Overview
The translated histories identify Shang Yang as a general, official, philosopher, and scholar. This record brings together 89 passages from 17 chapters across 7 histories, with names, dates, relationships, offices, and events preserved as source-backed claims.
Names
| Type | English | Chinese | Pinyin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal | Shang Yang | 商鞅 | Shang Yang |
| Surname | Gongsun | 公孫 | Gongsun |
| Alternate name | Gongsun Yang | 公孫鞅 | Gongsun Yang |
| Personal name | Gongsun Yang | 公孫鞅 | Gongsun Yang |
| Clan | Ji | 姬 | Ji |
| Title | Lord Shang | 商君 | Shāng Jūn |
| Title | Lord Shang | 商君 | Shang Jun |
| Surname | Shang | 商 | Shāng |
| Surname | Shang | 商 | Shang |
| Personal name | Shang Yang | ||
| Personal | Shang Yang | 商 | Shang |
| Personal name | Shang Yang | 商 | Shang Yang |
| Personal name | Shang Yang | 商鞅 | Shāng Yāng |
| Personal name | Shang Yang | 公孫鞅 | Gongsun Yang |
| Personal | Shang Yang | 商 | Shang Yang |
| Personal | Shang Yang | 商鞅 | |
| Personal name | Shang Yang | 商鞅 | Shang Yang |
| Personal name | Shang Yang | 商 | |
| Personal name | Wei Yang | 衛鞅 | Wei Yang |
| Given | Yang | 鞅 | Yang |
| Surname | 鞅 | Yang |
Identity
- Historicity
- Historical
- Identification
- Named
- Sex
- Male
- Sex: male
- Sex: maleStrongly inferred · hanshu:026:s0229, hanshu:103:s0052, houhanshu:031:s0117, houhanshu:032:s0122, mingshi:298:s0095, yuanshi:066:s0234
- Value: maleExplicit · shiji:068:s0001
- Value: maleStrongly inferred · shiji:074:s0010, shiji:101:s0150
Roles
- General
- Official
- Philosopher
- Scholar
- Statesman
- Strategist
- Writer
Life and dates
Death
- Manner: killed in battle then torn by chariots / 殺之於鄭黽池，車裂 · Place: Meng Pool of Zheng / 鄭黽池 · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 秦發兵攻商君，殺之 · Western Year: BC 338 · Authority Person Id: King Hui of Qin (秦惠王)Explicit · shiji:068:s0186, shiji:068:s0187
- Manner: executedExplicit · hanshu:025:s0102
Attested activity
- Source Date: Text: BC 359-338 · Western Interval: Start: BC 359 · End: BC 338Strongly inferred · houhanshu:032:s0122
- Source Date: Text: 入秦事孝公 · Western Interval: Start: BC 361 · End: BC 338Explicit event contextual date · shiji:068:s0017, shiji:068:s0042
- Source Date: Text: 商鞅 · Western Interval: Start: BC 390 · End: BC 338Explicit event contextual date · sanguozhi:062:s0172
- Source Date: Text: 商鞅 · Western Year: BC 338Explicit · nanqishu:047:s0082
- Source Date: Text: 商鞅之法 · Western Year: BC 350Strongly inferred · yuanshi:066:s0234
- Source Date: Text: 商鞅行法 · Western Interval: Start: BC 359 · End: BC 338Explicit event contextual date · hanshu:103:s0052
- Source Date: Text: 戰國 · Western Interval: Start: BC 390 · End: BC 338Strongly inferred · shiji:101:s0150
- Source Date: Text: 戰國 · Western Year: BC 360Explicit event contextual date · hanshu:025:s0058
- Source Date: Text: 戰國時期 · Western Interval: Start: BC 356 · End: BC 338Explicit event contextual date · shiji:048:s0161
- Source Date: Text: 楊、墨、釋、老 · Western Interval: Start: BC 390 · End: BC 338Explicit event contextual date · mingshi:298:s0095
- Source Date: Text: 當是之時，秦用商君 · Western Interval: Start: BC 359 · End: BC 338Explicit event contextual date · shiji:074:s0010
- Source Date: Text: 秦 · Western Interval: Start: BC 359 · End: BC 338Explicit event contextual date · hanshu:026:s0229
- Source Date: Text: 秦孝公之世 · Western Interval: Start: BC 390 · End: BC 338Explicit event contextual date · houhanshu:031:s0117
- Source Date: Text: 秦孝公卒後五月 · Western Year: BC 338Explicit event contextual date · shiji:068:s0174, shiji:068:s0186
- Source Date: Text: 秦孝公用商君 · Western Interval: Start: BC 361 · End: BC 338Explicit · hanshu:026:s0107
Family
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- Child of Father of Lord ShangKinship Term: illegitimate son / 庶孽公子 · Parentage: biological · Subject Role: son · Object Role: father
- Kinship Role: household · Count: 0 · Negated: true · Note: family exterminatedExplicit · shiji:068:s0188
Origins and identity
- Label: Ji clan ancestry / 姬姓Explicit · shiji:068:s0001
Career and standing
- Label: junior aide / 中庶子Explicit · shiji:068:s0002
- Label: Left Chamberlain / 左庶長 · Action: appointed · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 以衛鞅為左庶長 · Western Interval: Start: BC 361 · End: BC 350Explicit · shiji:068:s0069
- Label: Grand Commandant / 大良造 · Action: appointedExplicit · shiji:068:s0095
- Label: chancellor of Qin / 相秦 · Action: held · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 商君相秦十年 · Western Interval: Start: BC 348 · End: BC 338Explicit · shiji:068:s0122
- Label: junior aide (zhongshuzi) / 中庶子 · Action: heldExplicit · shiji:068:s0002
- Title: Lord Shang / 商君 · Place: Shang fifteen settlements / 於、商十五邑 · Action: enfeoffedExplicit · shiji:068:s0121
- Title: Lord Shang / 商君 · Action: heldExplicit · shiji:068:s0121
- Status: execution · Action: suffered · Label: torn apart by chariots as a warning / 車裂以徇 · Authority Person Id: King Hui of Qin (秦惠王)Explicit · shiji:068:s0187
- Status: extermination-of-family · Action: suffered · Label: family exterminated / 滅商君之家Explicit · shiji:068:s0188
Places and affiliations
- Polity: Qin · Relation: servedExplicit · hanshu:026:s0229
- Polity: Qin · Unresolved: trueStrongly inferred · hanshu:117:s0243
- Polity: Qin / 秦 · Relation: served
- Polity: Wei / 魏 · Relation: servedExplicit · shiji:068:s0002
- Place: Wei / 衛Explicit · shiji:068:s0001
- Place: Shang / 商邑 · Relation: enfeoffed-atExplicit · shiji:068:s0121, shiji:068:s0185
- Place: Xianyang / 咸陽 · Relation: built-atExplicit · shiji:068:s0097
Learning and skills
- Label: study of law and governance / 刑名之學Explicit · shiji:068:s0002
- Skill: legalist statecraft / 刑名之學 · Level: devotedExplicit · shiji:068:s0002
Works and attributed material
- Work: military writings / 篇籍 · Relation: associated-authorExplicit · hanshu:025:s0058
- Work: Book on Opening and Closing, Agriculture and Warfare / 開塞耕戰書 · Relation: authorExplicit · shiji:068:s0192
- Kind: speech · Role: speaker · Quoted: true · Extent: s0043, s0044, s0045, s0046, s0047, s0048, s0049, s0050
- Kind: speech · Role: speaker · Quoted: true · Extent: s0056, s0057, s0058, s0059, s0060, s0061
- Kind: speech · Role: speaker · Quoted: true · Extent: s0065, s0066, s0067
- Explicit · shiji:068:s0115
- Kind: speech · Role: speaker · Quoted: trueExplicit · shiji:068:s0178
Events and relationships
- Kind: policy · Role: reformer · Action: abolished well-fields, opened boundaries, rewarded farming and warExplicit · hanshu:026:s0107
- Kind: military · Role: commander · Action: besieged-and-took · Place: Anyi / 安邑Explicit · shiji:068:s0096
- Kind: military-strategic · Role: strategist · Action: captured enemies and established victoriesExplicit · hanshu:025:s0058
- Kind: military · Role: commander · Action: defeated-by-deception · Other Person Id: Gongzi Ang (公子卬) · Place: Wei / 魏Explicit · shiji:068:s0115, shiji:068:s0117
- Kind: reform · Role: reformer · Action: enriched the state and strengthened the army · Place: Qin / 秦Explicit · shiji:074:s0010
- Kind: reform · Role: minister · Action: established laws, promoted farming and weaving, prepared defenses, and formed horizontal alliancesExplicit · shiji:048:s0161, shiji:048:s0162
- Kind: flight · Role: fugitive · Action: fled-arrest · Date Context: Source Date: Text: 商君亡至關下 · Western Year: BC 338Explicit · shiji:068:s0175, shiji:068:s0176
- Kind: administrative · Role: planner · Action: moved-capital · Place: Xianyang / 咸陽Explicit · shiji:068:s0097
- Kind: demonstration · Role: organizer · Action: moved-pole-reward · Place: capital market gates / 國都市南門Explicit · shiji:068:s0080, shiji:068:s0083
- Kind: legal · Role: reformer · Action: promulgated-laws · Label: Qin legal reforms / 變法之令Explicit · shiji:068:s0069, shiji:068:s0084
- Kind: legal · Role: enforcer · Action: punished-tutors-of-heir · Other Person Id: King Hui of Qin (秦惠王)Explicit · shiji:068:s0086, shiji:068:s0089
- Kind: military · Role: rebel-commander · Action: raised-troops-at-Shang · Place: Shang / 商邑Explicit · shiji:068:s0185
- Kind: political · Role: advisee · Action: sought-audience · Other Person Id: Duke Xiao of Qin (秦孝公) · Place: Qin / 秦Explicit · shiji:068:s0017, shiji:068:s0018
- Relation: minister-of · Person Id: Duke Xiao of Qin (秦孝公)Explicit · hanshu:026:s0107
- Relation: protege-of · Person Id: Jing Jian (景監)Explicit · shiji:068:s0017, shiji:068:s0155
- Relation: client-of · Person Id: Gongshu Zuo (公叔座)Explicit · shiji:068:s0002
- Type: served · Related Person Id: Duke Xiao of Qin (秦孝公)Explicit · hanshu:117:s0243
Assessments and attributes
- Assessment: example of disregarding public opinion to force great works · Provenance: Mode: named-source-report · Source Person Id: Xu Youren (許有壬)Explicit · yuanshi:066:s0234
- Assessment: harsh and ungenerous by nature · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment · Speaker Person Id: Sima Qian (太史公)Explicit · shiji:068:s0189
- Assessment: lacking in kindness · Provenance: Mode: historian-judgment · Speaker Person Id: Sima Qian (太史公)Explicit · shiji:068:s0191
Source notes
- Historicity: historicalExplicit · hanshu:026:s0107
References in the histories
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