Qin Shi Huang was a prominent figure in history, which had a profound impact on future generations, and the debate about his merits and deeds has never stopped, and it can be said that there are distinct two-sidedness and confrontation in his body.
He can be a rare hero or a cruel and faint villain, but no matter from what angle you understand him, you have to admit his great achievements in economic, political, ideological and cultural aspects.
After Qin Shi Huang ascended the throne in the early years, he had the great ideal of destroying the six kingdoms and realizing the hegemony of unifying the world, and at the beginning he followed the principle of "outside must first be at home", and after calming down the internal chaos, he set his sights on the six kingdoms of the princes, or designed a rift, or married and showed goodwill, or "attacked from afar and closely", annexed the six kingdoms in one fell swoop, and created an unprecedented unified hegemony.
But this is not his ultimate goal, even if the unified writing, unified weights and measures, unified currency measures were carried out, to a certain extent, the process of civilization was promoted, and among the various achievements, he gave China a domineering name, which has been used to this day.
Qin Shi Huang named China "Zhonghua"
As the first emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, made many groundbreaking events. He not only destroyed the six countries to complete the unification of the world, but also carried out measures to unify the writing, weights and measures, and unified currency, and completed the great unification in the true sense.
At the same time, he also organized a large number of people to complete the construction of the Great Wall to resist the enemy's surprise attack. In some respects, he can be said to have achieved fame and has a strong governing strategy. Today, there are still many people who call themselves "sons and daughters of China", and the origin of the word "Zhonghua" is inextricably linked to Qin Shi Huang.
It is said that during the period of the Three Emperors and Five Emperors, "Zhong", as the name suggests, was the center of the continent, that is, the Heluo region of the Central Plains, which was located in the center of the continent at that time.
But the interpretation of "Hua" is that Hua refers to Huaxu, according to the records in the "Liezi Yellow Emperor", Huaxu is the mother of Fuxi and Nuwa, and has a certain relationship with the Yan Emperor and the Yellow Emperor, and the other layer of "Hua" means to represent the origin of human beings and the starting point of initial development, and "Zhong" is the place where people live.
When Qin Shi Huang ascended to the throne to complete the great unification, he also racked his brains for his own title, carefully studied various historical books, and finally took the title of "emperor".
The name is given the meaning of meritorious service to the Three Emperors and Five Emperors, and each of them takes a word as his title, and since he was the first king in history to use "emperor", he was also known as the "First Emperor".
Judging from the course of historical development and its influence on future generations, his historical achievements were great, and during his reign he discovered the mystery of the word "Zhonghua" and merged it into one word.
Since then, the word Zhonghua has been inherited and passed down, and the Chinese who grow up on this land today proudly call themselves "sons and daughters of China", which shows the great influence, after more than 2,000 years, it can still be preserved intact.
A discussion of the origin of the word Zhonghua
In addition to the saying that Qin Shi Huang named "Zhonghua", there is another kind of research on the origin of these two words, it is said that in Baoji's Tiantai Mountain, there is a strange peak in the mountain called Tianzhu Peak, and then there is a lotus top that can form various different scenery with the change of light and shadow, and this lotus top has another peculiar name "Sanwei ShengqiHua".
It is said that this lotus flower top has a great origin, and has a deep relationship with The Yan Emperor, and the legend is that the tribal leader of the Heavenly Emperor tianxia gave an order, saying that he could create a ladder into a heavenly ladder overnight, and let the sea grow a stone chain, and this person was the king of the world, in charge of the world's major affairs, and ruled the people of the world.
Later, only Emperor Yan fulfilled this order, and he deservedly became the emperor of the world, with supreme power and glory, and at that time, Emperor Yan created the Pillar Peak and Lotus Peak in this Baoji Tiantai Mountain.
However, the Yandi Shennong clan eventually ate poisonous herbs by mistake while tasting hundreds of herbs, and unfortunately died, and in order to commemorate the Yandi Emperor, the descendants took the lotus top from the harmonic sound and called it "Zhonghua".
The Yan Emperor and the Yellow Emperor are the ancestors of China, and as one of the ancestors of the Chinese nation, the Yan Emperor has become a synonym for China. However, this kind of legend about the origin of "Zhonghua" is more mythological, and there is no specific historical data to support it, so it loses its authenticity, so after comparison, Qin Shi Huang named the word "Zhonghua" more credible.
The extended significance of Chinese civilization in modern China
There is a figure named Liang Qichao in modern times, and for him, the greatest achievement is the reform of style, which in a certain sense has promoted the process of China's historical civilization and played a vital role in the development of modern China. In fact, he also creatively proposed the concept of "Chinese nation".
In the late 1890s, Liang Qichao pioneered the use of the word "nation" in the modern sense in his article "Eastern Yuedan".
He wrote: "In the changes of nations, in the situations of society, in the similarities and differences in politics ... It is possible to elaborate on it", and further said that "those who write recent histories often devote themselves to the changes in their national competitions and changes, and the troubles and troubles of policies are mixed."
Subsequently, he once again pioneered the concept of the "Chinese nation", dividing the history of the Chinese nation into three eras, namely the history of the upper, middle and modern worlds, in which the term "Chinese nation" was repeatedly used, and then on the basis of the "Chinese nation", he repeatedly polished and revised, and finally put forward the concept of "Chinese nation" that caused a sensation in the whole country.
He talked a lot about the word Zhonghua in "On the General Trend of Changes in Chinese Academic Thought", but the definition of Zhonghua in his writings during this period was not yet clear, sometimes "Zhonghua" specifically referred to the Han nationality, and sometimes to all the ethnic groups in China.
After further reflection and verification, he made it clear that the composition of the Chinese people has the characteristics of complexity and diversity, and also recognizes the pluralism and heterogeneity of the Chinese nation, and further creates the term "Chinese nation", which today refers to all the ethnic groups in China.
From ancient times to the present, the meaning of China has changed, because the word Zhonghua has also been given a different meaning for the sake of the times, sometimes calling all ethnic groups Chinese, and sometimes using this term creatively to distinguish it from the surrounding ethnic minorities, which was the meaning of China during the Wei and Jin dynasties.
At present, with the evolution of history and the promotion of the times, the ethnic minorities in history have also become within the scope of the Chinese concept.