In the Warring States period of the late Eastern Zhou Dynasty, there is still no clear division, Sima Qian's "History" and Liu Xiang's "Warring States Policy", delineating the Warring States began in the first year of king Zhou Yuan (475 BC); Sima Guang's "Zizhi Tongjian" adopted the twenty-third year of King Weilie of Zhou (403 BC) and officially crowned Wei Si, Zhao Yuan, and Han Qian as princes; Zheng Qiao's "Tongzhi" quoted the sixteenth year of King Zhou An (386 BC), and sealed Tian He as the seven heroes of the warring states of the princes.
Which is more credible, Sima Qian's "Records of History" or Liu Xiang's "Warring States Policy", Sima Guang's "Zizhi Tongjian", and Zheng Qiao's "Tongzhi"? The author takes you to analyze the background of the era of Sima Qian, Sima Guang and others, and interpret the significance of the division of the Warring States era in their minds.
Late Spring and Autumn
Zheng Qiao's "Tongzhi Clan Sketch" records that Sima Qian's ancestor Cheng Bo (fief cheng) Hugh's father, served as the commander of the army Sima during the reign of King Xuan of Zhou, and had Sima Shi by official position, and future generations have long served as royal historians.
King Shi Of Zhou You, who was called "Shi Bo" by later generations, clearly informed Zheng Huan that "the royal family will be humble, Rong Di Bichang", expounding that "between Ji, Luo, He, and Ying" can make the feudal country rich and strong, and even dialysis of the greed of the Eastern Yu Kingdom and the State of Qi and the State of Qi" "have a heart of arrogance and neglect", Zheng Huan Gong, according to Shi Bo's words, bribed the Eastern Yu State and the State of Qi to lay the foundation for ten cities, and took commerce as the national policy to "dominate the Central Plains" in zhengzhuang Gongshi.
Sima Qian's ancestors destroyed the Sima Cuo family of Bashu, and in the early Han Dynasty, Sima Wuze was the head of the city (ji), gathered family assets to donate the five masters to Sima Xi, and devoted himself to cultivating Sima Tan to "learn from the Heavenly Officials in the Tang Capital, from Yang He, and from Huangzi", and in the early years of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, Sima Tan was appointed as the Taishi Ling, and criticized the five families of Confucianism, Ink, Ming, Law, and Yin and Yang.
I don't know whether it was because he had a premonition of the prosperity of Confucianism, or because the Confucian classic "Spring and Autumn" was also a classic of historians, Sima Tan ordered the young Sima Qian to learn from the old doctor Fu Sheng, the great Confucian Kong Anguo, and the great Confucian Dong Zhongshu, and at the same time encouraged Sima Qian to travel for several years, to examine the customs and legends on the ground, so that many of the contents of the "History" were detailed and credible.
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Sima Qian
Liu Xiang, the author of the Warring States Policy, was a relative of the Han Dynasty, and after Liu Jiao, the half-brother of Liu Bang of Han Gaozu, was awarded the title of Counselor from the second year of emperor Xuan of Han (60 BC) to the throne of Emperor Yuan of Han, he was arrested for resisting the interference of eunuchs in politics, and the removal of officials and demotion to commoners began with his "Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms".
The King of Chu Liu Peng committed adultery during Empress Bo's mourning, and was stripped of Donghai Commandery ( Donghai Commandery , an important source of taxation for the Chu State ; when Emperor Jing of Han appointed Chao to cut the domain , the King of Chu , Liu Peng , was wooed by Liu Peng , the King of Wu , and rebelled , the "Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms" The Chu army was extremely strong , and the onslaught of the Liang state was fraught with danger , but was eventually cut off by Zhou Yafu , the coalition army was shaken and defeated by the Han army , and the Chu king Liu Peng committed suicide in his army.
The Han Jing Emperor Liu Qi won a crushing victory, the state of Wu was abolished, the state of Chu was granted liu li, the son of Liu Jiao, the king of Chu Yuan, and Liu Fu was made a red marquis for his efforts to dissuade him, but Emperor Wu of Han implemented a centralized autocracy, and the policy of "pushing grace orders" weakened all the princes, and the discourse power of the court was lost, especially the clans involved in the "Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms", and many of them were awarded idle official positions.
Emperor Xuan of Han brought his grandmother Shi Shi, his mother Wang, empress Xu, and many meritorious nobles, including Feng Ji, except for the Qi Wang clan and the Fu clan during the Han Yuan Emperor period, as well as the eunuchs Honggong and Shi Xian, and the rise of the clan Xiao Wangzhi and Zhou Kan, although it showed that Emperor Xuan of Han and Emperor Yuan of Han valued their subordinates, but the exclusion of Liu Xiang's relatives disappointed Liu Xiang.
Liu Xiang
The most accomplished emperor of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms was Chai Rong, who attacked the Northern Han Dynasty, conquered Later Shu, and conquered southern Tang during his reign, and ruled the Qingming state to be rich and strong, but unfortunately Chai Rong died young, and his loyal general Zhao Kuangyin "added yellow robes to his body", mutiny coerced Emperor Chaizong of Zhou to train the throne, and Song Taizong Zhao Guangyi "candle shadow axe sound" ascended the throne, the world is full of doubts about the imperial power of Zhao Song.
Sima Guang was born in a family of eunuchs, in the first year of the reign of Emperor Renzong of Song (1038 AD), Sima Guang won the huijia section to enter the career path, Sima Guang adhered to the Confucian idea of loyalty to the king and patriotism, whether as a local official, or as the center of the Northern Song Dynasty, deeply disturbed by the internal and external troubles of the Northern Song Dynasty, and from the third year of The reign of Emperor Yingzong of Song (1066 AD), he compiled the great work "Zizhi Tongjian".
The Song Dynasty and the Liao State were entangled in the "Sixteen Prefectures of Yanyun", and the northwestern states were seized by the party leader Li Yuanhao, and Nong Zhigao also swept across the Lingnan region, coupled with the peasant uprisings in various parts of the Northern Song Dynasty, which placed a heavy burden on the Northern Song Dynasty, Sima Qian believed that the overall administrative strategy of the Northern Song Dynasty was prudent, and the government and the public should advocate loyalty to the king and then resist foreign enemies, which had the meaning of "outside must first be inside", and opposed Wang Anshi's radical and in-depth reforms.
Although Song Shenzong and Sima Guang disagreed in political opinions, in the seventh year of Yuanfeng (1084 AD), Song Shenzong received the Tongjian and read it carefully all night, and Dehua Zhishi was extremely pleased, and gave the book the title of "Zizhi Tongjian in view of the past, with the capital to govern the Way", and the empress dowager Gao also praised the Zizhi Tongjian, and after Song Zhezong ascended the throne, he used Sima Guang and others to restore the old law.
Sima Guang
During the Jing Kang period of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Taiping Dynasty was suddenly destroyed by the Jurchen tribes, and the Jin State not only crossed the river to kill the Southern Song Dynasty regime, but also supported the pseudo-Qi regime to make the Jiangnan soldiers even more troubled, and countless patriots such as Yue Fei, Zhang Jun, Xin Shuyi, Lu You, etc. hoped to recover the Central Plains, but what was waiting for the "Shaoxing Peace Conference" Was the Southern Song Dynasty to claim the jin kingdom, ceding several northwestern states, and paying tribute to 250,000 taels of silver and 250,000 silk horses per year.
Zheng Qiao was born in Shuxiangmendi, studied hard and learned since childhood, And in the first year of Jing Kang (1126 AD), he offered to resist jin and showed his sincere heart, "Shaoxing Peace Discussion" was regarded as a national shame by Zheng Qiao, even though Qin Ju was in power to block his career, he also forbade private revision of history to acupuncture the current government, Zheng Qiao still wrote "Tongzhi" from the nineteenth year of Shaoxing (1149 AD).
In order to avoid the crime of "unauthorized revision of national history", the "Twenty Sketches", an important part of the Tongzhi, shows the pre-Qin to Sui and Tang Dynasties " Clan Strategy "Strategy", "Ritual Strategy", "Instrument Clothing Strategy" and even contains "Jin Shi Strategy" and "Insect Grass and Wood Strategy", just like an encyclopedia, leaving a valuable reference for the study of the historical canon system.
If on the basis of the Seven Xiongs of the Warring States, the Qin State Win Clan, the Chu State Qi Clan, and the Yan Guo Ji Clan continued from the Spring and Autumn Period to the Warring States; in 481 BC, tian Chengzi of the Jiang clan launched a coup d'état, and Zhuangzi's "Nanhua Jing" called it "Tian Chengzi Taking Qi"; in 453 BC, Zhao Wei Han destroyed the Zhi clan and laid the pattern of the Seven Heroes of the Warring States; therefore, 453 BC, it may not be possible to use it as another way of saying it.
The Eastern Zhou Dynasty did not strictly define the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States, not to mention that the Western Zhou and Eastern Zhou were only convenient to distinguish pronouns, Sima Qian's "History", Liu Xiang's "Warring States Policy", Sima Guang's "Zizhi Tongjian", Zheng Qiao's "Tongzhi", all wrote their understanding of history with a rigorous attitude, even if they were mixed with the author's ideas, and even compromised with politics, they were still worthy of being a classic of historiography, and future generations could question or analyze, but they should be in awe!
References: "History", "Zizhi Tongjian", "Tongzhi"
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