Chinese political strategist in the Warring States period
Su Qin
Su Qin
(380?284 BCE) was a Chinese political consultant and philosopher who was an influential political strategist during the
Warring States period
. He was born in Chengxuan Village, Luoyang in present-day
Henan Province
. According to legend Su Qin was a disciple of
Guiguzi
, the founder of the
School of Diplomacy
. He was the chief advocate of the
Vertical Alliance system
, which sought to create an alliance of the other states against the
state of Qin
. The opposing theory, "Horizontal Alliance" (
Chinese
:
聯
?
;
pinyin
:
Lian Heng
) supported alliances with the
State of Qin
.
After finishing his studies with Guiguzi, Su Qin travelled for several years and on his return lamented that "My wife doesn't recognize me as her husband, my sister-in-law doesn't recognize me as her brother-in-law, and my parents don't recognize me as their son!". All these misfortunes he blamed on himself and he thereafter shut himself in his room to study. To prevent falling asleep from long hours of study, he would stab himself in the thigh with a sharp instrument. This practice gave rise to part of a Chinese idiom or "
chengyu
"
simplified Chinese
:
?
梁
刺
股
;
traditional Chinese
:
懸
梁
刺
股
which means "to study assiduously and tirelessly".
Years later, when Su Qin returned with full honors following his success with the Vertical Alliance system, his family received him with great reverence, causing him to remark on their change of behavior towards him, leading to the rise of another Chinese idiom
simplified Chinese
:
前
倨
后
恭
;
traditional Chinese
:
前
倨
後
恭
which means "a change of attitude from arrogance to respect".
At his most brilliant Su Qin persuaded the leaders of the six kingdoms of
Qi
,
Chu
,
Yan
,
Han
,
Zhao
and
Wei
to unite against the
Qin
state through the use of his splendid rhetoric and thereafter wore robes decorated with the insignia of the six states. The allies of the Vertical Alliance advanced on the State of Qin but were easily defeated due to internal discord between the former enemies.
One theory suggests that he and
Zhang Yi
mutually reinforced each other's viewpoints in order to achieve their personal goals.
Canvassing the Six States
[
edit
]
This period of canvassing is one of the most debated issues in Chinese History. Modern day verification of Su Qin's biography in the
Records of the Grand Historian
and the
Strategems of the Warring States
suggests that the content relating to Su Qin in the former work was actually forged by later authors.
[1]
[2]
A wasted visit to the
Qin State
When Su Qin arrived in Qin, the state's ruler
Duke Xiao of Qin
had just died. His successor
King Huiwen of Qin
, detested the political reformer
Shang Yang
of whom the former Duke had been an avid supporter and promptly had him executed.
King Huiwen
also hated talented foreigners such that Su Qin made no headway.
Negotiations with the
Yan State
Su Qin told Marquis Wen, the ruler of the
Yan State
that the threat posed by the
Zhao State
was greater than that from the
Qin State
and that he should form an alliance with the
State of Qi
. As a result, Su Qin came to be highly regarded in the
Yan State
.
Negotiations with the
Zhao State
Su Qin informed the Marquis of Zhao that his territory lay in a crucial position, slightly offset from the other warring states but ultimately disadvantageous. He suggested that because of this, in an alliance with the other powers, the
Zhao State
would effectively hold the balance of power. Much impressed by the idea, the Zhao ruler rewarded Su Qin financially and invited him to venture forth and discuss an alliance with the other states.
Negotiations with the
Han State
Su Qin angered King Xuan of
Han
and made him focus on the Vertical Alliance.
Negotiations with the
Wei State
Encouraging the selfishness of the
Wei
officials, Su Qin persuaded King Xiang of
Wei
to concentrate on the Vertical Alliance.
Negotiations with the
Qi State
Su Qin made it clear that it was impossible for the
Qin State
to cross
Zhao
and
Wei
and attack
Qi
. As a result, to the great shame of Su Qin, the
Qi State
pledged allegiance to the
Qin
.
Negotiations with the
Chu State
Su Qin told King Wei of the
Chu
that the other six warring states had already formed an alliance. King Wei refused to join and was inevitably attacked by the
State of Qin
.
At the end of this period of canvassing, Su Qin became chief administrator of the Vertical Alliance and wore the insignia of the six member nations. After he became famous, he returned to his hometown in a blaze of glory. His parents welcomed him thirty
li
from home, his sister-in-law crawled like a snake whilst the surprise showed on his wife but she dared not look at him, her former stubbornness having become respect. Once more Su Qin lamented "the parents are poor but not the son". Although already an official of the six nation alliance, Marquis Su of
Zhao
appointed Su Qin ruler of Wu'an in modern-day
Henan Province
. According to the records of the Vertical Alliance, the
Qin State
went into decline and would not dare cross the strategic
Hangu Pass
for a further fifteen years.
Defeat of the Vertical Alliance and the death of Su Qin
[
edit
]
The six nation Vertical Alliance started out with each member state pursuing their own interests and as a result the foundations were shallow. A punitive expedition mounted by the
State of Qin
against the states of
Qi
,
Wei
and
Zhao
brought the end of the Vertical Alliance; Su Qin left the
Zhao State
and the alliance disintegrated.
The
Qi State
took advantage of the
Yan State
and installed a new monarch, King Yi, as well occupying ten cities which the King of
Wei
asked Su Qin to get back. Su Qin petitioned the King of
Qi
thus: "The King of
Yan
is a kinsman of the
Qi State
and you have snatched his territory. This is bound to draw the elite troops of the
Qin State
so you must return these cities!"
After the Marquis Wen of
Yan
died, King Yi ascended the throne. Su Qin had an affair with the late Marquis’ widow and when King Yi learned about the affair, Su Qin, fearing that he might be punished, subsequently left the
Yan State
and went to
Qi
where he obtained an important position from King Xuan. When Xuan died, King Min ascended the throne and Su Qin vied with the ministers of state for the monarch's favor. The ministers tried to assassinate Su Qin and he was seriously injured; the
Qi king
tried to arrest the culprits but failed to do so. On his deathbed Su Qin gave the King a plan to arrest the assassins: after his death, Su Qin was posthumously accused of treason and his body was torn limb from limb in the town square. This prompted Su Qin's would-be assassins to reveal themselves, and they were subsequently executed. Afterwards, Su Qin's spies leaked information to the
Qi State
provoking the further hatred and anger of the
Yan State
.
Contemporary verification of Su Qin's real identity
[
edit
]
In 1973, at the
Mawangdui
in
Changsha
, a number of silk manuscripts were unearthed. Once they were collated these were dubbed the "Records of the Vertical and Horizontal Alliance Schools of Thought” during the
Warring States period
". The documents consist of a total of twenty-seven chapters divided into three parts. The first, consisting of fourteen chapters, contains Su Qin's correspondence and conversations and provides information from which the historical truth regarding the "
Strategies of the Warring States”
may be discerned and errors in Su Qin's biography in the "
Records of the Grand Historian
" identified.
According to this written evidence, Su Qin's era followed that of
Zhang Yi
, during the reign of King Zhao of Yan. In conjunction with
Gongsun Yan
, Su Qin continued Zhang Yi's mutual confrontation with the
Horizontal Alliance
of
Xi Shou
. Su Qin had four older brothers: Su Dai, Su Li, Su Bi and Su Hu. Under his teacher Yu Qi, Su Qin studied all aspects of the operations of the
Vertical Alliance
and the Horizontal Alliance. He also pored over the books in Yu Qi's collection and found one titled "Minister Yin Fu’s Plan", which Su Qin studied hard for many years, and accepted that its methods would be enough to gain the support of the reigning monarch.
After
King Zhao of Yan
(312?279 BC) ascended to the throne, the state suffered upheaval and bloodshed so the king, planning to strengthen his state and avenge former humiliation, summoned his sages. Su Qin immediately left
Zhou
and travelled to the Yan. For King Zhao of Yan, Su Qin carried out his first meritorious service by petitioning
King Xuan of Qi
to return the ten cities he had previously snatched. The Yan sent a prince as hostage to the Qi with Su Qin acting as envoy. This was in the seventh year of the reign of
King Min of Qi
, 294 BCE when the government of the Qi was presided over by
Lord Mengchang
. Su Qin was treated well in Qi and was on friendly terms with Lord Mengchang before his return to Yan.
In 292 BCE, the tripartite forces of Qi, Zhao and Qin were using all their efforts to fight over territory belonging to the
State of Song
. Su Qin suggested a plan to King Zhao of Yan whilst guaranteeing that he could be "trusted as much as Wei Sheng"
[3]
and that details of his secret meetings would go with him to the grave.
Thereafter, Su Qin managed to drive a wedge between Qi and Zhao. Qi wiped out Song, which severely weakened Qi such that the Vertical Alliance of the other five states attacked. When
Yue Yi
defeated Qi, King Min of Qi adjudged Su Qin guilty of dissention and had him torn limb from limb in public. Afterwards
Zou Yang
said "Su Qin trusted nothing under heaven but he kept his promises to the State of Yan.
Sima Qian
also commented, "Su Qin undertook a strategy of sowing dissention which led to his execution and all under heaven now mock him".
In 1972, circumstantial evidence unearthed from the number one grave at Yinque Mountain, Linyi Prefecture, Shandong Province provided
Han Dynasty
bamboo slips inscribed with "
The Art of War
" by
Sun Tzu
. The historian Li Ling mentions this in his simplified version "
Sun Tzu
" in the "
Espionage
" chapter, viz "When the
Zhou
flourished, Lu Ya was in Yin" followed by the sentence, "When Yan flourished, Su Qin was in Qi". Li Ling believes that this "Sun Tzu" is not the same as the one handed down to later generations and is clearly the history of the late
Warring States period
.
[4]
Cultural reference
[
edit
]
In the popular manga
Kingdom (manga)
,
Li Mu
used Su Qin's strategy of alliance to muster a Coalition Army initially against the Qin state, but Qi declined and the coalition ended up being defeated by the Qin armies and some of their commanders were slain in battle, the alliance later fell apart after they decided to attack some Qi territories without accomplishing much.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
《史?·?秦列?》(Records of the Grand Historian, Biography of Su Qin)
- ^
《????家?》(Records of the Vertical and Horizontal Alliance Schools of Thought)
- ^
According to Chinese folklore, Wei Sheng was a young man who agreed to meet his sweetheart under a bridge one day. He waited and waited for her to no avail. Eventually, the tide came in and drowned Wei Sheng. His name is thus used as a metaphor for someone who will keep their word no matter what happens.
- ^
李零:《??子?微》,中??局1997年6月第1版,第43?的注?24,第167?。又?李零:《?子古本?究》,北京大?出版社1995年,第239?至第253?。Li Ling "Sun Tzu ? Decline of the Southern States", Zhonghua Publishing, 1 June 1997, p43 marginal note 24 ? p167. Also see Li Ling "Sun Tzu ? Ancient Books Research" Beijing University Press, 1995 pp 239?253.