Thursday, April 11, 2013

Opinion/ Editorial


Was it necessary to burn books and bury scholars?

         Would you ever burn books just so people could not read them? Would you ever burn anyone alive? That is exactly what Emperor Qin did.  He believed that people should not think out of the box and if anyone was against him then they should be punished. To limit people on how they should think is an awful thing; just as punishing people for their opinions. “To prevent his people to think freely, he burnt many books which he feared would affect people's thinking (travelchinaguide.com).” some of these books were Confucian books. He believed that the books would encourage people to think spontaneously which he did not approve of. So he improperly burnt these books. This is a terrible occurance because it is limiting the right of education. Any information in those books have been taken from the people.

          Along with the burning of books, he also buried scholars alive. “after he learnt some scholars' discussions about his arrogance, he buried 460 of them alive (travelchinaguide.com).” This is indispicable; to portray such onslaught is unbearable. The people simply had an opinion and beacause he did not approve of it, he buried them alive. I do not understand how someone could act that cruel to other beings. What type of example is he setting for his dynasty? He is basically showing his people that if they do not like someone’s opinion they can kill them. I think the actions of Emperor Qin were wrong and disrespectful.

                                                                                                                Staff Writer                 

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