Shang Yang

Shang Yang

Shang Yang (about 395-338 BC), surnamed Ji, Gongsun, was born in Wei. During the Warring States period, statesman, reformer, thinker, militarist, Legalist representative, and the descendants of the Wei monarch.

Shang Yang assisted Qin Xiaogong and actively carried out the reform, which made Qin become a rich and powerful country. Politically, he reformed the registered residence of the Qin Dynasty, the military title, the land system, the administrative divisions, the taxation, the weights and measures, and the folk customs. He made draconian laws. In economy, he advocated agriculture and commerce, and rewarded farming. In military affairs, he ruled the Qin Army to recover the land of Hexi, and was awarded to the fifteen city by Qin Xiao Gong, the name is "Shang Jun", and is known as Shang Yang.

In 338 BC, after the death of Qin Xiaogong, Shang Yang was falsely accused of treason by his son Qian. He was defeated and died in TONGDI (now southwest of Huazhou District, Weinan City, Shaanxi Province). The body was transported to Xianyang where the car cracked and the whole family was killed.

Life of the characters

Early experience

Shang Yang was born in the Duke of the state of Wei. Some scholars speculate that he was born in DiQiu, the capital of the state of Wei. However, there are still controversies about the corresponding place names, mainly including Neihuang County in Anyang City and Puyang County in Puyang City.

When he was young, Shang Yang liked the study of Xingming magic, which was greatly influenced by Li Zhen and Wu Qi. He learned the theory of miscellaneous schools from Shi Jiao, and later served as a concubine to the Prime Minister of the state of Wei. When Uncle CuO was seriously ill, he recommended Shang Yang to King Hui of Wei, saying: "Shang Yang is young and talented, and he can be the Prime Minister of the country to govern the country." he also said to King Hui of Wei, "if you don't use Shang Yang, you must kill him, and don't let him go to other countries." Wei Huiwang thought that uncle CuO was extremely ill and incoherent, so he refused to accept it. Gongshucuo turns to let Shangyang leave the state of Wei. Shangyang understands that King Huiwei does not accept gongshucuo's words and will not adopt the words of killing him, so he does not leave the state of Wei immediately.

Brewing reform

In 359 BC, Qin Xiaogong planned to carry out political reform in the state of Qin, but he was afraid that the people would talk about it, so he hesitated. Qin Xiaogong called a court meeting and ordered his ministers to discuss the matter.

Gan long and Du Zhi, representatives of the old aristocracy, rose to oppose the reform. They believe that if there is no profit, there will be no reform, and if there is no merit, there will be no easy tools. "There is no fault in legalism, and there is no evil in following rites." Shang Yang pointed out in a tit for tat manner: "what is the ancient method for different religions in previous generations? If the emperor does not reply, what is the rule of etiquette? " "If we don't govern the world together, the country will not follow the law of the past. The king of Tang and Wu did not follow the ancient times, and the death of yin and Xia was not easy. However, those who are against the ancients are not necessarily wrong, and those who follow the rites are not enough. " Therefore, he advocated "legislating at that time and making rites according to events" (the words come from the book of Shang Jun · gengfa chapter and historical records · biographies of Shang Jun). This is a refutation of the idea of historical evolution of the old aristocracy's so-called "legalism" and "following the rites" to restore the ancients, which prepared the public opinion for the implementation of the reform.

Carry out reform

The order of reclaiming grass was issued

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Reclamation order

After the end of the struggle for reform, Qin Xiaogong ordered Shang Yang to issue the order of cultivating grass in the state of Qin in 359 BC as the prelude to the comprehensive reform. Its main contents include: stimulating agricultural production, restraining commercial development, reshaping social values, improving social awareness of agriculture, weakening the privileges of nobles and officials, allowing domestic nobles to join in agricultural production, and implementing a unified tax and rent system.

The first reform

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Shang Yang's reform

After the successful implementation of the order of cultivating grass in the state of Qin, Emperor Xiaogong of Qin appointed Shang Yang as the chief of Zuo Shu in 356 B.C., and implemented the first reform in the state of Qin. The main contents are: reforming registered residence system, implementing the Wu Wu Lian sitting method, enforcing military law to reward military work, abolishing the system of Shi Qing Lu, establishing twenty equal system, punishing private struggle, rewarding farming, weaving agriculture, restraining commerce, reforming law, formulating laws of Qin and implementing small family system.

The second reform

Xianyang (now the northeast of Xianyang City, Shaanxi Province) is located in the middle of Guanzhong Plain, with plateau in the north and Weihe River in the south. It goes down the Weihe River to the Yellow River, and between Zhongnanshan and Weihe River to Hanguguan. In order to develop to the east of Hanguguan, in 350 BC, Qin Xiaogong ordered Shang Yang to recruit soldiers, build JIQUE palace and build a new capital according to the capital scale of Lu and Wei, and moved the capital from Liyang (now Southeast of Fuping County, Weinan City, Shaanxi Province) to Xianyang the next year. At the same time, he ordered Shang Yang to carry out the second reform in Qin. Its main contents include: opening up the fields, abolishing the well fields, making the yuan fields, allowing the private ownership and trading of the land, carrying out the county system, giving the Fu at the beginning, unifying the weights and measures, burning the poems and books to make clear the law, stopping the private door, forbidding the people of official circles, carrying out the household division order, forbidding the common people's father, son and brother to live in the same room, etc.

Defeated and killed

In 338 BC, Qin Xiaogong died and Prince Si ascended to the throne, that is, King Hui of Qin.

Shang Yang's reform involved the redistribution of interests, and "rewarding farming and fighting, implementing military merit and nobility system" opened the way for the common people to enter the upper class, making the state of Qin prosperous and increasingly powerful. But it broke the hereditary system of the aristocracy which lasted for hundreds of years, so it offended the aristocratic forces. During the period of Qin Xiaogong's serious illness, Shang Yang monopolized military and political power, which intensified the internal power struggle of Qin state.

Therefore, after the death of Qin Xiaogong, the noble forces such as Gongzi Qian accused him of treason. King Huiwen of Qin ordered the pursuit. Shang Yang fled to the border and wanted to stay in a guest house. The host didn't know that he was the king of Shang. Seeing that he didn't bring a certificate, he sued the king of Shang. Staying in a guest without a certificate was a crime. Shang Yang wants to go to the state of Wei, but the state of Wei refuses him to enter the country because he once cheated young master ang.

After returning to the Qin Dynasty, Shang Yang was forced to sneak back to seal the city of Shang, and launched the city soldiers to attack Zheng county [now Huazhou district (Huaxian), Weinan City, Shaanxi Province]. Qin huiwenjun sent troops to carry out the expedition. As a result, Shang Yang was defeated and died in TONGDI (now southwest of Huazhou district (Yuanhua county), Weinan City, Shaanxi Province). His body was brought back to Xianyang, where he was shown to the public after being cracked. At the same time, Qin huiwenjun ordered Shang Yang's family to be killed.

Although Shang Yang was killed, the new law was not abolished.

Character influence

Legalist Thought

When Shang Yang argued for the reform, he mentioned that "sage Gou can strengthen the country, but he is illegal; Gou can benefit the people, but he does not follow the etiquette", which became the political guiding principle of the state of Qin, making the state of Qin ahead of the six states in Shandong. Secondly, Shang Yang's law enforcement does not avoid the powerful and the criminal officials, which shows that he firmly implements the Legalists' idea. Finally, there is another common feature of Legalists, that is, Shang Yang carried out the political reform with the same attitude and spirit of Legalists to let the people know the law.

Independent thinking

The influence of Shang Yang's independent thought is mainly manifested in three aspects. First of all, Shang Yang advocated the economic policy of agriculture as a whole, so he issued the order of reclaiming grass, and formulated 20 methods of emphasizing agriculture and reclaiming wasteland. On the one hand, it directly or indirectly stimulates agricultural development, on the other hand, it suppresses industry and commerce. Secondly, Shang Yang advocated heavy punishment and heavy reward. Shang Yang believes that human nature is profit oriented and crime averse. As long as the punishment is heavy and the reward is generous, people can be well governed and the country can be stable. Therefore, on the one hand, Shang Yang formulated Harsh Criminal Law to govern the people, on the other hand, he valued Lixin. Third, Shang Yang advocated fighting with militarism. Finally, Shang Yang advocated that the state should unify the minds of the people, formulate a unified system and achieve the goal of unification.

After the death of Shang Yang, Shang Yang's thought gradually developed into a school called Shang school. After five stages of establishment, exploration, development, finalization and aftereffect, the business school gradually became the mainstream of thought that dominated the state of Qin and even the Qin Dynasty.

personal works

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Shang Jun Shu

In Hanshu Yiwenzhi, there are 29 pieces of Shangjun written by Shang Yang and 27 pieces of Gongsun Yang written by strategists. Among them, gongsunyang has been lost, and there are 24 existing Shangjunshu, among which the 16th criminal contract and the 21st imperial theft have been lost.

Shangjunshu, also known as shangzi, is a collection of Shangyang's words, deeds, thoughts and Legalist works. It is one of the representative works of Legalist school. The book advocates ruling the country according to law, emphasizing agriculture and business, emphasizing war and martial arts, emphasizing punishment and ignoring reward, and denounces Confucianism, political strategists and Rangers.

In addition, there are 20 pieces of Shennong recorded in Hanshu Yiwenzhi in the works of farmers. Yan shigu quoted Liu Xiang's qiliao bielu as saying that this book is suspected to be written by Li Zhen and Shang Yang.

Historical records

Historical records of the Qin Dynasty

Biographies of Shangjun in historical records

Historical evaluation

Positive comments

Cai Ze: Fu Shang Jun is the emperor of Qin's filial piety and justice. He forbids adultery, rewards the nobility, punishes the guilty, balances the power, adjusts the weight, breaks the path, and makes the people's business quiet and common. He persuades the people to cultivate and benefit the land. He has nothing to do with his family, and he has to accumulate his strength and field. He is accustomed to fighting against Chen. He is rich because of his military action and his military rest. Therefore, Qin is invincible in the world, and he has established his power over the princes and become the business of Qin.

Li Si: filial piety is the method of Shang Yang. It changes the customs. The people are rich and the country is rich and strong. The people are happy to use it and the princes are attached to it.

The preface of Taishigong: Yang went to defend Qin Dynasty, could understand his skills, and could dominate Xiaogong, and later generations would follow his law.

Sang Hongyang: in the past, the emperor of Shang Dynasty was the Prime Minister of Qin Dynasty. He established internal laws, punished severely, disciplined politics and religion, and had nothing to do with adultery. The country is rich and the people are strong, the equipment is finished, and the accumulation is more than enough. The husband, Shang Jun, started cloth clothes, and entered Qin Dynasty from Wei Dynasty. He changed the law of Ming religion, and the Qin people ruled greatly. So the army moves and cuts, the army rests and the country is rich His achievements are like hills and mountains, and his fame will be handed down to later generations.

Liu Xin: the husband, the king of Commerce, had no second thoughts. He did his best to make the people rich by farming and weaving, and encouraged the soldiers by fighting. Laws and regulations must be carried out. There is no private favor inside, and there is no estrangement outside. It is forbidden by order, and it is forbidden by law.

Ban Gu: Emperor of filial piety, emperor of Commerce, zhiyuantian, kaiqianbo and Dongxiong

Chinese PinYin : Shang Yang