Sima Qian: The Castrated Historian
... At that time the world was not without men of deep insight and an understanding of change. The reason they did not dare exert their loyalty and correct the errors of the ruler was that Qin's customs forbade the mentioning of inauspicious matters. Before their words of loyal advice were even out of their mouths, they would have been condemned to execution. This insured that the men of the empire would incline their ears to listen, stand in an attitude of solemn attention, but clamp their mouths shut and never speak out. Therefore when the three rulers strayed from the Way, the loyal ministers did not dare remonstrate, and the men of wisdom did not dare offer counsel. The empire was already in rebellion, but the ruler was never informed of the villainy-how pitiful!..."
References and Further Reading
Humanistic Texts: http://www.humanistictexts.org/simaqian....
Chinese Cultural Texts: http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/core9/...
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