Li Si (probably c. 280 - 208 BC) was born in Shangcai, in the state of Chu, where he began his official career. At some point he seems to have left to study under the Confucian philosopher Xunzi, before going on to take up a position in the retinue of Lü Buwei, the then Chancellor of the State of Qin. In 238 BC, Buwei was exiled to Shu in the far South of Qin's territories following a failed palace coup in which he had been implicated. While the majority of his followers were subjected to similar punishment, Si evaded it and made his name with a memorial addressed to King Zheng of Qin (who would go on to unite China under the name Qin Shihuang), arguing against the expulsion of foreign advisors. As a consequence of this, Si rose to become Chancellor himself, becoming on of the prime movers in Zheng's unification campaigns. He occupied the position until shortly after the death of Qin Shihuang in 210 BC, whereupon he was accused of treason by a court rival and executed during the chaotic collapse of the short-lived Qin Dynasty. 

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While there are sufficient examples of his writing to make a book, almost all of them are a product of contingent circumstances rather than a reflection on universal philosophical principles. Si seems to have written best with his back against the wall, and as a result his best-known letters and speeches that remain have a trapped rat quality to them - they are the works of a skillful fighter, but the skill is a product of fear. According to historian Sima Qian (who is not at all to be trusted), the comparison would not necessarily have bothered Si. Qian begins his Li Si Biography with an arresting anecdote: "In his younger days, when he was serving as minor commandery official, he noticed that the rats in the office latrines never had enough to eat and lived in terror due to the proximity of dogs and people. When he went into the granaries, though, he saw that the rats in there ate their fill of the grain stores and lived in blissful luxury unobserved by dogs or people. Thus Li Si heaved an appreciative sigh, saying, 'A person is no different from a rat: his quality is purely a function of his environment.'" 

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Despite this, the fragmentary remains of his career reveal a character of great depth and practical subtlety, capable of playing the fox or the lion as circumstances dictated: a man who quietly and efficiently achieved what other thinkers of his age could only discuss. When it comes to legalist thought, we may misquote Montesquieu and say that "the true mirror of their discourses is in the course of his life".

 

This site is an attempt to gather together all known works from the various books in which they were preserved, providing a new translation in each case. In the event that the relevant material occurs within the context of a larger paragraph, this has been provided, along with a contextual explanation in the footnotes.

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Notes on the Editions Used

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This version follows 李斯集辑注 by Zhang Zhongyi. Where this volume does not give the full context of a passage, I have used Ctext and relevant commentaries to complete the text.