There is no righteous war in the spring and Autumn period(chūn qiū wú yì zhàn)

There is no righteous war in the spring and Autumn period

The word "no righteous war in the spring and Autumn Period" comes from Mencius. It originally refers to the war without justice in the spring and Autumn period. It also refers to unjust war. "There is no righteous war in the spring and Autumn Period", which not only expresses Mencius' historical view, but also embodies his political view. The reason is that the Confucianists believed that "the ritual and music expeditions came from the emperor", which is just in line with justice. However, in the spring and Autumn period, "the ritual collapsed and the music deteriorated" and "the ritual and music expeditions came from the princes", so there was no just war.

original text

Mencius said, "there is no just war in the spring and Autumn period. If he is good at this, he has it. The enemy countries (1) will not fight against each other

notes

(1) Enemy country: a country of equal status. "Enemy" does not mean "hostile" here.

translation

Mencius said, "there was no just war in the spring and Autumn period. That country may be a little better than this one, which is true. The so-called "levy" means that countries at the same level can not attack each other

Examples

The ancients said, "yes." Today, imperialism is even more devoid of a just war. Only the oppressed nations and classes have a just war. On the strategy against Japanese imperialism by Mao Zedong

Sun Tzu's view on it

Sun Tzu was a famous militarist in the spring and Autumn period. Undoubtedly, his understanding of war was deeper than that of ordinary people. There was no just war in the spring and Autumn period. At that time, the princes of various countries frequently launched provocations in order to fight for hegemony, which was an inevitable reality. Since peace is impossible, we should treat war with a positive attitude and attach importance to war in order to preserve ourselves. Therefore, Sun Tzu pointed out at the beginning of the art of war that "war is a major event of the country. The land of life and death, the way of survival, can not be ignored. Sun Tzu's view on war is very serious. In his eyes, war is of great importance.

My opinion

Mencius said, "there is no just war in the spring and Autumn period. If he is good at this, he has it. If you want to levy, you can go up and cut down, and the enemy country will not levy. " This passage comes from "Mencius heart", which means "there was no righteous war in the spring and Autumn period. That country may be a little better than this one, which is true. The so-called "levy" means that countries at the same level can not attack each other. In my opinion, "enemy country" here does not mean "hostile country", but "equivalent vassal country". This is Mencius' expression of his views on the war in the spring and Autumn period, which not only expresses Mencius' historical view, but also embodies his political view. Zhu Xi, a great Confucianist of the Song Dynasty, interpreted this chapter in the collection of chapters and sentences of the four books as follows: "in the spring and Autumn Annals, every book about the battles of the princes must be ridiculed and belittled. But there are those who are good at this, such as the master of Zhaoling. " I think Zhu Xi's grasp of Mencius thought is accurate. He didn't elaborate on the exegesis here, but explained the meaning and principle in it. The spring and Autumn period is different from other historical books, such as "Cheng of Jin Dynasty, Taowu of Chu Dynasty, and spring and autumn of Lu Dynasty". It does not simply record historical facts, but integrates Confucius' own feelings and views. It is based on Confucian moral standards, that is, the "righteousness of spring and Autumn Period" spread in later generations, which is used to praise good and belittle evil, and to bring order out of chaos I'm afraid of him. Therefore, the spring and Autumn Annals has always been very clear-cut in its position and attitude in describing wars, that is, to ridicule wars and crimes that are not in line with etiquette and law and morality, and not to praise them in line with morality. Zhu Xi further explained Mencius's meaning of "if he is good at this, he will have it", citing "the teacher of Zhaoling" as an example. "The teacher of Zhaoling" is an action that Duke Huan of Qi successfully restrained the expansion of Chu (which was considered to be a barbarian country at that time) northward under the banner of "respecting the king and fighting against the barbarians", safeguarded the interests of the Central Plains countries, and achieved peace and victory, so Zhu Xi cited it as an example. The root of Mencius' thought is Confucius. In the Analects of Confucius Ji Shi, Confucius said: "if there is a way in the world, then the rites and music come from the emperor; if there is no way in the world, then the rites and music come from the princes. It was the Western Zhou Dynasty when the emperor came out, and the spring and Autumn period when the princes came out. The so-called righteous war in Confucianism must be ordered by the emperor, so to say "levy" is to "cut down". The vassal states with the same status fought against each other, that is, they despised the emperor and had no respect for the law. It was "the crime of being good at promoting", so "the enemy countries did not fight against each other.". Therefore, it is said in the Ming Dynasty that "the Bible is not the teacher of the princes, for it does not know that there is a king", and that is exactly what Zhu Xi said about "the sin of being good at prospering". The so-called "crime of being good at prospering" is also the crime of "not knowing that there is a king". However, the evaluation of different wars in the spring and Autumn Annals is different. As Dong Zhongshu said: "evil attack and good partial war, shame and honor revenge." Mr. Nan Huaijin thinks that the spring and Autumn Annals is not a theory of non war. On the contrary, it emphasizes the difference between justice and injustice in war. He thinks that war should be a fight for justice, which embodies the traditional Chinese philosophy of war. It is the so-called "evil swindle but good partial war, shame and disgrace but honor and revenge". Therefore, Mencius himself also said, "if he is good at this, he has it.". For example, it took a derogatory attitude towards the battle of Wu ailing, while it took a supportive attitude towards the wars of Zheng people's attacking Wei and Chu childe's attacking Zheng. This is in terms of specific things. However, it does not change Confucius' overall view of the war between the princes in the spring and Autumn period, nor does it change the fact that "the war of rites and music came from the princes". Therefore, Mencius said that although "he is good at this, he has it", after all, "there is no righteous war in the spring and Autumn period.". In the spring and Autumn period, the wars of annexation and hegemony between the vassals came and went one after another, and the emperor of Zhou was completely overhead. It was a chaotic era of "rites collapsed, music was broken, and people's hearts were not old". The destruction of history and culture, and the decline of political morality were very serious. In the history of more than 240 years in the spring and Autumn period, "thirty six kings were killed and fifty-two countries were subjugated.". Almost all the moral foundations of human relations culture have been destroyed by the hegemonic top leaders. Therefore, Dong Zhongshu, a great Confucianist in Han Dynasty, said: "the virtue of husband is not enough to be close, but the culture is not enough to be far away, and it is not justice to judge the war as the root of the disease." He believes that in that era, the hegemony of the princes of all countries did not cultivate the moral foundation of politics, so countries and people did not trust each other and did not dare to be close to each other. For the establishment of culture, he was even more indifferent to the present and had no foresight, not to mention the international moral relations of the early Zhou Dynasty. They only know how to use force to establish hegemony, but every time they launch a war, they have to find some high sounding reasons to make themselves look noble. This is the so-called Dong Zhongshu's idea that "if we take the war as the main reason, we can't be righteous.". Confucius was born at the end of the spring and Autumn period. He felt deeply about this. It can be said that he was heartbroken. This is the motivation of Confucius for the spring and Autumn period. Mencius lived in an era about one hundred years after the spring and Autumn period. The situation of social chaos was even worse than that of the spring and Autumn period. The feudal lords fought endlessly, the social atmosphere was even worse, and the people's life was miserable. Mencius himself must have a deep understanding of it. From this point of view, "there is no just war in the spring and Autumn Period" can not be said to be unreasonable. In such a realistic environment of the times, Mencius has always been ethical justice, for the political and moral of traditional culture, running cry, not moved by the environment of the times, more worthy of our admiration. His feeling of "no righteous war in the spring and Autumn Period" may also have the meaning of indignation at the reality. From the perspective of modern people, war is closely linked with politics. War can be divided into just war and unjust war. However, from today's point of view, the standard of just war and unjust war mainly depends on the purpose of waging war, rather than on who wags war. A war conforming to the historical trend and in line with the interests of the people is just, and vice versa. It does not mean that the war launched by the emperor of Zhou or the war in accordance with Confucian etiquette and law must be in line with "righteousness". For example, the Second World War was a just and unjust war, while the first World War was an unjust imperialist war. On this point, our view is different from that of Mencius. Therefore, although "the spring and Autumn period has no righteous war" has become a popular saying, it is necessary for us to understand the connotation of Mencius' so-called "unjust war". After understanding the connotation, we will know that from our point of view today, it seems that we can not think that "there is no righteous war in the spring and Autumn Period" in general, but need to make a specific analysis of the specific situation.

Ben's comments

If someone asked me, Mencius said, "there is no righteous war in the spring and Autumn period." How do you know this sentence? Why? Then I will answer like this: "I have two statements: statement 1: Mencius' statement is reasonable. Because in the spring and Autumn period, the princes fought for hegemony, their purpose was to plunder land, population and control other countries; the war also brought the loss of life and property to the people. So the wars they fought were all unjust wars. Statement 2: Mencius' statement is too absolute. Although there is a bad side to the struggle for hegemony, because in the process of fighting for hegemony, some vassal states have been eliminated and some countries with larger territory have emerged, which is conducive to the reunification of the future. Moreover, in the war, the frequent exchanges among the people of the vassal states also promoted the national integration. So no

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