Lu Buwei

A wealthy merchant from Yangdi County, Yingchuan County (Henan Province) in China at the end of the Warring States period. Later, as a politician, he became involved in Qin politics. He set his sights on Prince Zichu of Qin, who had been sent as a hostage to Handan, the capital of Zhao, with no hope of being made the crown prince, and plotted to use Zichu to participate in the Qin administration. He obtained a promise from Lady Huayang, the favorite of Zichu's father, Prince Anguo, to make Zichu the legitimate heir, while also presenting his beloved princess, who was already pregnant with his child, to Zichu, falsely presenting her to him and having her give birth to Zheng (the First Emperor). After Zichu became King of Qin (King Zhuangxiang) as planned, Lü Buwei controlled the Qin government as Prime Minister and Marquis Wenxin until he committed suicide after being implicated in the Lao Rebellion during the Qin dynasty. He had his guests compile the ideas of the various schools of thought at the time, including Confucianism, Mo, Legalism, Taoism, and the five elements of Yin and Yang, into the "Lüshi Spring and Autumn Annals," but he himself seems to have been particularly devoted to the Taoists and the five elements of Yin and Yang. This is interesting because it means that the Qin government did not initially take a legalist stance, compared to the fact that after his death, the legalist Li Si became involved in the policies around the time of Qin's unification of the world.

[Kazuyuki Tsuruma]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国、戦国末の潁川(えいせん)郡陽翟(ようたく)県（河南省）出身の大商人。のち政治家として秦(しん)の政治に関与した。秦の公子子楚(しそ)が、太子にたてられる見込みもなく趙(ちょう)の都邯鄲(かんたん)に人質として送られていたのに目をつけ、子楚を利用して秦の政権に参与しようと謀った。そこで子楚の父、安国君の寵愛(ちょうあい)する華陽夫人を介して子楚を嫡嗣(ちゃくし)とする約束を取り付ける一方で、すでに自分の子を宿している愛姫を偽って子楚に献じ、政（始皇帝）を生ませた。やがて計画どおり子楚が秦王（荘襄(そうじょう)王）となってから、秦王政のときに嫪(ろうあい)の乱に連座して蜀(しょく)に流されそうになり自殺するまで、呂不韋は丞相(じょうしょう)、文信侯として秦の政治を左右した。彼は傘下の賓客たちに当時の儒、墨、法、道、陰陽五行などの諸子百家の思想を『呂氏春秋』としてまとめさせたが、彼自身とくに道家や陰陽五行家に傾倒していたようである。このことは、彼の死後法家の李斯(りし)が秦の天下統一前後の政策に加わっていくのに比べて考えると、秦国の政治が当初は法家的立場をとっていなかったことを意味しており、興味深い。

［鶴間和幸］

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