[I N T R O D U C T I O N:  CHAPTER I:  Shang Yang in History]

3. Historical Criticism of the Life
p.33 The Biography of the Shih-chi, considered as literature, is an excellent piece of work. The Lord of Shang, as a man, stands out clearly before us: a brilliant, ambitious, unscrupulous, courageous politician, a man with an original, independent mind, a statesman of real vision. All the important incidents in this remarkable career are staged in a highly dramatic manner. The historian has felt that here were opportunities of the first rank for creating a dramatic effect.

Here was Ch’ in, struggling for supremacy, and on its borders the state of Wei, dominating the gate to the fertile plains in the east. Here was the man, who would show Ch’ in the way to power and glory, who would utterly defeat Wei, would seize the irredenta west of the Yellow River and thus lay the foundation for the success by which Ch’ in, a century later, would stagger the world. And this man was a renegade, a traitor. His home had been in Wei, he had moved among the nobles of Wei, he had distinguished himself in the service of the Chancellor, but he had been spurned by the Duke ! Not only had the Duke deemed him totally incapable of succeeding his master in high office, but he had not even deemed it worth his while to have him killed in accordance with the curious alternative, which his dying minister with his last breath had set him. Not fit to live, not even fit to die, and the young ambitious scholar had turned his face westward, with a grim resolution to make the Duke of Wei bitterly repent his terrible mistake.

Here was a life worth the pen of a master, and step by step we see it developing before our eyes. A picture full of colour p.34 is drawn: we see Wei Yang, at his first audiences with the Duke of Ch’ in, trying to gauge of what stuff this prince is made, and finding him fast asleep when he talks in the conventional manner. At last he has sized him up, he has discovered in him a man full of impatient ambition like himself; but lacking his intelligence and will-power. We see him eagerly and earnestly explaining his plans, sketching possibilities, and both become so absorbed in their conversation that etiquette is forgotten and the Duke does not even notice that the kneeling courtier, whom he has deigned to receive, has moved so far forward that his knees are actually on the mat on which he himself is seated.

The decisive meeting is described, where Wei Yang in trenchant words ridicules the Duke’ s conservative ministers. Then power to realize his plans, a period of feverish activity, reform of the whole country in the teeth of opposition from all quarters, relentless execution of all his opponents and-supreme test of his power-punishment of the Crown Prince himself in the persons of his tutors. It is a period of preparation, of growing strength. Ch’ in makes its power felt, it is recognized by the Chow ruler as the leader of the feudal lords, it presides over a meeting of the princes and there lays down the law, and Wei Yang triumphs.

The feudal princes know that he is the ruling power in Ch’ in, his name is beginning to be terrible, far beyond the frontiers of Ch’ in. And then he strikes. Ch’ in’ s interest and his own vengeance are one: Wei must be destroyed. Personally he commands the army that invades Wei. He decoys the prince who leads the opposing forces; they have been friends in the old days in Wei, but friendship is to him but an aid to vengeance. The prince is caught in a trap, p.35 swiftly and relentlessly he falls upon the unsuspecting army of Wei and deals it a deathblow. Wei’ s power is broken, its capital is removed to the other side of the mountain passes, and Wei Yang, now the Lord of Shang, is triumphant.

At the height of his power he is warned to beware. Proud and self-confident he scorns the warning. But the end is not far. His protector, Duke Hsiao, dies, and is succeeded by none other than the Crown Prince whom Wei Yang once mortally offended. A conspiration against him is formed by the nobles, who detest him; he flies, and — victim of his own regulations against robbers and thieves — finds no shelter anywhere. He attempts a desperate stroke; he enters Wei and offers his services to the country which he once betrayed, willing to unmake the greatness of Ch’ in which he alone has created. But Wei does not trust him and is going to extradite him to Ch’ in. With a last desperate effort he makes his way to his own fief, assembles his adherents, invades the weak state of Cheng, in the hope of establishing himself there, but is surrounded by the pursuing troops of Ch’ in and is killed in battle, brave to the last. A final gruesome touch is added: his body is torn to pieces by chariots and his family is exterminated. *

What value should be attached to this romantic history ? If we turn to the Annals for corroboration of the facts, we find that, apart from the Ch’ in Annals, those of Ch’ i, Ch’ u, and Wei mention Shang Yang, as do also the Bamboo Annals. The Ch’ i Annals, in connection with the conferring of the leadership on Duke Hsiao in 342, say that the latter in 342 p.36 took Yang, Lord of Shang, into his service (220); those of Ch’ u mention the fact that in 340 Yang received Yü and Shang in fief (221); in those of Wei is related how Prince Ang fell in the ambush which Yang had prepared for him and how Ch’ in, thanks to him, extended its territory to the river; also they make mention of Yang’ s flight to Wei and the refusal of Wei to receive him (222). The Bamboo Annals finally confirm Wei Yang’ s invasion of Wei in 341 and his success: they also mention the conferring of a fief on Wei Yang, of which the name is given a little differently (223). The Ch’in Annals (224) give some further details: Wei Yang’ s arrival in Ch’ in in response to Duke Hsiao’ s appeal for scholars; his reform of the law and the discussion with the other ministers (225); the invasion by Wei Yang of Wei in 351 (226); the building of the new capital of Ch’ in, its new administrative system, its land-reform, and the establishment of taxes (227); the defeat of Wei in 341 and the capture of Prince Ang (without, however, mentioning the ambush), with the subsequent ennobling of Yang to Lord of Shang; and finally his death and the incident with the Crown Prince in some detail.

Unfortunately it is clear that the details, which the Chin Annals give, have no independent value apart from the Biography. They are certainly additions by Ssu-ma Ch’ ien himself. Once, where he mentions the law reform, he refers the reader to the Biography, and the notice about Wei Yang’ s arrival in Ch’in,  as well as the story of his disgrace, flight, p.37 and death, are certainly interpolations by the historian to the text of the Annals. In itself this text would deserve much confidence, as it was expressly spared from the Burning of the Books by Ch’ in Shih huang-ti; but Ssu-ma Ch’ ien, who complains that it did not contain the dates by days and months and that it was brief and incomplete (228), seems to have felt called upon to improve and complete it. This is regrettable, as it makes it uncertain whether the other entries, in which Shang Yang plays a part, have not also been touched up. Yet, if this were so, one would expect that the historian, once having started, would have added still more from the rich material of the Life which he had in hand. The fact that he has not done so, but leaves the account rather meagre, tends to show that he only introduced and took leave of our hero in a somewhat impressive manner, with the aid of the material from the Life, but that he gave the rest as
he found it.

The mere external facts of Shang Yang’ s life-his serving as a minister of Duke Hsiao, fighting with great success against Wei, the increasing power of Ch’ in during the period when he was in power, and the building of a new capital — cannot reasonably be doubted. It is probable, but not absolutely certain, that we may add to this the important administrative reforms of the whole country, coupled with some sort of land and tax reforms. As for the rest of Shang Yang’ s story, as embodied in the p.38 Biography, it is not to be supposed that Ssu-ma Ch’ ien composed this freely himself. That was not his method. He took what material he found, used his own critical judgment, and made selections. We have seen how a part of the story, which he gives, is found in the Chan-kuo-ts’ê and in the Lü-shih-ch’un-ch’ iu, and this means that it was current before 238 B.C. It may well be that a kind of romance was written round Wei Yang as has been the case with Su Ch’ in and others, as Professor Maspero suggests (229).

But if this was the case, the remnants, as we find them in the Shih-chi and in these two books, show none  of the contradictions and impossibilities which Maspero has so clearly demonstrated in the romance of Su Ch’ in (230). They do not come into conflict with the main historical facts as such, but are chiefly literary embellishments of the dramatic moments. Of one of these we can even now trace the source, for, as we shall see below (231), the discussion with Kan Lung and Tu Chih on the reform of the law is merely taken from another famous discussion, viz. from that started by King Wu-ling of Chao in 307, on the adoption of barbarian clothes. As to the long conversation between the Lord of Shang and Chao Liang, it is an excellent rhetorical composition, embodying just the kind of criticism on Wei Yang which a Confucian scholar might make.

It is therefore not necessary to reject entirely the light which this romantic account throws on the character and p.39 reforms of Shang Yang. Evidently it goes back to an old tradition less than a century removed from himself; in Han Fei-tzu many of the same reform-measures are also ascribed to Shang Yang. A centralizing, strong, and severe government was evidently what was needed in those days of disruption and a struggle with the nobles and their privileges would be the necessary result for any statesman attempting such a policy. It is quite likely that various measures of different dates which helped to make the state of Ch’ in what it later became, were all ascribed to one man, so that Shang Yang may have been credited with more statesmanship than he ever possessed. Yet we cannot disbelieve the strong and undisputed tradition, which makes him into the initiator of the strong policy which finally led to Ch’ in’ s unparalleled success.

For the sake of clearness I summarize here the chief of these measures. Shang Yang is said to have converted Ch’ in from a loose conglomerate of small feudal territories into a highly centralized administrative unity. He seems to have retrenched the privileges of the noble families, even of those of the members of the princely clan, and to have instituted a hierarchy of officials who had distinguished themselves in warfare. Severe punishments were enacted against brigands and the private fights of the semi-independent feudal cities, and a rigid bureaucratic organization into districts was instituted. The unity of the old patriarchal family-system was attacked by discouraging people from living together, and mutual responsibility was introduced, with rewards for indictment of crime. Tilling the soil and weaving were encouraged, and measures were taken against trade. A p.40 new system of taxes was introduced and weights and measures were standardized. A land-reform was put into force. Whereas we shall later discuss the general, ideas of law, which were in the air towards the end of the fourth century B.C., and of which Shang Yang seems to have been a practical exponent in some of these measures, it may be useful first to examine some of the social reforms which seem to require some explanation and which may throw light on the text of the Book of Lord Shang.