INTRODUCTION CHAPTER I SHANG YANG IN HISTORY § 1. Shang Yang and the rise of Ch'in The name of Shang Yang is connected with the phenomenal rise of the state of Ch'in. In little more than a century, that state, from being an insignificant and backward country on the far western borders of China, where, separated as it was, by a belt of highlands, it took little part in the life of Chinese civilization, rose to such a commanding position, that it swallowed up the various feudal states and put an end to the existence of the Chou dynasty, which had been tottering for a long time. The Ch'in dynasty,1 which was then founded, although it was short-lived, made a deep and lasting mark on Chinese history. Its first Emperor, Shih-huang-ti, was a powerful personality, who made a clean sweep of the institutions of the past. With him the ancient history of China closes and a new era begins. Historians have marvelled at this success. Ssu-ma Ch'ien writes 2: "It would not have succeeded but for the advantage of its position, which was difficult of approach and well defended, and had it not been favoured by its configuration; it would seem that it was aided by Heaven." 1 255-206 B.C. 2 Cf. Chavannes, Mém. hist., iii, p. 25. B In the famous essay of the young and brilliant scholar Chia I1 on the "Mistakes of Ch'in ",2 the reasons for Ch'in's greatness and fall are analysed. It is shown that the methods which served Ch'in to reach its aims were not altered when the whole empire had been unified under its sway; how the reign of Ch'in Shih-huang-ti was tyrannical and severe and how he thereby estranged all sincere people and surrounded himself with flatterers. Chia I begins the account of Ch'in's rise with the period of Shang Yang, who first introduced the measures, which were calculated to make Ch'in into a powerful country. The whole passage is worth quoting. "Duke Hsiao of Ch'in based himself on the strongholds of the Hsiao and Hsien passes 3; he held the territory of the province of Yung 1; Prince and Ministers kept a close guard and watched the House of Chou. He cherished the idea of rolling the empire up like a mat, of lifting up the whole world in his arms and of tying up the four seas in a sack; moreover he had the intention of swallowing up the eight wild countries. At this time the Lord of Shang 5 assisted him; in the interior he fixed models and measures, gave his attention to farming and weaving, and made the necessary preparations for defence and attack; 6 2 過秦論, forming part of the Hsin-shu 新書, published in the Han-wei-ts'ung-shu. Cf. on him Chavannes, op. cit., i, pp. clviii et sqq. The Hsiao pass was one of the "nine barriers" of Ch'in; it was situated 50 li north of the present Yung-ning-hsien in Honan. The Hsien or Hsien-ku pass lay south of Ling-pao-hsien in the same province. i.e. approximately the present provinces of Shensi and Kansu. 5 Chavannes, op. cit., ii, p. 225, translating this part, in a footnote says by mistake that the Lord of Shang is the same as Yuan Ang, who is an entirely different person (cf. ibid., p. 499). i.e. laws and rules. 1 abroad he extended the territory in an uninterrupted way from west to east 1 and fought with the feudal lords. Hereupon the people of Ch'in, with folded hands,2 obtained the land beyond the west River." Another interesting testimony we find in a section of the Hsin-hsü by Liu Hsiang 3 (first century B.C.) which has only been preserved in P'ei Yin's commentary on the Shih-chi.1 It says: "Duke Hsiao of Ch'in defended the strongholds of the Hsiao Mountains and the Hsien-ku Pass, in order to extend the territory of Yung-chow.5 In the East he annexed Ho-hsi and in the North he occupied the Shang chin." His state became rich and the army strong and he dominated all the feudal lords. The House of Chou came under his control, and from all quarters of the Empire congratulations were addressed to Ch'in as the leader of the fighting states. Ch'in thereupon became so strong that in six generations it annexed all the feudal states; this likewise was the result of the plans connected transversally. Heng "transversal" is technically used for Ch'in's policy of expansion from west to east, whereas tsung "longitudinal" indicates the alliance of Ch'i and Ch'u and the states lying between them from north to south, and which was directed against Ch'in. 2 Without any difficulty. 新序by 向‧ Shih-chi-chi-chieh, collected explanations of the Shih-chi by P'ei Yin. This scholar, who made use of a great number of now lost sources, wrote the oldest commentary on the Shih-chi. He had some high literary dignity between 465-472. Cf. on him Chavannes, Mém. hist., i, p. ccxi. 5 This sentence has, with slight alterations, been taken from Chia I's essay on the "Mistakes of Ch'in "; cf. p. 2. • i.e. Wei's territory west of the Yellow River. i.e. the territory comprised by the present Yen-an-fu and Yu-lin-fu in Shensi. |