After Qin Shi Huang秦 始 皇 (Ying Zheng嬴 政) conquered the other six states and united China in 221 BC, he established the Qin Empire秦 朝with its capital at Xian Yang咸 陽. When Ying Zheng’s father Zhi Zho子 楚was a young prince, he was sent to the state of Zhou 趙as a nominated hostage. There he met Lu Bu Wei呂 不 韋 (290 ?-235BC) who offered to be his mentor and financed his return to Qin and was instrumental to the plot of making him the crown prince and the king of Qin, Zhuang Xiang Wang (秦 莊 襄 王) eventually.
On the crowning of Zhuang Xiang Wang 莊 襄 王as king, Lu呂was appointed the prime minister of Qin and headed the administration of the government. Lu recruited to his household three thousand guests who acted as advisors and a think-tank. They were given a free-hand to do what they were best at and they recorded in writing the results of their studies and findings. In order to establish his eminence as a prime minister and his scholastic achievement, he commissioned the writing of a book entitled “Lu Shi Chun Qiu” (Lu’s Annual) 呂 氏 春 秋. It was both a historical record of the day and a collection of all knowledge worthy of record, including agriculture, geology, civil construction, military thesis, various schools of philosophy and political administration. In fact it was a first encyclopedia of China and of the world. (The first known encyclopedia of the Western world was compiled about 2000 years later by the French lexicographer and philosopher Diderot in the 1760’s.) Having completed this work, Lu was highly complacent. He ordered a copy of the manuscript to be posted on the city wall of the capital for public exhibition. A formal notice accompanied the public exhibition, saying: “ Whoever can discover an error in the manuscript, or suggest the deletion or addition of one character in the text shall be rewarded with a thousand gold coins.”
This became the origin of the idiom一 字 千 金, which serves as a compliment for literary work of the highest standard.
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