Qin Shi Huang: his name endures today not just in every "Made in China"
label on the imports flooding western markets, but more significantly in
China's strong political and economic presence on the world stage.
Emperor of Stone: Qin and the Terra Cotta Armies takes a detailed look
at Qin's major accomplishments, achievements whose long shadow through
time continue to shape China today. But the book does more. It is
impossible to understand Qin without a sense of culture into which he
was born, so I have also described the shifting and evolving landscape
from the practical optimism of Confucius in the perfectibility of man,
through the "Mandate. of Heaven" and on to the legalist views of Li
Si-that ultimately shaped his thinking and brought about the Great Wall,
the terra cotta warriors...and his own ruin.
About Author
Glenn Fieber
Before 2001,China was for me mostly rice and acupuncture. Chopsticks and fortune cookies.
But
when l moved to Beijing to teach in 2001- and learned that there are no
fonune cookies there-I began my love affair wim China.The next year I
was invited to Shanghai Maritime University；it was the beginning of six
memorable years of teaching writing and English. What’s more.when I
participated in a transition of Margaret Atwood’s Blind Assassin. I was
foreed to reconsider the magnifieence of language with new eyes.
As
well, my wife and I traveled widely-from Xinjiang and Tibet in the
west，to Inner Mongolia， in the north，Qingdao in the east and Hong Kong，
Guangzhou，and Haifian in the south. Everywhere， we were dazzled by the
beauty and diversity of the culture, and all under one roof！
But the
heart of this rich mystery of a country is in Xi’an.I made four trips to
the museum there.each one a journey in time and space.
In order to
understand a thing.1 write about it. To enable my western mind to
understand eastern culture-how people can bend for twelve hours a day
seven days a week growing rice-I wrote. I have contributed articles on
culture，health，travel，media and translation to that's Shanghai and
Shanghsi Talk. One of those articles，in fact，on Oin Shi Huang and the
terra cotta wardors. led me to the wrign of Emperor of Stone. Qin andthe
Terra Cotta Armies.
Confucius
With
the decline of the Zhou dynasty, the country lacked a strong central
government, so that relationships with the other states were unstable.
But it had been that way even before the Warring States Period. During
the time of Confucius （551-479 BC） in fact, which - if you believe the
titles "Spring and Autumn Period" and "Age of Chivalry"-should have been
a more congenial period, intrigue still lingered in the air like dust
from battle. Confucius, a resident of Lu, had been appointed by the
government as the Minister of Agriculture. At the time, farmers were
unhappy and grain production was low. Grain merchants were using
over-sized measures to tally the farmers' crops but crediting the
farmers with only a standard one. In this way, the farmers were paid for
much less than their actual production. Confucius executed the corrupt
officials, and when he had finished his reforms, agricultural production
was up and farmers were, for the first time in a long time, happy
because they were no longer being cheated. He also strengthened the army
to make Lu less vulnerable to attack.
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