Translation
Mencius said: "There was no righteous war in the Spring and Autumn Period. That country may be a little better than this one, and there is such a situation. The so-called levy means that countries of the same level cannot crusade against each other under the crusade. "
The "Spring and Autumn War without Justice" not only expresses Mencius' historical view, but also reflects his political view. Because, according to Confucianism, "Rites and music conquered from the emperor" is just right, while in the Spring and Autumn Period, "Rites and music collapsed" and "Rites and music conquered from the princes", so there was no righteous war.
Actually, Mencius' thought still comes from Confucius. Confucius has said in The Analects of Confucius Ji Shi: "If there is a way in the world, the rites and music will be conquered from the son of heaven;" If there is no way in the world, then the ritual and music will be conquered by the princes. " The conquest of rites and music was in the Western Zhou Dynasty, and the conquest of rites and music was in the Spring and Autumn Period.
War is indeed closely linked with politics, so there are indeed just wars and unjust wars. But from our point of view today, the standard to measure a just war and an unjust war is mainly to see what the purpose of the person 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 "meaningless war in the Spring and Autumn Period" has become a well-known saying, it is necessary for us to understand the meaning of Mencius' so-called "meaningless war". After clarifying the connotation, we will know that, from our point of view today, it seems that we can't think of the "Spring and Autumn War" as a whole, but make a concrete analysis of the specific situation.