商鞅

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Q&A

wasn't he gay?
you're thinking of Lord Long Yang. This is Lord Shang Yang

why are severe punishments referred to as draconian?
the word "draconian" is a shout out to Δράκων, who back 'round 620BC, wrote down all the laws and posted 'em up so they were accessible to all. Prior to this, the laws were just oral ones that were applied and enforced kinda arbitrarily. Dude legitimized everything by publishing the whole set, and significantly increased the number of infractions punishable by death. Hence the term "draconian." Coupla years later, Σόλων revised the laws and made Athens

who was that guy with the silly hat that you said made China?
秦始皇
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making youtubes for dudes who deserve 'em is one thing, but making youtubes for dudes that posterity has hereunto under appreciated is quite another. ADW #4 was my first. Nobody ever acknowledged the debt of gratitude that 'Merica has for the man who took us from quasi-independent vassal state to super-power, but I give credit where it is due. ϷΑΟΝΑΝΟϷΑΟ ΚΑΝΗϷΚΙ ΚΟϷΑΝΟ doesn't even rank on the majority of most influential people ever lists, but he was the 11th one I deemed an Awesome Dude of the Week

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Confucius is my #1 favorite guy of all time, yet here I've done three Anti-Confucionist ADWs. There will be plenty more of 'em from the 100 schools of thought, but suppose 朱熹 should get one soon.

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still ridiculously slow in churning these ones out, but at least I'm getting better at images. Almost everything in this one was either a recycled or slightly modified picture from a previous ADW. Had a few jokes, but am making an effort to curtail the use of LOLcat silliness

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there is a bunch of intro stuff consisting of legends and stories and all that, and the actual laws and philosophy are kinda interesting. I didn't bother to read the whole thing and wouldn't necessarily recommend y'all do either, but anyone who is unfamiliar with the Warring States period should spend 10-15 minutes flipping through The Book of Lord Shang and getting a better appreciation for it