Question
Asked by emma | Aug. 19, 2012 23:22
About:Emperor Qin Shi Huang

Was Shi Huangdi remembered as a hero or a villain?

Answers (15)
Answered by Alisa | Aug. 20, 2012 04:03
10830Reply
Actually, the evaluation of an emperor depends on both sides: the positive and the negative. As he unified the six nations of taht time and founded Qin Dynasty. From this aspect, he can be considered as a hero. However, his action of burning books and burying Confucian scholars aliveduring his term was really undecent. Priobably, he was critisized due to this matter, to some degree. Besides, people may think it is not a good action to construct the Terracotta Warriors, while, if not, we cannot enjoy the magnificent masterpiece.
Answered by Flora | Aug. 20, 2012 04:04
4359Reply
It is hard to judge Qinshihuang just in one side--hero or villain. He had made great achievements. However, he also had made some damages to historical culture. We need to judge him in both two sides.
Answered by Guest | Sep. 18, 2012 12:52
3825Reply
Traditionally he was remembered by the ordinary citizenry as a tyrant despite his many achievements. And he was immortalized in ballads and operas for his tyranny.
Answered by Marty from Australia | Oct. 25, 2012 01:38
2743Reply
I guess a hero because the good things he did kind of over ride all the bad things he did. The bad things he did were really bad though. I'm doing him in history at the moment. Very good question.
Answered by reece from australia | Sep. 11, 2013 21:11
3532Reply
qin shi huangdi is a heartless tyrant.
Answered by Teacher's favorite Student from Merica | Dec. 08, 2015 18:03
3713Reply
Around the Qin Dynasty era, in my opinion he can be considered a Hero. Although he had many of his subjects suffer their lives and mostly facing casualties for the creation of the Great Wall of China, it was done for the sake of their survival against northern intruders. The unification of six nations can also be considered a heroic act as it brought many people together and had them united. Shi Huang di had the written documents of Confucius burnt as they went against his teachings. He had also arrested the 460 Confucianism scholars and had them killed because more negative things might have been going on in their minds about him. He also forced the movement of over 120,000 ex-feudal lords into empire's capital in Xianyang where he can keep a close look at their actions. There might be more negative things that appear on your lists than positive things, but the negative things can be viewed in different ways to give him more of a heroic look than a villain look.
Answered by anonymous from USA | Mar. 16, 2016 18:57
3314Reply
He was a villain because he buried 460 scholars alive, he burned thousands of books, he took pills of mercury to be immortal, he made thousands of slaves build worthless terracotta warriors to fight gods, he killed his first wife, and there is many more. The only good thing he did was build the great wall of china and that could also be bad because the majority of the 700,000 people who built it died.
Answered by Anonymous from Yugeslavia | Jun. 05, 2016 22:23
188Reply
Many people believe he is a hero others believe he is a Villain​
Many believe he is a hero because of the great wall of china it protected many citizens from the Mongolians. ​
However others believe he was a Villain because of the burning of the books and burying alive 460 Confucius Scholars.​
Even still Many citizens believed he was a ruthless Tyrant​
(In Qin shi's eyes the scholars posed as a threat for possibly starting a rebellion. ​
Answered by pretzeliser from lalaloopsy | Jun. 08, 2016 05:26
2110Reply
This is a very interesting and debatable question. His burning of the books was rather very un hero-like but we must also remember this decision was also influenced by his minister Li Si who insisted on total control around the emperor and Legalism., (following the rules or suffering severe consequences). The final choice, was of course, Qin Shi Huangdi's decision which is what makes it so horrifying. He also standardised the weights, measures, languages and many other things in the new united Ancient China so messages and trading and a bunch of other things but he did become paranoid about dying and the several assassination attempts and plots against him added to his paranoia. He also spent vast amounts of money when he became obsessed about mortality and its limits to try and find various ingredients for the 'elixir of immortality' that would make you immortal, or even better for him, the hopes of finding the elixir of immortality itself. He also delivered gruesome and painful punishments to those who didn't follow his orders such as burying them alive or disembowelling them. He also buried some of these rule-breakers alive in the Great Wall of China. On the other hand he unified China and achieved many great things in his reign.
Answered by Liliana from Australia | Mar. 26, 2017 03:01
78Reply
As some people have said Qin Shi Huang was known too be a villain as well as a hero cause he made some really good achievements and add some really bad mistakes
Answered by Caleb bethwork from USA | Oct. 18, 2017 21:19
38Reply
Thanks
Answered by A kid searching for answer about history from USA | Dec. 20, 2017 23:57
70Reply
He should be know as a villain because he damaged historical culture by burying all other religions except legalism and killed many people, you might think that he united the country, created pictographs, and made rules to keep people in order; but he only did that for his own good, he did it to keep his dynasty and power all to himself.
Answered by kalila from Italy | Feb. 22, 2018 18:23
13Reply
Thank you, someone agrees with me
Answered by Trav from Australia | Nov. 10, 2018 18:32
00Reply
Very good feedback thanks helped a lot!
Answered by lucas from Singapore | May. 09, 2019 04:19
00Reply
I think that he is a hero as he standardized the currency and script of China to those of the QIn state. The standard currency made trading fair and efficient as well as more convenient so that people from other countries were able to use the half liang coins to trade. Qin Shi Huang also established a tax system and introduced building projects which contributed to the development of China. He alsoexpanded military forces and defense to fight against the XiongNu who raided south into the northern border of China and brought peace and stability against the XiongNus.

the bad thing he did was that he burnt books that were written by shclors as he thought ot was useless and he did not want people to rebel agianst him.
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