"Xia Shang and Western Zhou, Eastern Zhou divided into two sections. Spring and Autumn and Warring States, unified Qin and Han. This is a line of the dynasty song that many people are familiar with, and the Eastern Zhou Dynasty is divided into Spring and Autumn and Warring States, which is also a well-known thing. Among them, the Spring and Autumn period clearly began with the eastward migration of King Ping, but what is the difference between Spring and Autumn and the Warring States?
Spring and Autumn and Warring States get their names and origins
If we want to distinguish where the dividing point between Spring and Autumn and Warring States is, we first need to be clear what the definition of Spring and Autumn and Warring States is.
1, Spring and Autumn
The source of the word Spring and Autumn is the history book "Spring and Autumn" of the State of Lu. And this history book records a total of 242 years from the first year of Luyin to the fourteenth year of Lu Wei. However, because it involved the decline of the Zhou royal family, later historians often took 770 AD, when defining the specific era of the Spring and Autumn Period, when King Ping of Zhou established the state, as the starting point, and the "three families divided into Jin" as the end. This phase is known as the "Spring and Autumn Period".
2, Sengoku
The source of the word Warring States is the "Warring States Policy" compiled by Liu Xiang. This history book records the time from the late Eastern Zhou Dynasty to before the unification of the Central Plains by the Qin State, specifically from 475 BC ~ 221 BC. It is also because of this period of chaos in various countries that it is named "Warring States".
Second, the difference between Spring and Autumn and the Warring States
It's just that although we know the specific time of Spring and Autumn and the Warring States, if we want to find out what the difference between Spring and Autumn and the Warring States is. The best thing is to analyze the characteristics of the war in these two periods, because war is related to the political, economic, cultural and other reasons of a period.
1, the characteristics of war in the Spring and Autumn period
During the Spring and Autumn Period, the decline of the Zhou royal family caused countries to compete for the position of hegemon in the world, and politically countries began to change their laws and start their own annexation causes. It's just that the war in the Spring and Autumn period is a kind of civilizational competition. Although the struggle between countries has a clear goal, it is not barbaric, and it pays great attention to the etiquette and pomp of war.
For example, at that time, if the two countries were at war, if one side was defeated, as long as the other party's army ran fifty paces away, it could not pursue; There was even another rule at that time that if the enemy had wounded soldiers, they could not be repeatedly wounded during the engagement. It can be seen that the main purpose of the war at that time was not to kill the enemy, but to show the weed of one's own country was the main purpose.
In addition, the members of the armies of various countries in the Spring and Autumn period were mostly composed of nobles, so the number of armies was not large, and the time for the two sides to fight was not long. Therefore, although there was war in the Spring and Autumn Period, the purpose of war was not to kill the enemy, but to weaken the strength of the enemy country and consume the national strength of the enemy country. While demonstrating the virtue of their own country, they let the enemy country not easily start a war in a short period of time. It can be seen that the Spring and Autumn period is an era of civilization competition.
2, the characteristics of wars during the Warring States period
The wars of the Warring States period changed the characteristics of civilization in the Spring and Autumn period, and the main purpose was: to fight for hegemony. In order to strive for the status of hegemon, the struggle between countries in the Warring States period was different from that in the Spring and Autumn period, and the purpose was to kill the enemy country. The wars of the Warring States period were the death of the barbarians.
For example, the famous Warring States God Killer Baiqi once directly killed 300,000 prisoners. In addition, the purpose of a country to launch a war is also very clear, that is, to completely engulf the enemy, the so-called war etiquette, the so-called pomp are not important, the war between countries during the war is a brutal fight between you and me, regardless of victory or defeat will not stop. Even prisoners of war are killed, let alone others?
More importantly, during the wars of the Warring States period, the composition of the army changed greatly. Unlike the Spring and Autumn Period, which was mostly composed of nobles, the war in the Warring States period was "all the people are soldiers", and the war became the best channel for a person to cross classes, and the representative of the largest year was the Qin State after the Shang Martingale Revolution, and they knighted with military merit, so that the whole country set off a wave of killing enemies. And annihilating enemy countries is their goal. It can be seen that the Warring States period was the era of the barbarians.
The reason for the different characteristics of wars in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods
This is related to the social productivity of the two periods. During the Spring and Autumn Period, the productivity of society was not enough, and the manufacture of daily utensils and weapons was mainly made of bronze. At that time, the bronze production of various countries was not high, and once a war was launched, as long as the enemy country was defeated and its weapons were collected, it could ensure that the enemy country could not start a large-scale war in a short period of time. The most famous is that the hegemony between the Jin and Chu countries was decided by a war, and there was no need to pursue the defeated country at all.
In the Spring and Autumn Period, the lack of productive forces caused a large part of the country's population to be invested in agriculture, so the number of people invested in the war was mainly nobles, and they only needed to hit the army to inflict heavy damage on the enemy country. During the Warring States period, the use of iron tools was applied to agricultural tools, and the advanced agricultural tools greatly improved the convenience of peasants when farming, so that the number of people engaged in agricultural production could be reduced, so that the number of people invested in the war was greatly increased, and the army was not only nobles. Therefore, the wars in the Warring States period changed the civilization of the Spring and Autumn period, with the main purpose of annihilating the enemy country and the enemy.
During the Warring States period, through large-scale, long-term wars, a large amount of land was obtained. A large amount of land not only means the expansion of the country's land area, but more importantly, because the war has annihilated the vast majority of the population of the enemy country, even the remnants of the enemy country have a low chance of counterattacking and revenge. Therefore, in the wars of the Warring States period, it was necessary to kill the enemy country. The above-mentioned Baiqikeng killed 300,000 people, and the purpose is also here, to prevent a counterattack.
A review of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States distinctions
It can be seen that the Spring and Autumn period was a competition of civilization. The war between countries is very Sven, not to annihilate the enemy country as the main purpose, as long as its weapons are collected, it is the greatest suppression of the enemy country, but this is only a struggle between big countries. The aggression of big countries against small countries is still aimed at the absolute occupation of population and land.
And the Warring States is the hegemony of the strong and the barbarian. The war between countries is very barbaric, and the purpose is only one, to annihilate the enemy, to obtain the land and resources of the enemy country, whether it is a large country or a small country, the war between the two sides is a competition between life and death. (The picture and text are reproduced from the Internet, the copyright belongs to the original author "Fun History Microvideo", if there is any infringement, please contact to delete)