First, the specific content of zonghengjia
Zonghengjia is one of the hundred families of the sons in the pre-Qin era, and the Zonghengjia has been mentioned by people in the course of China's thousands of years of historical development, and can be listed among the most famous ten major schools, which shows its great influence in Chinese history. The word "zongheng" first appeared in the "Han Feizi Wuyin Chapter", and Han Fei specifically defined the meaning of "zongheng" after proposing the term "zongheng".
From the perspective of the Legalists, Han Fei criticized the zongheng party for not being able to fundamentally realize the goal of enriching the country and strengthening the army, and at the same time revealed the essence of "vertical and horizontal", that is, the combination of the weak and the strong is the combination of the weak and the strong, and the lianheng is to form an alliance with the strong as the core to attack the weak countries, so as to realize the win-win strategic intention of "the strong and the weak try to survive." In Han Fei's discourse, vertical and horizontal have a specific meaning. Later, this concept gradually generalized, and people also called those who relied on three inches of uncorrupted tongue to fight against millions of heroes as Zonghengjia.
Second, the formation and development of the Zongheng family
On the one hand, the emergence and prosperity of the Zongheng family may have a certain relationship with the pedestrian officials of the Xia and Shang Dynasties, and on the other hand, it is also related to the form of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. The Spring and Autumn Warring States period was an era of bad etiquette and prosperity, and it was also an era of vigorous development of Zhuzi culture.
At the beginning of the Zhou Dynasty, a large number of vassal states were divided, and after the long-term annexation war of the Spring and Autumn Warring States, the princely states were almost wiped out, and the seven heroes competed for dominance to replace the political pattern of the small states in the Spring and Autumn Period. As emerging forces gradually entered the political arena, after they took control of state power, they carried out the law change movement one after another in order to achieve the goal of making the country rich and the army strong.
In addition, the long-term annexation war of the seven countries has intensified their contradictions with each other, and the war has become more and more fierce. "If you choose to make friends, you will be safe for the people, and if you can't choose friends, the people will not be safe for life." The success of diplomacy has largely restricted the development of various countries. Therefore, while developing national strength, countries are also paying more and more attention to diplomatic relations between each other. In the context of this era, the Zonghengjia came into being on the basis of proposing a policy of combining vertical and horizontal to adapt to the situation at that time.
The Warring States period was also the golden age of the Zongheng family, during which the most outstanding Zongheng family in China emerged, and the encounters of each of them were legendary and difficult to replicate, such as Chun Yujie, Su Qin, Zhang Yi, Gongsun Yan, Chen Yi, Guo Kui, Cai Ze, Lu Zhonglian, Mao Sui, Yu Qing, Xin Lingjun, etc. These families come from different origins and have different destinies, but there is no doubt that their appearance has had an immeasurable impact on the course of history.
The development of Zonghengjia can be roughly divided into three stages:
The first stage: during the Spring and Autumn Period, the State of Chu and several major countries in the south were called kings, and in the early Warring States period, the State of Wei was the first to become powerful and called kings, and then Qi, Qin, Han, Zhao, and Yan were also called kings in turn. At that time, the establishment of various countries was not yet stable, and most of them were busy with internal politics to consolidate their internal affairs, and did not have the energy to launch large-scale annexation wars abroad. This period was dominated by a joint campaign of several weak countries joining forces to attack a powerful country. The main representative figures of this period are Huishi, Gongsun Yan and so on.
The second stage: the various countries experience the title of queen, and after a long period of time, the country tends to stabilize. Wars between great powers are getting bigger and bigger, and the role of the Zongheng family is even more important in times of frequent changes in form between countries. In the middle of the Warring States period, a situation of juxtaposition and confrontation between the eastern power Qi and the western power Qin was formed, which was then called the Second Emperor of the East and the West.
After the powerful rise of the two states of Qi and Qin, they formed a strong pressure for the survival of many small countries at that time, and they were always at risk of being annexed by the two hegemons of the East and the West and risking the destruction of the country. Under this situation, in order to seek the right to subsistence, many weak countries and small countries in the north and south have united from the basis of national interests to form a situation of confrontation with the hegemony of the east and the west, with the purpose of self-preservation. Because these weak and small countries are sandwiched between the Eastern Qi and Western Qin hegemons, distributed in the north and south of China, it is called "hezhong".
As a military and diplomatic strategy, "hezhong" is either Qin or Qi, and the goal is not fixed. In order not to lose to each other in the new round of hegemony, the two states of Qi and Qin each drew together a number of princely states to form an offensive and defensive alliance. The State of Qin co-opted the princely states in the east, and the State of Qi co-opted the princely states in the west. Whether it is Qin or Qi, the princes they allied with are geographically listed from east to west, so they are called "Lianheng".
In the late Warring States period, after the five kingdoms were broken, the state affairs of the State of Qi declined. The Qin state is the only one, the six kingdoms are mainly aimed at the Qin state, and only the Qin state is the only one who implements the "continuous horizontal" strategy. In this period of special historical background, the diplomatic movement that combined vertical and horizontal cooperation adapted to the rapid and complex changes in the political, economic and military situations of various countries, and finally reached its peak.
This was the first peak in the history of the development of the Zonghengjia, and many famous Zonghengjia were produced. Its main representative figures are Su Qin, Zhang Yi, Chen Yi, Yu Qing, Gan Mao and others. The ideas and culture of the Zonghengjia also matured, and eventually formed the Zonghengjia school of thought.
The third stage: The annexation war in this period is basically coming to an end, and the Qin state adopts the continuous and horizontal strategy of "long-distance close attack" and "individual breakthrough" proposed by Fan Ju. At that time, the princely states outside the Qin state were not unaware of the purpose of this cruel move, but only out of the pressure of form and reality. In order to survive, they could only consider the immediate and not the long term, acting as thugs for the Qin state and participating in wars with the eastern princely states.
During this period, the "Lianheng" would proceed according to the actual situation of the Qin state, sometimes uniting the Yan and Zhao states in the northeast, and sometimes uniting the chu state in the southeast. Therefore, the "lianheng" in the late Warring States period is not a geographical "lianheng", but a political concept of "lianheng". It was through the diplomatic and military alliance of Lianheng that the Qin state took advantage of the contradictions between the six countries to encroach on them one by one and eventually unify the world. The representative figures of the Zongheng family at this stage are Fan Ju, Cai Ze and so on.
Iii. The Influence of the Zonghengjia on the State during the Warring States Period
The Zongheng family not only had a profound impact on historical inheritance at key points in history. Moreover, the various storms became the object of worship of most scholars at that time. Jing Chun, a disciple of Ruya Sheng Mencius, once said, "Aren't Gongsun Yan and Zhang Yi sincere and great husbands?" Angry and fearful, the world is extinguished. "This shows the influence of these strategists on the situation in the world at that time."
The influence of the Zongheng family on the country during the Warring States period was mainly as follows: First, it maintained the balance of the situation in the Warring States. After the Qin state was changed by the martingale, the state was greatly increased, the King of Qin Hui attacked Wei, and Su Qin, in order to ensure a balanced situation, traveled between the six kingdoms of Yan, Zhao, Han, Wei, Qi, and Chu. In the end, a combined alliance was formed, and the six kingdoms of Su Qinpei were sealed together, and arrived at the Qin state outside Hangu Pass. For fifteen years, the State of Qin did not dare to send troops to Guguan, which curbed the attack of the State of Qin.
The second affects the changes in the strength of various countries. The State of Qi was a generation of hegemons in the Spring and Autumn Period, and when the Warring States were brought, the strength of the State of Qi was still strong, and King Xuan of Qi took advantage of the new death of the King of Yan to cut down Yan and seize ten cities. Su Qin sent an envoy to the State of Qi and persuaded King Xuan of Qi to return the Ten Cities of the State of Yan in order to achieve the cause of the Overlord, and the King of Qi listened to Su Qin's advice and returned the Ten Cities of the State of Yan. Later, Su Qin pretended to rebel against Yan and surrendered to Qi, when the King of Qi was newly killed.
Su Qin persuaded King Qi to bury the former king Yiming Xiaoxiao, but in fact he wanted to weaken the national strength of the State of Qi. Through the efforts of Su Qin, the national strength of the State of Qi gradually declined, and eventually it was tired and weak, and was defeated by Le Yi in one fell swoop, and gradually declined from then on, but it provided conditions for the annexation of the Qin State. The third is to curb the frequent occurrence of wars. The reason why the Warring States are called warring states is because of the frequent occurrence of wars.
For example, Confucianism advocates "benevolent people love people" Mo jia advocates "simultaneous love" and "non-attack", The Fa family advocates "strong soldiers", and Taoists advocate "doing nothing". Soldiers engaged in conquest also had a certain view on the necessity of war. "Warring States Policy Qi V" has clouds:
The warriors, the remnants of the country, and the fees of the capital counties... Tomorrow in the war, the corpse will die and help the wounded, although if there is merit, the army will pay for it, and it will weep, then it will hurt the heart of the Lord... From this point of view, the defeat of the war offensive can be seen in the past. ”
Thus the main function of the Zongheng family is to cross the diplomatic field, and since they are engaged in diplomacy, they will have their own views on the inevitableness of war. The Zongheng family supported the necessary war, opposed unnecessary destruction of life, and maintained a cautious attitude toward war. They lobbied kings through diplomacy, separated or formed alliances, and yielded without war, which was a better tactic than war. This kind of "cautious war" and "devaluing war" ideology of the Zongheng family has played a role in curbing the frequent occurrence of wars and has also had a certain impact on the balanced situation of the Warring States.
Fourth, the development and evolution of the Zongheng family withered away
The Zongheng family was prominent in the history of the late Spring and Autumn Period, the Warring States Contending for Dominance, and the Chu-Han Rivalry. Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty deposed hundreds of families and exalted Confucianism alone, Confucianism gradually occupied the mainstream of Chinese culture, and Confucian loyalty, faith, benevolence, and righteousness gradually became the mainstream social trend. These vertical and horizontal families, characterized by clouds and rain, uncertain masters, clever words, and scheming and deceit, have gradually faded out of the stage of history. The writings of the Zongheng family were not widely circulated, and there were no theoretical achievements since then. At the same time, the Great Unification Empire gradually stabilized, and the Zongheng family lost their historical opportunities, and they could no longer appear like Zhang Yi and Su Qin, who were enough to influence the situation in the world.
5. Summary
Zonghengjia was a specific social class in The Warring States Period of China, and was the elite of the scholars. Their actions and personalities have been mixed since ancient times. When we comment on them today, we can neither cling to prejudices and prejudices against them since ancient times, but we also cannot blindly affirm their deeds and obscure their irrationality by unscrupulous means in order to achieve their ends. As an undercurrent of historical evolution, Zonghengjia's theory is integrated into the traditional Chinese cultural system as a cultural factor. At the same time, the ideas of the Zonghengjia are also manifested in those Haojie who still have the ambition to make meritorious achievements, especially in the diplomatic field in peacetime and the struggle for supremacy in the era of war and chaos, and the shadow of the Zonghengjia can also be seen. They play a pivotal role in the development of society.