Li Si

Also known as Li Tonggu

Li Si, from Shangcai in Chu, was a minor local clerk before studying statecraft under Xunzi and going west to Qin, where he served Lu Buwei and became a guest minister. When Qin ordered all foreign ministers expelled in 237 BC, his memorial against the expulsion persuaded the king to revoke it, and he rose to Commandant of Justice. After unification he opposed enfeoffing the royal sons, backed a uniform system of commanderies, worked on standardizing the script and wrote the Cangjie primer; in 213 BC, as chancellor, he proposed burning privately held copies of the Odes, the Documents and the hundred schools. When the First Emperor died at Shaqiu, he joined Zhao Gao in forging an edict that put Huhai on the throne. In 208 BC Zhao Gao had him charged with treason, and he was cut in two at Xianyang, his clan exterminated. The Shiji records his last words to his son: they would never again take their brown dog out of Shangcai's east gate to chase hares.