After the death of the first overlord Qi Huangong, the princes of the Central Plains lost their co-masters, which required the regeneration of the overlord. In the early Spring and Autumn Period, the first condition for the princes to compete for hegemony was to stand on the moral high ground and win the heartfelt support of other princes.
Song Xianggong, the monarch of the Song Kingdom, felt that he was qualified to be the overlord, Song Xianggong was a nobleman with a great sense of responsibility for the Central Plains civilization, with the mission of maintaining the civilization of etiquette and music for life, and taking benevolence and righteousness as the guideline of his actions. At that time, after the crown prince Zhao of Qi went out, Song led the armies of Cao, Wei, and Di to quell the rebellion of Qi, and Prince Zhao was established as the monarch with the help of Song Xianggong and stabilized the order of the Central Plains.
Song Xianggong did not want to hold an alliance, but was set up by Chu to set up an ambush and captured, and later under the mediation of Lu Xugong, King Chu Cheng released Song Xianggong. However, Song Xianggong did not learn a lesson, could not see the current situation clearly, and still wanted to dominate the Central Plains. In the war that unfolded in Hongshui, Song Xianggong was eventually wounded and died.
[1] The Song Kingdom of the Great Lord
The Song State had a very special position among the vassal states of the Zhou Dynasty, it was not a country of brothers of the Zhou king, nor a country of relatives, nor a country of meritorious heroes, it was established by the descendants of the Shang Dynasty who were overthrown by the Zhou Dynasty.
The Zhou Dynasty was named the nobleman of the Shang Dynasty in the Song Dynasty and was named a duke, and the titles of Qi Lu and other Zhou Dynasty heroes and relatives who were also awarded were only marquises. The king of Zhou specially allowed the Song State to use the Son of Heaven to worship the Shang Dynasty and be a guest with Zhou.
Therefore, the status of the Song State is special, the area of the Song State is also relatively large, about 100,000 square kilometers, and the plastered land of the Central Plains is here, so the Song State is not only an ancient country with a deep civilization tradition, but also has a certain strength.
[2] The form of warfare in the early Spring and Autumn period
In the upper class of society in the Spring and Autumn Period, "etiquette" was as ubiquitous as air, and even on the battlefield, war etiquette needed to be observed. Huang Renyu said in "On the History of China on the Banks of the Huxun River": "The chariot of the Spring and Autumn Period was a kind of aristocratic warfare, sometimes they were treated in a competitive way, there were certain procedures for arranging formations, and there were generally accepted principles for warfare, that is, they were inseparable from the constraints of 'etiquette'. ”
This kind of war, more like a sports competition, has to observe a certain order. From today's point of view, the performance of these ancestors on the battlefield seems to be too broad, but in fact, it is not. Because the methods of warfare and the concept of warfare before the Spring and Autumn Period were very different from those of later generations.
At that time, the aristocracy was the main body, the number of soldiers was small, only a few hundred chariots, and the nobles compared courage and strength in the war, and it was immoral to sneak attack, fraud, and take advantage of people's danger. The biggest feature of the Spring and Autumn War Rite is that it pays attention to promises, abides by faith, and does not win by conspiracy and cunning.
[3] Song Xianggongism
In order to be recognized by the vassal states, in 639 years before the park, Song Xianggong sent people to negotiate an alliance with the most powerful monarch at that time, King Chu Cheng, and wanted to preside over the alliance as the leader of the alliance.
At that time, King Chu Cheng had been on the throne for more than 30 years, and it could be said that he had the most strength and experience among the countries, King Chu Cheng was very angry, but he still agreed to Song Xianggong on the surface. It is recorded in "Historical Records of the Chu Family": "Call me, and I will be good to attack and humiliate me."
At that time, there were two ways for the princes to meet the alliance: one was to lead the military chariot to the meeting for self-defense, which was called the "meeting of military chariots", and the other was to show mutual trust, and it was called the "meeting of clothes" without military chariots. Before the alliance, Song Xianggong's elder brother Mu Yi had suggested to Song Xianggong that he must bring a military chariot to go, because Chu is a barbarian country and must be vigilant, but Song Xianggong did not listen to Mu Yi's advice and insisted on not bringing soldiers and horses.
As a result, the state of Chu set up an ambush in Yudi, captured Song Xianggong, and then attacked the Song capital on a large scale, because the Song army stubbornly defended, the Chu army did not capture, or Lu Xigong came forward to mediate, and the king of Chu Cheng released Song Xianggong back to China. After returning to China, Song Xianggong was unwilling to be humiliated, and still did not give up the desire to fight for hegemony.
In 638 years before the park, the Song State united with Wei, Xu, Teng and other countries to attack Zheng State, and Chu State attacked Song State in order to save Zheng State, and the two sides launched a great battle in Hongshui, which was widely known because of the benevolence and righteousness of Song Xianggong. In this war, the Song army lined up and waited for the Chu army to cross the Hongshui to fight.
Song Xianggong's elder brother Mu Yi said: The Chu army has a large number of people, and it should be attacked as soon as they are crossing the river, so that the Chu army will be defeated. However, Song Xianggong did not agree, and waited for the Chu army to cross the river and line up before starting the battle, and it is conceivable that the Song army was defeated due to being outnumbered, and Song Xianggong was also injured and died the next year.
The Song people complained about Song Xianggong, but Song Xianggong said: He abides by the rules of war in the Zhou rites. That is, the enemy is in a dangerous situation and cannot take advantage of the danger of others, and the enemy army is not prepared to carry out a surprise attack. As a descendant of the nobles of the Yin Dynasty, Song Xianggong, who received a strict aristocratic education since he was a child, paid attention to aristocratic demeanor was his deep-rooted and deep-rooted concept.
[4] European chivalry
It is difficult for people today to understand the pre-Qin aristocracy like Song Xianggong, but we should have some understanding of the European aristocracy, which also stems from Western literature, film and television and other works. In fact, the rules of war in the Spring and Autumn Period were the chivalry of medieval Europe.
The rules of conduct for European knights were: do not harm prisoners, do not utilitarian knights who are not neatly clothed, and do not attack non-combatant candidates such as women, children, merchants, peasants, clergy, etc. The war between European knights, like the aristocratic war in the Spring and Autumn Period, was also to set up a position and attack each other in a dignified manner.
Today, there are probably many people who worship chivalry, but few people realize that it is the European version of the "Song Xianggong Spirit".
[5] The reason for Song Xianggong's failure to compete for hegemony
Let's look at the overlords of the Spring and Autumn Period, they have one thing in common: they are not completely vassal states of the Central Plains, but countries with a fusion of Chinese culture and marginal culture. For example: Qi is a fusion of the Central Plains culture and Dongyi culture, Taigong was first sealed in Qi, at that time Qi had not yet been centralized, and it was completely barbarian territory.
In the face of the severe challenges of Dongyi, Jiang Taigong formulated and implemented the ruling policy of "simplifying the etiquette because of its customs", that is, respecting the traditional culture and living habits of the local Dongyi people, and did not conquer and forcibly eliminate the original cultural traditions of the local people, so the relationship between the Qi State and the local people was soon stabilized.
The absorption and integration of this culture is reflected in the cultural relics, and archaeology shows that most of the Zhou artifacts are square or flat, and they appear short and steady. And Qi is tall and slender. Dongyi is a nation that is good at shooting, and the martial style in Qi culture, and the courage and good fighting of Qi people are also closely related to the traditional Dongyi culture.
Song Xianggong's failure in the struggle for hegemony illustrates a problem: it is not enough to have moral superiority in the struggle for hegemony, but also to have strong strength. It was only in the Song Dynasty that the Chinese began to judge heroes by success or failure, and Su Shi's "Song Xianggong Theory" pointed out in an anti-traditional posture that no matter what, the defeat of the army to Chu was the sin of Song Xianggong: "As for the defeat, the crime of Song Gong is visible." ”
However, the defeat of Song Xianggong in the Battle of Hongshui did mark the transformation of the Zhou ritual culture, which was primarily pursued with elegance, to a competitive culture with efficiency as the main goal. The reason why the ancient was proud is the reason why it is humiliated now. In view of the tragic end of Song Xianggong, in the later wars, treachery, sneak attacks and other behaviors began to sprout.
Postscript:
The Song State has always been a Central Plains country, and it is burdened with a heavy burden of civilization - conservative, elegant, emphasizing morality over military force, and without the belligerent blood of the grassland people. More importantly, the powerful countries of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period all had one characteristic, facing the Central Plains, with their backs to the periphery, and having more room for development to the periphery.
At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, at the feet of Zhou Tianzi, there were many large and small countries around, which further limited the development of the Song State, and the Song State, as a small country with only second-rate strength, was not successful in the struggle for hegemony.