laid by the Lord of Shang. Indeed the Lord of Shang worked with his whole person and had only one thought. He was entirely devoted to the public weal and did not think of himself; at home, he caused the people to be active in the work of agriculture and weaving, in order to enrich the state, and abroad, to attach importance to the rewards for fighting, so as to encourage brave soldiers; his laws and orders were enacted rigorously; in the capital he did not flatter nobles and favourites, and in the province he was impartial with regard to those who were distant, with the result that, when his orders were issued, forbidden actions stopped, when his laws were published, crime ceased. Therefore, although the Shu-ching says 1: "Without deflection, without partiality," and the Ode says 2: 4 "The way of Chou was like a whetstone, And straight as an arrow," in the Law of Ssu-ma,3 which exhorts brave soldiers, and in Hou-chi of the Chou dynasty, who encourages agriculture, there is nothing to change this conception and this is the way by which the feudal states have been annexed. genera "To conquer Therefore Sun Ch'ing 5 says: tions is not luck, but calculation. the feudal lords fear but do not love." Now with regard to the Lords Protector like Duke Huan of Ch'i and Wen of Chin, 1 Ed. Legge, p. 331. The lines describe the perfection of the royal path. 2 Shih-ching, ed. Legge, p. 353. 3 compiled according to the Shih-chi by order of King Wei of Ch'i (378-343), from a number of ancient writings, elucidating the principles of T'ien Jang-tsuor Ssu-ma Jang-tsu, the military director of that state under Duke Ching (547–490). ▲ The legendary director of husbandry under the Emperor Yao. 'i.e. Hsün-tzů. Huan did not break the covenant of Ko1 and Wen did not violate the term set at Yüan,2 so that the feudal lords feared their power but also loved and trusted them; they saved tottering states and continued extinct dynasties and thus the four corners of the Empire came within their power. All this was due to the plans laid down by Kuan Chung and Chiu Fan.3 4 Now the Lord of Shang repudiated the old favours of Prince Ang and disregarded good faith in his relations with Wei, taking by deceit the masses of the three armies. Therefore the feudal lords feared his power but did not love and trust him. Now supposing Duke Hsiao had met men like Huan of Ch'i and Wen of Chin, who would have obtained the leadership of the feudal states, who would have set about to unite the princes of the feudal states and who would have driven the armies of the Empire to attack Ch'in, then Ch'in would have been ruined. There being no Huan or Wen in the Empire, 1 Duke Huan, acting under threat of being murdered at the moment when he was concluding a covenant with Lu at Ko (in Shantung), promised to return to Lu all the land that he had conquered in the previous war. On the advice of Kuan Chung he kept his promise. 2 The Marquis Wen of Chin having laid siege to the city of Yüan, and having ordered the soldiers to be provided with three days' provision, said that if within three days Yüan would not surrender, he would raise the siege. On the third day he was informed that the city would surrender next evening. In spite of this report Marquis Wen retired, saying: "Good faith is the precious jewel of a state, and what the people depend upon. If I get Yüan and lose my good faith, of what protection could the people be assured? My loss would be much greater than my gain." Cf. Ch'un-ch'iu, 25th year of Duke Hsi (ed. Legge, p. 196). 3舅·犯, appellation Hu Yen 狐偃, who was the maternal uncle of Marquis Wen and was one of his councillors. Chavannes, Mém. hist., iii, p. 675, by mistake writes. 4 See the Biography, infra, p. 21. ما L Ch'in succeeded in annexing all the feudal states. Wei Yang at first thought that he knew the virtues of a Lord Protector or King,1 but really his actions do not bear comparison (with men like Huan and Wen). Of old, Shao 2 of the Chou family exercised a virtuous government, and when he had died, the later generations still thought of him. This is the meaning of the Ode "The umbrageous sweet pear-tree "3; for he had rested under that pear-tree and later generations, remembering his virtue, could not bear to hew it down. How much less would they have harmed his person! When Kuan Chung obtained the three hundred families of the city of the Po family, there was not a word of resentment. But now Wei Yang in the interior made a cruel use of the punishments of sword and saw and abroad he was deeply steeped in killing by means of the war-axe. Whosoever used paces more than six feet 11. 1 This is a reference to his first conversations with Duke Hsiao, cf. p. 2 Duke Shao, one of the principal adherents of Wen-wang, the ancestor of the Chou dynasty. 3 Shih-ching, ed. Legge, p. 26. The Ode runs : 1. This umbrageous sweet pear-tree Clip it not, break not a twig of it. Clip it not, bend not a twig of it. ▲ Kuan-tzŭ, as a reward, obtained the city of P'ien, with three hundred families, which was taken from the chief of the Po 1 family. So generally, however, were his merits recognized, that there was no protest. Cf. Lun-yü, xiv, 10 (Legge, p. 142); also Hsün-tzů, chap. 3, par. 7, p. 34. Dubs, p. 83.) 5 long was punished,1 and whosoever threw ashes on the street incurred bodily punishment. One day he sentenced criminals, more than seven hundred men, on the brink of the Wei river, so that the water of the Wei became entirely red,2 and the sound of crying and weeping stirred up heaven and earth; the discontent and hatred which he heaped up was like a mountain, and when he fled, he could hide nowhere, was received nowhere, and he died and was torn to pieces by chariots, and his whole family was exterminated without even leaving their name. This was indeed far from the way of a helper of a Lord Protector or a King! However, that King Hui killed him was also wrong. He could have assisted him and been useful. Suppose Wei Yang had practised a magnanimous and equitable law, had added to that a measure of grace, and in his announcements had kept faith, he might perhaps have become an assistant of a Lord Protector." § 2. The Life of Shang Yang From the foregoing it will be clear that the Lord of Shang, apart from his supposed connection with the Book, is a person of considerable interest in history. I propose therefore to 1 Apu, pace (i.e. two of our paces) is here used as a fixed measure, consisting of six ch'ih, feet, used in measurements of land. One mu was 100 sq. pu. Cf. Ch'ien-han-shu, chap. 24, p. 1b; also Chavannes, Mém. hist., ii, p. 130. Forke, Geschichte der alten Chinesischen Philosophie, p. 453, misunderstands this phrase: "Wer gröszere Doppelschritte machte als 6 Fusz, erhielt eine leichte Strafe. Vermuthlich galt das übermässige Ausschreiten als unschicklich oder als Zeichen besonderer Arroganz." 2 Forke, op. cit., p. 453, misinterprets this: "Als Shang Yang einmal am Ufer des Wei von Verbrechern sprach, soll nach der Tradition das Wasser des Flusses sich plötzlich blutrot gefärbt haben, ein Hinweis auf seine Blutgesetze." give his biography in full, first as it is given in the Shih-chi,1 and then in the short form of the Chan-kuo-ts'ê.2 Thereafter we shall discuss the authenticity of these stories. A 3 The Biography of the Lord of Shang in the Shih-chi a The Lord of Shang was one of the descendants, by a concubine, of the family of Wei.5 His name was Yang and his family name was Kung-sun. His ancestors had, originally, the surname of Chi.8 In his youth, he was ford of the study of criminal law; he served Kung-shu Tso,9 the 1, by Ssu-ma Ch'ien, about 145-86 B.C. 商君 7 A; a name often given to illegitimate descendants. A; Chan-kuo-ts'ê, ch. 7, p. 5, relates that this man commanded the army of Wei in the battle near the River Kuai, where Han and Chao were beaten. For Tso it writes Ts'o. This battle was in 362 B.C. In the same year Ch'in gained a victory over Wei at Shao-liang, where according to the Wei Annals of the Shih-chi (cf. Chavannes, Mém. Hist., v, p. 152), the general of Wei, Kung-sun Ts'o, was taken prisoner. This is confirmed in the Ch'in Annals (Chavannes, op. cit., ii, p. 60). As Kung-shu and Kung-sun are really designations of members of the princely family, this must be the same man. The Chao Annals (Chavannes, op. cit., v, p. 59) say that in the battle, Ts'o, the crown prince, was taken prisoner and the chronological tables merely say: "Our (i.e. Wei's) crown prince was taken prisoner." There is surely a qui-pro-quo here. Probably the fact that some relation of the ruling house was made prisoner was exaggerated into the report that it was the crown prince; more especially is this likely, as he was actually captured by Ch'i in 341 (cf. Chavannes, op. cit., v, p. 157). |