During the Spring and Autumn Period, there were hundreds of wars almost every year in order to pursue more land and slaves and become the overlord.

Mencius in the Warring States period thought that these wars were meaningless, that is, "the Spring and Autumn Wars were meaningless". He advocated that the rulers practice "benevolent government" and opposed all wars.

The "Unjust War in the Spring and Autumn Period" not only expressed Mencius' historical view, but also reflected his political view. Because according to Confucianism, "Rites and music conquered the emperor" is just right, but in the Spring and Autumn Period, "Rites and music collapsed" and "Rites and music conquered the princes", so there was no righteous war.

In fact, Mencius' thought still comes from Confucius. Confucius once said in the Analects of Confucius Ji Shi: "If there is a way in the world, rites and music will be conquered from the son of heaven;" If there is no way in the world, the rites and music will be conquered by the princes. " Rites and music were conquered in the Western Zhou Dynasty and in the Spring and Autumn Period.

War is indeed closely linked with politics, so there are indeed just wars and unjust wars. But in our view today, the standard to measure a just war and an unjust war is mainly to see what the purpose of the people who started the war is, not who will start the war. At this point, our views are different from what Mencius said here.

Therefore, although the "war of nonsense in the Spring and Autumn Period" has become a well-known saying, it is necessary for us to understand the connotation of Mencius' so-called "nonsense". After clarifying the connotation, we will know that from our point of view today, it seems that the "Spring and Autumn War" cannot be regarded as a whole, but should be analyzed in detail.