-So Qin was quite powerful right now, dominating Wei and Han after they unsuccessfully tried to invade Qin. However, Qin did not go so far as to counter-invade these two states, as they were under the protection of their powerful brother state (all three used to make up the state of Jin before its partition into three separate states in 403 BC) of Zhao to the north.
-Interestingly enough, Zhao was only recently powerful, as not too long before this time it was the weakest of these former Jin states and had been pushed around quite a bit by Wei. Zhao had been the weakest for a long time because it was kind of a backwater and was under constant attack by the northern barbarians (the most infamous of which were the dreaded Xiongnu horde) of modern-day Mongolia.
-However, in a bizarre twist of fate, Wei decided to invade Zhao in 354 BC! Dick move!
-Zhao was in serious trouble, as they had been unable to adequately resist Wei's invasion and ultimately found their capital Handan (in modern-day Heibei Province) surrounded by Wei forces. Desperate, the ruler of Zhao, Marquess Cheng (he still hadn't declared Zhao an independent kingdom yet, so he wasn't a king), sent for help from the state of Qi (to the southeast).
-Surprisingly, this actually worked, and the forces of Qi arrived to drive off Wei's army. However, this actually made sense for Qi to do this, as Qi knew that once Wei finished off Zhao it would probably go for Qi next, so it was best to crack down on Wei now before they got too powerful. Also, Qi most certainly did not want Jin to reunify, as that would be bad for all of the other states/kingdoms since Jin had been the most powerful of the Zhou states.
-The generals in charge of the Qi forces were Sun Bin (an alleged descendant of Sun Tzu, but honestly who the fuck knows) and Tian Ji, both top-notch commanders. They knew that the Wei army was way too powerful to take on in a straight-up battle, so they came up with a plan.
-Sun Bin led an army to distract Wei by attacking the Wei capital of Daliang (modern-day Kaifeng, Henan Province). Although Sun Bin's force was too weak to capture the city, Sun Bin's plan was to attack and then be driven off, luring the Wei forces into a false sense of security against the forces of Qi. This actually worked, and believing Qi to be weak, Wei sent the majority of its forces to join the invading force in its siege of Handan. Once Wei did this, Tian Ji used this opportunity to lead a Qi force to strike at a (less-fortified) Daliang and this time with a much bigger army! Brilliant!
-Thus, Pang Juan, the commander of Wei's forces, knew that he had no choice but to divide his big army in order to send a force to save Daliang. However, the infantry and artillery were too slow, so he was only able to bring him his elite cavalry for this mission.
-Of course, this is what Sun Bin had expected Pang Juan to do, and so on his way back to defend the capital, Pang Juan was ambushed by Sun Bin's forces! Naturally, the Wei cavalry was slaughtered by the Qi army. Pang Juan was able to escape, however, so this wasn't the last of him.
-Wei knew that it had really fucked itself in trying to invade Zhao, so King Hui of Wei decided to try and sue for peace. This resulted in Wei giving up the invasion and giving some territory to Qi.
-Back in Qi, both Tian Ji and Sun Bin were hailed as heroes! Their strategy of deception and attacking where an army is weak to divide their forces (known in Chinese history as "the Battle of Guiling") was later on referenced in "The 36 Strategems" ("Sānshíliù Jì"), an anonymously-written essay on politics, war, etc. and is almost as legendary as "The Art of War".
-The quote is actually "Besiege Wei to rescue Zhao", which doesn't actually make any sense unless you've studied Chinese history.
-Of course, King Hui was not finished with his wars of expansion, and instead began to raise an army to attack the state of Han to the south!
-Han was confident that, like Zhao, Qi would come to their rescue, and the Qi emissaries essentially stated as much to the Han court. Thus, Han began to confidently raise an army to defend themselves to fight just as long as they could in order for Qi to come in and save the day. However, Qi's real plan was to only come in AFTER both sides were severely weakened.
-This actually worked out exactly as planned for Qi- right when Han was on the brink of defeat, Qi showed up to save the day.
-Pretty much plays out like what happened above (with all the same characters as last time, too!). Once again, Sun Bin came up with a plan to strike at Daliang in order to have the same effect as last time. So, King Hui, when hearing about the attack from Qi, ordered for Wei forces to retreat in order to defend the capital. However, Pang Juan was determined to not fall for the same trick again, so they moved quickly and did not travel along the main road in order to avoid a Qi ambush.
-Once the two armies got close to each other, Sun Bin ordered for his troops to reduce the number of cookfires every night so that it would appear to the Wei army that the Qi army was getting smaller over time. Overconfident from all the ass-kicking they had done against Han, they started to attack the Qi army, and, feigning weakness, the Qi army then retreated (towards Maling (near modern-day Liaocheng, Shandong Province). On their retreat, the Wei forces passed through a narrow, wooded pass, and as they traveled through it Sun Bin ordered his men to cut down a tree and carve into it "Pang Juan shall die in Maling under this tree." When the Wei forces later that night traveled through the area and noticed the message, Pang Juan called for torchlight in order to read what was written. Sure enough, when the torch was lit, that was the signal for the Qi archers to shoot, and thus the Wei troops were completely slaughtered in the ambush (including Pang Juan).
-At this point, Wei was crushed, so Qi demanded huge territorial concessions in return for an end to hostilities.
-Unfortunately for Wei, because they were so weakened from fighting with Qi, they were now quite vulnerable to attacks from Qin! Of course, Qin immediately began to invade and gobble up territory, including Wei's ancient capital of Anyi (modern-day Nanchang, Jiangxi Province) in 361 BC.
-Because of this, King Hui moved the capital of Wei to Daliang.
-At this point, it was becoming increasingly obvious that Qin was becoming too powerful if the other states didn't band together to stop it from conquering all of them. Thus, they all decided to combine their forces against Qin.
-This strategy, known as the Vertical Alliance ("Hé Zòng"), came out of the School of Diplomacy (AKA the School of Vertical and Horizontal Alliances; "Zōng héng Jiā"), a group of thinkers who argued and debated constantly about strategy and shit, and was advocated by thinkers such as Sū Qín.
-Sū Qín's arch-enemy was Zhāng Yí, who was the main thinker behind the Horizontal Alliance ("Lían Héng").
-The vertical alliance included the states of Wei, Zhao, Han, Yan, and Chu. Conspicuously absent was the state of Qi...
-The alliance was led by King Huì of Chǔ, arguably the most powerful of the five.
-Unfortunately, the allied forces were quickly defeated when they tried to invade Qí, and the vertical alliance quickly fell apart (as they probably didn't like each other anyway due to their decades of fighting each other).
-At this point, Qín knew that their most powerful opposition was Chǔ.
-It's thought that Chǔ had a standing army of like 1 million (!). Qín's forces were way smaller by comparison, but Qín knew that Chǔ was having problems internally due to corruption and political gridlock and shit.
-Because Chǔ's vertical alliance had fallen through, Chǔ then looked to the state of Qí to form an alliance (since Qí hadn't been involved in the vertical alliance).
-This idea actually worked, and both Chǔ and Qí became official allies in 314 BC.
-Qín knew that this new alliance posed an existential threat to the state, so Zhāng Yí (now a high-ranking official of Qín) stepped in to try and manipulate the situation.
-Zhāng Yí quickly traveled to Chǔ to seek an audience with its ruler, King Huái. During their meeting, Zhāng Yí proposed that Qín would give back some territory to Chǔ if Chǔ dissolved its alliance with Qí.
-Although it seems obvious that this is a dumb trade, surprisingly, King Huái accepted!
-Of course, Qí was really pissed off because of this.
-Then, after the alliance between Qí and Chǔ was nullified, King Huái tried to take back the land that was promised to Chǔ by Qín. However, Zhāng Yí then backtracked and said that King Huái had misunderstood, and that the area of land that had been offered was actually much smaller than King Huái thought (haha what an asshole)!
-Because of this, King Huái immediately declared war on Qín, but what the king didn't realize was that during this time Zhāng Yí had also been secretly working on an alliance between Qín and Qí!
-Thus, Chǔ was unable to successfully fight a war against both Qín AND Qí, and King Huái was forced to admit defeat and sue for peace in 313 BC.
-At this point, shit seemed to be going pretty well for Qín, but its ruler, Huì Wén, died in 311 BC, he was replaced by his son, Wǔ.
-Things were going OK under King Wǔ, but he ended up dying prematurely (at age 23!) as a result of injuries sustained from lifting a super-heavy bronze cauldron (!). Because of this, the kingdom was thrown into chaos due to their not being a clear successor that had been named by the king.
-Qín was thrown into chaos for about a year before things finally calmed down and King Wǔ's younger half-brother was enthroned as King Zhāoxiāng in 306 BC.
-299 BC- Qín was back to its old tricks again, and this time its target was Chǔ.
-King Zhāoxiāng invited King Huái to a "friendly" meeting of neighboring powers in Qín.
-Surprisingly, King Huái agreed to this (I don't think this dude was very smart...), and traveled to Qín, whereupon he was immediately arrested and imprisoned (where he would eventually die).
-Because King Huái had been imprisoned in Qín, he was replaced as king by his son, King Qǐngxiāng.
-Of course, Chǔ immediately declared war on Qín.
-294 BC- While fighting Chǔ, Qín decided to start a war with another state during this time- Hán (one of the weakest of the warring states, but also of key strategic importance military because of its central location).
-This was also a great time to attack Hán because its military alliance with the state of Wèi had fallen apart and the two former allies were now at war.
-Qín's forces during this time were led by a general named Bái Qǐ, an infamous character in the Warring States Period.
-Bái Qǐ was born in the town of Méi (outside of modern-day Baoji, Shaanxi Province) in the state of Qín.
-Is remembered in history as being a brilliant, yet brutal, commander (his nickname was "The Human Butcher" ("Rén Tú")!!)
-It's also estimated that he was responsible for between 900,000-2,000,000 enemy soldiers and the conquest of over 70 cities, and apparently never lost a battle.
-Because of this, he is considered to be one of the four great generals of the Warring States period.
-So, Qín sent Bái Qǐ to attack Hán.
-Hán and Wèi immediately realized that divided they'd get wiped out pretty fast, so they combined their forces into a mighty army (more than double the number of soldiers Bái Qǐ had to work with).
-However, Qín had two advantages- newer, better equipment, and a great number of battle-hardened veterans led by one of the greatest generals during this time!
-The two armies met at the massive Battle of Yique (near modern-day Luoyang, Henan Province).
-Bái Qǐ knew that there was no real love between Hán and Wèi, and that while they would obviously defend themselves, they wouldn't necessarily defend each other...
-After drawing out Hán's forces with small-scale attacks, Bái Qǐ then sent his main force to attack Wèi's camp while Hán's forces were distracted.
-Wèi ended up getting crushed and forced to retreat, whereupon they immediately began accusing their Hán allies of shenanigans and not holding up their end of the alliance. Of course, these accusations just pissed off Hán, so their alliance dissolved while they were still in the middle of battling Qín!
-Because of this, Hán's forces retreated. Wèi's army was now all alone in their battle against Qín! Of course, after Qín crushed Wèi, Hán then realized that IT was all alone against Qín!
-Of course, Hán's army didn't last long, and they were soon crushed by Qín.
-Overall, approximately 150,000 Wèi and Hán soldiers were killed (estimated to be about 2/3 of their entire armies!). In contrast, it's estimated that Bái Qǐ lost only like 8,500 (!).
-As a result of these great losses, Wèi and Hán were forced to cede vast tracts of land to Qín as a peace offering. Of course, both states must have known that it was only a matter of time before Qín moved into the region and conquered both of them, as their armies were shattered and their grasp on power tenuous at best.
-The war between Chǔ and Qín, however, lasted until 278 BC, when the forces of Qín finally were able to crush Chǔ's defenses and take its capital city, Yǐng (modern-day Jingzhou, Hubei Province). Because of this, Chǔ was forced to relocate its capital to Chen (near Yǐng).
Monday, February 26, 2018
Eastern Zhou - Part VI - Qin's Reformation and Ascension
-Of the "Three Jins", it was the state of Wei that was the most powerful.
-Wei took it upon itself to kind of act as an "older brother" to the other two.
-Surprisingly, this worked out well in terms of having a balance of power in the former territory of Jin (for once).
-The first ruler of Wei was Marquess Wen (AKA Wei Si).
-Born in 475 BC, Wei Si unofficially became Marquess Wen in 424 BC, and then was finally granted the title officially (c. 405 BC) by King Weilie of the Zhou dynasty when the Partition of Jin was officially recognized by the crown.
-Marquess Wen was officially granted this title alongside Marquess Jing of Han and Marquess Xian of Zhao).
-Marquess Wen was alleged to have been an eager learner and intellectual, consulting in various Confucian scholars, including Li Kui, a scholar and adviser who would go on to greatly influence the development of the philosophy of Legalism (AKA "Fajia").
-This is surprising because Confucianism and Legalism are both wildly different from each other.
-Famously decreed that in order to receive food one must work, and to get paid you have to work well; if you don't work you must suffer the consequences!
-Marquess Wen transformed the state into the dominant power of the Three Jins.
-By 408 BC the state began to expand, starting with the successful invasion of the small state of Zhongshan (located to the northeast of Wei and east of Zhao), although they needed Zhao's permision to move their troops through the territory to get to Zhongshan.
-During this time Wei became increasingly hostile towards the state of Qin to the west. They even annexed some of their eastern territory.
-Unfortunately for Wei, the state would only decline after the death of Marquess Wen in 396 BC.
-So, after Marquess Wen died he was replaced by his son, Marquess Wu.
-Marquess Wu wasn't a bad ruler, but shit happened during his reign that wasn't good.
-First of all, Zhongshan declared itself independent of Wei in 377 BC, stating that it was its own sovereign kingdom.
-Marquess Wu died in 370 BC, replaced by his son Marquess Hui (although in 344 BC he would declare that he was no longer a marquess, but was in fact a sovereign king!).
-c. 364 BC- forged an alliance with Han to invade parts of eastern Qin and divide up the lands for themselves.
-One problem with this invasion plan, however, was that Qin was no longer some backwater- it had actually grown quite powerful!
-This had been achieved in large part by reforms issued by Qin's ruler, Duke Xian, who revolutionized the military, government, and society, essentially "modernizing" the state in order to make it a legit player in the region.
-So, Qin clashes with the forces of Han and Wei at the Battle of Shimen, and Qin kicks their ass!
-c. 362 BC- Duke Xian dies, replaced by his son, Duke Xiao.
-Duke Xiao wanted to continue his father's legacy of improving the state, so he requested intellectuals, politicians, and philosophers from across the region to visit him. If they could convince him that their ideas had merit, then they would be given an office in his administration (in addition to land).
-Many of these thinkers espoused Confucian, Taoist, and other philosophies, but Duke Xiao wasn't impressed until a dude named Shang Yang convinced the duke to follow his Legalist-esque doctrine (after an intense three day-long discussion). Shang Yang (AKA Gongsun Yang; Kung-sun Yang; Wei Yang; etc.) was a statesman who had a vision of unwavering rule of law, strict social order, and enforced absolute authority of the state over everything else- this would eventually be the precursor to Legalism.
-356 BC- Shang Yang convinces Duke Xiao to pass two reforms (heavily influenced by Li Kiu's "Book of Law" ("Fa Jing") that proved to be revolutionary:
-A new law code which informed the public about the laws of the state and the punishment for disobeying these laws. What was revolutionary was that these punishments could be given out to ANYONE, regardless of their status, if they broke the law (even Duke Xiao's own son wasn't exempt when he committed a minor crime!).
-Laws were divided into four categories: theft/robbery, treason, possession, and "miscellaneous". Also contained two chapters on arrest procedures and the treatment of prisoners.
-Punishments were incredibly harsh.
-Also stripped the nobility of their lands. These lands were then redistributed so that common soldiers received titles and their own properties and shit, and were promoted based on their performances and successes on the battlefield.
-Farmers who were given land were also given quotas to fill- those who met or exceeded their quotas were rewarded with additional land and slaves; those who failed were themselves enslaved!!
-Lands were able to be given because Qin was quite big and had a bunch of unused land.
-However, to adequately populate this land they needed a lot more people, so the law forced everyone to get married young. The government also created tax incentives to encourage people to have large families.
-Immigration was also highly encouraged as long as the people came from other states within the Zhou dynasty. This was smart because it caused Qin's population to swell, while the other states/kingdoms experienced a reduction in their population numbers.
-Of course, the nobility absolutely hated Shang Yang and his reforms, which took away their lands and power, but Duke Xiao gave zero fucks because he saw that the state was doing quite well with these changes!
-In 350 BC- Shang Yang drafted new reforms that expanded the power of the state and passed some other shit, such as allowing for prisoners to be released if they agreed to settle in remote areas (where they would receive land). Other changes included forcing clans to be split into nuclear units so that if a clan had a lot of people, they would be taxed extra (by taxing per nuclear unit instead of by "family").
-In general, primogeniture was also abolished.
-The capital was also moved in order to break the concentration of power that the old-school nobility had over the city.
-By 344 BC (when Duke Xiao died), Qin had come from a backwater domain that no one cared about to a badass, powerful state! Duke Xiao was replaced by his son, Hui Wen (when he came into power he declared that Qin was now a sovereign kingdom, and that he was its new king!).
-With the death of Duke Xiao, the nobility immediately began to plot feverishly to kill Shang Yang and abolish all of his reforms.
-This was bad for Shang Yang because (besides the obvious reasons) because the new king (Hui Wen) was the same son of Duke Xiao that had been punished because of Shang Yang's reforms, so of course he was no ally of Shang Yang.
-Thus, Shang Yang was arrested on charges of treason (most-likely trump-up), and Shang Yang, along with his entire family (the "nine familiar exterminations" rule ("Zhu Lian Jiu Zu"), which basically meant that you were also guilty if you were related to the criminal), were executed.
-Shang Yang himself was executed via "julie" (death by being fastened to five chariots (or horses) and being pulled apart)!
-According to legend, before his execution Shang Yang escaped and tried to hide out in a countryside inn, but the innkeeper figured out who he was and refused him entry. This was because the innkeeper had denied him entry due to recent law (that Shang Yang himself had passed) that made it illegal for for people without proper identification to stay in inns! Doh!! Of course, after this he was quickly caught and executed.
-Anyway, so King Hui Wen was now ruler of Qin!
-He ruled for 27 years, and even though Shang Yang had been executed, his reforms had proven to really work well in getting the state to become more efficient and powerful! Poor Shang Yang!
-King Hui Wen spent much of his rule working tirelessly to expand his kingdom, especially against the neighboring Zhou states.
-Of particular note are Qin's invasions of the states of Shu and Ba to the southwest in 316 BC.
-Oddly enough, these two states were comprised of a people (the Ba-Shu culture) that we didn't know about until we found legit archaeological evidence of their existence in 1987!
-This evidence (based on their art, crafts, etc.) also suggests that this culture, which had been deemed "barbaric" by the Xia/Shang/Zhou dynasties, were actually quite developed and sophisticated (if not at the same level as the "civilized" dynasties themselves!) in terms of technology and stuff.
-Qin invaded these states because they occupied the strategically-located Sichuan Basin (and also because they could- these states were quite weak).
-They had gone unconquered in the past just because they were so far away and there was no reason for any state/kingdom to spend the time or resources to invade. However, as Qin grew in power, the kingdom realized that in the future this area could be important in terms of national security and interstate warfare. After all, "Sichuan" literally means "Four Rivers" in Mandarin (presumably in reference to the Jialing, Jinsha, Min, and Tuo rivers)!
-After Qin conquered these states, all of the records and buildings and shit of this culture were completely destroyed. Essentially, their existence was all but erased from history.
-Meanwhile, the other Zhou states began to notice Qin's growing power, and began to talk of taking this upstart state down by banding together in an "anti-Qin" alliance...
-Wei took it upon itself to kind of act as an "older brother" to the other two.
-Surprisingly, this worked out well in terms of having a balance of power in the former territory of Jin (for once).
-The first ruler of Wei was Marquess Wen (AKA Wei Si).
-Born in 475 BC, Wei Si unofficially became Marquess Wen in 424 BC, and then was finally granted the title officially (c. 405 BC) by King Weilie of the Zhou dynasty when the Partition of Jin was officially recognized by the crown.
-Marquess Wen was officially granted this title alongside Marquess Jing of Han and Marquess Xian of Zhao).
-Marquess Wen was alleged to have been an eager learner and intellectual, consulting in various Confucian scholars, including Li Kui, a scholar and adviser who would go on to greatly influence the development of the philosophy of Legalism (AKA "Fajia").
-This is surprising because Confucianism and Legalism are both wildly different from each other.
-Famously decreed that in order to receive food one must work, and to get paid you have to work well; if you don't work you must suffer the consequences!
-Marquess Wen transformed the state into the dominant power of the Three Jins.
-By 408 BC the state began to expand, starting with the successful invasion of the small state of Zhongshan (located to the northeast of Wei and east of Zhao), although they needed Zhao's permision to move their troops through the territory to get to Zhongshan.
-During this time Wei became increasingly hostile towards the state of Qin to the west. They even annexed some of their eastern territory.
-Unfortunately for Wei, the state would only decline after the death of Marquess Wen in 396 BC.
-So, after Marquess Wen died he was replaced by his son, Marquess Wu.
-Marquess Wu wasn't a bad ruler, but shit happened during his reign that wasn't good.
-First of all, Zhongshan declared itself independent of Wei in 377 BC, stating that it was its own sovereign kingdom.
-Marquess Wu died in 370 BC, replaced by his son Marquess Hui (although in 344 BC he would declare that he was no longer a marquess, but was in fact a sovereign king!).
-c. 364 BC- forged an alliance with Han to invade parts of eastern Qin and divide up the lands for themselves.
-One problem with this invasion plan, however, was that Qin was no longer some backwater- it had actually grown quite powerful!
-This had been achieved in large part by reforms issued by Qin's ruler, Duke Xian, who revolutionized the military, government, and society, essentially "modernizing" the state in order to make it a legit player in the region.
-So, Qin clashes with the forces of Han and Wei at the Battle of Shimen, and Qin kicks their ass!
-c. 362 BC- Duke Xian dies, replaced by his son, Duke Xiao.
-Duke Xiao wanted to continue his father's legacy of improving the state, so he requested intellectuals, politicians, and philosophers from across the region to visit him. If they could convince him that their ideas had merit, then they would be given an office in his administration (in addition to land).
-Many of these thinkers espoused Confucian, Taoist, and other philosophies, but Duke Xiao wasn't impressed until a dude named Shang Yang convinced the duke to follow his Legalist-esque doctrine (after an intense three day-long discussion). Shang Yang (AKA Gongsun Yang; Kung-sun Yang; Wei Yang; etc.) was a statesman who had a vision of unwavering rule of law, strict social order, and enforced absolute authority of the state over everything else- this would eventually be the precursor to Legalism.
-356 BC- Shang Yang convinces Duke Xiao to pass two reforms (heavily influenced by Li Kiu's "Book of Law" ("Fa Jing") that proved to be revolutionary:
-A new law code which informed the public about the laws of the state and the punishment for disobeying these laws. What was revolutionary was that these punishments could be given out to ANYONE, regardless of their status, if they broke the law (even Duke Xiao's own son wasn't exempt when he committed a minor crime!).
-Laws were divided into four categories: theft/robbery, treason, possession, and "miscellaneous". Also contained two chapters on arrest procedures and the treatment of prisoners.
-Punishments were incredibly harsh.
-Also stripped the nobility of their lands. These lands were then redistributed so that common soldiers received titles and their own properties and shit, and were promoted based on their performances and successes on the battlefield.
-Farmers who were given land were also given quotas to fill- those who met or exceeded their quotas were rewarded with additional land and slaves; those who failed were themselves enslaved!!
-Lands were able to be given because Qin was quite big and had a bunch of unused land.
-However, to adequately populate this land they needed a lot more people, so the law forced everyone to get married young. The government also created tax incentives to encourage people to have large families.
-Immigration was also highly encouraged as long as the people came from other states within the Zhou dynasty. This was smart because it caused Qin's population to swell, while the other states/kingdoms experienced a reduction in their population numbers.
-Of course, the nobility absolutely hated Shang Yang and his reforms, which took away their lands and power, but Duke Xiao gave zero fucks because he saw that the state was doing quite well with these changes!
-In 350 BC- Shang Yang drafted new reforms that expanded the power of the state and passed some other shit, such as allowing for prisoners to be released if they agreed to settle in remote areas (where they would receive land). Other changes included forcing clans to be split into nuclear units so that if a clan had a lot of people, they would be taxed extra (by taxing per nuclear unit instead of by "family").
-In general, primogeniture was also abolished.
-The capital was also moved in order to break the concentration of power that the old-school nobility had over the city.
-By 344 BC (when Duke Xiao died), Qin had come from a backwater domain that no one cared about to a badass, powerful state! Duke Xiao was replaced by his son, Hui Wen (when he came into power he declared that Qin was now a sovereign kingdom, and that he was its new king!).
-With the death of Duke Xiao, the nobility immediately began to plot feverishly to kill Shang Yang and abolish all of his reforms.
-This was bad for Shang Yang because (besides the obvious reasons) because the new king (Hui Wen) was the same son of Duke Xiao that had been punished because of Shang Yang's reforms, so of course he was no ally of Shang Yang.
-Thus, Shang Yang was arrested on charges of treason (most-likely trump-up), and Shang Yang, along with his entire family (the "nine familiar exterminations" rule ("Zhu Lian Jiu Zu"), which basically meant that you were also guilty if you were related to the criminal), were executed.
-Shang Yang himself was executed via "julie" (death by being fastened to five chariots (or horses) and being pulled apart)!
-According to legend, before his execution Shang Yang escaped and tried to hide out in a countryside inn, but the innkeeper figured out who he was and refused him entry. This was because the innkeeper had denied him entry due to recent law (that Shang Yang himself had passed) that made it illegal for for people without proper identification to stay in inns! Doh!! Of course, after this he was quickly caught and executed.
-Anyway, so King Hui Wen was now ruler of Qin!
-He ruled for 27 years, and even though Shang Yang had been executed, his reforms had proven to really work well in getting the state to become more efficient and powerful! Poor Shang Yang!
-King Hui Wen spent much of his rule working tirelessly to expand his kingdom, especially against the neighboring Zhou states.
-Of particular note are Qin's invasions of the states of Shu and Ba to the southwest in 316 BC.
-Oddly enough, these two states were comprised of a people (the Ba-Shu culture) that we didn't know about until we found legit archaeological evidence of their existence in 1987!
-This evidence (based on their art, crafts, etc.) also suggests that this culture, which had been deemed "barbaric" by the Xia/Shang/Zhou dynasties, were actually quite developed and sophisticated (if not at the same level as the "civilized" dynasties themselves!) in terms of technology and stuff.
-Qin invaded these states because they occupied the strategically-located Sichuan Basin (and also because they could- these states were quite weak).
-They had gone unconquered in the past just because they were so far away and there was no reason for any state/kingdom to spend the time or resources to invade. However, as Qin grew in power, the kingdom realized that in the future this area could be important in terms of national security and interstate warfare. After all, "Sichuan" literally means "Four Rivers" in Mandarin (presumably in reference to the Jialing, Jinsha, Min, and Tuo rivers)!
-After Qin conquered these states, all of the records and buildings and shit of this culture were completely destroyed. Essentially, their existence was all but erased from history.
-Meanwhile, the other Zhou states began to notice Qin's growing power, and began to talk of taking this upstart state down by banding together in an "anti-Qin" alliance...
Monday, February 19, 2018
Eastern Zhou - Part V - The Partition of Jin
-We now enter, more or less, into the Warring States Period (c. 475-221 BC). How did we get here?
-The Zhou kings were completely powerless and couldn't control their vassal states from fighting each other or declaring independence.
-This was exacerbated by the breakdown in family ties which was supposed to unify the various duchies.
-Barbarian tribes were also being incorporated into the outer states in order to expand states' lands and army sizes! Smart!
-Transition from the Spring and Autumn Period was a slow decline into chaos that took about 80 years or so to truly manifest.
-However, the major catalyst for truly ushering in the Warring States Period was an event known as "The Partition of Jin".
-Due to infighting among rival dukes from different clans, the kingdom of Jin was split into three different states:
-Han (south Jin)
-Wei (middle Jin)
-Zhao (north Jin)
-How did this happen?
-Up to this point, Jin had been a powerful kingdom alongside the states/kingdoms of Qin (in the west), Chu (in the south), Qi (in the northeast), and Yan (north-northwest).
-Jin had even beaten Chu pretty badly in the 6th century, which was a big deal because up till then Chu had been the most powerful state.
-Unfortunately, Jin succumbed to the same bullshit that has brought down so many other kingdoms and empires and history- problems with successions.
-This resulted in constant inter-clan fighting, violence, and civil wars.
-Oddly enough, it was Jin's transition into a meritocracy (in terms of government administration (not including the king or royal family, of course)). Unfortunately, the way they did it was to appoint non-clan members (political allies) into positions of power, which essentially turned what was supposed to be a meritocracy into an oligarchy.
-This caused the state to split into feudal sub-powers and stripped the duke of his overall power over the state, which resulted in a gridlock that caused stagnation while the surrounding states/kingdoms continued to develop.
-c. 550 BC- there were six clans (known as "The Six Retainers") that dominated Jin:
-Zhao, Wei, Han, Fan, Zhi, and Zhonghang
-497 BC- civil war broke out among all six retainers AND the duke!
-The Fan and Zhonghang clans were quickly wiped out.
-450 BC- the Zhi clan came to be the most dominant, but the civil war wasn't finished yet.
-Because of this, the Han and Wei clans began to cave in, but the Zhao refused to give up!
-Pissed off, the Zhi clan forged a secret alliance with the Han and Wei clans to crush the Zhao clan.
-The Zhao clan knew what was going on, however, so the Zhao leader Zhao Xiangzi fled to the fortified city of Jinyang (modern-day Taiyuan, Shanxi Province). Jinyang was chosen by Zhao Xiangzi because it had a good defensive position, access to flowing water (via the Fen River), a loyal populace, etc.
-The Battle of Jinyang took place later on in 450 BC with the arrival of the allied forces of the Zhi, Wei, and Han clans. The siege lasted for six months, but because of the lack of siege warfare technology the allied forces had a tough time getting Jinyang to crack. Finally, they hatched a plan to divert the Fen River so that it no longer flowed alongside the city, but INTO it. This plan worked, and by using dams and shit they were able to completely flood the city, and while this severely fucked up Jinyang, it still didn't surrender! Finally, after three years (!), the Zhao clan's allied forces started to crack.
-However, Zhao Xiangzi's advisers proposed that they try to reach out to the other clans (Han and Wei) to try and get them to flip on the Zhi clan. The deal would be that if they helped the Zhao clan out, then they all would divide up the Zhi clan's territory among themselves.
-This plan surprisingly worked! The Wei and Han clans agreed to mutiny against the Zhi clan.
-Zhi Yao, the viscount of the Zhi clan, even heard about the plot beforehand, but I guess he refused to believe it. Whoops!
-The Zhao clan then worked with their new friends to use the Fen River to flood the Zhi clan's camp! Once they did this, the three clans then attacked the Zhi camp as they were distracted with managing the flood, and the Zhi clan's army was then wiped out.
-Zhi Yao was captured, executed, and had his skull made into a wine cup :/
-So, the Battle of Jinyang was finally over and the Zhi clan was eliminated, but where to go from here?
-453 BC- The Zhao, Wei, and Han clans divided up the lands of Jin for themselves in an uneasy truce (the duke, whom no one gave a shit about, got to keep a tiny sliver of territory for himself).
-The state of Jin was at this point essentially ruled by three different clans- a period known as The Three Jins, starting c. 403 BC when King Weilie (Zhou dynasty king #39) recognized these territories as equal sovereign states.
-The Partition of Jin is important because it was the catalyst for the ultimate breakdown of Eastern Zhou (which is known today as the Warring States Period).
-Up till this point, Jin had been the last pillar of stability in the kingdom, but now it was essentially just a free-for-all with no real unity besides superficial loyalty to the Zhou royalty.
-Chu began to prepare once again for wars of expansion.
-Qi and Qin began to cautiously expand as well, but also built up their defenses and prepare for invasion.
-The Three Jins then changed their respective state/kingdom names to Han, Wei, and Zhao (after their ruling clan names), which was much less confusing then all of them going by the name "Jin".
-The Zhou kings were completely powerless and couldn't control their vassal states from fighting each other or declaring independence.
-This was exacerbated by the breakdown in family ties which was supposed to unify the various duchies.
-Barbarian tribes were also being incorporated into the outer states in order to expand states' lands and army sizes! Smart!
-Transition from the Spring and Autumn Period was a slow decline into chaos that took about 80 years or so to truly manifest.
-However, the major catalyst for truly ushering in the Warring States Period was an event known as "The Partition of Jin".
-Due to infighting among rival dukes from different clans, the kingdom of Jin was split into three different states:
-Han (south Jin)
-Wei (middle Jin)
-Zhao (north Jin)
-How did this happen?
-Up to this point, Jin had been a powerful kingdom alongside the states/kingdoms of Qin (in the west), Chu (in the south), Qi (in the northeast), and Yan (north-northwest).
-Jin had even beaten Chu pretty badly in the 6th century, which was a big deal because up till then Chu had been the most powerful state.
-Unfortunately, Jin succumbed to the same bullshit that has brought down so many other kingdoms and empires and history- problems with successions.
-This resulted in constant inter-clan fighting, violence, and civil wars.
-Oddly enough, it was Jin's transition into a meritocracy (in terms of government administration (not including the king or royal family, of course)). Unfortunately, the way they did it was to appoint non-clan members (political allies) into positions of power, which essentially turned what was supposed to be a meritocracy into an oligarchy.
-This caused the state to split into feudal sub-powers and stripped the duke of his overall power over the state, which resulted in a gridlock that caused stagnation while the surrounding states/kingdoms continued to develop.
-c. 550 BC- there were six clans (known as "The Six Retainers") that dominated Jin:
-Zhao, Wei, Han, Fan, Zhi, and Zhonghang
-497 BC- civil war broke out among all six retainers AND the duke!
-The Fan and Zhonghang clans were quickly wiped out.
-450 BC- the Zhi clan came to be the most dominant, but the civil war wasn't finished yet.
-Because of this, the Han and Wei clans began to cave in, but the Zhao refused to give up!
-Pissed off, the Zhi clan forged a secret alliance with the Han and Wei clans to crush the Zhao clan.
-The Zhao clan knew what was going on, however, so the Zhao leader Zhao Xiangzi fled to the fortified city of Jinyang (modern-day Taiyuan, Shanxi Province). Jinyang was chosen by Zhao Xiangzi because it had a good defensive position, access to flowing water (via the Fen River), a loyal populace, etc.
-The Battle of Jinyang took place later on in 450 BC with the arrival of the allied forces of the Zhi, Wei, and Han clans. The siege lasted for six months, but because of the lack of siege warfare technology the allied forces had a tough time getting Jinyang to crack. Finally, they hatched a plan to divert the Fen River so that it no longer flowed alongside the city, but INTO it. This plan worked, and by using dams and shit they were able to completely flood the city, and while this severely fucked up Jinyang, it still didn't surrender! Finally, after three years (!), the Zhao clan's allied forces started to crack.
-However, Zhao Xiangzi's advisers proposed that they try to reach out to the other clans (Han and Wei) to try and get them to flip on the Zhi clan. The deal would be that if they helped the Zhao clan out, then they all would divide up the Zhi clan's territory among themselves.
-This plan surprisingly worked! The Wei and Han clans agreed to mutiny against the Zhi clan.
-Zhi Yao, the viscount of the Zhi clan, even heard about the plot beforehand, but I guess he refused to believe it. Whoops!
-The Zhao clan then worked with their new friends to use the Fen River to flood the Zhi clan's camp! Once they did this, the three clans then attacked the Zhi camp as they were distracted with managing the flood, and the Zhi clan's army was then wiped out.
-Zhi Yao was captured, executed, and had his skull made into a wine cup :/
-So, the Battle of Jinyang was finally over and the Zhi clan was eliminated, but where to go from here?
-453 BC- The Zhao, Wei, and Han clans divided up the lands of Jin for themselves in an uneasy truce (the duke, whom no one gave a shit about, got to keep a tiny sliver of territory for himself).
-The state of Jin was at this point essentially ruled by three different clans- a period known as The Three Jins, starting c. 403 BC when King Weilie (Zhou dynasty king #39) recognized these territories as equal sovereign states.
-The Partition of Jin is important because it was the catalyst for the ultimate breakdown of Eastern Zhou (which is known today as the Warring States Period).
-Up till this point, Jin had been the last pillar of stability in the kingdom, but now it was essentially just a free-for-all with no real unity besides superficial loyalty to the Zhou royalty.
-Chu began to prepare once again for wars of expansion.
-Qi and Qin began to cautiously expand as well, but also built up their defenses and prepare for invasion.
-The Three Jins then changed their respective state/kingdom names to Han, Wei, and Zhao (after their ruling clan names), which was much less confusing then all of them going by the name "Jin".
Eastern Zhou - Part IV - The Art of War
-Sun Tzu (AKA Sun Zi, Sunzi, Master Sun, etc.)
-One of the most important people who lived during the Spring and Autumn Period of Chinese history.
-Birth name was Sun Wu.
-Unclear where he was born, but it looks like it was c. 544 BC.
-According to "the Spring and Autumn Annals", Sun Tzu was born in the state of Qi, but "the Records of the Grand Historian" say that he was born in the state/kingdom of Wu.
-Was an adviser (genbang) to King Helu of Wu.
-According to the Records of the Grand Historian, however, Sun Tzu was a general.
-One of the stories in this narrative is that before he became a general, King Helu decided to test Sun Tzu's military leadership ability by ordering him to train all 180 concubines of his harem to become soldiers. Of course, when it was time to train the harem, none of the concubines took him seriously, so after trying to get them to follow his orders he just straight-up executed them, starting with the king's two favorites! Obviously, this horrified the king, but Sun Tzu DGAF and explained to him that it was a general's duty to carry out orders, even if the king protests afterwards! In other words, the military's authority supersedes the crown's authority, especially during wartime!
-During his time as general, Sun Tzu wrote his famous treatise "The Art of War" (AKA "Master Sun's Military Methods", "Master Sun's Military Principles", "Sunzi Bigfa", etc.).
-Of course, his authorship of The Art of War (or even Sun Tzu's very existence!) has been debated by scholars for a long time.
-It's entirely possible that this text is actually a compilation of contemporary and/or earlier works either compiled by Sun Tzu himself and/or other generals (although most scholars seem to agree that Sun Tzu did indeed exist and was at least partly involved in the creation of this text).
-"The Art of War":
-Two themes:
-War is evil, but necessary.
-Because war is a necessary evil, it must be undertaken and concluded swiftly and with as much unnecessary bloodshed as possible. This is because war is bad, but also because it isn't good from an economic perspective to prolong the fighting.
-The positioning of troops and shit is extremely important!
-The book is divided into 13 chapters-
-CHAPTER 1: "Detail Assessment and Planning"
-War is governed by five constant factors:
1. "The Moral Law" - allows for the soldiers to be in complete accord with their ruler so that they'll follow him into danger and won't be scared for their own lives.
2. "Heaven" - seasons, weather, night/day, etc.
3. "Earth" - distances, terrain.
4. "The Commander" - the virtue, wisdom, courage, benevolence, etc. of the commander.
5. "Method and Discipline"- organization of the army, supply routes, etc.
-Based on these the five constant factors, the victor can be forecast by asking the following seven questions:
1. Which of the two rulers is more imbued with "the Moral Law"?
2. Which of the two generals has the greater ability/skill?
3. Which army has the advantage of heaven and earth?
4. Which army enforces discipline most rigorously?
5. Which army is stronger (numbers, spirit, power)?
6. Which army has more highly-trained troops?
7. Which army is more predictable in terms of punishment and rewards?
-The chapter also contains axioms like "All warfare is based on deception" and other stuff.
-CHAPTER 2: Waging War
-Details the economic costs of warfare.
-Argues that the only good war is a short war because war is too costly to have it drag on and on for too long, and could actually end up bankrupting the entire state if it goes on long enough!
-When you are weakened, other states can take advantage of you.
-CHAPTER 3: Strategic Attack
-The source of strength is unity, not size.
-The highest form of warfare is to foil an enemy's plan- a truly a skilled leader defeats his enemy without actually fighting at all! The next highest is to prevent the enemy from from unifying and keeping the enemy divided. The third highest is to actually have to fight in battle. The fourth highest is having to lay siege to a city (too expensive and costly).
-Thus, the best way to win a battle is to not even fight at all.
-However, a commander can also bring about defeat as well. This can occur if the commander is ignorant of the field conditions which result in issuing orders that can't be carried out ("hobbling the army"). Another way is for the commander to attempt to govern an army as if it were a state. Even another way is to uphold certain virtues that are necessary in society but are toxic for a military unit. Finally, another way is to for the commander to be ignorant of the subordinate officers' strengths.
-The poet and intellectual Du Mu (803-852 AD), when commenting on "The Art of War", wrote: "A skillful employer of men will employ a wise man, a brave man, a covetous man, and a stupid man; for the wise man delights in establishing his merit, the brave man likes to show courage in his actions, the covetous man is quick as seizing the advantage, and the stupid man has no fear of death."
-Also:
-"If you know the enemy and you know yourself, you need not fear the results of a hundred battles. However, if you know yourself but not your enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. Last, if you know neither yourself nor your enemy, you will lose every battle."
-CHAPTER 4: Position of the Army
-Victory can only be truly achieved if the possibility of defeat has been rendered impossible. This certainty can only be achieved through secrecy, because if there is total secrecy then the enemy can't know where to strike or where you may strike from.
-Also discusses the importance of troop morale.
-CHAPTER 5: Forces
-Details the principles of governing an army of any size and how to use its momentum as an advantage in combat.
-The size of an army makes no difference in terms of management as long as it has been divided into manageable units supervised by capable officers; an effective bureaucracy will help keep everything running smoothly.
-Also discussed combat- army engagements can be divided into active, passive, direct, and indirect measures in order to keep an enemy disoriented.
-Deception is key in order to keep an enemy off-balance.
-CHAPTER 6: Weakness and Strengths
-An army's opportunities come from both the environment itself and from the nature of the opposing force.
-The mark of a good soldier is that he must either fight on his own terms or not at all.
-He must emerge from nowhere, strike at vulnerable points, ignore heavily defended areas, and attack where least expected.
-Frontal attacks are to be avoided except as a last resort.
-When on the defense, force the enemy to turn around by cutting off lines of supplies and communication. If on the offense, strike at their sovereign to force the enemy back into defense.
-To avoid combat completely, do something odd or unexpected, which can confuse the enemy.
-Above all, remain unpredictable; tactics must be changed constantly and NEVER repeated (no matter how successful!).
-CHAPTER 7- Military Manouvers
-Discusses direct combat maneuvers and their inherent dangers, including the most dangerous and difficult aspects of warfare.
-With an experienced commander and disciplined troops, maneuvering is advantageous.
-Contains mixed messages about speed, however.
-Of course, moving quickly is of the utmost importance in battle, but it's not good to move TOO quickly, which can divide the troops (which is never good).
-If an enemy army is returning home, they should not be attacked or prevented from doing so because they'll become desperate and fight to the death. There is no more dangerous foe than a desperate one.
-Additionally, a surrounded foe should have a clearly visible escape route, but NOT be allowed to escape. The illusion of having an escape route will allow them to feel like they can flee, so when they decide to actually try and do so they can be either captured or crushed.
-CHAPTER 8- Variations of Adaptability
-An army must be extremely flexible and able to quickly respond to changing circumstances.
-Demands of civil authority must be subservient to military necessity.
-A successful commander relies on chance as little as possible.
-CHAPTER 9- Movement and Development of Troops
-Short chapter- describes the different situations in which an army will find itself. Also discusses where an army should fight, where not to fight, etc.
-The best place to camp is near water and overlooking the battlefield. The worst place to camp is in damp places with marshes and/or no grass.
-CHAPTER 10- Terrain
-Describes the six types of terrain and how to fight in them and shit:
-Accessible ground- freely traversable for both sides.
-The most important thing to do with this terrain is to occupy the high points first.
-Entangling ground- an area which can be abandoned if necessary, but is near-impossible to retake (forests, mountains, etc.).
-It's extremely important to fortify these places first (before the enemy does).
-Delaying ground- similar to entangling ground, but both armies have fortifications so it's disadvantageous for either side to attack.
-Both sides must try to bait the other into an attack, but avoid attacking themselves.
-Narrow passes- easily defended, nearly impossible to attack successfully.
-Can only be taken with subterfuge; otherwise, always avoid this kind of terrain!
-Precipitous heights- Hills, mountains, etc.
-Try to gain the upper ground first, otherwise try to draw the enemy down because it's too difficult to assault!
-Positions at a great distance from the enemy- both armies are too far from each other, so marching to meet the enemy is going to exhaust your own troops so much, so don't bother!
-CHAPTER 11- The Nine Battlegrounds
-Dispersive ground- fighting inside one's own territory.
-There is an obvious "home court advantage", but this can also be a disadvantage because it's most likely home to the troops as well so they might be predisposed to fleeing since they know the terrain and where to find safety and shit. Therefore, it's best to NOT do battle here.
-Facile ground- when you have immediately crossed into enemy territory (but not far).
-Enemy resistance will most likely be fierce and intense, and escape will generally be pretty easy.
-Sun-tzu advises that the general should burn the boats and/or bridges leading back home, reinforcing the idea for the men that it's either victory or death!
-Contentious ground- Whoever holds this ground has a big advantage.
-For example, the Greeks at the Battle of Thermopylae.
-Try to avoid this kind of battleground, if possible!
-Open ground- neutral, easy to traverse for both sides.
-Ground of intersecting highways- battlegrounds on the border of at least three intersecting states- very important to control!
-Serious ground- the heart of the enemy state.
-This is where the invading army can take time to rest, restock, plunder, and forage.
-Difficult ground- anywhere you wouldn't want to stop or camp- forests, marshes, mountains, etc. If you have to go through these places, do so as quickly as possible!
-Hemmed-in ground- where retreat would/could be extremely difficult.
-Desperate ground- if escape is impossible and you MUST fight.
-Strike as quickly as possible and be absolutely ruthless!
-CHAPTER 12- Attacking with Fire
-How to use fire as a weapon.
-CHAPTER 13- Intelligence and Espionage
-Man scholars believe that Sun-tzu could not have written this chapter because espionage hadn't developed to the extent that it is described in here while he was alive.
-Gets really into subterfuge, intelligence, and counter-intelligence.
-"An army without spies is like a man without eyes or ears."
-Additionally, it says that military intelligence can't come from divination, deductive reasoning, nor past experiences- ONLY active intelligence gleaned by trustworthy agents.
-These agents must be extremely close with the general, moreso than any other officer, and must also be liberally rewarded for their efforts.
-5 kings of intelligence:
-Local- inhabitants of an enemy district; they can be turned into spies for you through kindness.
-Inward- spies within the enemy court.
-Converted- captured enemy spies, double agents- usually the most important kind of spy.
-Doomed- opposite of converted spies; an enemy subject who has been captured, fed bad intelligence, and then (unbeknownst to the captured spy) secretly allowed to escape so that the enemy fugitive then returns to the enemy camp and gives them bad intelligence. Of course, once the enemy realizes that this is bad intelligence, the doomed spy will then be executed for his error.
-Surviving- traditional spies who go into enemy territory, gather intel, and then report back.
-One of the most important people who lived during the Spring and Autumn Period of Chinese history.
-Birth name was Sun Wu.
-Unclear where he was born, but it looks like it was c. 544 BC.
-According to "the Spring and Autumn Annals", Sun Tzu was born in the state of Qi, but "the Records of the Grand Historian" say that he was born in the state/kingdom of Wu.
-Was an adviser (genbang) to King Helu of Wu.
-According to the Records of the Grand Historian, however, Sun Tzu was a general.
-One of the stories in this narrative is that before he became a general, King Helu decided to test Sun Tzu's military leadership ability by ordering him to train all 180 concubines of his harem to become soldiers. Of course, when it was time to train the harem, none of the concubines took him seriously, so after trying to get them to follow his orders he just straight-up executed them, starting with the king's two favorites! Obviously, this horrified the king, but Sun Tzu DGAF and explained to him that it was a general's duty to carry out orders, even if the king protests afterwards! In other words, the military's authority supersedes the crown's authority, especially during wartime!
-During his time as general, Sun Tzu wrote his famous treatise "The Art of War" (AKA "Master Sun's Military Methods", "Master Sun's Military Principles", "Sunzi Bigfa", etc.).
-Of course, his authorship of The Art of War (or even Sun Tzu's very existence!) has been debated by scholars for a long time.
-It's entirely possible that this text is actually a compilation of contemporary and/or earlier works either compiled by Sun Tzu himself and/or other generals (although most scholars seem to agree that Sun Tzu did indeed exist and was at least partly involved in the creation of this text).
-"The Art of War":
-Two themes:
-War is evil, but necessary.
-Because war is a necessary evil, it must be undertaken and concluded swiftly and with as much unnecessary bloodshed as possible. This is because war is bad, but also because it isn't good from an economic perspective to prolong the fighting.
-The positioning of troops and shit is extremely important!
-The book is divided into 13 chapters-
-CHAPTER 1: "Detail Assessment and Planning"
-War is governed by five constant factors:
1. "The Moral Law" - allows for the soldiers to be in complete accord with their ruler so that they'll follow him into danger and won't be scared for their own lives.
2. "Heaven" - seasons, weather, night/day, etc.
3. "Earth" - distances, terrain.
4. "The Commander" - the virtue, wisdom, courage, benevolence, etc. of the commander.
5. "Method and Discipline"- organization of the army, supply routes, etc.
-Based on these the five constant factors, the victor can be forecast by asking the following seven questions:
1. Which of the two rulers is more imbued with "the Moral Law"?
2. Which of the two generals has the greater ability/skill?
3. Which army has the advantage of heaven and earth?
4. Which army enforces discipline most rigorously?
5. Which army is stronger (numbers, spirit, power)?
6. Which army has more highly-trained troops?
7. Which army is more predictable in terms of punishment and rewards?
-The chapter also contains axioms like "All warfare is based on deception" and other stuff.
-CHAPTER 2: Waging War
-Details the economic costs of warfare.
-Argues that the only good war is a short war because war is too costly to have it drag on and on for too long, and could actually end up bankrupting the entire state if it goes on long enough!
-When you are weakened, other states can take advantage of you.
-CHAPTER 3: Strategic Attack
-The source of strength is unity, not size.
-The highest form of warfare is to foil an enemy's plan- a truly a skilled leader defeats his enemy without actually fighting at all! The next highest is to prevent the enemy from from unifying and keeping the enemy divided. The third highest is to actually have to fight in battle. The fourth highest is having to lay siege to a city (too expensive and costly).
-Thus, the best way to win a battle is to not even fight at all.
-However, a commander can also bring about defeat as well. This can occur if the commander is ignorant of the field conditions which result in issuing orders that can't be carried out ("hobbling the army"). Another way is for the commander to attempt to govern an army as if it were a state. Even another way is to uphold certain virtues that are necessary in society but are toxic for a military unit. Finally, another way is to for the commander to be ignorant of the subordinate officers' strengths.
-The poet and intellectual Du Mu (803-852 AD), when commenting on "The Art of War", wrote: "A skillful employer of men will employ a wise man, a brave man, a covetous man, and a stupid man; for the wise man delights in establishing his merit, the brave man likes to show courage in his actions, the covetous man is quick as seizing the advantage, and the stupid man has no fear of death."
-Also:
-"If you know the enemy and you know yourself, you need not fear the results of a hundred battles. However, if you know yourself but not your enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. Last, if you know neither yourself nor your enemy, you will lose every battle."
-CHAPTER 4: Position of the Army
-Victory can only be truly achieved if the possibility of defeat has been rendered impossible. This certainty can only be achieved through secrecy, because if there is total secrecy then the enemy can't know where to strike or where you may strike from.
-Also discusses the importance of troop morale.
-CHAPTER 5: Forces
-Details the principles of governing an army of any size and how to use its momentum as an advantage in combat.
-The size of an army makes no difference in terms of management as long as it has been divided into manageable units supervised by capable officers; an effective bureaucracy will help keep everything running smoothly.
-Also discussed combat- army engagements can be divided into active, passive, direct, and indirect measures in order to keep an enemy disoriented.
-Deception is key in order to keep an enemy off-balance.
-CHAPTER 6: Weakness and Strengths
-An army's opportunities come from both the environment itself and from the nature of the opposing force.
-The mark of a good soldier is that he must either fight on his own terms or not at all.
-He must emerge from nowhere, strike at vulnerable points, ignore heavily defended areas, and attack where least expected.
-Frontal attacks are to be avoided except as a last resort.
-When on the defense, force the enemy to turn around by cutting off lines of supplies and communication. If on the offense, strike at their sovereign to force the enemy back into defense.
-To avoid combat completely, do something odd or unexpected, which can confuse the enemy.
-Above all, remain unpredictable; tactics must be changed constantly and NEVER repeated (no matter how successful!).
-CHAPTER 7- Military Manouvers
-Discusses direct combat maneuvers and their inherent dangers, including the most dangerous and difficult aspects of warfare.
-With an experienced commander and disciplined troops, maneuvering is advantageous.
-Contains mixed messages about speed, however.
-Of course, moving quickly is of the utmost importance in battle, but it's not good to move TOO quickly, which can divide the troops (which is never good).
-If an enemy army is returning home, they should not be attacked or prevented from doing so because they'll become desperate and fight to the death. There is no more dangerous foe than a desperate one.
-Additionally, a surrounded foe should have a clearly visible escape route, but NOT be allowed to escape. The illusion of having an escape route will allow them to feel like they can flee, so when they decide to actually try and do so they can be either captured or crushed.
-CHAPTER 8- Variations of Adaptability
-An army must be extremely flexible and able to quickly respond to changing circumstances.
-Demands of civil authority must be subservient to military necessity.
-A successful commander relies on chance as little as possible.
-CHAPTER 9- Movement and Development of Troops
-Short chapter- describes the different situations in which an army will find itself. Also discusses where an army should fight, where not to fight, etc.
-The best place to camp is near water and overlooking the battlefield. The worst place to camp is in damp places with marshes and/or no grass.
-CHAPTER 10- Terrain
-Describes the six types of terrain and how to fight in them and shit:
-Accessible ground- freely traversable for both sides.
-The most important thing to do with this terrain is to occupy the high points first.
-Entangling ground- an area which can be abandoned if necessary, but is near-impossible to retake (forests, mountains, etc.).
-It's extremely important to fortify these places first (before the enemy does).
-Delaying ground- similar to entangling ground, but both armies have fortifications so it's disadvantageous for either side to attack.
-Both sides must try to bait the other into an attack, but avoid attacking themselves.
-Narrow passes- easily defended, nearly impossible to attack successfully.
-Can only be taken with subterfuge; otherwise, always avoid this kind of terrain!
-Precipitous heights- Hills, mountains, etc.
-Try to gain the upper ground first, otherwise try to draw the enemy down because it's too difficult to assault!
-Positions at a great distance from the enemy- both armies are too far from each other, so marching to meet the enemy is going to exhaust your own troops so much, so don't bother!
-CHAPTER 11- The Nine Battlegrounds
-Dispersive ground- fighting inside one's own territory.
-There is an obvious "home court advantage", but this can also be a disadvantage because it's most likely home to the troops as well so they might be predisposed to fleeing since they know the terrain and where to find safety and shit. Therefore, it's best to NOT do battle here.
-Facile ground- when you have immediately crossed into enemy territory (but not far).
-Enemy resistance will most likely be fierce and intense, and escape will generally be pretty easy.
-Sun-tzu advises that the general should burn the boats and/or bridges leading back home, reinforcing the idea for the men that it's either victory or death!
-Contentious ground- Whoever holds this ground has a big advantage.
-For example, the Greeks at the Battle of Thermopylae.
-Try to avoid this kind of battleground, if possible!
-Open ground- neutral, easy to traverse for both sides.
-Ground of intersecting highways- battlegrounds on the border of at least three intersecting states- very important to control!
-Serious ground- the heart of the enemy state.
-This is where the invading army can take time to rest, restock, plunder, and forage.
-Difficult ground- anywhere you wouldn't want to stop or camp- forests, marshes, mountains, etc. If you have to go through these places, do so as quickly as possible!
-Hemmed-in ground- where retreat would/could be extremely difficult.
-Desperate ground- if escape is impossible and you MUST fight.
-Strike as quickly as possible and be absolutely ruthless!
-CHAPTER 12- Attacking with Fire
-How to use fire as a weapon.
-CHAPTER 13- Intelligence and Espionage
-Man scholars believe that Sun-tzu could not have written this chapter because espionage hadn't developed to the extent that it is described in here while he was alive.
-Gets really into subterfuge, intelligence, and counter-intelligence.
-"An army without spies is like a man without eyes or ears."
-Additionally, it says that military intelligence can't come from divination, deductive reasoning, nor past experiences- ONLY active intelligence gleaned by trustworthy agents.
-These agents must be extremely close with the general, moreso than any other officer, and must also be liberally rewarded for their efforts.
-5 kings of intelligence:
-Local- inhabitants of an enemy district; they can be turned into spies for you through kindness.
-Inward- spies within the enemy court.
-Converted- captured enemy spies, double agents- usually the most important kind of spy.
-Doomed- opposite of converted spies; an enemy subject who has been captured, fed bad intelligence, and then (unbeknownst to the captured spy) secretly allowed to escape so that the enemy fugitive then returns to the enemy camp and gives them bad intelligence. Of course, once the enemy realizes that this is bad intelligence, the doomed spy will then be executed for his error.
-Surviving- traditional spies who go into enemy territory, gather intel, and then report back.
Sunday, November 12, 2017
Eastern Zhou - Part III - Confucius Says...
-Confucius (has a bunch of alternate names, but this name comes from his title "Kong Fuzi" ("Grand Master Kong"), although in modern China they refer to him as "Kongzi" ("Master Kong"). However, his real name was probably Kong Qiu) is one of the most important influential philosophers in world history, and he lived during the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history.
-Born in 551 BC in the state of Lu (near modern-day Qufu, Shandong Province).
-Family is said to have moved to Lu from the state of Song, and according to legend he was a descendant of the dukes of Song.
-Family was of the shi social class (entry-level nobility, similar to the equites of Ancient Rome).
-Father was a soldier in the Lu army.
-Died when Confucius was a young child.
-So, despite their shi status, Confucius was raised in poverty by his single mother.
-Worked a variety of jobs to support his family, including being a shepherd, clerk, bookkeeper, etc. His dream, however, was to be a government official.
-In his late teens he married a chick named Qi Guan; they had a song named Kong Li.
-Confucius' mother died when he was 23.
-As Confucius grew older, he slowly moved up the ranks of power in society, and by the time he was 50 he had become a well-known teacher and philosopher. It was during this time that he was selected to be the governor of a small town in Lu.
-During this time Lu was controlled by a duke, but actually the real power lay in the hands of three aristocratic families ("The Three Huan" ("San Huan")) who were descendants of a former duke of Lu (Duke Huan): The Ji, Meng, and Shu clans.
-c. 500 BC- the governor of the city of Hou rebelled against his lords (the Shu clan) and declared the city independent of Lu. The city was well-fortified, so the Lu forces couldn't get the city to surrender.
-Of course, eventually the rebellious city fell, but these rebellions were actually a constant problem and it was obvious that the cities were all too well-fortified, which always made the rebellions a huge pain in the ass to put down.
-Intellectuals (like Confucius) and others realized that these fortifications had to go, and Confucius worked hard to convince town administrators to dismantle their fortifications (in addition to convincing some towns to destroy other towns' fortifications as well!). His REAL objective, of course, was to restore power to the duke!
-However, eventually Viscount Ji Huan of Lu caught onto what Confucius was trying to do, and so he (Confucius) was forced to flee the state in 497 BC, having failed to unite the state under the duke.
-During his exile, Confucius traveled to a wide variety of states, including Wei, Song, Zheng, Cao, Chu, Qi, Chen, and Cai. At these various states he would try to teach the rulers about his political philosophies, but at the same time these were met with a lukewarm response.
-Confucius was only able to return to his home state of Lu c. 483 BC (after the death of Viscount Ji Huan). However, at this point Confucius had amassed a following of disciples eager to champion his philosophy and teach others about it.
-Before he died, Confucius compiled his teachings and wisdom into a set of five texts which would become known as "The Five Classics" ("Wu Jing"):
-"The Classic of Poetry" (AKA "Book of Songs" / "Book of Odes") ("Shijing" / "Shih-Ching")
-"The Book of Documents" (AKA "The Classic of History") ("Shujing" / Shangsu")
-"The Book of Rites" (AKA "The Record of Rites") ("Liji")
-"The Book of Changes" (AKA "The Classic of Changes") ("I Ching" / "Yijing")
-"The Spring and Autumn Annals" ("Chunqiu")
-Confucius finally croaked in 472 BC.
-Confucius' legacy? Confucianism! (AKA Ruism ("Rujia")).
-Is Confucianism a religion?
-No, not really. There's nothing spiritual or supernatural about it. It's a sociopolitical system of ethics. Everything mystical or quasi-religious about it was added later (starting c. 2nd century BC).
-Jesuit missionaries who came to China in the 16th and 17th centuries saw it as a system of secular ethics.
-However, the Franciscan and Dominican missionaries saw it as pagan idolatry due to its rules of "ancestor worship", and Chinese Catholics were banned from performing these rites in 1704 (this would last until 1939!).
-It did sometimes incorporate local folk religion stuff (especially as it spread and evolved), but it was inherently secular and non-theistic.
-Confucian ethics were characterized by "The Five Constants" ("Wu Chang"):
1. Benevolence / Humaneness ("Ren")
2. Righteousness / Justice ("Yi")
3. Proper Rites / Etiquette ("Li")
-Involved a bunch of rules regarding ceremonies and rituals and the like, but also addressed customs, interactions, routines, etc.
-The idea was to shape all actions in a way that was ethical and moralistic in order to improve the overall health of society.
4. Knowledge ("Zhi")
5. Integrity ("Xin")
-Both Ren and Yi form the basic pillars/foundations of Confucianism.
-Confucian ethics were also characterized by "The Four Virtues" ("Sizi"), which were noted to be far from exhaustive and also overlap with the Five Constants, especially in regards to Yi:
1. Loyalty ("Zhong")
-Very important in Confucianism because it involved a guide for scholarly students to be successful. For example, a superior should always be obeyed, but this mutual respect MUST be reciprocal. A superior can't be an asshole! Also, a superior can even be reprimanded if he doesn't fulfill his part of this relationship!
2. Filial Piety ("Xiao")
-Involves loyalty and respect to one's own family. Follows a similar model as the Confucian concept of Zhong. A healthy society is mainted via healthy relationships between people, NOT from a strong, tyrannical government! However, this does NOT endorse anarchy. Instead, it's a mandate to show respect to the societal order and hierarchy.
-Also includes the concept of "The Five Bonds":
-Ruler over ruled; father over son; husband over wife; elder brother over younger brother; friend equal to friend (guaranteeing mutual respect and equality, regardless of age).
-This also includes the deceased- hence the necessity of "ancestor worship".
3. Contingency ("Jie")
4. Righteousness ("Yi")
-It could also be argued that Confucius popularized the concept of the Golden Rule ("What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others", among other axioms) in this region.
-Confucianism also advocates for a meritocracy, NOT a patrilineal caste system.
-Those who are in a position of power over others MUST be the paragons of virtue and intelligence!
-The ideal man is described as junzi ("gentleman"), which is basically someone who follows all of the tenants of Confucianism perfectly.
-The opposite of a junzi is a xiaoren ("small/petty person", see Donald Trump).
-One of the key components of Confucianism is that you don't have to be a noble to be a junzi, it's a lifestyle that is open to anyone.
-If the son of a farmer is a junzi and a government minister's son is a xiaoren, then obviously it is the farmer's son who should be promoted to a position of authority.
-"The nobility of blood" should be replaced with "the nobility of virtue".
-From this idea of a meritocracy would come the creation of the imperial examination system beginning in the Han dynasty.
-The imperial examinations allowed for ANYONE to become a government official just as long as they passed.
-Surprisingly, Europe would only follow suit a mere 2,700 years later during the Enlightenment...
-Speaking of Europe, an interesting side note: Confucius' works were actually translated into various European languages by Jesuits, and are believed to have been influential to various philosophical groups and thinkers, including deists, Gottfried Leibniz, and even Voltaire!
-As far as governance goes, Confucius believed that government should keep to itself for the most part. Proper governance, along with proper morality and virtue, would allow for natural morality and order to flow from the top of society to the bottom, ultimately guaranteeing a "healthy" society.
-A ruler should act as the calm center and allow for everyone to do their shit on their own, only interfering if they can't (or won't) do their jobs properly. Therefore, the less a ruler does, the more shit gets done.
-Confucianism would later on come into direct conflict with other philosophies which would become popular during or soon after this time (such as Legalism).
-Confucius wouldn't live long enough to see his philosophy truly blossom and spread (which would happen about 300 years later!). Too bad!
-Born in 551 BC in the state of Lu (near modern-day Qufu, Shandong Province).
-Family is said to have moved to Lu from the state of Song, and according to legend he was a descendant of the dukes of Song.
-Family was of the shi social class (entry-level nobility, similar to the equites of Ancient Rome).
-Father was a soldier in the Lu army.
-Died when Confucius was a young child.
-So, despite their shi status, Confucius was raised in poverty by his single mother.
-Worked a variety of jobs to support his family, including being a shepherd, clerk, bookkeeper, etc. His dream, however, was to be a government official.
-In his late teens he married a chick named Qi Guan; they had a song named Kong Li.
-Confucius' mother died when he was 23.
-As Confucius grew older, he slowly moved up the ranks of power in society, and by the time he was 50 he had become a well-known teacher and philosopher. It was during this time that he was selected to be the governor of a small town in Lu.
-During this time Lu was controlled by a duke, but actually the real power lay in the hands of three aristocratic families ("The Three Huan" ("San Huan")) who were descendants of a former duke of Lu (Duke Huan): The Ji, Meng, and Shu clans.
-c. 500 BC- the governor of the city of Hou rebelled against his lords (the Shu clan) and declared the city independent of Lu. The city was well-fortified, so the Lu forces couldn't get the city to surrender.
-Of course, eventually the rebellious city fell, but these rebellions were actually a constant problem and it was obvious that the cities were all too well-fortified, which always made the rebellions a huge pain in the ass to put down.
-Intellectuals (like Confucius) and others realized that these fortifications had to go, and Confucius worked hard to convince town administrators to dismantle their fortifications (in addition to convincing some towns to destroy other towns' fortifications as well!). His REAL objective, of course, was to restore power to the duke!
-However, eventually Viscount Ji Huan of Lu caught onto what Confucius was trying to do, and so he (Confucius) was forced to flee the state in 497 BC, having failed to unite the state under the duke.
-During his exile, Confucius traveled to a wide variety of states, including Wei, Song, Zheng, Cao, Chu, Qi, Chen, and Cai. At these various states he would try to teach the rulers about his political philosophies, but at the same time these were met with a lukewarm response.
-Confucius was only able to return to his home state of Lu c. 483 BC (after the death of Viscount Ji Huan). However, at this point Confucius had amassed a following of disciples eager to champion his philosophy and teach others about it.
-Before he died, Confucius compiled his teachings and wisdom into a set of five texts which would become known as "The Five Classics" ("Wu Jing"):
-"The Classic of Poetry" (AKA "Book of Songs" / "Book of Odes") ("Shijing" / "Shih-Ching")
-"The Book of Documents" (AKA "The Classic of History") ("Shujing" / Shangsu")
-"The Book of Rites" (AKA "The Record of Rites") ("Liji")
-"The Book of Changes" (AKA "The Classic of Changes") ("I Ching" / "Yijing")
-"The Spring and Autumn Annals" ("Chunqiu")
-Confucius finally croaked in 472 BC.
-Confucius' legacy? Confucianism! (AKA Ruism ("Rujia")).
-Is Confucianism a religion?
-No, not really. There's nothing spiritual or supernatural about it. It's a sociopolitical system of ethics. Everything mystical or quasi-religious about it was added later (starting c. 2nd century BC).
-Jesuit missionaries who came to China in the 16th and 17th centuries saw it as a system of secular ethics.
-However, the Franciscan and Dominican missionaries saw it as pagan idolatry due to its rules of "ancestor worship", and Chinese Catholics were banned from performing these rites in 1704 (this would last until 1939!).
-It did sometimes incorporate local folk religion stuff (especially as it spread and evolved), but it was inherently secular and non-theistic.
-Confucian ethics were characterized by "The Five Constants" ("Wu Chang"):
1. Benevolence / Humaneness ("Ren")
2. Righteousness / Justice ("Yi")
3. Proper Rites / Etiquette ("Li")
-Involved a bunch of rules regarding ceremonies and rituals and the like, but also addressed customs, interactions, routines, etc.
-The idea was to shape all actions in a way that was ethical and moralistic in order to improve the overall health of society.
4. Knowledge ("Zhi")
5. Integrity ("Xin")
-Both Ren and Yi form the basic pillars/foundations of Confucianism.
-Confucian ethics were also characterized by "The Four Virtues" ("Sizi"), which were noted to be far from exhaustive and also overlap with the Five Constants, especially in regards to Yi:
1. Loyalty ("Zhong")
-Very important in Confucianism because it involved a guide for scholarly students to be successful. For example, a superior should always be obeyed, but this mutual respect MUST be reciprocal. A superior can't be an asshole! Also, a superior can even be reprimanded if he doesn't fulfill his part of this relationship!
2. Filial Piety ("Xiao")
-Involves loyalty and respect to one's own family. Follows a similar model as the Confucian concept of Zhong. A healthy society is mainted via healthy relationships between people, NOT from a strong, tyrannical government! However, this does NOT endorse anarchy. Instead, it's a mandate to show respect to the societal order and hierarchy.
-Also includes the concept of "The Five Bonds":
-Ruler over ruled; father over son; husband over wife; elder brother over younger brother; friend equal to friend (guaranteeing mutual respect and equality, regardless of age).
-This also includes the deceased- hence the necessity of "ancestor worship".
3. Contingency ("Jie")
4. Righteousness ("Yi")
-It could also be argued that Confucius popularized the concept of the Golden Rule ("What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others", among other axioms) in this region.
-Confucianism also advocates for a meritocracy, NOT a patrilineal caste system.
-Those who are in a position of power over others MUST be the paragons of virtue and intelligence!
-The ideal man is described as junzi ("gentleman"), which is basically someone who follows all of the tenants of Confucianism perfectly.
-The opposite of a junzi is a xiaoren ("small/petty person", see Donald Trump).
-One of the key components of Confucianism is that you don't have to be a noble to be a junzi, it's a lifestyle that is open to anyone.
-If the son of a farmer is a junzi and a government minister's son is a xiaoren, then obviously it is the farmer's son who should be promoted to a position of authority.
-"The nobility of blood" should be replaced with "the nobility of virtue".
-From this idea of a meritocracy would come the creation of the imperial examination system beginning in the Han dynasty.
-The imperial examinations allowed for ANYONE to become a government official just as long as they passed.
-Surprisingly, Europe would only follow suit a mere 2,700 years later during the Enlightenment...
-Speaking of Europe, an interesting side note: Confucius' works were actually translated into various European languages by Jesuits, and are believed to have been influential to various philosophical groups and thinkers, including deists, Gottfried Leibniz, and even Voltaire!
-As far as governance goes, Confucius believed that government should keep to itself for the most part. Proper governance, along with proper morality and virtue, would allow for natural morality and order to flow from the top of society to the bottom, ultimately guaranteeing a "healthy" society.
-A ruler should act as the calm center and allow for everyone to do their shit on their own, only interfering if they can't (or won't) do their jobs properly. Therefore, the less a ruler does, the more shit gets done.
-Confucianism would later on come into direct conflict with other philosophies which would become popular during or soon after this time (such as Legalism).
-Confucius wouldn't live long enough to see his philosophy truly blossom and spread (which would happen about 300 years later!). Too bad!
Sunday, October 29, 2017
Eastern Zhou - Part II - The Widening Gyre
-The Hegemon of the Eastern Zhou dynasty, Duke Huan of Qi, was dead, so his five sons immediately began vying for power.
-This period of the Spring and Autumn Period of the Eastern Zhou dynasty is also known as "the Age of Encroachments" (643-546 BC).
-Marked by the further breakdown of the empire and the increasing power of its vassal states.
-Meanwhile, while the state of Chu was still kicking ass in the south, the state of Jin was on the rise in the northwest.
-The ruler of Jin during this time was Duke Xian, and he was able to expand the state's power and dominance by successfully conquering other smaller states as well as the lands of neighboring barbarian tribes.
-Duke Xian also consolidated power by executing many of his family members so that no one else in his family would try to usurp him. This also it would be almost guaranteed that only his own blood would be heirs to his position.
-This period is known as the "Li Ji Unrest" (657-651 BC).
-It was recorded that Duke Xian's concubine, Li Ji, wanted her son, Xiqi, to be heir, so she framed the crown prince Shengsheng by making it look like he had tried to poison his father, the duke. However, Shengsheng actually knew the truth about Li Ji, but he said that he didn't want to break his father's heart by telling him the truth (I guess Duke Xian must have really loved Li Ji), so he just decided to kill himself because he knew that if he tried to escape, it would make it seem like he was guilty.
-Li Ji then accused the duke's other sons, Chong'er (later will be Duke Wen of Jin) and Yiwu (later will be Duke Hui of Jin) of treason, so they fled elsewhere.
-Duke Xian died c. 651 BC, Xiqi took over the position as Duke of Jin.
-Xiqi, however, was still a teenager, so before he died Duke Xian entrusted the state to be run by Chancellor Xun Xi (he was a military officer before this).
-Unfortunately for Xiqi, he was assassinated by the General Li Ke, so Xun Xi replaced Xiqi with his baby brother Zhuozi.
-General Li Ke responded to this by having Duke Zhuozi AND Lady Li Ji (Zhuozi's aunt) assassinated; Chancellor Xun Xi then killed himself and Shao Ji (Zhuozi's mom and Li Ji's younger sister) was imprisoned.
-General Li Ke then invited Chong'er (who had been hiding out in the state of Qi) back to Jin to be the next duke.
-Of course, Chong'er didn't want to get involved in all of that drama, so he declined. Because of this, Li Ke invited Yiwu (who had been hiding in the state of Liang) to be the next duke, but unlike Chong'er, Yiwu accepted!
-So, Yiwu became Duke Hui of the state of Jin. Surprisingly, once Duke Hui consolidated power, he thanked General Li Ke by forcing him to commit suicide!
-Duke Hui soon faced some pretty serious challenges early on.
-There was a famine in the state of Qin, so they asked Duke Hui for help.
-Duke Hui rejected their plea for aid, which, of course, pissed off Qin so they invaded!
-During one of the battles Duke Hui was actually captured, but miraculously was able to avoid execution and was eventually returned home.
-Duke Hui died in 637 BC, replaced by his son, Duke Huai.
-When he was younger he had been sent to the state of Qin as a hostage (for whatever reason) and during that time he had married Huai Yang, the daughter of the Duke of Qin. Thus, it seems as if the powers of both Qin and Jin were combined, so they must have been quite powerful together.
-However, Mu, the duke of Qin, was pissed off that Duke Huai (formerly known as Prince Yu) had left Qin to become the duke of Jin, so he (Duke Mu) declared support for Chong'er to be duke instead of Duke Huai.
-Because of this, Duke Mu married five of his daughters (including Huai Yang!) to Chong'er, and so Chong'er came out of hiding (after 19 years!) and was able to usurp the throne (with the help of the state of Qin as well as two Jin generals), kill his brother (Duke Huai) and become duke himself.
-So, in 636 BC Chong'er became Duke Wen of Jin.
-Duke Wen immediately began introducing military and civil reforms and swallowing up neighboring states via conquest and diplomacy- it looks like some were directly annexed while others were made vassal states of Jin.
-Duke Wen even used his power to help reinstall the usurped Zhou dynasty King Xiang to the throne. We last left off in the chronologically of the Zhou kings with King Huan, so just to catch up:
-King Huan died in 697 BC, replaced by his son, King Zhuang.
-King Zhuang ruled until 682 BC, replaced by his son, King Xi.
-King Xi ruled until 677 BC, replaced by his son, King Hui.
-King Hui ruled until 652 BC, replaced by his son, King Xiang.
-King Xiang was usurped from his throne by his brother, Dai, but he was reinstalled by Duke Wen (see above).
-Anyway, so as Duke Wen was expanding Jin's power, the kingdom of Chu in the south began to challenge their influence via political alliances and betrayals before finally spilling over into battle between the two kingdoms themselves (as opposed to proxies) in 633 BC.
-This started because the the contemporary ruler of Chu, King Cheng, invaded the state of Song, which was allied with Jin.
-Duke Wen raised an army which included his own forces along with troops from the states of Qin, Qi, and, of course, Song to repel Chu. This huge force was necessary because Chu was allied with forces from the states of Chen, Cai, Shen, Xi, Wey, and Lu.
-Both allied forces finally clashed at the Battle of Chengpu in 632 BC. This was one of the biggest battles during the Spring and Autumn Period.
-The forces of Jin proved victorious, and because of this Duke Wen was confirmed as the next hegemon of the Zhou dynasty after pledging his state's loyalty to the throne.
-Of course, peace wouldn't last long, as Duke Wen died in 628 BC.
-Battles were constant between the petty states which were allied to the bigger states (Qin, Jin, Ju, etc.), as well as invasions back and forth between these bigger states/kingdoms. This would go on for like 50 years!
-Shit seemed to reach a crescendo when the armies of Chu finally crushed the armies of Jin at the Battle of Bi (near modern-day Xingyang, Henan Province) in 597 BC.
-This caused Jin to realize that unless they changed things up fast, they faced being conquered by Chu. So, they were able to persuade the state of Wu to start attacking Chu, which distracted the latter from attacking and conquering Jin.
-By 580 BC, Jin had secured an alliance with the power states of Qin and Qi in opposition to Chu.
-However, by 579 BC the state of Song had finally had enough and called these four major states/kingdoms together to agree to a ceasefire, which initially everyone agreed to but obviously didn't last long, and by 575 BC Jin and Chu were fighting again.
-Of course, this time Chu was overpowered by the allied forces.
-Anyway, by the 600-580s it was incredibly obvious that the Hegemon System had completely failed to keep everyone united after Duke Wen died. Also, people stopped giving less and less of a shit about the king.
-Also, during this time the cultures of the different states and kingdoms and "barbarians" were all mixing together. Other states (such as Wu) began declaring themselves sovereign kingdoms as well.
-561 BC- Wu began increasing in power, and around this time declared itself a sovereign kingdom as well (like Chu), with King Shoumeng as their first king.
-By c. 514 BC, Wu was doing very well under their new ruler, King Helu. However, it seems like the he was greatly aided in no small part by the genius generals Wu Zixu (AKA Wu Yun) and Sun Tzu (AKA Sun Zi, Sunzi, and others).
-Both of these dudes are really interesting, but Sun Tzu is the more well-known of the two of coruse since he wrote a little military treatise called "The Art of War". :D
-With both of these generals, King Helu absolutely crushed the state of Chu at the Battle of Boju (modern-day Macheng, Hubei Province).
-The state of Wu then conducted a full-on assault on Chu (along with help from the states of Cai and Tang). As a response, Chu tried desperately to enlist the help of the state of Qin in coming to Chu's defense. It actually worked too!
-By 505 BC, the state of Wu was repelled by the combined forces of Chu and Qin. It also didn't help that while King Helu had been gone from Wu, his son (also a general) Fulai, had returned back to Wu and declared himself king! So, the forces of Wu had to issue a full-scale retreat back home to quell the rebellion.
-Wu still had gained a lot of territory during this time, and Wu was now the most powerful kingdom of the region.
-Unfortunately, Wu's glory would not last long.
-Chu would make up for their humiliating military defeats by helping the upstart state of Yue (south of Wu) wage war against Wu, and Yue would actually conquer Wu in 473 BC!
-Of course, Chu would eventually conquer Yue about a century later...
-This period of the Spring and Autumn Period of the Eastern Zhou dynasty is also known as "the Age of Encroachments" (643-546 BC).
-Marked by the further breakdown of the empire and the increasing power of its vassal states.
-Meanwhile, while the state of Chu was still kicking ass in the south, the state of Jin was on the rise in the northwest.
-The ruler of Jin during this time was Duke Xian, and he was able to expand the state's power and dominance by successfully conquering other smaller states as well as the lands of neighboring barbarian tribes.
-Duke Xian also consolidated power by executing many of his family members so that no one else in his family would try to usurp him. This also it would be almost guaranteed that only his own blood would be heirs to his position.
-This period is known as the "Li Ji Unrest" (657-651 BC).
-It was recorded that Duke Xian's concubine, Li Ji, wanted her son, Xiqi, to be heir, so she framed the crown prince Shengsheng by making it look like he had tried to poison his father, the duke. However, Shengsheng actually knew the truth about Li Ji, but he said that he didn't want to break his father's heart by telling him the truth (I guess Duke Xian must have really loved Li Ji), so he just decided to kill himself because he knew that if he tried to escape, it would make it seem like he was guilty.
-Li Ji then accused the duke's other sons, Chong'er (later will be Duke Wen of Jin) and Yiwu (later will be Duke Hui of Jin) of treason, so they fled elsewhere.
-Duke Xian died c. 651 BC, Xiqi took over the position as Duke of Jin.
-Xiqi, however, was still a teenager, so before he died Duke Xian entrusted the state to be run by Chancellor Xun Xi (he was a military officer before this).
-Unfortunately for Xiqi, he was assassinated by the General Li Ke, so Xun Xi replaced Xiqi with his baby brother Zhuozi.
-General Li Ke responded to this by having Duke Zhuozi AND Lady Li Ji (Zhuozi's aunt) assassinated; Chancellor Xun Xi then killed himself and Shao Ji (Zhuozi's mom and Li Ji's younger sister) was imprisoned.
-General Li Ke then invited Chong'er (who had been hiding out in the state of Qi) back to Jin to be the next duke.
-Of course, Chong'er didn't want to get involved in all of that drama, so he declined. Because of this, Li Ke invited Yiwu (who had been hiding in the state of Liang) to be the next duke, but unlike Chong'er, Yiwu accepted!
-So, Yiwu became Duke Hui of the state of Jin. Surprisingly, once Duke Hui consolidated power, he thanked General Li Ke by forcing him to commit suicide!
-Duke Hui soon faced some pretty serious challenges early on.
-There was a famine in the state of Qin, so they asked Duke Hui for help.
-Duke Hui rejected their plea for aid, which, of course, pissed off Qin so they invaded!
-During one of the battles Duke Hui was actually captured, but miraculously was able to avoid execution and was eventually returned home.
-Duke Hui died in 637 BC, replaced by his son, Duke Huai.
-When he was younger he had been sent to the state of Qin as a hostage (for whatever reason) and during that time he had married Huai Yang, the daughter of the Duke of Qin. Thus, it seems as if the powers of both Qin and Jin were combined, so they must have been quite powerful together.
-However, Mu, the duke of Qin, was pissed off that Duke Huai (formerly known as Prince Yu) had left Qin to become the duke of Jin, so he (Duke Mu) declared support for Chong'er to be duke instead of Duke Huai.
-Because of this, Duke Mu married five of his daughters (including Huai Yang!) to Chong'er, and so Chong'er came out of hiding (after 19 years!) and was able to usurp the throne (with the help of the state of Qin as well as two Jin generals), kill his brother (Duke Huai) and become duke himself.
-So, in 636 BC Chong'er became Duke Wen of Jin.
-Duke Wen immediately began introducing military and civil reforms and swallowing up neighboring states via conquest and diplomacy- it looks like some were directly annexed while others were made vassal states of Jin.
-Duke Wen even used his power to help reinstall the usurped Zhou dynasty King Xiang to the throne. We last left off in the chronologically of the Zhou kings with King Huan, so just to catch up:
-King Huan died in 697 BC, replaced by his son, King Zhuang.
-King Zhuang ruled until 682 BC, replaced by his son, King Xi.
-King Xi ruled until 677 BC, replaced by his son, King Hui.
-King Hui ruled until 652 BC, replaced by his son, King Xiang.
-King Xiang was usurped from his throne by his brother, Dai, but he was reinstalled by Duke Wen (see above).
-Anyway, so as Duke Wen was expanding Jin's power, the kingdom of Chu in the south began to challenge their influence via political alliances and betrayals before finally spilling over into battle between the two kingdoms themselves (as opposed to proxies) in 633 BC.
-This started because the the contemporary ruler of Chu, King Cheng, invaded the state of Song, which was allied with Jin.
-Duke Wen raised an army which included his own forces along with troops from the states of Qin, Qi, and, of course, Song to repel Chu. This huge force was necessary because Chu was allied with forces from the states of Chen, Cai, Shen, Xi, Wey, and Lu.
-Both allied forces finally clashed at the Battle of Chengpu in 632 BC. This was one of the biggest battles during the Spring and Autumn Period.
-The forces of Jin proved victorious, and because of this Duke Wen was confirmed as the next hegemon of the Zhou dynasty after pledging his state's loyalty to the throne.
-Of course, peace wouldn't last long, as Duke Wen died in 628 BC.
-Battles were constant between the petty states which were allied to the bigger states (Qin, Jin, Ju, etc.), as well as invasions back and forth between these bigger states/kingdoms. This would go on for like 50 years!
-Shit seemed to reach a crescendo when the armies of Chu finally crushed the armies of Jin at the Battle of Bi (near modern-day Xingyang, Henan Province) in 597 BC.
-This caused Jin to realize that unless they changed things up fast, they faced being conquered by Chu. So, they were able to persuade the state of Wu to start attacking Chu, which distracted the latter from attacking and conquering Jin.
-By 580 BC, Jin had secured an alliance with the power states of Qin and Qi in opposition to Chu.
-However, by 579 BC the state of Song had finally had enough and called these four major states/kingdoms together to agree to a ceasefire, which initially everyone agreed to but obviously didn't last long, and by 575 BC Jin and Chu were fighting again.
-Of course, this time Chu was overpowered by the allied forces.
-Anyway, by the 600-580s it was incredibly obvious that the Hegemon System had completely failed to keep everyone united after Duke Wen died. Also, people stopped giving less and less of a shit about the king.
-Also, during this time the cultures of the different states and kingdoms and "barbarians" were all mixing together. Other states (such as Wu) began declaring themselves sovereign kingdoms as well.
-561 BC- Wu began increasing in power, and around this time declared itself a sovereign kingdom as well (like Chu), with King Shoumeng as their first king.
-By c. 514 BC, Wu was doing very well under their new ruler, King Helu. However, it seems like the he was greatly aided in no small part by the genius generals Wu Zixu (AKA Wu Yun) and Sun Tzu (AKA Sun Zi, Sunzi, and others).
-Both of these dudes are really interesting, but Sun Tzu is the more well-known of the two of coruse since he wrote a little military treatise called "The Art of War". :D
-With both of these generals, King Helu absolutely crushed the state of Chu at the Battle of Boju (modern-day Macheng, Hubei Province).
-The state of Wu then conducted a full-on assault on Chu (along with help from the states of Cai and Tang). As a response, Chu tried desperately to enlist the help of the state of Qin in coming to Chu's defense. It actually worked too!
-By 505 BC, the state of Wu was repelled by the combined forces of Chu and Qin. It also didn't help that while King Helu had been gone from Wu, his son (also a general) Fulai, had returned back to Wu and declared himself king! So, the forces of Wu had to issue a full-scale retreat back home to quell the rebellion.
-Wu still had gained a lot of territory during this time, and Wu was now the most powerful kingdom of the region.
-Unfortunately, Wu's glory would not last long.
-Chu would make up for their humiliating military defeats by helping the upstart state of Yue (south of Wu) wage war against Wu, and Yue would actually conquer Wu in 473 BC!
-Of course, Chu would eventually conquer Yue about a century later...
Monday, October 23, 2017
Eastern Zhou - Part I - The Shattered Empire
-This era is known as "the Spring and Autumn Period".
-A lot of the info we know about this period comes from the ancient Chinese chronicle "The Spring and Autumn Annals" ("Chunqiu").
-This was the official chronicle of the state of Lu (vassal state of the Zhou dynasty), allegedly compiled by the great Chinese philosopher Confucius (AKA Kongzi) c. 5th century BC.
-Covers c. 722-481 BC.
-The first king of "Eastern Zhou" (as opposed to Western Zhou, although it was all still technically the same "Zhou dynasty") was King Ping (son of King You), who had kindly been allowed to live by the rebel vassal lords who had taken out his dad.
-At this point, though, it was obvious that the throne had no real power, and the kingdom had actually shattered into over 100 different vassal states vying for dominance with no centralized power to keep them in check.
-Of course, some states were bigger than others, and by the end of this period the number of states would be reduced significantly.
-The most powerful of these states were:
-Jin (north)
-Chu (south)
-Qin (west)
-King Ping moved the capital to Luoyang (Henan Province) and ruled for about 50 years before croaking c. 720 BC. Replaced by his grandson, King Huan.
-Like his grandfather, King Huan would have problems with the state of Zheng (center of the kingdom) and especially with its ruler, Duke Zhuang (birth name Ji Wusheng ("Difficult Birth" haha).
-Duke Zhuang was born most likely upside-down (bottom first), so it was extremely painful for his mother, who ended up hating him and preferring her second son, Gongshu, over him. She even went so far as to get Gongshu (who was the lord of the city of Duan) to raise an army and rebel against his older brother.
-Gongshu did this, but when he attacked the capital (Xinheng), he fell into a trap. Duke Zhuang had put his main army outside of the city, so during Gongshu's siege Duke Zhuang was able to surround them!
-Thus, Gongshu took his own life, and Duke Zhuang had his mother imprisoned!
-Later, as Zheng grew in power, King Huan decided to have Duke Zhuang removed from his office as adviser to the king, which resulted in a deterioration of relations between the throne and Zheng.
-Thus, in 707 BC King Huan raised an army and marched to Zheng to punish the duke for his insolence, but his army obviously wasn't strong enough and so unsurprisingly they were defeated, with the king himself being wounded in battle.
-Not only did this severely damage the prestige and reputation of the crown, but it also bankrupted the royal government as well.
-King Huan died c. 697 BC, replaced by his son, King Zhuang.
-We don't know much about this dude except that he ruled for approximately 14 years before dying c. 682 BC.
-Next up was King Zhuang's son, King Xi. At this point, the power of the Zhou dynasty was a joke, as the real power was accumulating with Duke Huan of the state of Qi (see below)!
-Also, it's worth noting that in the south, the state of Chu had been on the rise!
-For a long time it was considered to be a backwater, semi-barbaric state.
-Thus, it was large and strong, but low-ranking.
-Because it was so obvious at this point that the Zhou dynasty was so weakened, the viscount of Chu declared himself King Wu of the new KINGDOM of Chu (not state), with the capital at Danyang (modern-day Nanyang, Henan Province).
-He began to pursue a course of aggressive expansion.
-One story involves his son, Qu Xiao, who was leading an attack against the state of Luo. However, his son was defeated so he (Qu Xiao) committed suicide out of shame, and although King Wu was obviously pissed of by this he excused all of his soldiers for their incompetence (although he did amputate each of their right feet!).
-The kingdom of Chu would actually survive for another 400 years (!) before being swallowed up by the Qin dynasty.
-Because of Chu's aggressive expansion, this actually helped the Zhou dynasty continue to limp along due to its vassal states banding together for fear of Chu invasion.
-During this time, in order to keep the Zhou dynasty's vassal lords united and organized, the Zhou dynasty initiated the "hegemon" system as a way of allocating power and authority.
-Traditionally there are five, but there could have been as many as seven:
-Duke Huan of Qi
-Duke Wen of Jin
-Duke Zhuang of Chu
-Duke Mu of Qin
-Duke Xiang of Song
-King Helu of Wu
-King Goujian of Yue
-Although the first hegemon, Duke Huan was the ruler of the state of Qi, it should be noted that the real brains of the operation was Qi's chancellor, Guan Zhong (also noted for being a proto-Legalist philosopher).
-Under the guidance of Guan Zhong, Qi began expanding rapidly, swallowing up as many as 35 other states!
-King Xi died c. 677 BC, replaced by his son, King Hui.
-Because of the state of Qi's numerous victories, King Hui pronounced Duke Huan hegemon of the Zhou dynasty.
-It wasn't smooth-sailing at the end of Duke Huan's life, however, because Guan Zhong had warned him of a conspiracy among his advisers to overthrow him.
-I guess Duke Huan either didn't act fast enough or didn't take it seriously, because in 643 BC he was imprisoned in his room, where he eventually starved to death!
-Worms were found crawling outside of his room because his corpse had been decaying for so long!
-Of course, because of the power vacuum left by the duke's death, his sons began fighting each other for control of the state of Qi.
-A lot of the info we know about this period comes from the ancient Chinese chronicle "The Spring and Autumn Annals" ("Chunqiu").
-This was the official chronicle of the state of Lu (vassal state of the Zhou dynasty), allegedly compiled by the great Chinese philosopher Confucius (AKA Kongzi) c. 5th century BC.
-Covers c. 722-481 BC.
-The first king of "Eastern Zhou" (as opposed to Western Zhou, although it was all still technically the same "Zhou dynasty") was King Ping (son of King You), who had kindly been allowed to live by the rebel vassal lords who had taken out his dad.
-At this point, though, it was obvious that the throne had no real power, and the kingdom had actually shattered into over 100 different vassal states vying for dominance with no centralized power to keep them in check.
-Of course, some states were bigger than others, and by the end of this period the number of states would be reduced significantly.
-The most powerful of these states were:
-Jin (north)
-Chu (south)
-Qin (west)
-King Ping moved the capital to Luoyang (Henan Province) and ruled for about 50 years before croaking c. 720 BC. Replaced by his grandson, King Huan.
-Like his grandfather, King Huan would have problems with the state of Zheng (center of the kingdom) and especially with its ruler, Duke Zhuang (birth name Ji Wusheng ("Difficult Birth" haha).
-Duke Zhuang was born most likely upside-down (bottom first), so it was extremely painful for his mother, who ended up hating him and preferring her second son, Gongshu, over him. She even went so far as to get Gongshu (who was the lord of the city of Duan) to raise an army and rebel against his older brother.
-Gongshu did this, but when he attacked the capital (Xinheng), he fell into a trap. Duke Zhuang had put his main army outside of the city, so during Gongshu's siege Duke Zhuang was able to surround them!
-Thus, Gongshu took his own life, and Duke Zhuang had his mother imprisoned!
-Later, as Zheng grew in power, King Huan decided to have Duke Zhuang removed from his office as adviser to the king, which resulted in a deterioration of relations between the throne and Zheng.
-Thus, in 707 BC King Huan raised an army and marched to Zheng to punish the duke for his insolence, but his army obviously wasn't strong enough and so unsurprisingly they were defeated, with the king himself being wounded in battle.
-Not only did this severely damage the prestige and reputation of the crown, but it also bankrupted the royal government as well.
-King Huan died c. 697 BC, replaced by his son, King Zhuang.
-We don't know much about this dude except that he ruled for approximately 14 years before dying c. 682 BC.
-Next up was King Zhuang's son, King Xi. At this point, the power of the Zhou dynasty was a joke, as the real power was accumulating with Duke Huan of the state of Qi (see below)!
-Also, it's worth noting that in the south, the state of Chu had been on the rise!
-For a long time it was considered to be a backwater, semi-barbaric state.
-Thus, it was large and strong, but low-ranking.
-Because it was so obvious at this point that the Zhou dynasty was so weakened, the viscount of Chu declared himself King Wu of the new KINGDOM of Chu (not state), with the capital at Danyang (modern-day Nanyang, Henan Province).
-He began to pursue a course of aggressive expansion.
-One story involves his son, Qu Xiao, who was leading an attack against the state of Luo. However, his son was defeated so he (Qu Xiao) committed suicide out of shame, and although King Wu was obviously pissed of by this he excused all of his soldiers for their incompetence (although he did amputate each of their right feet!).
-The kingdom of Chu would actually survive for another 400 years (!) before being swallowed up by the Qin dynasty.
-Because of Chu's aggressive expansion, this actually helped the Zhou dynasty continue to limp along due to its vassal states banding together for fear of Chu invasion.
-During this time, in order to keep the Zhou dynasty's vassal lords united and organized, the Zhou dynasty initiated the "hegemon" system as a way of allocating power and authority.
-Traditionally there are five, but there could have been as many as seven:
-Duke Huan of Qi
-Duke Wen of Jin
-Duke Zhuang of Chu
-Duke Mu of Qin
-Duke Xiang of Song
-King Helu of Wu
-King Goujian of Yue
-Although the first hegemon, Duke Huan was the ruler of the state of Qi, it should be noted that the real brains of the operation was Qi's chancellor, Guan Zhong (also noted for being a proto-Legalist philosopher).
-Under the guidance of Guan Zhong, Qi began expanding rapidly, swallowing up as many as 35 other states!
-King Xi died c. 677 BC, replaced by his son, King Hui.
-Because of the state of Qi's numerous victories, King Hui pronounced Duke Huan hegemon of the Zhou dynasty.
-It wasn't smooth-sailing at the end of Duke Huan's life, however, because Guan Zhong had warned him of a conspiracy among his advisers to overthrow him.
-I guess Duke Huan either didn't act fast enough or didn't take it seriously, because in 643 BC he was imprisoned in his room, where he eventually starved to death!
-Worms were found crawling outside of his room because his corpse had been decaying for so long!
-Of course, because of the power vacuum left by the duke's death, his sons began fighting each other for control of the state of Qi.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)