Shang Yang (Chinese: 商鞅; pinyin: Shāng Yāng; Wade–Giles: Shang Yang, 390 BC – 338 BC) was an important statesman of the State of Qin during the Warring States Period of Chinese history. Born Wei Yang (simplified Chinese: 卫鞅; traditional Chinese: 衛鞅) in the State of Wei, with the support of Duke Xiao of Qin Yang enacted numerous reforms in Qin. These were in accordance with his legalist philosophy as recorded in The Book of Lord Shang and assisted Qin in its change from a peripheral state to that of a militarily powerful and strongly centralized kingdom. He changed the administration of the state through an emphasis on meritocracy and devolvement of power from the nobility.
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The vast majority of Yang's reforms were taken from policies instituted elsewhere, such as from Wu Qi of the State of Chu; however, Yang's reforms were more thorough and extreme than those of other states. Under Yang's tenure, Qin quickly caught up with and surpassed the reforms of other states.
After Duke Xiao of Qin, ascended the Qin throne, Yang left his lowly position in the State of Wei (to whose ruling family he had been born, but had yet to obtain a high position in[1]) to become the chief adviser in Qin at Duke Xiao's behest. There his changes to the state's legal system (which were said to have built upon Li Kui's Canon of Laws) propelled the Qin to prosperity. His policies built the foundation that enabled Qin to conquer all of China, uniting the country for the first time and ushering in the Qin dynasty.
He is credited by Han Feizi with the creation of two theories;
Yang believed in the rule of law and considered loyalty to the state to be above that of the family.
Yang introduced two sets of changes to the State of Qin. The first, in 356 BC, were:
Yang introduced his second set of changes in 350 BC, which included a new standardised system of land allocation and reforms to taxation.
Yang introduced land reforms, privatized land, rewarded farmers who exceeded harvest quotas, enslaved farmers who failed to meet quotas, and used enslaved citizens as rewards for those who met government policies.
As manpower was short in Qin relative to the other states at the time, Yang enacted policies to increase its manpower. As Qin peasants were recruited into the military, he encouraged active immigration of peasants from other states into Qin as a replacement workforce; this policy simultaneously increased the manpower of Qin and weakened the manpower of Qin's rivals. Yang made laws forcing citizens to marry at a young age and passed tax laws to encourage raising multiple children. He also enacted policies to free convicts who worked in opening wastelands for agriculture.
Yang abolished primogeniture 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 to reduce the influence of nobles on the administration.
Deeply despised by the Qin nobility, Yang could not survive Duke Xiao of Qin's death. The next ruler, King Huiwen, ordered the execution of 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."[2] Yang went into hiding and tried to stay at a hotel. The hotel owner refused because it was against Yang's laws to admit a guest without proper identification, a law Yang himself had implemented. Yang is said to have been executed by being fastened to five chariots and torn to pieces. Despite his death, King Huiwen kept the reforms enacted by Yang. A number of alternate version of Shang Yang's death have survived. According to Sima Qian in his Records of the Grand Historian Shang Yang 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.
Confucian scholars were highly opposed to Shang Yang's legalist approach.
{{Persondata | NAME = Shang, Yang | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = Statesman of the [[Qin (state) | DATE OF BIRTH = 390 BC | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = 338 BC | PLACE OF DEATH = }}
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