By Philip Chin, with edits by Leonard Chan

It is easy to use the wrongdoings of a small minority of people of other races, religions, or nationalities to taint others with the same brush. Such has been the lesson in the United States since the times of Benjamin Franklin who argued against German immigrants in the 1700s (a group that was seen as undesirable at that time). Human nature, whether for good or bad, hasn’t changed. We are still essentially quite tribal in nature, no matter our pretensions towards what we call higher civilization.

A Time in China

A foreigner was caught in an espionage mission and several were implicated in a violent rebellion to overthrow the government. A cry arose that the government should expel all foreigners. What makes this situation different was that this was in the 3rd Century B.C. and everyone involved was ethnic Chinese. From roughly 475 B.C. to 221 B.C., China was divided into various hostile countries collectively known as the Warring States. Many innovations in military, philosophical, and governmental thinking were tested as each state tried to gain advantage over the others. The competition of hundreds of these competing kingdoms and states eventually resulted in the creation of seven survivor states that continued to fight for domination of all of China until one state unified all of China. The weakest of these seven states was the State of Han, which had the misfortune of bordering right on Qin, the most ruthless and strongest of the states whose governing philosophy placed all emphasis on building up a strong military and the agricultural system to provide the food that supported the military.

The historian, Sima Qian, in the Records of the Grand Historian, compiled in the 1st Century B.C., narrated the scheme by Han to divert the energy of Qin.

But Han heard that Qin was fond of embarking on enterprises, so with the intention of causing its energies to be dissipated and in order to prevent it from making an attack to the east, it accordingly dispatched a water engineer named Zheng Guo to give controversial advice to Qin by making it excavate a canal from the Jing River west of Mount Zhong as far as Hukou, from where it was to go east along the Northern Mountains and flow into the Luo. It would be more than 300 li long, and the intention would be to use it to irrigate the fields.

Such a task naturally required the diversion of thousands of men, raw materials, food, and money. This effectively stopped Qin from attacking Han for years.

When it was half completed the true purpose was realized, and Qin intended to kill Zheng Guo, but Zheng Guo said: ‘At first I was acting in order to cause dissension, but when the canal is completed it will surely be a benefit to Qin.’ Qin thought this was true, so in the end had the progress on the canal continued. When the canal did make further progress, it was used to cause the stagnant waters to flow, and irrigate the salty land over an area of more than 40,000 qing, so that the harvest totaled one zhong per mou. Thereupon the area within the passes was turned into fertile but uncultivated land, and there were no calamitous years, and thus Qin became rich and strong, and in the end unified the feudal states. Because of this it was called the Zheng Guo Canal.

The effort of Han to weaken the Qin state by buying into Zheng Guo’s canal scheme backfired spectacularly. Qin likely recognized that Zheng Guo couldn’t possibly return to Han after having done so much damage to his own country, even though his own country had ordered him to do so. The irrigated agricultural land made possible by the canal immensely multiplied the amount of grain that Qin could produce for its army. The effort in building the canal temporarily bought Han more time, but also ensured that Qin would eventually be able to bring even more troops into battle. The agricultural surplus freed more men to become full-time soldiers or to support their military effort by enabling them to spend more time building weapons and gathering supplies that ensured the dominance of Qin military power.

These incidents of attempted foreign espionage, however misplaced, led to growing sentiments against foreigners in Qin. Nine years later, in 238 B.C., Lao Ai, a foreigner and the dowager queen’s secret lover, tried to place his own children with the queen on the throne through a military revolt. The treachery of his protégé led to the fall of the Qin Prime Minister LüBuwei, also of foreign origins from the State of Wey, who was stripped of his titles and exiled to his country estate in 237 B.C. He later took his own life in 235 B.C., aware that Qin troops had been sent to arrest him as a traitor. The petition to the throne demanding the expulsion of all foreigners came out in the same year that LüBuwei was disgraced and stepped down as Prime Minister. The petition read, “People who come from the feudal states to serve Qin in general merely come here to cause dissension in Qin on behalf of their own rulers. We request complete expulsion of aliens.” It has to be remembered that the people asking for these actions, as well as the “aliens” being talked about, were all ethnic Chinese.

The new Prime Minister of Qin was Li Si. He too was not a native of Qin, but came from the State of Chu. Resentful Qin ministers and officials saw Li Si as an upstart foreign parvenu. He was recognized as so brilliant and talented by the King of Qin that he was the only one of LüBuwei’s associates to have escaped the purge and benefited after the Lao Ai revolt.

In response to the expulsion order, Li Si wrote to the Qin ruler, the Jianzhuke Shu, “Petition against the Expulsion of Guest Officers.” It began with, “Your servant has heard officials discussing the expulsion of aliens and humbly considers it to be a mistake.”

Li Si went on to list five officials recruited from other states and even from barbarian tribes who had collectively conquered twenty states for Qin. He mentioned that Qin had also adopted the Legalist philosophy of Shang Yang, another foreigner who had become the leading adviser of a previous ruler of Qin. Shang Yang’s reforms shook up the entire Qin political, economic, and social system. As a result, “... the people consequently prospered and the state consequently grew rich and powerful. The common people were delighted to be employed and feudal lords became friendly and offered allegiance.”

Four rulers of Qin in a row had made effective use of foreigners in greatly strengthening the power of the state. “Looking at it from this point of view, surely aliens have not been ignored by Qin! Yet supposing these four rulers had rejected aliens and not admitted them, kept such public servants at a distance and not given them employment, this would have meant the state would be without the reality of wealth and profit and that Qin would lack the reputation for strength and greatness.”

Li Si then listed all the foreign things enjoyed by the King of Qin and his officials including jade, fine horses, rhino horn, ivory, minerals made into red and blue paint, and the concubine women in the king’s palace. Even much of the music heard in the king’s palace came from foreign states. “What pleases our ideas we have to have in our presence. It simply suits our sense. Now when it comes to selecting men, you do not do likewise. You do not question whether they are acceptable or not and you do not discuss whether they are crooked or straight. Those who are not from Qin are got rid of, and those who are aliens are expelled. If that is so, then what these people take seriously consists of sexual attraction, music, pearls, and jade, and what they take lightly consists of people. This is not a method to bestride all within the seas or control the feudal states.” Li Si was making the startling accusation that the policy of expelling foreigners while continuing to accept foreign goods would be sending the message to the entire world that the Qin state valued material things over the talent of individuals who contributed directly and greatly to the welfare of the state.

Li Si then delivered his most bruising warning that absolute security for any state was an impossible dream:

Your servant has heard that when the lands are broad, grain is plentiful; when the state is large, the people are multitudinous; and when weapons are strong, men of action are valiant. So Mount Tai does not reject the soil, and therefore it can complete its size; the rivers and seas do not choose the tiny streams that flow into them, and therefore they can increase their depths; kings do not repel the masses, and therefore they are able to make their virtue continue to shine forth. Thus the earth will not have four quarters, the people will not have different countries, the four seasons will be replete and beautiful, and the ghosts and spirits will send down blessings. This is the reason why the Five emperors and the Three Kings were without enemies. No, in fact you are getting rid of the black-headed people so as to provide a resource for enemy countries, and you expel aliens so as to build up the strength of the feudal states. You are causing public servants from all under Heaven to hold back and not venture to turn their faces towards the west, to halt their feet and not enter Qin. This is what is called ‘contributing weapons to brigands and presenting provisions to robbers.’

Now articles which are valuable although not produced by Qin are many, and public servants who wish to show their loyalty although not brought up by Qin are numerous. If you now expel aliens so as to provide a source for enemy states and reduce your people so as to increase your foes, then you not only will be making yourself empty at home but also sowing the seeds of resentment in the feudal states. If you aim for the state to be free of dangers, this cannot be achieved.

The Qin state cared not one whit for issues of morality, the fair treatment of aliens as fellow human beings, or about the human rights that most modern countries at least pay lip service to. The ruling philosophy of the country had no room for what they would have seen as frivolous and sentimental attachments like families. The country was an entirely militarized society only interested in theories and practices that demonstrably improved their capabilities for national survival and success in war. The stark political and economic realities of the damage that expelling and barring foreigners that Li Si wrote about decided the issue for the King of Qin.

The value of this policy was seen in 221 B.C. when Qin achieved the unification of China by conquest. The King of Qin then proclaimed himself First Emperor of Qin in 220 B.C., becoming the first Emperor of China. For the first time in Chinese history, the written language, measurements, laws, and other essential elements of culture and society became standardized and regulated under a single measure. The modern country of China was built on the foundations laid by the Qin Dynasty.

The United States, throughout its history, has exhibited great wisdom in accepting the help of foreign nationals. This has been punctuated with moments of grave mistakes that have demonstrably damaged national security and the national interest. Li Si’s warning to the King of Qin still has resonance in the political discussions of today. The question before us is whether we will have the wisdom to heed this advice.