When analyzing “the root” that Qian puts into the essence of The First Emperor, one can conclude that this term implies a natural order, which is the root cause. In his description of Li Si, the author notes that all attempts to interpret the consequences of the minister’s actions were false since “that was dealing with the branch rather than the root” (Qian 51). The search for the essence and basic factors explaining the nature of a specific phenomenon or action makes it possible to single out cause-and-effect connections, and the emphasis on consequences, in turn, does not allow finding the issue’s background, or “the root.” This concept is similar to the teaching of Daoism that, as Nelson argues, means “returning to the original root of perfectly quiescent nothingness” (89). Therefore, the concept of “root” is based on searching for truth through the assessment of the basis but not the analysis of branches that reflect influences but not causes.
Works Cited
Nelson, Eric S. Daoism and Environmental Philosophy: Nourishing Life. Routledge, 2020.
Qian, Sima. The First Emperor. Translated by Raymond Dawson, Oxford University Press, 2007.