Shang Yang (; c. 390 – 338 BC), also known as Wei Yang () and originally surnamed Gongsun, was a

statesman A statesman or stateswoman is a politician or a leader in an organization who has had a long and respected career at the national or international level, or in a given field. Statesman or statesmen may also refer to: Newspapers United States ...

chancellor Chancellor () is a title of various official positions in the governments of many countries. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the (lattice work screens) of a basilica (court hall), which separa ...

and

reform Reform refers to the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The modern usage of the word emerged in the late 18th century and is believed to have originated from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement, which ...

er of the

State of Qin Qin (, , or ''Ch'in'') was an ancient Chinese state during the Zhou dynasty. It is traditionally dated to 897 BC. The state of Qin originated from a reconquest of western lands that had previously been lost to the Xirong. Its location at ...

. Arguably the "most famous and most influential statesman of the

Warring States period The Warring States period in history of China, Chinese history (221 BC) comprises the final two and a half centuries of the Zhou dynasty (256 BC), which were characterized by frequent warfare, bureaucratic and military reforms, and ...

", Gongsun was born in the Zhou

vassal state A vassal state is any state that has a mutual obligation to a superior state or empire, in a status similar to that of a vassal in the feudal system in medieval Europe. Vassal states were common among the empires of the Near East, dating back to ...

of Wey,Antonio S. Cua (ed.), 2003, p. 362, ''Encyclopedia of Chinese Philosophy'

"The fifth important legalist, Shang Yang (Wei Yang, c. 390–338 B.C.E.), was born in Wei; his original surname was Gongsun." migrating to take up office in the Qin state. His policies laid the administrative, political and economic foundations that would eventually enable Qin to conquer the other six rival states, unifying China into a centralized rule for the first time in history under the

Qin dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ) was the first Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China. It is named for its progenitor state of Qin, a fief of the confederal Zhou dynasty (256 BC). Beginning in 230 BC, the Qin under King Ying Zheng enga ...

. Scholars consider it likely that both he and his followers contributed to ''

The Book of Lord Shang The ''Book of Lord Shang'' () is an ancient Chinese text from the 3rd century BC, regarded as a foundational work of " Chinese Legalism". The earliest surviving of such texts (the second being the ''Han Feizi''), it is named for and to some exte ...

''.

Biography

Shang Yang was born as the son of a concubine to the ruling family of the minor state Wey (衞). His surname (氏, lineage name) was

Gongsun Gongsun () is one of the few Chinese compound surnames. Famous people with this surname include: * Gongsun Xuanyuan, reputed name of the Yellow Emperor; other sources say his surname was Jī (surname), Ji * Gongsun Shu, emperor of Chengjia * Sha ...

and his personal name Yang. As a member of the Wei family, he was also known as Wei Yang. At a young age, Yang studied law and obtained a position under Prime Minister Shuzuo of Wei (魏, not the same as his birth state). With the support of

Duke Xiao of Qin Duke Xiao of Qin (; 381–338 BC), personal name Ying Quliang, was a duke of the state of Qin during the Eastern Zhou dynasty, reigning from 361 to 338 BC. Duke Xiao is best known for employing the Legalist statesman Shang Yang from the state of ...

, Yang left his lowly position in Wei to become the chief adviser in Qin. His numerous reforms transformed the peripheral Qin state into a militarily powerful and strongly centralized kingdom. Changes to the state's legal system (which were said to have been built upon

Li Kui Li Kui may refer to: *Li Kui (legalist), government minister in the Wei state *Li Kui (chancellor), chancellor of the Tang Dynasty *Li Kui (Water Margin), fictional character in the ''Water Margin'' {{hndis, Li, Kui Yang partly abolished

primogeniture Primogeniture () is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn Legitimacy (family law), legitimate child to inheritance, inherit all or most of their parent's estate (law), estate in preference to shared inheritance among all or some childre ...

(depending on the performance of the son) and created a double tax on households that had more than one son living in the household, to break up large clans into nuclear families. Yang moved the capital from the city of Yueyang to

Xianyang Xianyang ( zh, s=咸阳 , p=Xiányáng) is a prefecture-level city in central Shaanxi province, situated on the Wei River a few kilometers upstream (west) from the provincial capital of Xi'an. Once the capital of the Qin dynasty, it is now int ...

, in order to reduce the influence of nobles on the administration. Xianyang remained Qin's capital until its fall in 207 BC.

Death

Yang was deeply despised by the Qin nobility and became vulnerable after the death of Duke Xiao. The next ruler, King Huiwen, ordered the nine familial exterminations against Yang and his family, on the grounds of fomenting rebellion. Yang had previously humiliated the new duke "by causing him to be punished for an offense as though he were an ordinary citizen." According to ''

Zhan Guo Ce The ''Zhan Guo Ce'' (Wade-Giles, W-G: ''Chan-kuo T'se''), also known in English language, English as the ''Strategies of the Warring States'' or ''Annals of the Warring States'', is an ancient Chinese text that contains anecdotes of political ma ...

'', Yang went into hiding; at one point Yang was refused a room at an inn because one of his own laws prevented admission of a guest without proper identification. Yang was executed by ''jūliè'' (:

dismemberment Dismemberment is the act of completely disconnecting and/or removing the limbs, skin, and/or organs from a living or dead being. It has been practiced upon human beings as a form of capital punishment, especially in connection with regicid ...

by being fastened to five

chariot A chariot is a type of vehicle similar to a cart, driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid Propulsion, motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk O ...

cattle Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, bovid ungulates widely kept as livestock. They are prominent modern members of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus '' Bos''. Mature female cattle are calle ...

or horses and being torn to pieces); his whole family was also executed. 商君列传 (vol. 68), ''

Records of the Grand Historian The ''Shiji'', also known as ''Records of the Grand Historian'' or ''The Grand Scribe's Records'', is a Chinese historical text that is the first of the Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written during the late 2nd and early 1st ce ...

'',

Sima Qian Sima Qian () was a Chinese historian during the early Han dynasty. He is considered the father of Chinese historiography for the ''Shiji'' (sometimes translated into English as ''Records of the Grand Historian''), a general history of China cov ...

Despite his death, King Huiwen kept the reforms enacted by Yang. A number of alternate versions of Yang's death have survived. According to

in his ''

'', Yang first escaped to Wei. However, he was hated there for his earlier betrayal of Gongzi Ang and was expelled. Yang then fled to his fiefdom, where he raised a rebel army but was killed in battle. After the battle, King Hui of Qin had Yang's corpse torn apart by chariots as a warning to others. Following the execution of Yang, King Huiwen turned away from the central valley south to conquer

Sichuan Sichuan is a province in Southwestern China, occupying the Sichuan Basin and Tibetan Plateau—between the Jinsha River to the west, the Daba Mountains to the north, and the Yunnan–Guizhou Plateau to the south. Its capital city is Cheng ...

( Shu and Ba) in what Steven Sage calls a "visionary reorientation of thinking" toward material interests in Qin's bid for universal rule.

Assessments

A. F. P. Hulsewé Anthony François Paulus Hulsewé (31 January 1910 – 16 December 1993) was a Dutch Sinologist and scholar best known for his studies of ancient Chinese law, particularly that of the Han dynasty (220 BCAD206). Life and career Anthony F ...

considered Shang Yang the "founder of the school of law", and considers his unification of punishments one of his most important contributions; that is, giving the penalty of death to any grade of person disobeying the king's orders. Shang Yang even expected the king, though the source of law (authorizing it), to follow it. This treatment is in contrast to ideas more typical of archaic society, more closely represented in the

Rites of Zhou The ''Rites of Zhou'' (), originally known as "Officers of Zhou" (), is a Chinese work on bureaucracy and organizational theory. It was renamed by Liu Xin to differentiate it from a chapter in the '' Book of History'' by the same name. To rep ...

as giving different punishments to different strata of society. Hulsewe points out that

Sima Tan Sima Tan (; 165–110 BCE) was a Chinese astrologist, astronomer, and historian during the Western Han dynasty. His work ''Records of the Grand Historian'' was completed by his son Sima Qian, who is considered the founder of Chinese hist ...

considered equal treatment the "school of law's" most salient point: "They do not distinguish between close and far relatives, nor do they discriminate between noble and humble, but in a uniform manner they decide on them in law." The Han dynasty adopted essentially the same denominations of crimes, and conception of equality, as Shang Yang set down for Qin, without collective punishment of the three sets of relatives. Shang Yang appeared to act according to his own teachings, and translator Duvendak (1928) references him as being considered "like a bamboo‑frame which keeps a bow straight, and one could not get him out of his straightness", even if spoken of by some pre-modern Chinese in ill regard with the fall of Qin. Duvendak believed that Shang Yang should be of interest not just to

Sinologists Sinology, also referred to as China studies, is a subfield of area studies or East Asian studies involved in social sciences and humanities research on China. It is an academic discipline that focuses on the study of the Chinese civilization ...

, but Western Jurists as well. Despite traditional history's dim view, Sima Qian recounts the immediate effect of his policies as such: After he ordinanceshad been in effect for ten years, the commoners of Qin were delighted; no one picked up articles lost on the road, there were no bandits or thieves in the mountains, households were well provided for and the people were well off. The commoners were brave in the duke’s battles but cowardly in private feuds and the townships and cities were in good order. (Sima Qian 1994a, 90)

In fiction and popular culture

* Portrayed by Shi Jingming in ''

The Legend of Mi Yue ''The Legend of Mi Yue'' () is a 2015 Chinese television series directed by Zheng Xiaolong and based on eponymous historical novel. It stars Sun Li in the title role of Mi Yue. The series aired 2 episodes daily on Beijing TV and Dragon TV from ...

'' (2015) as a guest appearance, depicting his execution. * Portrayed by Wang Zhifei in the TV series ''

The Qin Empire The Qin dynasty ( ) was the first Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China. It is named for its progenitor state of Qin, a fief of the confederal Zhou dynasty (256 BC). Beginning in 230 BC, the Qin under King Ying Zheng enga ...

'' as a main character.

Notes

References

* * Xie, Qingkui
"Shang Yang"
. ''

Encyclopedia of China The ''Encyclopedia of China'' () is the first large-entry modern encyclopedia in the Chinese language. The compilation began in 1978. Published by the Encyclopedia of China Publishing House, the encyclopedia was issued one volume at a time, be ...

'' (Political Science Edition), 1st ed. * Zhang, Guohua
"Shang Yang"
''

'' (Law Edition), 1st ed. *国史概要 (第二版) *戰國策 (''

''), 秦第一

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Shang, Yang 390s BC births 338 BC deaths Year of birth uncertain 4th-century BC Chinese people 4th-century BC executions 4th-century BC Chinese philosophers Chinese legal scholars Chinese legal writers Chinese reformers Chinese political philosophers Executed people from Henan Legalism (Chinese philosophy) People executed by the Qin dynasty Philosophers from Henan Philosophers of law Politicians from Puyang Social philosophers Theoretical historians Victims of familial execution People of Wey (state) Year of birth unknown Zhou dynasty philosophers Zhou dynasty government officials Qin state people