Dynasties of ChinaWarring States periodQin State
Reign 361–338 BCE
He issued an order to seek talents and appointed Shang Yang to carry out reforms twice and move the capital to Xianyang, which enabled Qin to rise from a weak country in the west to the top of the Seven Powers.
Ying Quliang was the son of Duke Xian of Qin. He came to the throne in 361 BC at the age of twenty-one. At that time, the state of Qin was "secluded in Yongzhou and did not form an alliance with the Chinese princes, so Yi and Zhai encountered it." The land west of Hexi was still in the hands of the state of Wei. Duke Xiao felt so ashamed that when he came to the throne, he issued an order seeking talents, declaring, "If any of the guests and ministers can come up with unexpected plans to strengthen the Qin Dynasty, I will respect the officials and divide the territory with them." Gongsun Yang, a native of Wei, heard the order and entered Qin. He impressed Duke Xiao with his skills of enriching the country and strengthening its army.
Starting from 356 BC, Duke Xiao appointed Shang Yang to implement reforms: establishing households, rewarding farming and fighting, conferring titles based on military merit, and strictly prohibiting private fights. In 350 BC, he moved the capital to Xianyang, abandoned mine fields, opened Qianmo, merged small towns into counties, and unified weights and measures. According to "Historical Records", after ten years of implementation of the new law, "the people of Qin said that there are no relics on the road and no thieves in the mountains." The Qin State's national power has greatly increased. The Emperor of Zhou gave Duke Xiao the title of "Bo", and the princes all congratulated him.
After that, the Qin army marched eastward, and Shang Yang defeated the Wei army and captured Wei Gong Ziang. Wei ceded territory to seek peace. In 338 BC, Duke Xiao died at the age of just over forty years, and Crown Prince Si came to the throne. Shang Yang was immediately framed by the old nobles and was framed, but the new law was continued, laying the institutional foundation for Qin to finally unify the world.
Duke Xiao was a key monarch in the rise of Qin. He sought talents sincerely and trusted Shang Yang for more than 20 years. He withstood the opposition of the clan nobles and enabled the reform to be thoroughly implemented. Measures such as rewarding farming war, county system, household registration, and unification of weights and measures laid the institutional foundation of Qin for more than a hundred years and became the blueprint for Qin dynasty to unify the country in the future. However, the new law was harsh and ungrateful, and the severe punishments also left a harsh and cruel political tradition for the Qin State.
PoliticsIssue an order seeking talents
When Duke Xiao came to the throne, he felt deeply that the Qin State was "encountered by Yi Zhai" by the princes, and issued an order seeking talents, declaring that "if any of the guests and ministers can come up with strange plans to strengthen Qin, I will honor them and divide the territory with them."
PeopleShang Yang entered Qin
Gongsun Yang, a native of the Wei state, was not reused in the Wei state. After hearing the order to seek talents, he went west to the Qin state and asked to see Duke Xiao through his favorite minister Jing Jian. He successively stated that both the imperial way and the royal way were not in line with Duke Xiao's wishes, and finally impressed Duke Xiao with the art of strengthening the country.
PoliticsThe battle for reform
Duke Xiao convened the ministers to discuss the reform. Gan Long and Du Zhi advocated following the old law. Shang Yang pointedly proposed that "there is no way to govern the world, and the country is not in accordance with the ancient law." Duke Xiao is determined to reform. The content of the debate can be found in "Shang Jun Shu Geng Fa".
Politicsfirst reform
Duke Xiao appointed Shang Yang as the chief of Zuo Shu, and promulgated new laws: the number of households should be numbered, and each other should be reported to each other in succession; nobility should be awarded according to military merit, and those in the clan without military merit should not be included in the vassalage; private fights are strictly prohibited; those who devote themselves to farming and weaving are exempted from corvee service.
SocietyYimu Lixin
Before the new law was promulgated, Shang Yang erected a three-foot-long log at the south gate of the capital and announced that anyone who could move it to the north gate would be rewarded with ten gold coins, but no one dared to move it.
Lasting legacyThis is where the idiom "moving trees establishes trust" comes from.
PoliticsMaster Punishment Crown Prince
The Crown Prince violated the new law. Shang Yang believed that "if the law does not work, it must be violated from above." The Crown Prince could not be punished, so he punished the Crown Prince's teacher Gong Ziqian and tattooed another teacher Gongsun Jia. From then on, the people of Qin followed the new law.
MilitarySurround Anyi
Shang Yang was promoted to Daliang Zao, and when the main force of Wei was besieging Handan, the capital of Zhao, he led the Qin army eastward and surrounded Anyi, the old capital of Wei, forcing the defenders to surrender.
PoliticsMoved the capital to Xianyang
Duke Xiao built the Jique Palace on the north bank of the Wei River and moved the capital from Yueyang to Xianyang. From then on until the death of Qin, Xianyang was the capital of Qin.
Lasting legacyThe name of Xianyang is still used today; the Qin Xianyang City ruins are located in the east of Xianyang City, Shaanxi Province, and are national key cultural relics protection units.
EconomyThe second reform
Shang Yang implemented the second reform: abolishing the well fields and opening up the Qianmo, recognizing the private ownership of land and allowing buying and selling; prohibiting fathers, sons and brothers from living in the same room, forcing household division; and levying taxes on a per-household basis.
PoliticsPromote county system
Small villages, towns, and villages were combined into counties, and county magistrates and county magistrates were established. There were a total of thirty-one counties (some say forty-one counties) in the country. Officials were directly appointed and dismissed by the monarch, replacing the hereditary fiefdoms of the nobles.
Lasting legacyThe county system continued for more than two thousand years, and "county" is still the basic administrative division unit in China.
EconomyBegin by giving
The Qin State "initially established a tax" and began to levy military tax based on population (some say it was an oral tax), which further protected the country's finances and military resources.
EconomyUnify weights and measures
Shang Yang unified the weights and measures of Qin and issued standard measuring instruments. The handed down Shang Yang Fang Sheng inscription records that Duke Xiao was produced under the supervision of Daliang Zaoying in the 18th year, with sixteen and one-fifth cubic inches as one liter.
Lasting legacyShang Yang Fang Sheng is now in the Shanghai Museum. The bottom of the vessel is engraved with Qin Shihuang's edict to unify weights and measures, indicating that the first emperor followed the standards set by Shang Yang.
DiplomacyEmperor Zhibo
Zhou King Xian gave Duke Xiao the title of "Bo", and the following year all the princes sent envoys to congratulate him. Duke Xiao sent Prince, a major officer, to lead an army to meet with the princes in Fengze to meet the emperor.
MilitaryCapture Gong Ziang
Shang Yang led his army to attack Wei and invited Wei general Gong Ziang to form an alliance as an old friend. He took the opportunity to capture him and defeated the Wei army. The Wei State ceded territory to seek peace, and Shang Yang was granted the title of Shangjun in fifteen cities.
PoliticsDuke Xiao passed away
Duke Xiao was seriously ill. According to the "Warring States Period Policy", he had intended to pass the throne to Shang Yang, but Shang Yang refused. After Duke Xiao died and Crown Prince Si came to the throne, Gong Ziqian and others falsely accused Shang Yang of treason. Shang Yang failed to escape and was killed and his car was torn apart in public.
The Duke of Wei, whose real name was Wei Yang (Gongsun Yang), presided over the reform twice after entering the Qin Dynasty. He became an official in Daliang Zao, was granted the title of Shang Yu, and was named Shang Jun. His teachings are compiled into "Shang Jun Shu". After Duke Xiao's death, he was falsely accused of treason and his car broke down and he died.
Introduce Shang Yang to meet Duke Xiao. Later, when Zhao Liang persuaded Shang Yang, he ridiculed him as "because of his lover Jing Jian."
The conservative minister advocated "teaching for the people and achieving success without working" during the reform debate. He opposed changing the old law and was Shang Yang's main opponent along with Du Zhi.
Crown Prince's teacher. Crown Prince was sentenced for breaking the law, and later he was sentenced to death for breaking the law, and was kept in seclusion for eight years. After Duke Xiao's death, he and the old nobles falsely accused Shang Yang of treason.
Prince of Wei State, Shang Yang's old friend in Wei Dynasty. In 340 BC, he led his troops to attack the Qin army. He believed in Shang Yang's invitation to join an alliance and was captured. The Wei army was defeated.
He once advised Shang Yang to retire after his achievements, pointing out that he had made many enemies with harsh punishments and was "as dangerous as morning dew", but Shang Yang refused to listen.