Although Chen Sheng died, the kings, lords, generals, and ministers he had appointed and dispatched ultimately brought about the fall of Qin — because She was the one who initiated the enterprise. When the High Ancestor came to power, he established thirty households at Dang to tend Chen She's tomb. Sacrifices continue to this day.
Master Chu says: Rugged terrain may serve as a fortress; weapons, armor, and penal law may serve as instruments of governance — but they are still not enough to rely upon. The former kings took humaneness and righteousness as their foundation and used strongholds and legal codes as branches and leaves. Is this not so? I have heard what Master Jia declared:
"Duke Xiao of Qin commanded the stronghold of Xiao and Hangu, held the territory of Yongzhou, and with his ministers stood fast, watching for an opportunity against the Zhou royal house. He harbored the ambition to roll up All-Under-Heaven, to wrap up all within the four seas, to swallow the eight wastes. At that time, Lord Shang assisted him — internally establishing laws and standards, promoting agriculture and weaving, preparing the instruments of defense and war; externally employing Horizontal Alliance diplomacy to set the lords against one another. Thus the men of Qin folded their arms and took all west of the Yellow River.
"After Duke Xiao's death, Kings Huiwen, Wu, and Zhao inherited the enterprise and followed the old strategies, taking Hanzhong to the south, seizing Ba and Shu to the west, carving off the richest lands to the east, and collecting the most strategic commanderies. The lords were terrified. They convened alliances to plot the weakening of Qin. They did not begrudge their precious vessels, heavy treasures, and fertile lands if these could attract the greatest men of All-Under-Heaven. They formed the Vertical Alliance and bound together as one. At that time, Qi had Lord Mengchang, Zhao had Lord Pingyuan, Chu had Lord Chunshen, and Wei had Lord Xinling — these four lords were all brilliant in wisdom and steadfast in loyalty, generous and loving of people, honoring the worthy and valuing the accomplished. They drew together the Vertical Alliance and united the forces of Han, Wei, Yan, Zhao, Song, Wey, and Zhongshan. The strategists of the six states included Ning Yue, Xu Shang, Su Qin, and Du He to devise their plans; Qi Ming, Zhou Ji, Chen Zhen, Shao Hua, Lou Huan, Di Jing, Su Li, and Yue Yi to coordinate their intentions; Wu Qi, Sun Bin, Dai Tuo, Er Liang, Wang Liao, Tian Ji, Lian Po, and Zhao She to command their armies. With ten times the territory and a million soldiers, they looked up at the passes and attacked Qin. Qin opened its gates and advanced to meet the enemy — and the armies of the nine states fled and dared not advance. Qin did not lose a single arrow or arrowhead, yet All-Under-Heaven was already exhausted. Thereupon the alliances dissolved and the compacts crumbled, and the states vied to carve off their own land and bribe Qin. Qin, having strength to spare, exploited their weakness, pursuing the fleeing and chasing the routed, laying low a million corpses, till blood floated shields upon it. Seizing the advantage, Qin carved up All-Under-Heaven, split apart mountains and rivers. Strong states submitted; weak states came to court.
"This passed down to Kings Xiaowen and Zhuangxiang, who enjoyed brief reigns during which nothing occurred.
"Then came the First Emperor, who took up the accumulated achievements of six generations, wielded the long whip, and drove the realm. He swallowed the Two Zhou and extinguished the feudal lords, ascended to the supreme position and mastered the six directions, took up the rod and lash to flog All-Under-Heaven — his power shook the four seas. In the south he seized the lands of the Hundred Yue and made them into Guilin and Xiang commanderies; the lords of the Hundred Yue bowed their heads, bound their necks, and entrusted their lives to his lowest officials. He sent Meng Tian north to build the Great Wall and guard the frontiers, driving back the Xiongnu over seven hundred li, until the nomads dared not ride south to pasture their horses and warriors dared not string their bows to seek revenge. He then abolished the way of the former kings and burned the writings of the hundred schools to stupefy the common people. He razed famous cities, killed the heroic and talented, collected all the weapons of All-Under-Heaven and piled them at Xianyang, melting down the blades and arrowheads to cast twelve colossal bronze figures, thereby weakening the people. Then he made Mount Hua his wall and the Yellow River his moat, commanding a citadel of immeasurable height overlooking unfathomable ravines as his defense. His best generals with their powerful crossbows guarded the critical points; his trusted ministers with crack troops deployed sharp weapons and challenged all comers. All-Under-Heaven was pacified. The First Emperor believed in his heart that the stronghold of Guanzhong, a city of metal stretching a thousand li, was an enterprise for his sons and grandsons to reign as emperors for ten thousand generations.
"After the First Emperor died, his lingering power still shook distant peoples. Yet Chen She — a man whose windows were broken jars and whose door-pivot was a rope, a serf and bondsman, a conscripted exile — whose talents did not reach those of a middling man, who had neither the wisdom of Confucius nor of Mo Di, nor the wealth of Tao Zhu or Yi Dun — this man, stepping forth from the ranks of common soldiers, looking up and down from amid the footpaths between fields, leading an exhausted and scattered band, commanding a few hundred men, turned and attacked Qin. He cut trees for weapons and raised bamboo poles for banners. All-Under-Heaven gathered like clouds, responded like echoes, carried their grain and followed like shadows — and the heroes east of the mountains rose up together and destroyed the house of Qin.
"Moreover, All-Under-Heaven had not become small or weak; the territory of Yongzhou and the stronghold of Xiao and Hangu were as formidable as ever. Chen She's rank was not higher than those of the lords of Qi, Chu, Yan, Zhao, Han, Wei, Song, Wey, and Zhongshan. Hoes, rakes, and thornwood spear-shafts are not sharper than hooked halberds and long lances. Conscripted garrison troops cannot compare with the armies of the nine states. In deep strategy and far-reaching plans, in the art of marching and employing forces, Chen She did not approach the men of old. Yet the outcomes were reversed and the achievements contrary. Try measuring Chen She against the eastern states — compare their lengths, weigh their strengths — and they cannot be mentioned in the same breath. Yet Qin, from its modest territory, achieved the power of ten thousand chariots, suppressed eight provinces, and made its peers come to court, for over a hundred years. Then it made the six directions its household and Xiao and Hangu its palace. A single common man raised a revolt, and the seven ancestral temples fell. The emperor died at others' hands and became a laughingstock for All-Under-Heaven. Why? Because humaneness and righteousness were not practiced, and the dynamics of attack and defense had changed."
