First Emperor

Japanese: 始皇帝 - しこうてい

He was the king of the Qin state (reigned 247-221 BC), one of the "Seven Warring States" of China during the Warring States period, and then the first emperor of the Qin Empire (221-210 BC). He is a historically important figure as the founder of the imperial ruling system that continued for over 2,000 years until the Xinhai Revolution (1911). His name was Zheng, and Shi Huang was a posthumous name, but his official title during his lifetime was "Emperor." He was born in Handan (near Handan City, Hebei Province), the capital of Zhao, when his father Zichu (who ascended the throne as King Zhuangxiang; excavated historical materials call him King Zhuang) was a hostage there. The Records of the Grand Historian indicates that Zichu's patron, the great merchant Lu Buwei, was Shi Huang's real father. He succeeded Zichu as King of Qin at the age of 13, and Lü Buwei, who had been Prime Minister, ruled as Prime Minister. During the reign of Duke Xiao (reigned 362-338 BC), six generations earlier, Qin had placed its capital in Xianyang (approximately 15 km east of Xianyang City, Shaanxi Province), employed the Legalist Shang Yang, and endeavored to enrich the country and strengthen its military. The Qin dynasty took advantage of the success of this period and first put down the rebellion of Lao, the lover of his mother, the Empress Dowager, and used this opportunity to expel Lü Buwei and begin to rule directly. He then promoted the Legalist Li Si (who later became Prime Minister) to further implement the internal reforms (reforms) begun by Shang Yang. He built a huge irrigation canal (the Zhengguo Canal) in the plains northeast of Xianyang, opening up "more than 40,000 acres" (approximately 18.67 million ares) of arable land and stabilizing civil administration. Based on these development projects, he trained countless soldiers loyal to the state, and implemented a policy of rewarding and punishing the merits by awarding ranks to commoners for military merit, the traditional Qin cavalry tactics, and a skillful diplomatic policy (making friends with distant states and attacking nearby states). Through these efforts, he defeated the six states of Han, Zhao, Wei, Chu, Yan, and Qi in that order, completing the unification of the state in 221 BC, and establishing the title of "emperor," appropriate for the leader of this new state.

[Isamu Ogata]

Control Structure

The Qin Empire's ruling philosophy was for the state to conscript every single citizen as a soldier or laborer, and to collect wealth in the form of a poll tax (individual control). To realize this philosophy, the previous "feudal" system (feudal domain system) was abolished, and the whole country was reorganized into a prefecture system. A prefecture was a group of prefectures, which were local cities, and bureaucrats who acted on behalf of the emperor were sent directly from the center to govern each of the 36 (later 48) prefectures and the prefectures below them. A flexible central government system was established around the emperor, centered on the Chancellor (for government affairs), the Grand Marshal (for military affairs), and the Grand Censor (for inspection), and a unified and extensive set of laws was enacted that regulated every aspect of people's daily lives, and private citizens were prohibited from owning weapons. He also standardized weights and measures, established a system for "fair" tax collection, standardized writing to a simplified clerical script for administrative convenience, and standardized the width of vehicle tracks (the width between the wheels) and developed a transportation network in order to enable the immediate dispatch of troops and the distribution of government orders to every corner of the country.

In the capital, Xianyang, he built a magnificent palace to show off the emperor's grandeur, placed many government offices around it, and forcibly relocated local nobles so that the emperor could keep an eye on the capital, thereby shaping the capital's appearance. To the south of Xianyang, he built the Epang Palace, modeled after the structure of a celestial body, and began large-scale construction work to connect it to the Xianyang Palace across the Wei River. He also built the famous "Great Wall" to prepare for invasions by foreign tribes from the north, and constructed his own longevity mausoleum (a tomb built while one is alive), called "Lishan (Li Mountain)." These projects resulted in the oppression of the people, and, together with the application of harsh laws, were the causes of the downfall of the Qin Empire.

The ideology that supported the rule of the emperor was that of Legalism, and Confucianism was suppressed as a desire to restore "feudalism," with books of that ideology being burned (burning of books), and over 460 Confucian scholars being buried alive in Xianyang (burying of Confucian scholars). It was only after the Han dynasty and the revival of Confucianism that this was counted as the first of the Shihuang's evil deeds.

Shi Huang also undertook five tours to demonstrate his authority throughout the country, traveling from Mount Kuaiji (southeast of Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province) in the south to the vicinity of Lake Dongting (Hunan Province) on the Yangtze River basin. However, on the way back from this fifth tour, he died of an illness in July 210 BCE in Shaqiu (near Pingxiang County, Hebei Province), and against his will, one of his sons, Huhai (the second emperor, reigned 210-207 BCE), ascended to the throne, and the Qin Empire collapsed during his reign.

[Isamu Ogata]

Ruins of the First Emperor

Recent large-scale archaeological excavations have uncovered a wide variety of historical documents, ruins, and remains related to Qin Shi Huang. First, new research has revealed that the Mausoleum of the First Emperor was a large mausoleum surrounded by double walls, and cultural artifacts evocative of Qin Shi Huang's power have come to light, such as a rare bronze chariot and horse excavated on the west side of the mound, and several thousand ceramic figurines of soldiers and horses discovered 1.5 kilometers to the east. Research is also progressing on the Xianyang Palace, which was later burned down by Xiang Yu, and the first murals from the Qin Dynasty were discovered at the ruins of Palace No. 3. In addition, a large number of bamboo slips, mainly legal documents of the Qin Dynasty from the end of the Warring States period to the time of Qin Shi Huang, have been excavated from a Qin Dynasty tomb in Yunmeng County, Hubei Province, providing valuable primary historical materials.

[Isamu Ogata]

"Kurihara Tomonobu, 'Study on the History of the Qin and Han Dynasties' (1960, Yoshikawa Kobunkan)" ▽ "Nishijima Sadao, 'The History of China 2: The Qin and Han Empires' (1974, Kodansha)"

[References] | County and prefecture system | Emperor | Qin | Burning of books and burying of scholars

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

中国、戦国の「七雄(しちゆう)」の一つ、秦(しん)国の王（在位前247～前221）、ついで秦帝国の初代皇帝（前221～前210）。辛亥(しんがい)革命（1911）に至るまで、2000余年も存続した皇帝支配体制の創立者として、歴史的に重要な人物である。名は政(せい)、始皇帝は諡(おくりな)であって、生前の正式な称号は「皇帝」。父の子楚(しそ)（即位して荘襄王(そうじょうおう)。出土史料では荘王）が人質として趙(ちょう)国にいたころ、その国都邯鄲(かんたん)（河北省邯鄲市付近）で生まれた。子楚のパトロン、大商人の呂不韋(りょふい)が始皇帝の実父であると『史記』にはみえる。子楚を継いで13歳で秦王となり、丞相(じょうしょう)となっていた呂不韋が相国(しょうこく)として執政した。秦は、6代前の孝公（在位前362～前338）の時代に、都を咸陽(かんよう)（陝西(せんせい)省咸陽市の東方15キロメートル付近）に置き、法家の商鞅(しょうおう)を採用して、富国強兵に努めていたが、秦王政はこのころの成果を受けて、まず母の太后の愛人、嫪(ろうあい)の反乱を鎮圧し、これを契機として呂不韋を追放し、親政を開始した。ついで法家李斯(りし)（のちに丞相となる）を抜擢(ばってき)して、商鞅が始めた内政改革（変法(へんぽう)）をさらに徹底させた。咸陽の北東部の平野に巨大な用水路（鄭国渠(ていこくきょ)）をつくり、「四万余頃(けい)」（約1867万アール）の耕地を開き、民政を安定させた。このような開拓事業を基盤として、国家に忠実な無数の兵士を養成し、軍功をあげれば庶民にも爵(しゃく)を与えるという信賞必罰の政策、秦国の伝統的騎馬戦術、巧みな外交政策（遠交近攻）などを展開することにより、韓(かん)、趙(ちょう)、魏(ぎ)、楚(そ)、燕(えん)、斉(せい)の6国をこの順序で滅ぼし、紀元前221年、統一国家を完成し、この新生国家の盟主としてふさわしい「皇帝」の号を創立した。

［尾形　勇］

支配構造

秦帝国の支配理念は、国家が民衆のひとりひとりを、あるいは兵士、あるいは人夫として徴用し、また人頭税の形で富を集め取ることにある（個別人身支配）。この理念を実現させるために、それまでの「封建」制（分封制）を廃止し、全国を郡県制(ぐんけんせい)で再編成した。地方の諸都市である県をいくつかまとめたものが郡であり、36（のち48）の各郡と、その下の各県の統治者としては、皇帝の代行者としての官僚を中央から直接派遣した。皇帝の周囲には、丞相（政務）、太尉(たいい)（軍務）、御史大夫(ぎょしたいふ)（監察）を中心とする機動的な中央官制を敷き、また人々の日常生活の隅々まで規制した統一的で膨大な法律を制定し、民間での武器所有を禁じた。また、度量衡規格を一にし、「公平」な租税徴集の体制を整え、行政に便利なように文字を簡略な隷書(れいしょ)体に統一し、また軍隊をただちに送り、政令を全国の隅々まで行き届かせるために、車軌(しゃき)（両輪の間の幅）を一定にし、交通網を整備した。

　首都咸陽には、皇帝の威容を誇示する壮麗な宮殿を建て、その周辺に多くの官庁を置き、皇帝の目が届くように地方の豪族を強制移住させるなどして、首都の姿を整えた。咸陽の南には天体の構造をかたどった阿房宮(あぼうきゅう)をつくり、渭水(いすい)を渡って咸陽宮に連結させるという大規模な造営も開始した。また北方の外民族の侵入に備えて、かの「万里の長城」を築き、「麗山(りざん)（酈山）」と称する自己の寿陵(じゅりょう)（生前につくられる陵）を建設した。これらの事業は、民衆を酷使する結果となり、過酷な法律の適用とともに、秦帝国滅亡の起因となった。

　皇帝支配を支えていた思想は法家のそれであり、儒家思想は「封建」の復古を願うものとして弾圧され、その系統の書物は焼かれ（焚書(ふんしょ)）、儒家たちのうち460余人が、咸陽で生き埋めにされた（坑儒(こうじゅ)）。このことが始皇帝の悪行の第一に数えられるようになったのは、漢代以降、儒家思想が復活してからである。

　始皇帝はまた、威光を全国に示すために、5回にわたる巡幸を行い、その行路は、南は会稽山(かいけいざん)（浙江(せっこう)省紹興(しょうこう)市南東）から揚子江(ようすこう)流域の洞庭(どうてい)湖（湖南省）付近にまで及んでいる。しかしこの第5次の巡幸の帰路、前210年7月、沙丘（河北省平郷県近く）で病没してしまい、自分の意志とは違って、公子の一人の胡亥(こがい)（二世皇帝、在位前210～前207）が即位し、この代で秦帝国は崩壊した。

［尾形　勇］

始皇帝の遺跡

近年の盛大な考古学的調査発掘によって、始皇帝に関する多彩な史料や遺跡、遺構が出現した。まず新しい調査によって、始皇帝陵は二重の城壁を巡らした大規模な陵園であったことがわかり、墳丘の西側から出土した珍しい銅製の車馬、東側1.5キロメートルの地点で発見された数千体の兵士や軍馬の陶俑(とうよう)など、始皇帝の権力を彷彿(ほうふつ)させる文物が姿を現している。のちに項羽(こうう)によって焼き払われた咸陽宮の調査も進んでおり、第3号宮殿遺跡からは、秦代のものとしては初めての壁画が発見された。また湖北省雲夢(うんぼう)県の秦代の墓からは、戦国末から始皇帝の時期までの、秦の法律文書を中心とする多数の竹簡(ちくかん)史料が出土し、貴重な第一次史料となっている。

［尾形　勇］

『栗原朋信著『秦漢史の研究』（1960・吉川弘文館）』▽『西嶋定生著『中国の歴史 2　秦漢帝国』（1974・講談社）』

[参照項目] | 郡県制 | 皇帝 | 秦 | 焚書坑儒

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例

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