Shang Yang

Shang Yang, also known as Wei Yang and originally surnamed Gongsun, was an ancient Chinese philosopher, politician and a prominent legalist scholar. Born in the Zhou vassal state of Wey during the Warring States period, he was a statesman, chancellor and reformer serving the State of Qin, where his policies laid the administrative, political and economic foundations that strengthened the Qin state and would eventually enable Qin to conquer the other six rival states, unifying China into a centralized rule for the first time in history under the Qin dynasty. Scholars consider it likely that both him and his followers contributed to the Book of Lord Shang, a foundational philosophical work for the school of Chinese legalism.