On the one hand, he has done a great job in the past, because he has not only completed the hegemony of unifying the world, but also promoted a series of structural reforms and promoted the process of Chinese civilization, on the other hand, he is a tyrant, burning books and imprisoning confucianism, and harsh laws have made the people of the world miserable.
Since the moment Qin Shi Huang became emperor, he has personally been firmly bound to the entire Chinese nation, he once gave China a domineering name, and for more than two thousand years now, China has been using the name that Qin Shi Huang once took.
The unification of the Qin state
Since the Spring and Autumn Period, the divided land of China has formed a situation of division of large and small princes, and in the Warring States period, with the escalation of the struggle for hegemony among the princes, the divided Central Plains land has formed a situation in which seven stronger princes stand side by side, and the Qin state is one of them.
The State of Qin was originally only a small country, but since the time of The Duke of Qin, the State of Qin has completed the road of changing the law and strengthening the country through the Shang Martingale. Shang Martin created a series of strict laws and political systems for the Qin state at that time, completed the reform of the political system, and since the change of law, the strength of the Qin state has been greatly improved both militarily and economically.
Although Shang Martin was killed after the death of Duke Xiao of Qin, the reforms promoted by Shang Martin were preserved, and the subsequent generations of Qin monarchs worked hard to destroy the Bashu Swallowing Righteous Canal, gradually accumulating strength, and the Qin State completed the transformation from a marginal country to a powerful country that could compete with the world.
By the time of the reign of Yingzheng, the State of Qin had accumulated enough strength, and since the destruction of the State of Zhao, the Eastern States no longer had the strength to resist the attack of the Tiger and Wolf of the Qin State, and in 221 BC, the State of Qin destroyed all the kingdoms and finally completed the great cause of unifying the Central Plains.
After the completion of the great cause of reunification, Yingzheng did not stop his steps, and in the following ten years, Yingzheng set up a series of laws and standards for his new empire, changed it into counties and counties, unified currency and weights and measures, built water conservancy, built the Great Wall, and brought Chinese civilization to a new height.
In order to flaunt his thousands of feats, Yingzheng invented an unprecedented title for himself, that is, "Emperor", in his opinion, his own exploits overshadowed the Three Emperors and Five Emperors in the ancient period, which is very suitable for this title, and from the perspective of later generations, Yingzheng is indeed worthy of this domineering title that has never been seen before.
In addition to inventing the groundbreaking title of "Emperor", Qin Shi Huang also gave China a domineering name, that is, "Zhonghua".
The origin of the word "Zhonghua"
"Zhonghua" is a compound word, the word "Zhong" in the two characters is taken from "Zhongyuan", "Hua" is taken from "Huaxia", and the word "Zhonghua" means the Huaxia region located in the Central Plains.
The first record of the use of the word "Zhongyuan" for geographical orientation is found in the Book of Shang, after the Yellow Emperor defeated Xuan You, the world was divided into nine states, and the central Yu Prefecture was also known as "Zhongzhou".
In ancient Times, there were three fertile plains in the Yuzhou region, one of which was the Heluo area, which refers to the plain area centered on the confluence of the Yellow River and the Luo River, which was the central area of ancient China. The second refers to the Huang-Huai Plain, formed by the alluvial of the Yellow River and the Huai River, which was rich in water and grass and had many good fields in ancient times. The third is the Guiyang Basin, which, like the Huanghuai region, is a fertile area suitable for farming.
Therefore, in the ancient period when farming was the mainstay, the Yuzhou region, which was in the middle of the world and had many fertile fields, was called the "Central Plains". In addition, in a broad sense, the Central Plains also refers to the plains of the entire middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, and then with the development of history, the term "Central Plains" has gradually evolved from a geographical concept to a cultural concept.
In the ancient books of the past dynasties, it can be known that the word "Huaxia" has a beautiful, grand meaning, the beauty of the clothing chapter means Hua, and the ceremonial grand meaning is Summer. Before the birth of the term Han, the term Huaxia referred to the people living in the Central Plains.
The Huaxia people originated from the Yanhuang tribe in ancient times, the Yellow Emperor tribe and the Yandi tribe jointly defeated the Xuanyou tribe, and then experienced the Three Emperors and Five Emperors period, the Central Plains established the first feudal dynasty in history, the Xia Dynasty, after which the word "Xia" also had the meaning of China.
After the fall of the Xia Dynasty, "Xia" had the meaning of the remnants of the Xia Dynasty, and in the last year of the Shang Dynasty, the Zhou people united with the remnants of the Xia Dynasty and other tribes to overthrow the rule of the Shang Dynasty and establish the Zhou Dynasty. In the Zhou Dynasty, all those who obeyed the Zhou rites were called Hua people, and the feudal princely states were called "Zhuhua" or "Zhuxia".
Therefore, since the Zhou Dynasty period, the word Huaxia has become a collective name for the people of all ethnic groups living in the cultural circle of the Central Plains, and then after the unification of the Qin and Han Dynasties, the word Huaxia has officially become synonymous with China.
Therefore, the word "Zhonghua" actually contains two meanings, "Zhong" refers to the land where the Chinese lived in ancient times, and the word "Hua" refers to the many tribes and ethnic groups that lived in China from the Yanhuang tribe to the Zhou Dynasty.
The word "Zhonghua" has been used in history
During the Han Dynasty, the word "Zhonghua" appeared in the ancient astronomical book "Astronomical Classic Star Zhonggong", which records that the second star of the four stars of the Eastern Domain is called the second phase, which is located in the direction of the East Gate of China. The East Gate of Zhonghua is the Heavenly Gate east of the legendary Tiangong Taiwei Wall.
In subsequent history, the meaning of the word "Zhonghua" is mostly to refer to China, or the people of the Central Plains, which is different from the Yidi of the border area. In the late Yuan Dynasty Song Lian's essay on the Yuan Dynasty, he once proposed: "Drive out the Hu Yu and restore China", and in the late Qing Dynasty, Sun Yat-sen also put forward this slogan when he carried out revolutionary activities.
Nowadays, the word "Zhonghua" has a new meaning, not only to refer to today's China or the various ethnic groups living in China, but also to the Overseas Chinese living overseas, as long as we have China in our hearts, no matter where we go, we can proudly say that we are the Chinese nation.
epilogue
Although the existence of the Qin Dynasty is very short, the merits of Qin Shi Huang deserve to be remembered by each of our Chinese, who have marked a deep national mark on the Chinese of future generations, and the word Zhonghua has now become a spiritual totem in the hearts of each of our Chinese.
In the history of China for thousands of years, from the ancient tribal period to the feudal society to the modern society, the meaning of China and Huaxia is constantly changing and expanding, but the only constant is the national spirit of our Chinese nation to fight bravely and move forward.
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