Confucius was honored as the “sage of literature”, and his military talent was covered up by his brilliant literary name, which failed to attract due attention, so that the prejudice of “Confucius was polite but not brave” (Zuo Zhuan · Dinggong decade) has not disappeared. In fact, Confucius was a versatile man of letters and martial arts. He not only had excellent physical strength and martial arts, but also was quite proficient in military science.
Confucius’ military ability should be discussed from his father. Confucius’ father uncle Liang he was tall, brave and good at fighting, and was promoted to Zou Yi doctor with military achievements. According to Zuo Zhuan, the 10th year of Xianggong, the state of Jin organized the joint forces of Lu, Cao and other princes to attack Yang, forced the Yang garrison to open the city gate and secretly set the hanging gate, lured some of them into the city, put down the hanging gate, and attempted to surround and annihilate it. At the critical moment, Shulianghe stood up and lifted the heavy hanging door until all the coalition forces into the city withdrew, and then he quit. The commander Meng Xianzi quoted the poem and praised him as “powerful as a tiger”. According to the records of the historical records of Confucius family, “Confucius is nine feet long and six inches long. Everyone calls him ‘long man’, which varies from person to person.” One foot before the Qin Dynasty, about 0.66 feet today, if converted according to this, Confucius is about 2.112 meters tall. “Lu spring and autumn · Shenda” also said that “Confucius’ strength is the gateway of the whole country, but he refused to hear it with strength”. It can be seen that although Confucius had no intention of becoming famous for his courage, he was also as tall and brawny as his father.
The Zhou Dynasty has formed a fairly complete six arts education system. “Zhou Li Bao Shi” said: “raising the son of the state by Tao is the six skills of teaching: one is five rites, two is six music, three is five shooting, four is five royal, five is six books, six is nine numbers.” All noble children should be educated in these six arts. As the son of doctor zouyi, there is no doubt that Confucius learned the Six Arts in his youth, whether through rural schools or mainly by self-study. There is no need to say more about his deep attainments in etiquette, music, calligraphy and mathematics; He is also very skilled in shooting and defending. “The book of rites · shooting righteousness” records that “Confucius shot in the garden of hale and hearty appearance (on the west side of today’s Confucius Temple in Qufu, Shandong Province), and built a wall for visitors”, which shows the essence of his shooting art; As for “Yu”, it may be better than shooting. The Analects of Confucius, Zihan, records an example. The party members of Daxiang said, “Confucius is great. He is erudite but not famous.” Hearing this, Zi said to his disciples, “what do I do? Do I shoot? Do I command? Do I command?” Confucius heard that he was erudite and lacked the strength to become famous, so he negotiated with his disciples to choose an art to show his expertise. In shooting and defending, Confucius selected “Zhiyu” after weighing. It can be seen that his ability to drive chariots is stronger than archery.
Modern scholars often confuse “holding the throne” with general driving, and believe that Confucius “holding the throne” is to choose a humble profession, showing the humility of saints. This is a misunderstanding. The spring and Autumn period is still dominated by vehicle warfare. Sima chariots gallop and fight on rugged roads and fields with complex terrain. The skill of the emperor is directly related to the life and death of soldiers and the victory or defeat of the war. Even if it is a daily drill, there are very complicated technical requirements of the “Five Emperors”, which cannot be confused with the general driving. In the pre Qin period, driving a car was generally called “servant”, such as “Zi Shi Wei, ran you servant” in the Analects of Confucius Zi Lu; Driving a chariot is called “Yu”, such as “the bookofsongs · chariot attack”, which means “you are not surprised”; “Zhuang Zi Da Sheng” has the words “Huan Gong Tian Yu Ze, Guan Zhong Yu”. From the fact that Duke Huan of Qi hunted and the prime minister Guan Zhong held the throne, it can be seen that the position of the emperor was not low. Especially when shooting and defending are carried out at the same time, defending cannot be confused with servants, but only refers to the very professional military skill of driving chariots.
In addition to his excellent physical strength and martial arts, Confucius was also quite proficient in military affairs. In the spring and Autumn period, when the princes were constantly attacking and fighting, it was impossible to realize the political ideal of “cultivating oneself to secure the people” (Analects of Confucius · constitutional questions) without paying attention to the study of military affairs. The historical records of Confucius family records that “there are three thousand disciples and two of them are seventy people who have six skills”. These 72 masters are also proficient in shooting and defending; It is also recorded that “ran Youwei, a general of the Ji family, fought with Qi in Lang and conquered it. Ji Kangzi said, ‘son is in the military, sex? Learning?'” ran you said, ‘learning is in Confucius’. “It can be seen that Confucius is not only proficient in military learning, but also teaches his disciples martial arts and other military learning. “Historical records · biographies of grandson Wu Qi” and “biographies of scholars” record that Wu Qi “learned from Zeng Zi” in Lu, and worshipped Zi Xia as a teacher in Wei. It is no accident that such a great military strategist, who is as famous as the grandson of the “martial saint”, appeared among the disciples of Confucius.
According to the historical records of Confucius family, Confucius pursues “those who have literary affairs must have military readiness, and those who have military affairs must have literary readiness”. His military knowledge and ritual and music literature knowledge are integrated. Confucius was proficient in military affairs, but he was not belligerent: “the son of caution: fasting, war, disease.” (Analects of Confucius · Shuer) he took a very cautious attitude towards war, opposed recklessness and unprepared war, and even opposed the unjust war of bullying the weak. According to the Analects of Confucius, Wei linggong asked the array. Confucius said, “there is nothing to learn about the military.”. According to Guo Lao’s “ten critical books”, Confucius “is a scholar and has not learned about military affairs”, which is actually a misunderstanding. Wei linggong is militaristic and does not repair his internal affairs. It is the so-called “Tao is different and do not conspire” (Analects of Confucius · Wei linggong). Confucius is unwilling to talk about military with him because he opposes unjust war. From Confucius’ support and praise for ran you’s command against Qi and his firm opposition to Ji’s attack on Zhuanyu (Analects of Confucius Ji), we can further see his clear-cut attitude towards just and unjust wars.
Confucius once said, “the fierce tiger Fenghe (fighting the tiger with bare hands and wading the river on foot), I will not fight with those who die without regret. I will also be afraid of things in the face and become a person who is willing to plan.” “Fear in the face of events” emphasizes that we should be cautious in the face of war, “being able to plan well” refers to actively planning and striving for victory. This attitude of not easily talking about war, fighting for justice and winning war can be said to be deeply rooted in the way of war. He also said, “if I fight, I will overcome, if I sacrifice, I will be blessed, and I will cover the way.” (the book of rites, ritual utensils) Confucius pursues “a gentleman should be ashamed of his words rather than his deeds”, and has always opposed boasting. He said that “if we fight, we will overcome”, which is not blindly boasted. It is not only based on his own comprehensive quality, but also proved by the history of “Jiagu meeting” and “falling into the three capitals”. According to Zuo Zhuan and Shiji Confucius family, in the 10th year of Dinggong, the princes of Qi and Lu met in Jiagu, and Confucius presided over the “Xiangli”. He demanded that military preparations be made in advance. When the “Lai people” came “with weapons, they were not afraid of danger. On the one hand, they ordered the” soldiers “(the soldiers picked up weapons to attack them), on the other hand, they climbed the altar without disrespect and justly blamed their” indecency “, forcing Duke Jing to dismiss the” Lai people “, foiling the attempt of the rulers and ministers of the state of Qi to secretly instruct the” Lai people “to hijack Lu Jun, and safeguarding the dignity and interests of the country; It also made the Qi people change their view of “kongqiu knows etiquette but has no courage”. In the 12th year of the reign of Duke Ding, in the process of “falling into the three capitals”, Confucius commanded and pacified the rebellion of Gongshan Buyu and uncle sun Tuo. These are enough to prove that Confucius’ words of “I fight, I conquer” are true.
There is another example of Confucius’ military foresight. When the state of Qi “Chen Chengzi killed Jian Gong”, Confucius “bathed and begged” in the ancient age. Today’s commentators mostly say that he is to defend the way of “monarchs and ministers”. In fact, a close reading of Zuo Zhuan shows that before and after Confucius returned to Lu in self-defense, Qi and Lu fought frequently, and Lu was repeatedly bullied by strong neighbors. Chen Heng’s regicide and Qi’s civil strife are rare opportunities for the state of Lu to change the passive situation of being bullied. Confucius was right about this, so he asked again and again. When asked, “Lu has been weak for a long time. What will be the general of the son’s war?” At that time, he incisively analyzed and said, “Chen Heng killed his king, half of the people are not with him. With all the people of Lu, half of Jiaqi can be defeated.” (Zuo Zhuan · the 14th year of AI Gong) Chen Heng’s regicide (soon turned into “stealing the country” and complicizing the throne) actually risked the universal condemnation and was morally condemned. At the same time, it was also very likely to be interfered by the princes. As long as the state of Lu resolutely attacked Qi, through diplomatic efforts, it should not be difficult to win the response of the princes, and the odds of victory are great. Unfortunately, Lu Jun was short-sighted and missed the opportunity, but Chen Heng of the state of Qi seized the opportunity to turn the tide and tide over the dangerous period, which made Lu Wei’s destruction of Qi an irrevocable foregone conclusion.