The Development of China's Military Thought after Qin and Han Dynasties

Mencius was a famous thinker, educator, politician and representative of Confucianism in ancient China. Confucius is the supreme saint, Mencius is the second saint, and the thoughts of Mencius and Confucius are called "the way of Confucius and Mencius" by later generations. According to today's discipline classification standards, it seems difficult for us to find a special military exposition. However, in the seventh chapter of Mencius, when Mencius expounded his political and academic thoughts, his views and opinions on military affairs were expressed in a piecemeal way. For the study of Mencius' military thought, scholars mostly discuss Mencius' view of war, the essence of war and people's opposition to war from the perspective of military philosophy. Based on the analysis of the historical background and military essence of Mencius' military thought, this paper focuses on the reference and enlightenment of Mencius' military thought to China's national defense and military modernization from the perspective of traditional cultural resources.

Mencius' military thought is profound, which "not only dwarfs all other military works in the pre-Qin period, but also has something that clausewitz's military classic On War can't match" [1]748. It can be seen that the study of Mencius' military thought is of great significance for enriching and perfecting the study of Mencius.

First, the background of Mencius' military thought.

(1) "A hundred schools of thought contend" laid a relaxed social condition for the formation of Mencius' military thought.

During the Warring States Period, the social history of China changed dramatically, and various social contradictions were complicated. Due to the disunity and disunity of social politics, the ruling class has no spare capacity to promote feudal cultural absolutism, and there has been a social phenomenon of "princes contending and recruiting foreign students" [2]39. As a result, there has been a situation of "a hundred schools of thought contend" in the ideological and cultural field. After the death of Confucius, Confucianism was divided into eight parts. During the Warring States Period, Mencius Confucianism, represented by Mencius, actively participated in "a hundred schools of thought contend", and Mencius was honored as Mencius. Mencius' students recorded his remarks and compiled them into Mencius. In Mencius, Mencius dispersed his views and opinions on military affairs when discussing his political and academic thoughts, and formed his military thoughts.

(2) "Bleeding" is the direct driving force for the formation and development of Mencius' military thought.

During the Warring States period, after fierce and cruel war of annexation, the vassal States were washed out by big waves and eliminated by superior and inferior, and finally the situation of seven countries dominating and competing for world hegemony was formed. Unifying the world through the war of annexation was the primary political and social problem faced by the vassal States at that time. In the fierce and cruel M&A war, countries fight for each other, and life and death are often just a blink of an eye, one step away. In order to destroy the enemy and save themselves and complete the great cause of reunification, vassal States not only need the political concept of governing the country and safeguarding the country, but also need the military guiding ideology of sending troops to win and unify the whole country. In this context, most philosophers follow the trend of the times, grasp the theme of war, and make comments one after another.