The incident of burning books and burying Confucianism was Qin Shihuang's cruel suppression of dissidents in the ideological field. In the thirty-fourth year of the first emperor (2 13 BC), Qin Shihuang gave a banquet in Xianyang Palace, and the first emperor was very happy. But there is a conservative doctor named Chun Yuyue, whose native place is Qi. He criticized Zhou's flattery on the spot. He said: "Yin Zhou Wang is over 1,000 years old and has contributed to his children and helped himself." He criticized Qin Shihuang for abolishing the enfeoffment system and setting up counties. Said that if the minister usurped power, there was no way to save himself. He also sarcastically said: "Those who can live for a long time without learning from the past are not heard." Li Si, the prime minister, retorted on the spot. He accused Chun of being a "foolish Confucian", and also accused Confucian scholars of "learning from the past but not learning from the present, confusing the leaders of Guizhou" and "being insincere and unable to get out of the way, praising the Lord's name, taking different things as high and attracting group slander". He thought that such a group of Confucian scholars was a dangerous force, suggested that the first emperor resolutely stop their illegal activities, and put forward the suggestion of burning books to bury Confucianism. Main contents: (1) All the history books of the six countries were burned except Ji Qin;

(2) Except for doctors' collection, all poems, books and books in hundreds of languages are collected in the county and burned under the supervision of the county magistrate and commandant;

(3) Those who talk about "poetry" and "books" abandon the city, take the ancient as their home, and those who don't mention it are guilty of the same crime, so that they will not burn for the next 30 days and be regarded as the city;

(4) Books such as medicine, divination and tree planting are not prohibited;

(5) After learning laws and regulations, we should take officials as teachers.

Qin Shihuang approved this proposal, so book burning happened all over the country.

The following year, there was another incident of cheating Confucianism. The reason is that some Confucian scholars and alchemists are dissatisfied with the first emperor, saying that he is a "full-time jailer", willing to punish evil and promote good, threatening to kill and coveting power. Qin Shihuang thought they were "or bad words, so he arrested them and tortured them." More than 460 Confucian scholars were arrested and all of them were killed in Xianyang.

Burning books and burying Confucianism was the first time that Qin Shihuang suppressed political opponents. These people are conservative in political thought, yearning for the system of the Western Zhou Dynasty and opposing the current autocratic centralization. However, Qin Shihuang's repression was brutal and cruel. No matter what the situation, it is an atrocity to burn them all. This is a serious damage to the ancient culture of China.

There is a great controversy in the field of historiography, because official history such as Historical Records, Hanshu and Tong Jian all refer to "butchers", "pit magicians" and "pit magicians" rather than "pit Confucianism". The theory of "Pit Confucianism" began in the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, and was more common in unofficial history. Official history is rarely recorded. Moreover, it is said that the descendants of Confucius said to the warlock who was executed at that time: "So you are not a scholar."

As for the matter of burning books, according to later research, it is far from as serious as people say now. Wang Chong of the Han Dynasty said, "Although Qin has no way, it does not burn scholars.". Wang Chong is the most resolute person who opposes Qin Shihuang, and his words are highly credible. In addition, according to recent archaeological discoveries, most of the Confucian classics handed down to this day were written during the Qin Shihuang period (such as Shangshu, which was taboo from the beginning). Moreover, the prohibition of books only prohibits people from collecting books privately, but not scholars (according to records, there were as many as 10,000 full-time negotiators in Qin Ting at that time who could collect books, which basically included the main intellectuals at that time according to the education level at that time). Because of this, although there were many university officials in the early Han Dynasty, almost no one mentioned the burning of books. It can be seen that there was not much opposition to book burning at that time. It was only to cater to Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty that people brought up the matter of book burning again.

During the Qin Dynasty, Xu Fu led 3,000 boys and girls across the East China Sea in search of immortals. The exact time is unknown.