When Sima Qian was examining the historical records of the Qin Kingdom, he noted that the Xiongnu defeated King You, the Zhou Dynasty relocated to Luoyang, and it was only when Duke Xiang of Qin was enfeoffed as a vassal that he began to perform grand sacrifices to Heaven at Xishi, marking the onset of this usurpation. The ritual stipulated: "The Son of Heaven sacrifices to Heaven and Earth, while the vassals sacrifice to the famous mountains, rivers, and streams within their own territories." However, Qin integrated the customs of the Rong and Di tribes, initially brutal and violent, only later cultivating benevolence and righteousness. Despite being merely a vassal, they participated in the grand sacrifices to Heaven, causing concern among the gentlemen.
By the time Duke Wen of Qin crossed the Long Mountain, subdued the Rong and Di tribes, and honored Chen Bao, a key advisor, while developing the area around Qishan in Yongzhou, Duke Mu of Qin actively pursued good governance, expanding their eastern borders to the Yellow River. At this point, Qin had become a force to be reckoned with, comparable to Duke Huan of Qi and Duke Wen of Jin and other central vassal states. Subsequently, ministers held significant power, and the great officials inherited their titles. The six powerful clans controlled Jin, engaging in constant warfare and alliances, surpassing the prestige of other vassals. When Tian Chang killed Duke Jian of Qi and became the Prime Minister of Qi, the other vassals remained indifferent and did not launch any attacks. All the vassals of the realm were vying to establish military achievements.
The Three Kingdoms eventually divided up the state of Jin, and Tian He also wiped out the state of Qi and unified it, marking the beginning of the strong situation of the Six States. They were all focused on strengthening their military forces, annexing enemy states, engaging in intrigue and subterfuge, and employing the strategy of vertical and horizontal alliances. They professed brotherhood, forged alliances under the guise of brotherhood, but were constantly changing; even if they made oaths and exchanged tokens, they could not constrain each other. Initially, Qin was just a remote small state, looked down upon by the various central states, considered barbaric, like the Rong and Di. It was only after Duke Xian of Qin that they began to dominate the vassals.
In terms of morality and righteousness, Qin was not as good as the states of Lu and Wei; in terms of military strength, they were not as strong as the three Jin states. However, they ultimately unified the realm, not merely due to their strategic location and favorable situation, but seemingly with divine assistance.
Some people say, "The East is where all things begin to grow, and the West is where all things mature." Entrepreneurs often start in the southeast, while those who ultimately achieve success often come from the northwest. Therefore, Yu the Great got his start in Western Qiang, Tang rose in Bo, the Zhou dynasty's royal family used Fenghao as their base to overthrow the Shang dynasty, the emperor of the Qin dynasty rose from Yongzhou, and the rise of the Han dynasty began in Shu Han.
After the Qin dynasty gained power, they went on a book-burning spree, especially targeting the historical accounts of the various feudal states, which were destroyed even more fiercely because those records contained many criticisms and satires of the Qin dynasty. The reason some books and records survived is that many were hidden in the homes of common people. However, the chronicles of the various states were mostly kept in the ancestral temples of the Zhou dynasty, so they were all gone. What a shame! Although the Qin dynasty left behind historical accounts, even the dates weren't clearly written, and the content was very brief. But there's plenty of wisdom to be gleaned from the Warring States period—why get hung up on the ancient past? The methods used by the Qin dynasty to unify the country were very brutal, but times have changed, the situation has changed, and in the end, they still succeeded and gained great power. There's an old saying, "Follow the king's law," which means to learn from emperors closer to one's own time, as their circumstances are more similar, and their methods are easier to implement. Some scholars only believe what they hear, and when they see that the Qin dynasty's reign was short, they don’t carefully study its rise and fall, blindly mocking it without daring to seriously examine it—what's the point of just regurgitating what others have said? Ah, it's truly sad!
Therefore, based on the historical accounts of the Qin dynasty, continuing from the "Spring and Autumn" period, starting from King Yuan of Zhou, I have recorded the historical events of the six states and the second emperor of the Qin dynasty, totaling 270 years, writing down all the reasons I have heard and seen regarding the rise and fall of the country. I hope this helps future generations of leaders.
The tables in Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji) are not translated. If you are interested in these tables, you can click on the Republic of China flag above to view the Traditional Chinese page.
