When Confucius was reading history, he made a clear comment on Jin Wengong's above practices. Confucius' overall evaluation is: "it's better for Wen Gong to dominate!" I know both the power of the moment and the benefits of this world. " That is to say, judging from Jin Wengong's performance at that time, Confucius thought that Jin Wengong's hegemony was an inevitable historical result, because Jin Wengong could not only master the methods of coping with the current situation and cheating, but also clearly judge what was the long-term way to govern the country. This long-term way, in the view of Confucianism, is to govern the country by virtue and be loyal to the monarch for the people. Specifically, Confucius advocated: "Deception is enough to defeat the enemy in the face of difficulties; On the contrary, respecting the virtuous is enough to repay the kindness. Although the public is not finished, it is enough to bully. " Under special circumstances, in order to win the battle, deception can be used. But as far as the overall political guiding ideology is concerned, we must advocate the principle of "respecting the virtuous and rewarding them". Of course, it is best to stick to the principle of loyalty. Although it was difficult for Jin Wengong to do this, Confucius objectively believed that under the historical conditions at that time, Jin Wengong's practice was quite effective for his pursuit of world domination. However, although Jin Wengong was finally able to dominate the world, Confucius had to point out very seriously: "Qi Huangong is right rather than right, and Jin Wengong is wrong." This is the viewpoint of Confucius recorded in The Analects of Confucius, which means that Qi Huangong has taken a correct road to hegemony, while Jin Wengong has taken a wrong road.
Confucius' Evaluation of Jin Wengong: Wrong.
What does Confucius mean by "bewitching"? Yue: "Bullying the market, extortion." Zheng Xuan, a scholar in the Eastern Han Dynasty, commented on this chapter "Shuowen Jiezi": "Deception means calling the emperor and letting the princes face him." Zhu, a Neo-Confucianism scholar in the Song Dynasty, said in The Analects: "Deception, deception." According to the opinions of various factions, Confucius' comment on false Taoism is a deceptive method advocated by my uncle on the eve of the Battle of Chengpu. Specifically, when the Chu army was outnumbered at that time, if the so-called right path was adopted, that is, the traditional tactics of choosing a day to fight, spreading out in an all-round way and fighting head-on, the Jin army had little hope of winning in front of the powerful Chu state. Therefore, when the battle between Chengpu and Chengdu started, the Jin army did not set out in front of the Chu army in the central position, but first attacked the allies of the Chu army, that is, the right wing composed of smaller troops such as Zheng Guo and Cai Guo, which was relatively weak. When the Chu army separately rescued the allied forces, the Jin army suddenly launched an all-round attack while the Chu army was redeployed, and defeated the Chu army in one fell swoop. At that time, this way of fighting was an incorrect and treacherous technique, which was also not allowed by the traditional rules of war. Historically, more and more people think that the "Battle of Chengpu" is a famous war example of winning more with less and winning the strong with weakness.
According to Zheng Xuan's point of view, the delirium mentioned by Confucius should also include the treatment of King Xiang Zhou's performance in the acrobatic league.
After the victory of the Battle of Chengpu, the State of Jin actually began to dominate the world, except the Book of the Emperor of Zhou. At that time, although Zhou Wang had no real power, he was nominally the master of the world. In order to dominate political propaganda, Jin Wengong's vassal status obviously needs Zhou Wang's order, but considering Zhou Wang's status, Jin Wengong can't bow down and worship Luo Yang as a seal. Therefore, the State of Jin set up a temporary so-called palace for King Xiang of Zhou in a place called Jiantu in Wei State, so that King Xiang of Zhou could practice soil for Jin Wengong's life. However, Jin Wengong didn't want to be accused of persecuting King Xiang of Zhou, so he announced that King Xiang of Zhou was the first person to travel around the world. By the way, he added a new overlord to the book of practicing soil. However, Confucius clearly saw this. He said, "I can't be a monarch." In other words, the actual situation is that Jin Hou is called Wang, not Hou. This is a precedent that does not conform to the etiquette norms, and it is not the aboveboard behavior of the overlord. Jin Wengong's attitude towards King Zhou was in sharp contrast with that of Qi Huangong, so Confucius regarded Qi Huangong as a mirror of Jin Wengong.
Looking at the relationship between Confucius and Jin Wengong, although they were not figures of the same era, Confucius paid special attention to Jin Wengong because of Jin Wengong's historical contribution. Confucius did not deny Jin Wengong's contribution to maintaining world stability and the prosperity of Chinese civilization, but made a clear distinction and evaluation between the hegemony of Jin Wengong and that of Qi Huangong. The evaluation of Confucius and his hegemony has a far-reaching impact on understanding and studying the hegemony and the glorious history of Jin State.