秦皇烧书书未绝

The Non-Disappearing of Books after the Burning of Books by Emperor Qinshihuang

秦始皇三十五年的焚书坑儒运动,使不少人发出了秦"少书"、"无书",以至于国家"书绝"的浩叹。但实际上,秦不仅有自己的史乘典册,还在咸阳专门建有"书府"以收藏各种文书。即便是在焚书运动中,烧书也是有范围限制的,医药、卜筮、种树以外的"禁书"也是允许在书府、丞相府、御史大夫处和博士处保存的。这些典籍与民间藏书一起流传于后世,为《史记》、《汉书》等文献所载录。

The burning books and burying Confucian scholars alive in the 35th year of Emperor Qinshihuang’s reign made a lot of people sigh with the words that the State of Qin＂lacked books＂,＂had no books＂to the extent of＂the disappearance of books＂.However,in fact,the State of Qin not only had its own historical books and books of imperial edicts,but had a so-called＂Book Edifice＂in Xianyang for keeping different documents.Even during the movement of burning books and burying Confucian scholars alive,there was a restriction on what books can be burnt.In addition,the＂banned books＂excluding medicine,divination and tree-planting were also allowed to be kept at book offices,prime minister’s palace,the place of Yushidafu,an official in the central government in charge of historical record,and the place of Boshi,an official in the central government in charge of training court officials.All these books and collected books among the folks are passed down for the later generations,which were recorded in Historical Records and History of the Former Han Dynasty.