Analysis on "Records of the Grand Historian"

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Analysis on Records of the Grand Historian
Records of the Grand Historian is a record detailing the history of ancient China from the times of the fabled Yellow Emperor to the reign of Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty, in which Sima Qian (the author) lived. Sima Qian wrote the monumental masterpiece to honor the wishes of his father Sima Tan, Grand Astrologer, to the imperial court and took 18 years to write the history of China and its neighboring nations, thereby setting a pattern of organization that was to be followed by subsequent historians. Records of the Grand Historian contains significant events, topics, and personalities of the past who had significantly influenced the landscape of China.
One important period covered in the historical document is that of the first dynasty of Imperial China, founded by Qin Shi Huang. Although the Qin sought to create a unified state and introduced a range of reforms, many of which were beneficial to the general populace, the first emperor was a tyrannical leader who brought great suffering to his people until Chu Sheng, a common peasant, led an uprising that resulted in the eventual demise of the Qin dynasty. This essay will examine how the rising of the universal commoner brought about the destruction of a tragic hero as it is documented and narrated in the Records of the Grand Historian.
Sima Quin describes the Qin dynasty as a rule that steadily rose to great power after the collapse of the Zhou dynasty that had lasted for several hundred years. Immediately after ascending to the throne, the First Emperor of the Qin set about uniting the country with a heavy-handed form of bureaucracy that inspired hatred among the general populace given its harsh laws. The author states that the Qin became rich and powerful by constructing a canal that diverted water into the plains within the pass at Hukou, thereby allowing the region to become fertile and providing the sustenance the dynasty needed to conquer all other feudal lords and unite the empire. However, this love for undertaking large projects caused the Qin dynasty to bring great oppression on the common people so that they eventually rebelled, bringing the rule to an abrupt end shortly after the death of its First Emperor. Sima Quin states that the ruler took all the able-bodied men to fight back the barbarians from the empire's border.
The others he engaged in implementing various constructions works and projects so that the few men who remained could not provide enough food and "though the women wove and spun, they could not produce enough clothing" (Watson, 85). The Qin ruler was criticized for using all the country's wealth and resources on his projects and expeditions, so the general populace was always lacking. The huge projects were numerous consumed everything, and it was inevitable that the common people would suffer at the service of the ambitious ruler. In his bid to colonize and rule over as much land as possible, he sent large forces to attack the barbarians and seize their lands. He also spent huge resources constructing ramparts and establishing border defenses along the border: "the whole line of defenses stretched over 10,000 li from Lintao to Liaodong and even extended across the Yellow...