Li Si was a strong supporter of legalism and served as the Grand Counselor to Emperor Shi Huangdi (259-210 BCE) in China. In this passage, Li Si is responding to a scholar who has challenged the Emperor’s movement away from traditional values.
… “I humbly propose that all historical records but those of Chin [Qin] be burned. If anyone who is not a court scholar dares to keep the ancient songs, historical records or writings of the hundred schools, these should be confiscated and burned by the provincial governor and army commander. Those who in conversation dare to quote the old songs and records should be publicly executed; those who use old precedents [examples] to oppose the new order should have their families wiped out; and officers who know of such cases but fail to report them should be punished in the same way.
“If thirty days after the issuing of this order the owners of these books have still not had them destroyed, they should have their faces tattooed and be condemned to hard labour at the Great Wall. The only books which need not be destroyed are those dealing with medicine, divination and agriculture. Those who want to study the law can learn it from the officers.” The emperor sanctioned [approved] this proposal.…
Source: Szuma Chien, Records of the Historian, The Commercial Press from the NYS Global History and Geography Regents Exam, June 2012
Based on the excerpt above, identify Li Si’s point of view.