When King Wu attacked Zhou, the battle of Makino was a war of national subjugation. Why did the Zhou people "dance before the song"?

there are many descriptions about the battle of Makino in the history books, which let later generations know about the battle that decided the fate of Shang and Zhou dynasties 3, years ago, but there are also many records that are puzzling to read, one of which is that "the king of Wu conquered the battle of Makino, and danced after the song".

Based on these records, it can be seen that after King Wu sent troops, he was singing and laughing all the way, singing and dancing. When he arrived in the commercial suburb and the night before the battle of Makino, the Zhou army was still "singing and dancing happily", and the next day, in the battle of Makino, it was dancing before the song.

as we all know, the battle of Makino is a decisive battle of Zhou Ge's fate, a battle of fighting with small battles and attacking with weak ones, and a life-and-death contest between Shang and Zhou Dynasties. Song and dance represent ease and pleasure, and it is very unreasonable to juxtapose the two. So, is the theory of "singing before dancing" invented by historians, or is there something else to hide?

History records a possibility: King Wu's conquest of Zhou was an extremely holy just war, and the Yin people immediately fell apart as soon as the Zhou army arrived. Zhou Wuwang stands for justice, believing that he will surely defeat Zhou Wang, so perhaps he will sing and dance and laugh all the way.

Zhou Benji, a Historical Records, records: "Although there are many divisions, none of them have the heart to fight, and they are eager for the king of Wu to enter. All the divisions fell to fight to open the king of Wu. The king of Wu rushed to it, and all the soldiers collapsed. "

Mencius with all his heart records: "Benevolent people are invincible in the world, so that benevolence is cut to the point of inhumanity. How can they shed blood?" Mencius denied the bloodshed in the battle of Makino, thinking that the benevolent is invincible, and it is inevitable that it will be extremely easy to attack the heartless with benevolence. Zhou Wang's army even cheered the arrival of Zhou people.

This logic is that Zhou Wuwang stands for righteousness, Zhou Wang stands for evil, and "righteousness will win evil", so Zhou Wuwang leads the army of righteousness, singing and dancing like an outing. But in fact, we all know that this is definitely impossible, and it is only a Confucian fantasy that benevolent people are invincible in the world. Besides, unlike these two records, King Wu was very cautious when he attacked Zhou and attached great importance to Zhou Wang.

in the period of the ancient duke and his father, Zhou people had planned the Shang dynasty, which scholars called "cutting the merchants". After a hundred years' efforts of four generations, namely, Gu Gongqifu, Ji Li, Zhou Wenwang and Zhou Wuwang, it finally ushered in the opportunity of logging. So, what is Zhou Wuwang's attitude in this commercial war?

first, two years before the battle of Makino, Zhou Wuwang was observing troops in Mengjin, and there were 8 vassals who joined the alliance. The vassals said that they could send troops to attack, but Zhou Wuwang said that it was not the right time. The so-called untimely, is nothing more than Zhou Wang's strength is still very strong, Zhou people at this time in the odds, so Zhou Wuwang denied the suggestion of the allied governors.

Second, Zhou people are small countries, while Yin people are big countries. If a small country strikes a big country, we must seize the opportunity to kill it. Therefore, before the battle of Makino, Zhou Wuwang said to boost morale, "Therefore, I will punish you today." Encourage me, master, not again, not three times ",which means that the opportunity is rare, there will be no second chance, let alone a third time."

at the same time, Zhou Wang's army seems to be very neat and powerful, so Zhou Wuwang once again emphasized the tactical discipline. "Today's things are not satisfied with six or seven steps, but stop and be neat." Alas, master! If you don't stop at four, five, six and seven felling, you will stop. " It is required that the army should not confuse the ranks and formations, and there are strict requirements on footwork and hitting.

From these descriptions, we can see that Zhou Wuwang's attitude is very clear, and he is very strict about the battle of Makino, so he is unlikely to be in the mood of singing and dancing. In this case, what about the saying in many ancient books that "the king of Wu starts fighting and dances before the song"? In fact, this matter is related to the "Sichuan Army".

during the battle of Makino, there were many vassal armies in Zhou Wuwang besides Zhou people. The Book of Pastoral Oath recorded "Yong, Shu, Qiang, Kuai, Wei, Lu, Peng and Pu people", and the second one was "Shu", which is now Sichuan, so there was "Sichuan Army" in Zhou Wuwang's army.

It is recorded in the Records of Huayang Country in the Jin Dynasty that "Zhou Wuwang conquered the country, but he got the teacher of Bashu". After Zhou Wuwang conquered the country, the teacher of Bashu surrendered to Zhou, so he followed the crusade against Shang Dynasty.

The Records of Huayang National History, Ba Zhi, records: "Ba Shi was brave and sharp, singing and dancing with Ling (meaning aggression and invasion), and the former disciples defected."

It probably means that the Bashu warriors charge in the form of singing and dancing, which is essentially a fighting way, not an artistic or aesthetic expression. But the question is, "Huayang Guozhi" is a work of local chronicles, written by Chang Qu, a native of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. It has been more than 1,3 years since King Wu attacked Zhou. Is it the historical truth that "King Wu started fighting, singing before dancing"?

Whether "King Wu starts to fight, singing before dancing" describes the fighting style of Bashu warriors at that time is difficult to restore 1% now, but it is closer to the historical truth from the customs of Sichuan people in ancient and modern times.

When Emperor Gaozu pacified the Three Qin Dynasties, he recruited a group of Ba soldiers to be "the vanguard of the Han Dynasty", and these Ba soldiers were "spirited and dancing", which was also praised by Liu Bang. Ba Zhi, the National Records of Huayang, records: "There are many people living in the water in Langzhong, and they are naturally brave, and they are the vanguard of the Han Dynasty, and they are eager to dance." Therefore, there are also a number of "Sichuan troops who dance before the song" in the hegemony between Chu and Han.

Historian Wang Ningsheng pointed out in the book "Singing and Dancing Before the King of Wu Fell" that the Jingpo people in Dehong, Yunnan Province and the Yi people in Liangshan, Sichuan Province still had the custom of "singing and dancing for the ling" before the war, that is, before the war, one hand held a knife and one hand held a shield, and the shield was painted with bright colors and horrible images, and then roared while dancing the knife, creating a horrible atmosphere and then rushing to kill. Combining the customs and historical records handed down by Jingpo and Yi people, Wang Ningsheng thought that dancing before singing should be a way of fighting for the Sichuan Army at that time.

It can be seen that Sichuan people have the tradition of "singing and dancing to dominate", which is essentially a way of fighting to create a horrible atmosphere to shock the enemy. At that time, Shang and Zhou dynasties and their allies had never had this custom. At first glance, it was very novel, so it might be mistaken for "singing and dancing, dancing before the song". In fact, this is the misunderstanding caused by cultural differences. In ancient China, people would bang drums before the war, and the ancient Sichuan Army would dance and sing.

It is puzzling that what is the relationship between this Sichuan army and Sanxingdui civilization? In the last century, in the south bank of the Duck River in Guanghan City, Sichuan Province, archaeologists discovered the famous Sanxingdui site, which gave people a glimpse of the mysterious ancient Shu country. Was the "Sichuan Army" that existed in the attack of King Wu sent out by Sanxingdui civilization? In fact, when Sanxingdui civilization declined, it had basically disappeared when King Wu attacked Zhou. Therefore, the Sichuan Army in King Wu's attack was not sent by Sanxingdui, but it should be a branch of the ancient Shu kingdom, and it participated in the war of attacking merchants after being conquered by Zhou Wuwang.

In a word, it is not 1% sure whether the "King Wu starts to fight, singing before dancing" refers to the Sichuan Army, but it is almost certain that the Sichuan Army participated in the Makino War.

References: Shangshu, Historical Records, Interpretation of "Dance before and after the King of Wu", etc.