Sima Qian’s Rejection of the First Emperor’s Edicts in the Qin ji 秦紀 (Annals of Qin): Reflections on *Qin Shi Huang jin fa Xiangshan shumu zhao 秦始皇禁伐湘山樹木詔 (Edict of the First Emperor of Qin Prohibiting the Cutting of Trees on Mount Xiang) from the Yuelu Q

Abstract The *Qin Shi Huang jin fa Xiangshan shumu zhao (Edict of the First Emperor of Qin Prohibiting the Cutting of Trees on Mount Xiang) in Volume 5 of Yuelu shuyuan cang Qin jian ( Qin Bamboo Slips in the Collection of the Yuelu Academy ), along with documents related to the accession of the Second Emperor of Qin found among excavated materials, were all products of political propaganda from figures such as Huhai and Zhao Gao in the final years of the Qin. These documents were likely recorded in the Qin ji 秦紀 (Annals of Qin) compiled by Qin court historians. In the early Han, when the intellectual and textual landscape remained saturated with Qin propaganda, Sima Qian refused to rely on the *Qin Shi Huang jin fa Xiangshan shumu zhao , the * Qin Ershi yuannian wengao 秦二世元年文告 (Proclamation from the First Year of the Reign of the Second Emperor of Qin), or the Qin ji . By doing so, he faithfully reflected the historical realities of the final years of the Qin dynasty.