Li Si 李斯

Li Si (Chinese:李斯; c. 280 BC –September or October 208 BC) was a Chinese politician of the Qin dynasty. He served as the Chancellor (or Prime Minister) of the Qin dynasty from 246–208 BC, well known Legalist writer and politician, and notable calligrapher. He served under two rulers: Qin Shi Huang, the king of the Qin state and later the First Emperor of the Qin dynasty; Qin Er Shi, Qin Shi Huang's youngest son and the Second Emperor. Stanford University's John Knoblock writes, "Li Si is one of the two or three most important figures in Chinese history. He was largely responsible for the creation of those institutions that made the Qin dynasty the first universal state in Chinese history. He unified the laws, governmental ordinances, and weights and measures. He caused chariots and carts to be made of uniform gauge. He standardized the characters used in writing. By creating such universal institutions, he facilitated the cultural unification of China. He laid out imperial highways and inaugurated imperial tours of inspection to further the sense of unity. He created a government based solely on merit, so that in the empire sons and younger brothers in the imperial clan were not ennobled, but meritorious ministers were. He pacified the frontier regions by subduing the barbarians to the north and south. He had the weapons of the feudal states brought to the capital, Xianyang, where they were melted and cast into musical bells and huge statues of human figures. He relaxed the draconian punishments inherited from Shang Yang and reduced the taxes. In all this, he acted from a vision of a universal empire. No one before him had so clear an idea of one world comprising all Chinese, bringing with universal dominion universal peace."