His life was a life of "doing something he knew he couldn't do" and a life of "martyrdom". He is not a perfect saint, he is cold, paranoid, and unhuman, and his laws are harsh, cruel, and even inhumane. But his original intention is to strengthen Qin, to free Qin from the fate of poverty and weakness, and to finally unify China. "I am legislating for the Qin Dynasty, not for myself. If the law is there, I will have no regrets in dying" - this is Shang Yang's "Tao" and his "obsession". His whole life was dedicated to the "Law" and he never thought of leaving a way out for himself.
This novel is not to whitewash Shang Yang, nor to discredit Shang Yang, but to write a real, three-dimensional, flesh-and-blood Shang Yang - he is a counselor, a powerful official, a follower of Legalism, a lonely minister of Qin State, and a tragic hero through the ages.
His wisdom, courage and strategy eventually turned into the Qin Kingdom's thousands of miles of mountains and rivers; his death and fame eventually turned into the eternal soul of China.
Reader comments
It is written with care and is as real as if it happened yesterday. You can personally experience what happened in this land more than 2,000 years ago. To this day, we are still deeply influenced by this figure of Legalist thought. History is warm, and we can learn from the past to understand the present.
It is written with care and is as real as if it happened yesterday. You can personally experience what happened in this land more than 2,000 years ago. To this day, we are still deeply influenced by this figure of Legalist thought. History is warm, and we can learn from the past to understand the present.