Chinese Rulers

Shang Yang

the Legalist Reformer

Shang Yang was a Chinese reformer active in the 4th c. BC during the Warring States period from the state of Qin. Was executed.

Historical Note

Transformed Qin into a totalitarian war machine with brutal Legalist reforms. His own laws caught up with him: torn apart by chariots in 338 BC for the very crime of fugitive harboring he had outlawed.

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