佛祖統紀 34.88

34.88

In the thirty-fourth year, Chancellor Li Si requested that the court historians burn all records except those of Qin. Except for those under the duty of Erudites, whoever in the empire dared to conceal the Book of Songs, the Book of Documents, or the writings of the Hundred Schools was to take them all to the commandery administrators and commandants to be burned indiscriminately. Those who dared to speak of the Songs and Documents in pairs were to be executed in the public marketplace. The imperial order said: 'Approved.' ○ Wei Hong's Preface on Ancient Script (Later Han): When Qin changed the ancient script and substituted the clerical script for the seal script, the people criticized it. At that time, seven hundred scholars were court gentlemen. The First Emperor secretly ordered melons to be planted in the winter months in a warm area of a ravine on Mount Li. When the melons bore fruit, he had someone submit a memorial stating that melons had borne fruit in winter. He decreed that the Erudites and scholars discuss it. As each person's view was different, he sent them all to view it, having prepared a hidden trap. While the scholars were debating and questioning one another, the trap was sprung and they were buried with soil (Hanshu commentary).