “You can lead secure people to act justly, but it is easy to lead people in danger into wrongdoing.” The Second Emperor had the honor of being Son of Heaven and the wealth of the whole world, yet could not save himself from being killed. He failed to put right what was going wrong. That was the Second Emperor's mistake.