李斯: 谏逐客书 Lisi：We Needed Foreign Talents ...

李斯可以说是中国外来人才政策最早的提倡者。他在《谏逐客书》里的‘是以泰山不让土壤，故能成其大；河海不择细流，故能就其深’是我们所熟悉的名言。

战国末期，韩国派人来秦国做间谍，不久被发现了。于是秦国的王公大臣劝秦王说：“从六国来侍奉大王的人，大都是来离间秦国的，把他们统统赶走吧。”

楚国人李斯也在被驱逐之列，于是上书秦王说：“听官员们议论要驱逐客卿，我私下认为这是不对的。从前秦穆公用百里奚、蹇叔，秦孝公用商鞅，秦惠王用张仪，秦昭王用范睢，才使秦国国富民强，沃野千里，奠定了今天这样能统一天下的功业，那些贤臣可都不是秦国人啊。现在大王身上佩戴的昆山美玉、隋侯珠、和氏璧、明月珠、太阿剑，没有一样是秦国出产的。那些敲瓦坛击瓦罐、拍大腿伴奏、呜呜叫喊的是正宗的秦国音乐，但没见大王听过，听的都是《郑》、《卫》、《桑间》、《昭》、《虞》、《武》、《象》这些乐曲，这也不是秦国的，难道大王看重别国的只是这些吗？这不是统一天下的方法啊。
泰山不排斥土壤，才能堆成那么高大；河海不排斥细流，才能变得那样深邃；君王不抛弃民众，才能凸显他的盛德。地不分东西，人没有敌我，四季五谷丰登，鬼神降福泽，这才是三皇五帝被天下人称颂至今的原因。
非秦国出产的物品，值得珍视的很多；非秦国出生的士人，忠心秦国的不少。希望大王能三思。”

于是，秦王打消了逐客的想法，重用李斯等人，并于公元前221年统一了天下。

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Lisi was the Prime Minister of Qin the First Emperor.

Lisi was a native of the state of Chu (楚). In 247 BC he went to Qin, in western China, where he joined the entourage of Lü Buwei (呂不韋) , the prime minister. He was therefore a foreign talent of Qin.

In 237 BC, under pressure from members of the royal family and from highly placed officials of the state of Qin, the ruler ordered that all foreigners be deported because they were unreliable. Lisi wrote one of his best-known pieces, entitled 'Jian zhu ke Shu', in response to this edict and advised the emperor not to drive away foreign talents. He argued that men should be employed because of their worth, not because of their origins. He urged the king of Qin to think in terms of an empire that would include all people, not simply of a state among states. Foreigners, such as Lisi himself, were essential if the ruler were to carry out his aim of conquest of the other states.

Li's advice was accepted and the edict withdrawn. Lisi thus remained in Qin until his death, devoting himself to aiding his ruler in building the empire. Shortly after submitting his memorial opposing the expulsion of foreigners, Lisi was promoted to the position of minister of justice.

China was unified under the Qin dynasty in 221 BC.

Sometime between 219 BC and 213 BC Lisi was elevated to the position of prime minister.