“Ruthless efficiency, institutional strength, expansionist. Rewards military merit, punishes dissent. Centralized bureaucracy eliminates feudal aristocracy.”
Biography 傳
Li Si was the chief architect of China's first unification under Qin Shi Huang, serving as Chancellor from 221 BC. A former student of Xunzi alongside Han Fei, Li Si advocated for the abolition of the feudal system and the establishment of centralized bureaucratic governance. He is credited with standardizing weights, measures, coinage, and most significantly, the Chinese writing script — imposing the small-seal (xiaozhuan) style as the empire-wide standard. Li Si also promoted the burning of books and burying of scholars (213 BC), a draconian measure to suppress competing philosophical traditions. After the First Emperor's death, Li Si was executed by Zhao Gao's faction.