"The empire was won on horseback, but it cannot be governed on horseback."
— Qin Shi Huang
The Empire Was Won On Horseback
The empire was won on horseback, but it cannot be governed on horseback.
About this quote
This saying is attributed to Qin Shi Huang but is actually associated in Chinese sources with Lu Jia, a Han dynasty Confucian scholar who reportedly offered this counsel to Liu Bang (Emperor Gaozu) after the Han defeat of Qin — arguing that the Legalist methods used to conquer China were unsuitable for governing it. Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian records how the Qin empire's harsh laws and forced labor projects provoked the rebellions that destroyed it within 15 years of the First Emperor's death, providing historical evidence for Lu Jia's argument.
Source
Attributed, traditional saying associated with early Chinese emperors, recorded by Lu Jia
