Zhao Gao had a reputation for being influential, cruel, and vengeful. He needed to determine who among the high-ranking officials (the analogy of a Soviet Politburo) ate corrupt enough to be used to dismantle the Chinese state and establish a bloody dictatorship.
Zhao Gao brought a deer to the emperor and claimed that he was gifting him a horse.
The young emperor, failing to grasp the treacherous scheme, assumed it was a joke. He asked why Zhao Gao had called the deer a horse.
Zhao Gao replied:
«Let us ask the members of the Politburo. Who among them agrees with me that this is a horse?»
Some courtiers disagreed. But the most cunning and deceitful among them feared Zhao Gao; they confirmed that he had indeed brought the emperor a horse.
With this, Zhao Gao achieved two objectives at once:
1. He signaled to the officials that he was looking for scoundrels willing to repeat a lie.
2. He identified which members of the Politburo were relatively honest.
Gao killed off all the honest officials who refused to lie, and falsehood became the foundation of China’s state structure. This marked the beginning of the degradation of Chinese civilization — a decline that has persisted for a couple of millennia. Gao’s tick set the trajectory for Chinese politics for ages to come, and by the 18th century, China had lost its former influence. However, the rulers were pretending that they go to Make China Great Again.
This legend serves as an illustration of how a small lie can destroy a great civilization.
Fortunately for humanity, Chinese civilization is not the only one on Earth.
A couple of millennia after Gao, the Renaissance took place in the barbaric Europe,
giving rise to what is known as Western civilization. Subsequently, for few centuries, it was Western civilization that remained dominant. Many of humanity’s achievements are attributed to Western civilization, including:
the separation of powers,
the steam pump,
the steam engine,
locomotives,
steamships,
chronometers,
telescopes,
electricity, radio communication,
the telephone, television,
automobiles,
aeronautics,
airplanes,
computers,
genetics,
the theory of functions of a complex variable,
quantum mechanics,
nuclear physics,
and spacecrafts.
Western civilization could lose its leadership in much the same way that Chinese civilization once did:
An influential scoundrel labels a
war criminal a
«humanitarian»,
then bribes those who agree with this assessment, while crushing those who refuse to repeat the lie. People grow accustomed to tolerating falsehoods, replace human moral standards with Realpolitik, and end up killing one another by the millions - as it is described in movie «CivilWar2024».
Such scenarios are explored in works like
“Bradbury/ThereWillComeSoftRains”
and “CivilWar2024". Both scenarios specify a date for the collapse of civilization: the years 2024 and 2026.
As of the time this article was uploaded, both predicted dates have already passed.
Nevertheless, the historical mechanisms depicted in these grim accounts could still manifest well beyond those dates. Something similar happened with the assessment Andrei Amalrik made in his essay, "Will the Soviet Union Survive Until 1984?"; his prediction came true, albeit eight years late.
In estimating how much longer the USSR’s death throes might last, Amalrik’s calculation was off by a factor of 1.5.
If something like this were to befall Western civilization, Europe and/or America,
then Asian nations, China in particular, could seize the mantle of leadership, at least until the emergence of a new "Zhao Gao".
Historians might ctiticize the version above (as it is simplified and exaggerated), but it is unlikely that anyone would dare to argue that calling a deer a horse, labeling a war criminal a "humanist", or engaging in some form of "Alternative Math" contributes to the civilized development of society.
据《李斯列传》记载：“李斯已死，二世拜赵高为中丞相，事无大小辄决于高。高自知权重，乃献鹿，谓之马。二世问左右：‘此乃鹿也？’左右皆曰‘马也’。”这就是《史记》记载的“指鹿为马”的本事。赵高通晓狱律法令，秦始皇任为中车府令，兼教授胡亥书法及狱令。秦始皇三十七年十月，秦始皇东游会稽，北走琅邪，到了沙丘病故。从行的李斯、赵高与胡亥合谋，“诈立”胡亥为太子，即皇帝位。赵高被擢为郎中令，成为胡亥最亲信的大臣。在司马迁的历史叙述里，赵高是秦二世能够篡位的主导者、实施者，李斯是同谋，公子扶苏则是受害者。《秦始皇本纪》《蒙恬列传》《叔孙通列传》都有赵高“诈立”秦二世的记载。
果如司马迁所言，赵高参与了“诈立”胡亥为太子及胡亥继承皇位的政治事件，又是胡亥的老师，必然获得秦二世的亲近、信赖。赵高又阴谋杀害了丞相李斯，尔后为丞相，独揽大权。权力的无限膨胀，最终导致“指鹿为马”式的颠倒黑白的恶性事件发生，在理论上讲是完全有可能的。追根溯源，最早提出阴谋论的是故秦博士、汉太子太傅叔孙通，其上疏汉高祖云：“秦以不蚤定扶苏，令赵高得以诈立胡亥，自使灭祀，此陛下所亲见。”（《叔孙通列传》）由于有皇帝作证，赵高“诈立胡亥”事件就这样被坐实了。然而，关于赵高指鹿为马的问题，还是有其他文献可供参考的。
秦末汉初的陆贾，在其《新语·辨惑》中说：“秦二世之时，赵高驾鹿而从行，王曰：‘丞相何为驾鹿？’高曰：‘马也。’王曰：‘丞相误邪，以鹿为马也。’高曰：‘乃马也。陛下以臣之言为不然，愿问群臣。’于是乃问群臣，群臣半言马半言鹿。”这里的“以鹿为马”，并没有表现出赵高专权的傲慢与肆无忌惮，反衬出赵高以鹿代替马来驾车有违礼制，而曲为之说，同时还有君臣游戏的成分存在。然而，以鹿驾车的故事，还有另一种说法存在。《金楼子》云：“秦二世即位，自幽深宫，以鹿为马，以蒲为脯。”从梁元帝的记载来看，“以鹿为马，以蒲为脯”，仅是秦二世在宫苑中的自我玩乐。无论是赵高，还是秦二世，“以鹿为马”在生物学上是可以讲得通的。宋人罗愿《尔雅翼·释兽》引陶弘景语说：“古称马之似鹿者直百金，今荆楚之地，其鹿绝似马。当解角时，望之无辨，土人谓之马鹿，以是知赵高‘指鹿为马’，盖以类尔。”马鹿解角之后似马，以解角之鹿驾车，无非是在追求新奇刺激罢了。赵高，或者胡亥，如此“以鹿为马”，毫不关涉权力、是非问题。
秦二世二年，胡亥听从赵高的建议，不廷见大臣，常居禁中，游猎嬉戏，或作觳抵优俳之观，诸事皆决于赵高。这年七月，扶苏、蒙恬、李斯及蒙毅等陆续被秦二世处死，此时秦廷外缺良将，内少明相贤卿，赵高成为丞相的首选。秦二世三年八月前后，大将军章邯投降项籍，上将军王离被俘，而燕、赵、齐、楚、韩、魏相继自立其王，关东大地全部叛秦，诸侯咸率军队西向，赵高害怕残暴的秦二世发怒而诛及自身，以生病为由，不敢上朝。嗣后，因为惧诛，赵高与弟赵成等阴谋杀死秦二世，酿成望夷宫之祸。
赵高即为宦者，他所拥有的权力都来自于胡亥的信任，“指鹿为马”式的颠倒黑白是一种政治冒险。胡亥之残暴尤胜于其父，又是专恣之主，诛杀兄弟及朝廷大臣，全凭一己之欲。北大汉简《赵正书》载：“秦王胡亥弗听，遂行其意，杀丞相斯，立高，使行丞相、御史之事。未能终其年，而果杀胡亥。”赵高是为了自保，才杀了秦二世，又岂敢在专恣的皇帝面前颠倒黑白。所以，赵高“指鹿为马”是令人怀疑的。
2013年湖南益阳兔子山遗址出土了《秦二世元年十月甲午诏书》，其文曰：“天下失始皇帝，皆遽恐悲哀甚，朕奉遗诏。”（周西璧《洞庭湖滨兔子山遗址考古，古井中发现的益阳》，《大众考古》，2014年第6期）如果说这是秦二世自称“奉遗诏”，有诸多不可信处，那么，《北京大学藏西汉竹书（叁）》之《赵正书》的出现，则证明了胡亥“奉遗诏”的真实性。《赵正书》云：“赵正流涕而谓斯曰：‘吾非疑子也，子，吾忠臣也。其议所立。’丞相臣斯、御史臣去疾昧死顿首言曰：‘今道远而诏期群臣，恐大臣之有谋，请立子胡亥为代后。’王曰：‘可。’王死而胡亥立，即杀其兄扶苏、中尉恬。大赦罪人，而免隶臣高以为郎中令。”专家判定《赵正书》成书于西汉早期。也就是说，西汉初期流传有关秦代的文献，具有多种版本，司马迁只是根据自己的价值判断，选取了
其中的一种文献而已。
扶苏是秦始皇长子，屡次直言上谏，被派到上郡监兵。秦始皇最喜欢的儿子就是胡亥，出行时常带在身边，临终传位于胡亥是正常的。在理论上讲，传位于扶苏，是儒家嫡长子具有优先继承权的思想作怪，而焚书坑儒事件又去汉未远，胡亥受始皇遗命即皇帝位，汉代的儒生博士想当然要诟病一番。《赵正书》的出现，使汉代流传的阴谋篡位之说不攻自破。儒生及历史学家指斥的赵高“指鹿为马”事件，显然是有意识的误读，甚至是故意的曲解。
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2017.oo.oo. https://www.fsgplus.com/life/SOCAC/201908/t20190806_25533.shtmlM 出土文献告诉你 真实的赵高“指鹿为马”原来是这样
2023.03.17. https://www.icc-cpi.int/news/situation-ukraine-icc-judges-issue-arrest-warrants-against-vladimir-vladimirovich-putin-and Press Release: 17 March 2023 | Situation in Ukraine: ICC judges issue arrest warrants against Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin and Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova
2026.10.21. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/10/21/trumps-special-envoy-calls-vladimir-putin-humanitarian/ Trump’s special envoy calls Vladimir Putin a ‘humanitarian’ Steve Witkoff praised the Russian president after Russia released a U.S. citizen from detainment. October 21, 2026
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhao_Gao Zhao Gao (died c. October 207 BC[1]) was a Chinese politician.[2] He was an official of the Qin dynasty of China. Allegedly a eunuch, he served as a close aide to all three rulers of the Qin dynasty – Qin Shi Huang, Qin Er Shi and Ziying – and was regarded as having played an instrumental role in the downfall of the dynasty. ..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separation_of_powers The separation of powers principle functionally differentiates several types of state power (usually legislation, adjudication, and execution) and requires these operations of government to be conceptually and institutionally distinct and clearly articulated, thereby maintaining the integrity of each branch ..
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Chinese_Stories/Calling_a_deer_a_horse