Victor A. Espinoza
February 9, 2021
Professor Fan
The First Emperor Sima Qian PSA 1
The primary source is a collection of historical records by historiographer Sima Qian.
After reading the primary source, we gain more insight regarding gender relations, philosophy,
and religious practices are present throughout the selections of Sima Qian.
The differences between men and women are present throughout the reading. Men hold
powerful positions such as emperor, ministers, generals, Confucius scholars, and politicians. In
contrast, the max title a woman can receive in this society is empress or chief consort. It is clear
that this is a patriarchy dominated this society and was considered the norm. Men in this society
had political and military power, education, and wealth. The men that are mentioned in this
source are mostly from the elite class and hold lucrative titles and professions that benefited
them and their family or clan. Lu Buwei, Li Si, had chief minister title. The generals who
commanded armies of men such as General Meng Tian was a famous general who built the great
wall of china and whose family was esteemed by the emperor. The emperor was the supreme
authority. Time keeping would be based on the years of the emperor. The seventh year of the
emperor means the seventh year of rulership. Before unification, war was common during this
time period. Feudal states would attack each other and thus kings would send a hostage son to
maintain peace. Confucius scholars were men as well thus making me conclude that education
was limited to men.
The reading begins with a King of Qin and Crown Prince Anguo. The reading mentions
that Anguo had more than twenty sons from different women. It is clear to say that polygamy
was practiced by elite males. Polygamy was common practice and was not disapproved in
society. Since ancient Chinese culture is patrilineal this increased the change of having a male
son as heir to the throne. It is unclear if male peasants practiced polygamy like their leaders.
There isn’t any account of the life of peasants other than those who were musicians (lute player),
swordsmen and when they are mentioned on how they should be ruled and observed.
Moving on, the women mentioned in this source play roles as wives, mothers and
concubines. There is no record in this source where a woman has the role of a military general,
politician, marquis, or scholar. These titles and professions are appeared to be occupied by
males. With this information I conclude that women in this time had no major political or
military power. Also, education was probably limited for women since their main role was in the
domestic sphere. Instead, I believe that they would spend most of their time in the domestic
sphere raising their own children and being servants to the king.
In addition, while the king is allowed to have many concubines, the concubines
themselves were restricted to have other male partners. This is evident when Queen Dowager
secretly illicit relations with Lü Buwei; a man who’s title is Chief Minister. This secrecy in
plotting to place Lao Ai is evident that this was at least considered illegal or taboo. The living
quarters of concubines were also protected and monitored by guards who were eunuchs-men that
have been castrated. Thus, making concubines exclusively for the emperor or crown prince.
Not all the names of women are recorded in this source. Only the most important women
such as the mother and wife of the emperor are recorded. The names of other concubines are not
mentioned. Also, there must have been rankings within concubines. This is evident in the
beginning part of the source where Lord Angou makes Lady Huayang as “chief consort”. The
honor for the chief consort stems from the king, hence the reason why Lady Huoyang sought to
place Zichu as her son and heir to maintain her honor. Women who were concubines saw the
necessity to give birth to a male child. This is a patriarchal society in which the power goes
straight to males. Thus Lady, Huayang distress in not bearing a male child. With this, we
conclude that there was a preference for male children.
Moving on, there is insight of philosophies such as legalism and Daoism that are present
in their form of government. The first emperor ruled under legalist principles. We see how he
centralizes power to himself while also taking away lands from the nobles. Antique practice such
as enfeoffed sons was not practiced by the emperor. The first emperor having been questioned by
ancient writings ordered to burn all of the books such as Songs, Documents and the sayings of a
hundred schools except for medical and agricultural writings. The emperor also rewarded and
highly held those who protected him from the assassination attempt by Jing Ke. Also, under the
rule of the Second-Generation Emperor, he instilled stricter laws and harsher punishments. The
legalist principle of mutual responsibly is present when punishment involves others. There is
more insight in what kind of punishment this society inculcated. Mutilation, castration,
banishment, forced labor, and death by the third degree in which your descendants and family
are killed. These seem like cruel punishments in today’s society but normal in ancient times.
With these types of laws and punishments, perhaps citizens were more obedient and controlled.
Also, forced labor as a punishment was a convenient way to increase the manpower used to
complete the great walls of china.
Li Si rejects the virtue of Daoism. Li Si mentions how there is “no greater disgrace than
lowliness. . .and to commit oneself to a lack of purposive activity.” Daoism is a form of
philosophy that calls for going with the flow and letting nature take its course and in this case Li
Si rejects it by taking a course of action.
As for religious practice and spiritual beliefs of this society, we have a wealth of
information regarding the sacrifices, spirit mountains, and the 8 spirits. The sacrifices that Sima
Qian mentions includes a pilgrimage to the sacred sites in which the emperor performs Feng and
Shan sacrifices in Mount Tai and Mount Yi. This society believes in heaven, but not as the
heaven in Judeo Christianity. The emperor rules under the mandate of heaven meaning that he is
entitled and the chosen one. Heaven is more like a power or force rather than a place where one
transcends and dwells in the afterlife. If the emperor loses the mandate, heaven will send
calamities. Also, this society believes in ghosts and spirits to which they must make sacrifices
and in return the spirits send down blessings. If there is wrongdoing, spirits will not accept the
offerings. This continued throughout imperial china and justified the rule of dynasties. According
to the source there are 8 spirits each unique and different. The place of worship was also in
different locations.
In conclusion, the primary source provides a wealth of information about gender
relations, philosophies, and religious practices of this ancient society. Men and women had stark
differences and roles. It’s evident that men had positions of power while women remained in the
domestic sphere. Philosophies such as Confucianism, legalism and Daoism are mentioned in the
texts confirming that there were different schools of thought in this time. Religious practices and
spiritual beliefs such as the sacrifices to the ghosts, spirits and holy sites is evident that this
society believed in the afterlife.