Hu Pengfei/Wen
Abstract: The society of the Spring and Autumn Period was filled with a strong martial wind, and at the same time, it also formed a unique "wude" cultural atmosphere in the spring and autumn period wars. The author believes that the essence of the martial spirit of the Spring and Autumn Period is an aristocratic demeanor under the form of hegemony. The form of hegemony and the aristocratic mentality, one for external factors and the other for internal factors, together contributed to this unique cultural atmosphere in the Spring and Autumn Period.
Keywords: Spring and Autumn Period Wude Hegemony Aristocrats
King Zhou Ping moved eastward, and Chinese society entered the Spring and Autumn Period. Hegemony is the theme of Spring and Autumn. Zheng Zhuanggong, as a figure who inherited from the top to the bottom, was known in history as "Spring and Autumn Little Bully". Subsequently, the Duke of Qi Huan rose to prominence and formally established the "hegemonic government" system after the Alliance of Kuiqiu. After the death of Duke Huan of Qi, the order once fell back into chaos. After the Jin Dynasty became a new generation of hegemons, the Jin State launched a protracted war for hegemony with the Chu State in the south, and the "hegemonic" system lasted for more than a hundred years.
The process of fighting for hegemony, that is, war, shows a different spirit of "martial virtue" compared with later wars. This article is based on the historical materials in the "Zuo Zhuan", aiming to explore the essence and formation factors of this "martial virtue" spirit, find out the reasons for its demise, and analyze its intrinsic value.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7">. The connotation and expression of the wude spirit. </h1>
"Spring and Autumn" gets its name from Confucius's revised book "Spring and Autumn" of the history of the State of Lu. The Spring and Autumn Chronicle records the economic, political, and diplomatic activities between countries, large and small, from the year of Lu Yin's reign to the fourteenth year of the Reign of Lu Ai, and between the two hundred and forty-two years. On the basis of "Spring and Autumn", the "Zuo Zhuan" stretches the timeline to the twenty-seventh year of the Duke of Sorrow. In the Outline of National History, Qian Mu counted the zhou ping king's eastward migration to Luoyi into this period, for a total of 303 years.
The society of the Spring and Autumn Period was filled with a strong wind of martial arts, and at the same time, it also formed a unique "wude" cultural atmosphere in the Spring and Autumn Period. This kind of martial spirit is manifested in the individuals in the war, which is a strong sense of morality and honor, and this kind of "martial virtue" is more prominently manifested in the war itself: the conformity of the war process is called "wu": for example, in "The Wu of the Candle Retreats from the Qin Division", Jin Wengong said to his criminals: "Chaos is easy to rectify and not to be armed." Jin Wengong expressed great disdain for the use of improper means to win the war, and martial arts here is a kind of "procedural justice". And the moral character of the purpose of war is called "virtue." For example, the Duke of Qi Huan made an agreement with the participating countries at the Alliance of Kuiqiu: All all allied princely states should be friendly. It can be seen that the hegemons strive for hegemony for the purpose of maintaining a reasonable international order, and this purpose reflects a lofty moral character because of its inherent "righteousness".
The so-called "martial virtue" is also the conformity of the war process and the morality of the purpose of the war.
First of all, it is manifested in the interaction between the two sides before the war: the "Left Biography" has a vivid description of such pedestrian rhetoric. Even if you are in a weak position, you are still calm and euphemistic, elegant and beautiful, and the words you spit out carry the wind and frost, and the softness is rigid, such as "Zhan Xi Zhen Shi". The Lu people are in a weak position, still not humble, and their wind and bones can be seen.
The "Sixteenth Year of Zuo Chuan Lu Chenggong" records the details of the Battle of Yanling: Luan Jun, who was the son of the commander of the Jin State Army, saw the banner of the Chu State ZiZhong and solemnly respected it, and he said to the Jin Li Gong: "When the subordinates were on an envoy to the Chu State, they had a relationship with the Zi Da people, and the Zi Da people asked me about the bravery and martial performance of the Jin soldiers, and the subordinates replied: Neat and orderly; he asked what else, and the subordinates said: Calm and calm. At present, if the two countries are engaged in military exchanges, if they do not toast, they will not be orderly; if they do not believe in their words, they will not be able to talk about being calm. Please allow me to toast. After receiving the approval of the Duke of Jinli (the demeanor of a king of a country can also be seen from here), his emissaries also came to the front of Zi Zhong's account: "Our country is short of talent, and the widow has to let the hammer serve as his chief of the guards, and the official servants have to let me toast on my behalf, and I sincerely hope that you will forgive me." Zi Zhong bowed down and saluted, praising Luan Jun's demeanor, and took a drink from the wine utensils before picking up the drumsticks and beating the drums to meet the battle. Luan's emphasis on commitment and adherence to faith fully reflect his inner sense of morality and honor.
Secondly, it manifested itself in the time of the war: also in the Battle of Yanling, the war between the Jin and Chu states was in a white-hot situation, and the participants of the two sides actually stopped to greet each other, and when the king of the Chu Communists greeted the Jin army with concern, Hao Zhi replied: "Your humble foreign minister Hao Zhi, who followed the widowed king of our country, participated in the battle, and received your favor and put on his armor." The subordinates are on official business, and they cannot thank the gentlemen for their kind care, please advise the subordinates, the subordinates are in good health, and they are about to fight with your army to the death! After saying that, he saluted Chu Jun's three lines of worship before continuing to fight. The King of Chu and Hao Zhi were in different camps but felt sorry for each other, and in the midst of the battlefield, they still did not forget to be polite, and in their words, they must be called "widows" and "our country", a style of demeanor, which is simply breathtaking.
Even after the end of the war, the enemy and us were still treated with courtesy, and as Mr. Qian Mu said, this quality was sometimes expressed in a humor that was unique at the time: twenty-two years before the Battle of Yanling, a war broke out between Jin and Chu, known in history as the "Battle of Wu", which was the opposite of the great victory of the Jin army in the Battle of Yanling, in which the Jin army was defeated. In the process of the army's retreat, the Jin army's chariots were trapped in the mud pit and could not move. At this time, the Chu soldiers actually shouted to help the Jin army repair the chariot. After several twists and turns, the Jin army calmly retreated, and once it left, before leaving, it did not forget to shout to the Chu army behind it: "The Chu state is a superpower in the end, and it is experienced to escape!" In the eyes of the soldiers of the two countries, the honor and morality that must be adhered to as a soldier are far higher than the victory or defeat of the war, the Jin army can be calm when retreating, and the Chu army can achieve victory when the poor Kou Mo chases. In keeping with etiquette, and norms, it's true that "friendship comes first, competition comes second." ”
Both sides in the war keep their promises, are courteous, value honor above life, and regard morality as faith. Examples such as these are scattered in the "Left Biography" and are numerous. This "Wude" cultural atmosphere belongs exclusively to the Spring and Autumn Period, and it is difficult for future generations to see its style. According to the criterion of the disappearance of the "Wude" cultural atmosphere, Mr. Lei Haizong will use the battle of Yue to destroy Wu, that is, 473 BC, as the node of the lower limit of the Spring and Autumn Period. The State of Wu defeated the State of Yue, and Fu Cha still maintained the autonomy of the State of Yue as an independent state, and still retained an aristocratic demeanor. And the more Wu is destroyed, the first to open up the competition between the great powers for annexation. In fact, at the moment when Gou Jian broke through the walls of the Wu Kingdom, not only was the hegemonic order completely broken, but the demeanor that belonged only to the Spring and Autumn Period also became a ruin. Since then, bloodshed has replaced warmth, and intrigue has replaced courtesy. Fame is no longer a necessary condition for war, and etiquette and morality are all left behind.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="16"> ii. Internal cause: The psychological need for self-confirmation under aristocratic education</h1>
The Shang Shu ShunDian records Emperor Shun's expectations for aristocratic character and temperament: "straight and warm, wide and chestnut, rigid and cruelty-free, simple and without pride." Emperor Shun's way of education was "music", the object of education was the children of the nobility, and the purpose of education was to let them cultivate the character of "straight and warm, wide and chestnut, rigid and non-abusive, simple and not proud". The character required by Emperor Shun coincided with the "martial virtue" discussed in this article. It seems that, at least during the Spring and Autumn Period, the education advocated by Emperor Shun was quite successful. The emergence of "Wude" is precisely due to this educational system that treats the nobility.
The children's book industry believes that although the education of the aristocratic class is said to be the unity of culture and martial arts, in terms of actual conditions, it seems to be more focused on martial affairs. The education of martial arts is the most important thing they pay attention to, so that the word "school" in the school seems to come out of the meaning of comparative martial arts. Although Mr. Tong Shuye immediately pointed out the low level of education of the nobles at that time, he used meng Zizi's ignorance of how to thank the Chu state for the liturgy of the suburban labor to argue how the aristocratic class at that time was unlearned and unskilled. However, the social atmosphere of poetry and speech in the Spring and Autumn Period is already well known to us, and the words used on the battlefield are also quite in line with the norms of etiquette, and there are more examples to demonstrate the educational level of the nobility. Moreover, the "reverence and reverence" shown by Meng Zizi's act of instructing his children to follow Confucius before his death can reflect his consciousness as an aristocrat. Mr. Tong's views are too radical and biased.
In contrast, Qian Mu praised the nobles of the Spring and Autumn Period in the Outline of National History, believing that they were "profound in understanding, complete in personality, good at words and deeds, admired by future generations, and can be seen everywhere", and said that the aristocratic culture at that time had developed to a degree of "extremely beautiful, extremely noble, extremely meticulous and elegant". Combined with the records in the Zuo Biao, this evaluation seems to be more pertinent. In fact, there is no reason for these nobles not to do so. First, education is centered on etiquette (including civil rites and martial arts), and the so-called "etiquette is not inferior to the common people". Education was a privilege of the nobility, and if the nobility did not learn nothing, it meant that they could not distinguish themselves from the commoners on a spiritual level. Second, since the Ping King moved east, the concept of Huayi distinction has become more and more intense, and the standard of Yixia distinction has never been based on the similarity of blood but on cultural identity. If the nobles did not have ink on their chests, it symbolized that they could not distinguish them from barbarians on a cultural level. For the purpose of maintaining the cultural superiority and legitimacy of the nobility, they not only did not regard education as a burden, but they regarded education as an honor. Therefore, it is not surprising that the phenomenon of poetry becoming a common practice, on this basis, the development of a cultural atmosphere as Qian Mu said is "extremely beautiful, extremely noble, extremely delicate and elegant".
For these nobles, who could have no worries about food and clothing without engaging in production, only in war could they prove their worth and reflect the glory of being nobles. Participation in war for the nobles themselves was a process of "objectification of essential power", which was to embody their abilities and knowledge in war, so that war became a confirmatory demonstration of their essential power. Of course, the war poems in the Book of Poetry have verses that express the bitterness of the journey by whispering, "In the past, Yang Liu Yiyi, now I come to think, rain and snow", as in the "Tsai Wei", to express the high enthusiasm of the battle, but there is also no shortage of chapters that express the high enthusiasm of the battle, such as "I know that I have no clothes, and I am clothed with the son, Wang Yuxingshi, and repair my spear". The nobility was definitely active in the front line of the war. It is conceivable that wars with the aristocracy as the main body mentioned above are naturally extremely graceful and martial spirit.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="21">3. External factors: the unity of the opposition between "righteousness" and "profit" under the hegemonic system</h1>
The Spring and Autumn Period, between the Western Zhou Dynasty, which was "depressed and civilized", and the Warring States Period, was a period when society was about to change but was still trying to maintain. This order, which is "unbroken and unbroken," is the so-called "hegemony." The order of the "hegemonic" period had the following four characteristics: 1. honoring the king; 2. Shuyi; 3. Prohibiting usurpation; and 4. Ruling and annexing. Among them, the king is the general program, the prohibition of usurpation and the merger of the system are respectively the internal political and economic policies, and the elimination of the yi is the direct goal of the external policy and the "hegemony". "Hegemony" here is not hegemony and hegemony, but a kind of internationalist just ideal, a means of maintaining the international order conducive to the time with "etiquette". In the process of implementation, this means embodies a very high moral quality, that is, "righteousness". In the traditional Confucian concept, the pair of "righteousness" and "profit" are opposites and cannot coexist, such as "a gentleman is righteous, a villain is a benefit", "giving up life for righteousness" and so on. And the successor of Confucianism's criticism, Mozi, said: "Righteousness, profit." "Righteousness and profit are fundamentally two different aspects of the same thing. According to the dialectical point of view, for "righteousness" and "profit", Confucianism talks about opposites, while Mojia talks about unity and mutual transformation. If the transformation of the two sides of the contradiction requires certain conditions, then the hegemonic situation is precisely this condition.
Before Qi Huan's reign was hegemonic, the Zhou royal family declined, and usurpation between countries was everywhere, and Gongshu Duan was on the Zheng state without a king; Gongzi Prefecture called for usurpation in the Wei state, and even the lu state also had the phenomenon of killing the king. The Di people of the Taihang Mountains were staring at the tiger, and the Chu people on the Jianghan Plain were wantonly annexing the land of the "Jianghan Zhuji". After the death of Duke Huan of Qi, before The Jin Dynasty became hegemonic, due to the new establishment of the "hegemonic" system and the lack of hegemony, the international order in the Central Plains once again fell into chaos, the relations between Zhou and Zheng further deteriorated, the momentum of annexation of the Chu state in the south was increasing, and the Di soldiers in the north were even more powerful, and even expelled the king of Zhou Xiang from the capital. It can be seen that the nobles with vested interests are threatened from two aspects: on the one hand, from the ulterior motives of other small nobles in their own country, which is a threat to their personal interests, and on the other hand, from the strength of Di Bing and the Chu people, which is the precarious interests of the state and the nation. After tasting the benefits of Qi Huangong's "hegemony", they believed that only through the honor of the king and the power of morality could they effectively safeguard their vested interests.
At that time, although the international community was constantly fighting each other with each other, the general trend was to emphasize peace and keep faith. Thus creating an international community of peace that has lasted for two hundred years. In fact, the wars of the Spring and Autumn Period were more like sportsmanship, and the winners of the competition had the power to "serve the Son of Heaven to order the princes". The war that belongs to the five major battles of the Spring and Autumn Period between the nobles can be said to be an artistic and gamified war. Both the Book of Poetry and the Zuo Zhuan's depictions of war present the following two characteristics: 1. They do not directly describe the scenes of war, but only write about military prestige; 2. Emphasize moral indoctrination and the deterrence of military forces. This characteristic is precisely determined by the combat method (vehicle warfare) and combat objectives of the Spring and Autumn Period. The purpose of the war at that time was not out of the desire for land annexation, but out of the need to maintain international order. The maintenance of order mainly relies on the deterrence of military force, because once the war is officially started, the enemy is wounded by 10,000 and 8,000 self-inflicted damage, the overlord is likely to lose the ability to maintain order. For example, Guan Zhong asked, "If Erfu Baomao does not enter, the widow is a sign; the king of Zhao's southern expedition is not restored, and the widow is asking." This is not only a hypocritical diplomatic rhetoric, but also a necessary means to put the other side in an unjust place for their own teachers to make a name for themselves.
"Wude" is not a form of war manifested by a priori value orientation, but the peculiarity of the Zhou Dynasty's clan feudal system on the verge of collapse (that is, hegemonic order) determines this cultural atmosphere. As the hegemon of maintaining order, it not only needs a strong comprehensive national strength, but also a spiritual force that convinces the people of the world. For the princes who want to dominate, it is very important to win the war, but the process of the war is in line with "procedural justice". The virtue of "moral righteousness" out of the interests of the state and the nation, and the "conformity" of abiding by procedural justice, the unity of the two is "martial virtue". The environment of the hegemonic situation has promoted the spirit of "martial virtue" in war.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="26">4." Wude"' cultural atmosphere disappeared</h1>
At the turn of the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, China faced a huge change. Economically, with the spread of the lu state's "initial tax mu" and the qi state's decree of "matching the land and leviing the land", the well field system further collapsed. The ban on fishing and salt in Kaishanze led to the rapid development of industry and commerce. Politically, the Qing Dynasty was monopolistic, the public office was humble, and the Zhou royal family was even more dangerous. At the local level, the implementation of the county system further dealt a blow to the feudal system laid down by the Zhou Gong. Militarily, peasants replaced nobles as protagonists of the battlefield. Culturally, private learning moved downwards, and the study of wang officials gradually evolved into a hundred sons and hundreds of families. And all of this, history called "the change of Zhou Qin".
After the zhou and qin changes, the hegemonic system no longer existed. At this time, the wasteland between countries was constantly being developed, and the further development of commerce, the emergence of merchant classes and commodity cities further broke through the old value system, and the formation of regional markets and the development of transportation broke the feudal circle. A series of developments in the economic base will also bring about changes in the superstructure. The theme of the Warring States Period was no longer the pursuit of harmony and order, but the transformation of law and the strengthening of the law. The means of war are not military deterrence, but the annihilation of the enemy's living forces. The "History of Qin Benji" records that from Qin Xiangong to Qin Wangzheng, there were fifteen large-scale killings and injuries, the most of which was in the forty-seventh year of King Zhaoxiang of Qin, and Bai Qi killed 400,000 people in Changping Pit. At least one in the fifty years of King Zhaoxiang of Qin also directly caused the death of 6,000 people. Blood replaced moderation, intrigue replaced etiquette, and the environment of hegemony ceased to exist in the Warring States.
The nobles of the Spring and Autumn Period were further corrupted and degenerated during the Warring States Period, and they were no longer of great use on the battlefield. The civilian class enters the war, Kong Wu is powerful, as long as they obtain the first rank on the battlefield and get military merit, they can prove their worth and become a new nobleman. Those who can speak eloquently and wander between countries can show their ability and worship each other. The so-called "procedural justice" could not help the victory of the war, nor could moral etiquette achieve the purpose of annexation. During the Warring States period, from the State of Wei to the State of Chu to the State of Qin, it has experienced the changes of Li Wu, Wu Qi and Shang Martingale, and the atmosphere of militarism has been filled with society and war. The demeanor and spirit of the samurai who once belonged to the Spring and Autumn Period were completely abandoned in the Warring States.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="30" >5. epilogue</h1>
During the Spring and Autumn Period, two unique conditions further promoted the formation of the spiritual atmosphere of martial virtue, one was the hegemonic situation under the pursuit of "righteousness" and "profit", and the other was a military aristocrat with a great sense of honor who received both civil and military education. The disappearance of these two conditions marks the collapse of the "truth between subjects", and this martial culture atmosphere no longer exists.
As a precious spiritual wealth, the existence of the Wude spirit not only leaves us with many popular stories, but also affects the character of our nation. Its emphasis on honor, its admiration for the peaceful order, and the "benevolence," "courage," "courtesy," "wisdom," and "faith" reflected in them are not only in line with the traditional Confucian spirit, but also in parallel with the intrinsic concept of the core values of socialism advocated today. The cultural atmosphere of Wude is the manifestation of the all-round development of people in a society. The revival of the spirit of martial virtue is of great significance to shaping the national character of our country and to promoting the all-round development of man.
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(Originally published in Literary Education, No. 20, 2019)