Confucius lived in a period of transition from the Spring and Autumn Period to the Warring States Period. At that time, the institutional system that had lasted for hundreds of years since the Western Zhou Dynasty, along with the aristocratic culture that matched it, fell into a situation of rapid disintegration. Textbooks tell us that this is an era of major changes from the productive forces, the relations of production to the superstructure. Its main theme is that the emerging social forces exclude the decadent aristocratic forces and their culture, so as to promote the progress of history. Therefore, it is only natural that we should affirm and welcome this great change of "etiquette and happiness".
But in fact, it does not represent the views that most people in history have had. For example, from Gu Yanwu to Qian Mu, they don't see it that way. Gu Yanwu used the words "li" and "letter" to summarize the spirit of the times in the Spring and Autumn Period. The spirit of the times of the Warring States period is more uniformly labeled as "force" and "deception".
The evolution of the atmosphere from obedience and faith to worship power and deceit is very concentrated in the seven words summarized by Gu Yanwu: "The car war is wasted and the first merit is prosperous". Car warfare is an ancient form of warfare in Chinese society. At that time, the etiquette system had strict regulations on how many chariots different levels of countries should have, so there were so-called "countries of ten thousand times", "countries of five thousand times", and "countries of five hundred times", and it was not allowed to expand their armies at will. The main force of the battle was the noble samurai standing on the chariot. There are up to three people on board a vehicle, and although there are a number of "apprentices" behind each vehicle, the size of the army is extremely limited. The rules of engagement should also be strictly followed. How do the combatants of both sides, standing on their respective chariots, fight each other if they face each other, separated by more than two horses? Therefore, the two armies had to line up diagonally on a very open battlefield, with the chariots first moving opposite each other at both ends of the diagonal, and then "turning left" before they approached each other. In this way, when the two chariots in battle move in a counterclockwise circle, the samurai on the chariot can fight each other at the moment when the chariots are staggered sideways. One round is called "One Cut". At most, three or four turns, that is, to hit the "three cuts" and "four cuts", even if the people in the car are not dizzy, the wheel often flies and the shaft cracks, and the car overturns. So in less than an hour or two, the war is over, and it's a bit like a game.
Until the middle and late spring and autumn, people still observe etiquette. In 638 B.C., Song and Chu fought at the Hongshui Border. Song Xianggong's side arrived at the battlefield first and lined up in formation. When the Chu army had not completely crossed the river, and when the formation had not been completed, his subordinates suggested that Song Xianggong attack in advance twice, but Song Xianggong refused. The result of the battle was the defeat of the Song army, and Xianggong died the following year due to his wounds. For him to abide by the etiquette system of "no drums and no columns", the Han Dynasty people commented: "In the past is righteousness, in the present is laughter." Knowing that his actions were ridiculed as "stupid pig righteousness", it is certainly not from today. But think about it from another angle, even when you are fighting a war, you don't have the heart to put the rules first, what a good time it was! The Chinese do not pay attention to the rules, perhaps it is from that time. Time has passed, and this wind has gradually become like a river pouring down, and it is difficult to return until now!
By the time of the Warring States period, the objectives, scale, and even intensity of warfare had increased dramatically. For the sake of fighting a war, the strength of a country is higher than that of deceit. Even if the other party surrendered, he couldn't rest assured, so he had to bury all the soldiers alive. It was at that time that the largest live burial in Chinese history took place. To reward combat merits, the number of heads won must be used as a voucher, which is the so-called "car war is wasted and the first merit is prosperous". All this is unthinkable in the spring and autumn! Can we also raise our hands in the name of "historical progress" to support such a "collapse of etiquette and happiness"?
It can be seen that the deeper the investigation of history goes to the real level, the more difficult it is for us to look at them from a simple position of distinguishing between black and white, right and wrong, right and wrong, and good and bad. The historical changes from the Spring and Autumn Period to the Warring States Period may reflect a trend that must be changed and no one can stop it. There is indeed some justification in this. But there may be another side to the problem. In times of major change, when the social order is being disintegrated and rebuilt on a large scale, when society is undergoing a fundamental transformation, we often see a comprehensive expansion of instrumental rationality. At this time, the vast majority of people have no time to take into account value rationality. The value rationality with positive attributes contained in the old tradition has always been disdained by people who are full of practical interests along with the old tradition. Therefore, at the same time as the extreme expansion of instrumental rationality, value rationality is often in general loss and decline. Thoughts about what is right or what is not are clouded by direct and realistic calculations about whether it is beneficial or useful, whether it will work. The greatness of Confucius lies precisely in the fact that he was in a troubled era filled with pragmatism, but he alone adhered to the value rationality in his heart.