http://www.cic.sfu.ca/nacrp/articles/title.html
I have found a set of good quality articles with various topics upon Chinese History. Have a nice reading!
Full Version: Found a set of good articles.
Very good articles on chinese history...well gotto spend abit of time reading them 
QUOTE (Boleslaw I @ Jun 29 2008, 03:26 PM) 
http://www.cic.sfu.ca/nacrp/articles/title.html
I have found a set of good quality articles with various topics upon Chinese History. Have a nice reading!
I have found a set of good quality articles with various topics upon Chinese History. Have a nice reading!
Thanks.
I was reading one of the articles, titled "The Warring States", by Lei Haizhong http://www.cic.sfu.ca/nacrp/articles/leiha...leihaizong.html
and came across the following passage:
QUOTE
The second period, 351-311 B.C., saw the rapid rise of Qin, which after having contributed to the downfall of Wei, soon became more militaristic and dangerous than Wei had ever been. Qin, having taken the place of Wei as the leading state, began to adopt the Chunqiu stratagem of using the practically defunct Son of Heaven as the tool of its ambition. The moribund figurehead of course felt vastly flattered and most gladly conferred the title of Hegemon on the prince of Qin in 343 B.C. In the next year Qin called upon all the princes to meet and do obeisance to their common sovereign. This, however, was going too far; to the cynical politicians of the time it must have been a ridiculous farce and anachronism. Still, Qin had the advantage of legal form, and it was up to the other states to devise some means to checkmate the crafty move. So the defeated Wei and the Great Power of the east, Qi, met in 334 B.C., declared independence, and assumed the royal title of their own right.
This seemingly simple affair was really a master-stroke: henceforth it would no longer be possible for Qin to utilize as a puppet the pitiable Son of Heaven, whose title was no longer unique. Heretofore, only the semi-Chinese states of the south, Chu, Wu, and Yue, had dared to assume the title of King, a presumption never fully recognized by the orthodox northern states. Now, times had changed, and two of the most important states of the north had come to follow the example of Chu and Yue. Qin saw the point and, in order to be able to stand on a footing of equality with Wei and Qi, copied their example in 325 B.C. The other states decided to follow suit, two years later, with Zhao coming last in 315 B.C.
This seemingly simple affair was really a master-stroke: henceforth it would no longer be possible for Qin to utilize as a puppet the pitiable Son of Heaven, whose title was no longer unique. Heretofore, only the semi-Chinese states of the south, Chu, Wu, and Yue, had dared to assume the title of King, a presumption never fully recognized by the orthodox northern states. Now, times had changed, and two of the most important states of the north had come to follow the example of Chu and Yue. Qin saw the point and, in order to be able to stand on a footing of equality with Wei and Qi, copied their example in 325 B.C. The other states decided to follow suit, two years later, with Zhao coming last in 315 B.C.
The most probable summit it was referring to was the 逢泽之会 (Conference of FéngZé, south of present day Kaifeng).
This was noted in Shiji's entry on history of Qin:
QUOTE
史记·卷五·秦本纪
(孝公)十九年，天子致伯。
(孝公)二十年，诸侯毕贺。秦使公子少官率师会诸侯逢泽，朝天子。
(孝公)十九年，天子致伯。
(孝公)二十年，诸侯毕贺。秦使公子少官率师会诸侯逢泽，朝天子。
In the 19th year of Lord Xiao of Qin (circa 343 BC), the Son of Heaven conferred the title of "Earl".
A commentary followed:□正义伯音霸，又如字。孝公十九年，天子始封爵为霸，即太史儋云“合十七岁而霸王出”之年，故天子致伯。桓谭新论云：“夫上古称三皇、五帝，而次有三王、五伯，此天下君之冠首也。故言三皇以道理，而五帝用德化；三王由仁义，五伯以权智。其说之曰，无制令刑罚谓之皇；有制令而无刑罚谓之帝；赏善诛恶，诸侯朝事谓之王；兴兵约盟，以信义矫世谓之伯。”
which hinted that the Zhou king acknowledged the Qin ruler as a hegemon.
In the 20th year of Lord Xiao of Qin, the feudal lords sent their congratulations to the Qin ruler. Qin despatched the prince Shaoguan with a force to meet the feudal lords at FengZe, and then paid homage to the Son of Heaven.
Crosschecking with Shiji's entry on Zhou:
QUOTE
史记·卷四·周本纪
(显王)二十五年，秦会诸侯於周。二十六年，周致伯於秦孝公。三十三年，贺秦惠王。三十五年，致文武胙於秦惠王。四十四年，秦惠王称王。
(显王)二十五年，秦会诸侯於周。二十六年，周致伯於秦孝公。三十三年，贺秦惠王。三十五年，致文武胙於秦惠王。四十四年，秦惠王称王。
Reign of King Xian of Zhou:
25th year: Qin convened a meeting of feudal lords at Zhou.
26th year: Zhou conferred title of earl to Lord Xiao of Qin.
33rd year: Congratulated King Hui of Qin (for what?)
35th year: Granted the sacrifical meat of martial and civil powers to King Hui of Qin.
44th year: Ruler of Qin proclaimed himself king.
However, when I searched for the term 逢泽之会 on the internet, almost all the accounts in Mandarin claimed it was convened by King Hui of Wei (魏惠王) instead, citing 《战国策》 (Zhan Guo Ce / Strategies of the Warring States) as a reference. However, I found no mention in 《战国策》 itself about Wei convening the meeting at FengZe, the only conventions around the time cited was at MengJin and JiuLi. (《战国策·秦策五》二十七年，梁君驱十二诸侯以朝天子于孟津。” and 二十九年，魏（惠）王为九里之盟。” )
The timing of the conference was between Wei's defeat at Guiling (桂陵之战) and Maling (马陵之战).
In between, it seemed that Wei managed to win a series of victories against Qi, Zhao, Chu and Qin.
I understand there are discrepancies between Shiji and Zhan Guo Ce, but which account was more historically accurate in this instance?
And if Shiji's account was the historically correct version, what about Lei HaiZhong's claim that one of the motivation for the ruler of Wei to claim the title of King was to avoid being manipulation as a nominal vassal of the Zhou king?
Another question: Did Zhou really recognized Qin as a hegemon?
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