First Meeting with Qin

AnonymousBashu Publishing House · ChinaJun 2024

4.2

Word count: 2K words
Chapters: 2

Summary

"初见秦" means meeting the King of Qin for the first time. In fact, it is a memorial by which the author sought an audience with the King of Qin. The King of Qin here refers to King Zhaoxiang of Qin (324 BC–251 BC). The central idea of this text is to urge King Zhaoxiang of Qin to unify the realm through war. After long wars of annexation, by the late Warring States period historical development demanded the establishment of a unified, centralized feudal state. Through an analysis of the situation at the time, the author praises the powerful state of Qin, which enforced the rule of law, saying that "in commands and rewards and punishments, and in the strategic advantages of its terrain, none under heaven can match it," and points out that it had long possessed the conditions for unifying the realm. The essay holds that Qin's failure to achieve the "name of hegemon" was chiefly because its "counselling ministers" were not "loyal." The text lists many instances of lost opportunities for war, exposing how the "counselling ministers" delayed the cause of unification. It also emphatically discusses war as an important means of achieving unification and concludes that "war is what determines the survival or ruin of a state of ten thousand chariots." These are all important propositions suited to the demands of the landowning class in launching wars of unification.

Editor's review

"初见秦" is a text presented at court during the Warring States period. Though titled "First Meeting with Qin," it is in fact a memorial whose core is to urge King Zhaoxiang of Qin to complete unification by military means. The essay first sets out Qin's advantages—strict rule of law, trustworthy rewards and punishments, and favorable terrain—and points out that Qin already possessed the conditions for unifying the realm; it then attributes the failure to achieve the name of hegemon to the disloyalty of counselling ministers, citing instances of missed opportunities for war to expose them; finally it explicitly states that war is the means on which the survival of a state of ten thousand chariots depends. The argument advances clearly and makes good use of situational contrasts and parallel examples, making it a typical piece for understanding the late Warring States trend toward unification and the rhetorical style of political strategists. The Bashu Press edition makes it easy for readers to obtain necessary annotations and background beyond the original text. When reading, one should place it back in the historical context of the late Warring States period, examining both its argumentative strategy and the stance reflected in its harsh criticism of counselling ministers, and avoid taking the claims in the text directly as objective historical judgment. Suitable for learners of pre-Qin prose and Warring States history to read closely.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Liberal arts students studying pre-Qin prose who need to analyze argumentative structure
History enthusiasts interested in the late Warring States unification process and the state of Qin
Language teachers preparing to teach the rhetorical style and reasoning techniques of political strategists
Advanced readers who wish to understand Warring States political propositions through primary texts

Not a good fit for

Complete beginners with no Classical Chinese foundation who need sentence-by-sentence vernacular translation
Readers who only want narrative history and have no patience for argumentative essays
Readers who hold a single fixed view of Warring States historical sources and are unwilling to examine the text's tendencies

Reading tips

First read through the whole text, summarize each paragraph's argument in one sentence, then map out the layers of the argument's progression.
Read alongside basic facts about the annexation wars of the late Warring States period, distinguishing the text's claims from later historians' judgments.
Highlight the passages listing missed opportunities for war and consider how the author uses examples to support the criticism of counselling ministers.
After reading, compare it with other Warring States argumentative texts and compare the shared rhetorical strategies of political strategists when offering advice.

About the publisher

Bashu Publishing House China · Founded in 1983

Bashu Publishing House is a publisher centered on collating and publishing classical Chinese cultural texts, with its main publishing areas covering classical literature, Eastern philosophy, ancient poetry, and educational classics. Its library currently holds 1,075 titles, including representative works such as Dream of the Red Chamber, the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Gathering, Renjian Cihua, and Out to the Frontier, involving authors such as Cao Xueqin, Wang Xizhi, Wang Guowei, Wang Changling, Liu Xie, and Yan Yu. These reflect the publisher's focus on literary classics, poetry criticism, and philosophical readings. Its publishing character lies in working around ancient texts and canonical works, with attention to textual collation and presentation. Public information on its more detailed publishing background and series plans is limited; this introduction is based only on the library's book information.

版权信息
初见秦第一

FAQ

Who is the author of "初见秦"?

The book lists the author as anonymous. Authorship of this text has long been disputed in transmission, and the source material itself gives no definitive conclusion; therefore, when reading, it is best to treat it as a piece of advice literature from a Warring States political strategist, focusing on the text's argumentative method and historical context rather than insisting on identifying a particular author.

Why does the essay attribute Qin's failure to achieve the name of hegemon to its counselling ministers?

This is the essay's argumentative strategy. The author first confirms that Qin held advantages in rule of law, rewards and punishments, and terrain, then concentrates the problem at the decision-making level, accusing the counselling ministers of disloyalty by listing instances of missed opportunities for war, thereby making room for the proposition of continuing to advance unification through war. This attribution carries a clear advisory stance and should be examined against historical facts when reading.

What is the text's attitude toward war?

The essay clearly regards war as an important means of achieving unification and proposes the judgment that war determines the survival or ruin of a state of ten thousand chariots. This proposition serves the historical demands of the annexation wars of the late Warring States period and carries a clear contemporary stance. When reading, one can understand its practical relevance in light of the situation among the states at the time, while noting that it is a political argument by a strategist, not a neutral discussion of war.

Can someone with no Classical Chinese foundation read this book?

They can try, but will need annotations and basic readings on Warring States history. This text is dense in argument and lists many examples; without background, one may easily remember only the conclusions. It is advisable first to understand the general situation during the reign of King Zhaoxiang of Qin, then read paragraph by paragraph, looking up names of people and places in the annotations first, and not insisting on understanding everything in one reading.

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About the author

Anonymous Author

Anonymous is not a real personal name but a general Chinese designation for authors whose names are unknown, lost, or unsigned. Neither nationality nor dates of birth and death can be verified, and available public information is limited, so the works attributed to this name are the only basis for description. The collection holds 2,078 works under Anonymous, spanning medicine, classics, historical readings, ancient poetry, classical literature, and philosophy. Representative works include The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon: Lingshu, Mencius, The Book of Documents, Nineteen Old Poems, Complete Song Ci, and The Peacock Flies Southeast. Most of these works took shape through long transmission and editing, emerging either from collective folk creation or from authors whose names were lost over time. In ancient China, the Book of Songs, the Great Learning, and many popular storybooks and plays were signed Anonymous because their authors could not be traced. Anonymous works cross the classics, histories, philosophical writings, medical texts, and poetry; their subjects are broad, and their styles vary from archaic simplicity to clear naturalness, making them important and influential sources for understanding ancient Chinese thought, medicine, and literature.