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CI]APTER 6

Asoka and Shi Huangdi:Honey and Vinegar

Is it more_effectiae to goaern people bycoercion? Can the carrot be et'fecti.ue withoit

wu huru all rreard it said trrat honey catches more fries than virrt-gar. If instead of trying to t:atch.fli", you are tryi,g to g.r;er. .tlarge kingdom, the q,ruitio., of whether to use force or gentle^ess,harsh laws or ethicai persuasion, can be an important onelThe Buddhist enlperor of India, Asoka Miurya (291_232 n.c.r)inherited a large, diverse kingdom and attempted_with somesuccess-to use a ,,lawo_f piety,, to hold it together. Asoka,sChi-

nese contemporary/ Shi Huangdi (259_210 r...r]), on the othe.lana,created a Chinese empire by ionsciously rejecting tf,. ,ro*t ,trn-dards for rulers prevaient rn his day; he'adopted the rrarsh practiceof destroying all his enemies; befoie th.y h;J-;;il:;;; :":;.",him' Both men were hard-w.rking una J"tf-.onfident, AsoLlt .,-,-.'pire crumbled withi^ fifty y.ars If his deattr, but he was remenr-bered fondly by hisroria,rs, Lspeciary Bud-dhist "^.,

-sni irrr^g..ii,reviled by later confucian historians, Iaid the toundations of an ern-pire that lasted under various dynasties for over ,*o ,norrr"ayears' A 100k at the respectivr: careers of these men wilr auow us toevaluate two different meth,ds of government, and trre differentAsian societies that made each man,f style of rule

""i ""! f.r"ti.but maybe even sensibie. ) -

, Asoka's empire was _centered in the part of northeasteni Indiaknown as Magadha, but his power rpr.uj from Kabul in tire north_west as far east as modern Iiangladesh and as far south

^, inu .,,,of Madras. This Mauryan Empiie p.o,riaeJtne Indian ,.,U.ont,,.,",i"twith greater political unity than iiwas to have uutil modern tir..es.It was founded by Asoka,s grandfathe., Ci rna.ug"pi" f ;.,l.a

moral persuasion or bythe stick?

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66 cHAprER stx: Asoka and Shi Huangdi: Honey and Vinegar

322-299 B.c.E.), aided by his hard-nosed political advisor, Kautilya.Although Asoka came to the throne in 273 B.c.E. after the death ofhis father, Bindusara, he was not formally crowned until 269. Ittook him that long to seize full power from his brothers. Buddhistsources claim he killed between six and ninety-nine of them, theIarger number doubtless an exaggeration.

The cultural, social, and economic vitality and diversity ofthird-century India, when combined with the strong central gov-ernment provided by the Mauryan rulers, made India one of veryfew strong civilizations at that time. In the West, only the empire ofAlexander the Creat rivaled it.

Cultural diversity in India was aided by the relatively "new" re-ligions of Buddhism and Jainism, Both rejected the strict Hinducaste system which placed humans into four principal groups:priests, warriors, traders and merchants, and laborers. These reli-gions also rejected the rituai rules and the power of the Brahmins,or Hindu priests. As noted in an earlier chapter, the Buddha(560-480 B.c,E.) accepted Hindu ideas of moral cause and effect(karma) and of rebirth but simplified Hinduism by arguing that suf-fering and pain were caused by desire, which itself was caused byignorance of spiritual truth. The Buddha's Nobie Eightfold path(right or correct views, aspirations, speech, conduct, livelihood, ef-fort, mindfulness, and meditation) would lead the betever beyondsuffering to Enlightenment, or salvation. This was the Buddhistpath of duty or piety (dharma). We have also seen that Jains fol-lowed the teachings of another sixth-century Feformer, the Mahavira(540-468 B.c.E.), who preached a stricter doctrine of non-violence toall living things than did Buddhists. They also believed that salva-tion could be achieved by a life of strict self-denial that would freethe soul from all attachment to the physical world. After his conver-sion to Buddhism about ten years after his coronation, Asoka,sedicts preaching dharma to his people showed the influence of allthree major Indian religious traditions.

Social and economic diversity in the Indian subcontinent inAsoka's day was caused not only by the racial and linguistic varietythat we still see in India, but also by the system of cistes and sub-castes that existed throughout the empire. Because the caste systemwas an essential part of Hinduism, as the population grew, mem-bers of the caste of merchants and traders were subdivided intohundreds of sub-categories, based upon place of residence, occupa-

cHAprER stx: Asolca and Shi Huangdi: Honey and Vinegar 67

tion,. and-family membership._people were not allowed to marryoutside their caste. In short, there was a place for everyone andeveryone was expected to stay in his or her place. After all, the re-ward for a good and stable rife wourd be rebirth into a higher laste.This traditional Brahmanic teaching was being chuileng'eJ in ,ni,period by Buddhist and Jai. teacrreis but arso 6y the g.8*i.,t

".o-nomic and poiiticar powers of the merchants. Murr.yJ., merciantstraded extensively with both the Greek west anrl witrrin the largeempire. There was a trrriving money economy, and rnercha.tguilds often assumed politicali"rponribilities. They rrt"i-trorp,of soldiers for self-protection,.briirt pubric buildings, -r",i.orr.awages and prices, and were received at court. Mercf,ants broughttaxes and wealth to the empire and were strongly supported by theMauryan rulers.

This, then, was Asoka's worrct, the one to which rre addressedhis famous short sermons on nrorality and ,,piety.,, Those ofAsoka's famous "edicts" that remain are describea by tne surfaceon which they were carved: fourteen Rock Edicts were carve,l o^ro-cks along roadways, at least ten piliar Edicts were ,,written,, olltall-pillars in population centers, and a few Cave Edicts were in-scribed on the walls of caves, prinrarily for the inspiration of Bud-dhist monks. I, an -age without libiaries and electronic massmedia, this was an effective way to communicate. Tradition teilsus that the king, referred to in the edicts as "Beloved of the Gods,,,was converted to Buddhism after a particularry bloody battleagainst.theKalinga people in the southeastern puit of his empire.In this- battle, fought in 262 n.c.e,, about one hundred thousandwere slain and at least that many deported. while Asoka was a for-lower of Buddhism before the Karinga war, this conflict inspired achange of heart in the king. From th-is time until his death, Asokaa.ctively preached dharma to his p,eople through edicts and toursthroughout his lands; he never again'engaged"in a major niilitar,".campaign.

,^_^5t:1. we consign this active monarch to the realm of pious

Iegend as a remorseful but royal monk (as many Buddhist ,orr..,do) or write him off as a cynic wh. used religion, we need to lookmore closely at the nature of his dharma. ThJword dharma is diffi_cult to translate and the concept ,rifficult to understand. wordssuch as piety, duty, and, morality, often used to translate dharma,suggest to many of us a fixed code of beriefs or practices for whicrr

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68 cHAprER stx: Asoka and Shi Huangdi: Honey and Vinegar

an individual can be made strictly accountable. The Sanskrit worddharma refers to the duties demanded by one's station in life. Whilethis varies for each caste, dharma requires all persons to treat oth-ers, especially family, with love and respect; to avoid the thingswhich all men and women generally regard as evil, such as anger,cruelty, envy, and pride; and to seek out that which is good-love,truth, and beauty. It is important to understand that Asoka,s con-cept of dharma was not specifically Hindu, Buddhist, or Jain. For aHindu, especially one in the priestly caste, following dharmawould require the performance of certain rituais; for many Bud-dhists, it involved certain monastic obligations. Beyond u^ior..rg-ing general ethical behavior (the king "desires security, self-controi,impartiality, and cheerfulness for all living creatures,,), Asoka,s in-junctions to his people were vague and ecumenical, showing the in-flu9n9e of all major Indian traditions. ,,Dharma is good,,, h-e wrotein Pillar Edict II, "but what does Dharma consist of? It consists of afew sins and many good deeds, of kindness, liberality, truthfulness,and purity." Who could argue with the wisdom of this? Thesewords might help a Hindu be a better Hin<lu or a Buddhist be amore devout follower of the Noble Eightfold path. And that, in thewords of Rock Edict XII, is what the king wanted: ,,the promotionof each man's particular faith and the glorification of Dhaima.,,1

King Asoka wished his subjects to be rnoral, but he allowedeach to define the details of his or her own rnorality. After the mid-point of his reign, he genuinely believed that ,,ali men are my chil_dren" and as such are capable of bein[ trained and persuaded tolive a good life. This required hard woik, and Asoka set an exam-ple. He was a "morning person,,, rising early and engaging inpraye.rs and meetings with the household staff before aeihng witnbroader financial and military affairs. Breakfast at nine wis fol-lowed by meetings with his council of minir;ters and reports fromhis agents. Some agents were dharma,matramatas, or ,,moralityministers," who worked to see that the poor were not mistreatedand that the affairs of the various religious cr:mmunities were han-dled correctly. Asoka also built ,,rest stops,, for weary travelers,dug wells, and kept roads in repair.

But, if Asoka wished his people to be rnoral and reasonablycomfortable, he also wanted them to conti:nue paying taxes. Hemay have been a missionary, but he was not naive. In oie edict, the"Beloved of the Gods" invited even the ,,forest people,, in the

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cH,4prER srxi Asokn and Shi Huangdi: Honey and Vrnt:gttr 69

remote sections of his.domains "to adopt this way of life and thisideal," He reminded them, however, ,,t'hat he u*u..ir", tt.'"'p1.,,u".to punish, despite his repentance, in order to induce trrem io clesistfrom their crimes."2 Asoka's Buddhist and Jain-i^spiruJ ailtit

" orviolence never resurted in a lifting of the deaih p"*i,f -ur,

"ii.,rp,to create a "national,, or.,,imperial,, morality,^whilJ, fr".ir., "fgenuine conviction, was also ;i shrewd way for the mo,ra'ichlo ."n-tralize imperial authority.in a large, culturaily air".r" .,.,.i,.". n"fi-gious toleration can be virtuous;-it can arso te gooa poiii.r-,"r.'",.,one's empire contains dozerLs of different uni .o*p"tirrj sects.Kautilya, the hard-headed political realist who had helpedoChu,,-dragupta create the tr4auryin empire, would have fou.c1 rnuch tocommend in Asoka's poricy. Even the strong Buddrrist flavor ofAsoka's d*rarma was attractive to the commerciar classes, ,,vh. cle-sired a moral aiternative to Flindu caste restrictio^s. Asoka,s er1-phasis on non-violence appealed to the Jains, while his acceptance(though not necessarily errcouragu*""t1'oi.r* p.".ii.i, )j"io"ogiving offense to the Hindus. In lromoting this bioad but stiriveryIndian ethical code, Asoka, irr the words-of one scholar, l,_o, ,,-tempting to reform the ,arroin, attitude of religious ,;;.ilg ;;';."tect the weak against the strong, and to promote trrroughout theempire a consciousness of sociar-behavior io broad in ii, i.op"'tnotno cultural group could object to it.,,3

. Pro_tecting the weak against the strong was the least of tlie lr.or_:i"::f King Zheng of ein [the dynasty i p.onoun.ed ,,chin,,

andShi Huangdi was a title meaning First 'Empe.o.1, the man who cre_at:d l Chinese empire out of se"ven warring states in 221 e.c.E. De_spite his great achievement, King Zheng remains an awesome, con_troversial, and somewhat myslerious"figure. The history' oini,reign by historian Sima eian, who wrote'at the beginnini oi tn"first century n.c.e., describes this Xlng oi el., us f,r,rlif

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nose/ eyes rike srits, a chicken breast,"and a voice like a jackar. li" ismerciless, with the heart of-a tiger or wolf.,,a Th; a;.;;;;n'i.peror was clearlv a man to be reckoned with. Both friend ind foefound him formidable-and that was the way he liked it.. , tf"r coming to the throne of ein n Z46at the age of thirteen, itP"f ryig_Zheng rwenry-five years Io .onqru. the othEr rl, il;;;_,in the Yellow River valiey.r"g ,g

""ify Ci_,ir,r. King Zheng (rhen ShiHuangdi, or First Emperor) mled over'the unified Cjlin"ru?rloi."'fo.onlv eleven vears untir his death in ri;'ilhililIff.Jl5il,"o

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70 IHAPTER stx: Asoka and Shi Huangdi: Honey and Vinegar

and some still argue about the wisdom of his policies and-the nature

of his contribution to Chinese history. Chinese folktales lament the

suffering caused by the building of the Great wall and other imperial

projectsllt is understandable that a ma'.. strong enough to create an

Lmpire out of the feudal disorder that had plague{ China for cen-

turies might make a few enemies in the process, Yet this man can also

be consiiered the father of his country. He laid the foundations for

the later accomplishments of the Han dynasty (205 e.c.s. to 220 c.s.).

Nonetheless, shi Huangdi is almost universally condemned by Chi-

nese historians. This anlmosity stems in part from the fact that they

were Confucians and he was not. That he executed 460 Confucian

scholars and sent others into exile after ordering all their texts

burned may have also contributed to their dislike'The roots of this conflict go back several centuries and require

some review of the philosophy of Confucius, treated in chapter 3.

Confucius $51479 B.c.E.), a Sreat master of ethical philosophy, em-

phasized a moral code based on Il (propriety) and len (humanity).

by observing proper rituals and showing respect for parents and an-

cestors, on" du*-or,strated self-control and self-respect. Confucius

believed in authority, but he stressed the importance of virtuous be-

havior on the part of the ruler. If a ieader practiced charity and good

faith in dealing with his subjects, his kingdom would be well-governed. If alltfficials from the ruler to the local magistrate acted

in accordance with the virtues of li and jen, lhe result would be

order and obedience in the land. A later Confucian thinker, Mo Tzu(4Z9-38L s.c.s.), went even further and arguef that rulers should

feed and clothe their people, avoid war altogether, and trust in the

natural goodness of people to follow "the path of rlghteousness"'

Eduiation, especiaily one which stressed the values of the past

and loyalty to the family, was important to these men. scholarshipwas a'path to virtue, Though this view of politics and moralitywould have been congenial to Asoka, it was alien to the rulers 9fthe state of Qin, a "barbarian" frontier land' Barbarian or not, how-

ever, the rulers of Qin during the fourth century were quicker than

their more civilized Chinese neighbors to end feudalism and create

a strong central government, backed by a system of taxation and a

powerful army, Without the family and feudal outbursts that kept

other states in a condition of near-constant civil war, the Qin rulers

were able to defeat the armies of the states of Han, Zhao, Wei, Yan,

and Qi during the late fourth and early third centuries s.c.p. By the

* Or*ngx:AEltowdShl lluargdriilloneya*dVinegar 71

time Zheng became King of Qin in 246 e.c., his state was already themost powerful in the Yellow River valley and had rejected Confu-cian virtues of moderation and kindness in favor of the very differ-ent philosophy of Legalism.

At the Qin court, the Legalist ideas of Han Feizi, were ad-vanced by Li Si, chief advisor to King Zheng and a guiding forcebehind many of his policies. They believed that harsl-r laws, speed-ily enforced, were more useful than moral example in securing obe-dience from subjects. They also suggested that troops were more ef-fective than tedious Confucian rituals and etiquette. "Talent andwisdom," wrote Han Feizi, "are not sufficient to subdue themasses, but power and position are abie to subject even men of tal-ent." Legalists advocated what we would today call a strong, secu-lar, amoral state. You can win by doing the things that your ene-mies would be ashamed io do, one Legalist text advised. Legalist"philosophy and Qin ambitiorr r,r,ere rnade for each other. Li Si got a

job and a chance to be a powerful man. The Qin ruler found solne-one who would tell him that killing sr:veral hundred soldiers afterthey surrendered was not really all that bad. Li Si advised his kingto bribe the feudal lords of other states; "as for those who were un-willing, they would be stabbed with sharp swords" and tire armysent to finish the job.s

Despite (or perhaps because of) his Legalist disdain for moral-ity, Shi Huangdi's specific,and lasting achievements were impres-sive. He turned China from a patchwork of squabbling kingdomsinto a state governed from a central capital at Xian Yang. WhenKing Zheng conquered a state, he sent the ruling family and otherswho might challenge his power to his capital-and sold their land.He also organized his realm into provinces and prefectures, or coun-ties. The former were originally military districts, while tl-re latterwere administrative ones and used for purposes of tax collection.Eventually, civil and military leaders u,ere placed in each province.Since these officials were not members of the emperor,s family or ofhigh noble rank (as they might have been under the old system),there was less chance they would try to challenge the empeior. Be-sides, placing a number of major officials in each of his ihirty-sixprovinces almost guaranteed that they would quarrel with eachother; this left final authority in the hantis of the emperor.

Shi Huangdi's centralization extentled io standardized weightsand measures, the characters used to write the Chinese ianguage

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72 cHAprER slx: Asoka and Shi Huangdi: Honey and Vinegar

(to allow officials to communicate with those who spoke dialects),and even the length of cart axles so that all carts could use the sametracks. The First Emperor also oeated the first civil service and paidofficials in coin, not in land, out of the taxes they helped collect.There were no private armies during Shi Huangdi's reign, and thelaws of the land were public, if very harsh. Finally, the new emperorbuilt many roads, several hundred new palaces, and elaborate de-fensive fortifications in the north, known later as the Great Wall.

The latter building projects illustrates Shi Huangdi's extrava-gance, His Great Wall, which connected and strengthened existingfortifications, was needed to protect China from the nomadic tribesof Turks and Mongols, that periodicaliy attacked and devastatedChinese cities. Whether China needed a gigantic wall with numer-ous watchtowers, however, is debatabie. The nearly 1 million menwho labored and died building it over twelve years would haveprobably disagreed. Nearly as many men, seven huLndred thousand,spent thirty years building an elaborate tomb fo:: the emperor atMount Li, near Xian and the Yellow River. Part of the tomb con-sisted of a three-acre flat-roofed underground vauit containing life-sized, individualized statues of an army of eight thousand men andhorses, including full-scale bronze chariots and chrrioteers and im-ages of all members of the emperor's family and household staff.While Shi Huangdi was not the first to construct an eiaborate gravesite (earlier, Shang dynasty rulers buried real people instead of stat-ues), the magnitude of Shi Huangdi's efforfhelps us understandwhy some called him a megalomaniac.5

He also built 270 palaces near his capital, some of them replicasof those of his conquered enemies. These were just-ified for securityreasons, since they allowed him to sleep in a different place everynight. One precise and telling example of the emperor/s arroganceis found in Sima Qian's history. On one occasio:n, a "great gale"prevented the ruler's ship from crossing the Yangtze River near thetemple of Mount Xiang. In order to punish the local goddess, thePrincess of the River Xiang, "the emperor in his rage made threethousand convicts cut down all the trees on Mou:nt Xiang, leavingthe mountainbare."T Clearly, this man took himself very seriously.He believed himself to be the first of a line of ten thousand emperors.Shi Huangdi's inscriptions did not urge men to live morally; theybragged that "his influence knows no end, his will is obeyed and hisorders will remain through eternity,"8

cHAprER stx: Asoka atd Shi Huangdi: Honey and Vincgar 73

of course, shi Huangdi's enemies and their ideas did outrrvehim. By the end of the ein dynasty in 206 a.c.r., the philosophy ofLegalism was thoroughly discredited by the exiesse, tt'st-,iHuangdi and his son. Both Han Feizi and Li si died violent deaths.It was fitting that the first of the rebellions that broke out after shiHuangdi's death was led by two fa,mers who were late in report-ing for forced labor on'one of the imperial projects. srnce thep.enalty for being iate was immediate execution, they decided theirchances of survival would be better if they started a re'olt. It r,r,asthe first of many that led to the collapse of the ei. empire. Had thelaw been less stringent, this revolt m;ry not have started.

Confucian historians quickry made this point, beginnrng withthe famous essay on "The Fauits of ein,,, *iitte., by rtan alnastypoet and statesman Jia Yi (201-169 s.c.e.). He remarked on thl mili_tary.skill of Qin generals but then aslced why such a feared dynastycould be overthrown with such rerlative ease. Jia's answer hus

:*o:d through twenty centuries of Chinese history: ,,Because itfailed to rule with humanity and righteousness and to realize thatthe power to attack and the power to retain what one has won arenot the same."e The general verdict was that Shi Huangdi and hisdynasty got what they deserved. Wer might note in purJing Confu_cian historians insincerity and self-righteousness. None of Ihe'-r re-gretted Chinese unification, only the methods used to acl.iieve it,_ Perhaps the moral of this s1s11r, if there is one, is that botrrhoney and vinegar are necessary. oire historian of China rras writ-ten that although "force can never give a permanent unity. . itsuse may.be necessary to establish this unity in the beginning.,, Theaccomplishments of the Han, period wouid irave beJn imp"ossiblewithout the achievements of the p,eceding ein empire.lb Asokawas both realistic and pious. He reieived better treatment from his-torians than did shi Huangdi, but his empire survived him by onlya few decades. At least Asoka did understand that force (ad itsplace but that some things simpry cannot be forced, In one of hisedicts, he noted that "peopre cu.,6e induced to advance in dharmaby only two means, by moral prescriptions and by meditation.,, Heconfessed that morals were 'bf little consequenie but meditationwas of great importance . . , it is by meditition tr'rat peopie ha,reprogressed in Dharma most.,,11

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