Who is Song Xing 宋钘？

Song Xing (approximately 385 BC - 304 BC) was a scholar during the Warring States Period and a representative figure of the Song-Yin School. He was also known as Song Jing, Song Rong, and Song Zi, and was as famous as Yin Wen.

During the reign of King Xuan of Qi, he studied at the Jixia Academy. Under the intense warfare conditions in the middle of the Warring States Period, he put forward the proposition of "banning attacks and stopping wars", and served as a mediator between the warring parties.

In 312 BC, when Qin and Chu were at war, he traveled between Qin and Chu to try to stop the war. He met Mencius at Shiqiu. He said, "I heard that Qin and Chu are at war. I will go to see the King of Chu and persuade him to stop it. If the King of Chu is not willing, I will go to see the King of Qin and persuade him to stop it. I will surely succeed with one of the two kings." (from "Mencius: Gaozi Part II") He declared that the purpose of "banning attacks and stopping wars" was "to wish for the peace of the world to save the lives of the people" and "to end the struggles among the people" (from "The Chapter of the World" in Zhuangzi). With this as his goal, he "traveled all over the world, persuading those above and teaching those below. Even if the world did not accept his ideas, he still kept persuading persistently and never gave up" (ibid.). He "cared too much about others and too little about himself", "Even though his disciples were hungry, they still did not forget the world and worked day and night without rest" (ibid.). He was praised as a great "savior of the world" at that time (ibid.).

In terms of academic thoughts, he adhered to the Huang-Lao ideology and also absorbed some ideological elements of Mohism. He believed in and practiced the Huang-Lao ideas of having few desires, being content, and not contending. "Externally, he advocated banning attacks and stopping wars; internally, he advocated having few desires and a simple life" (from "The Chapter of the World" in Zhuangzi). He asserted that human nature was to have few desires rather than many desires, which was consistent with Laozi's view of "being less selfish and having few desires". He said, "By human nature, people desire little. But everyone thinks that their own nature is to desire much, and this is a mistake." (from "Xunzi: On Correct Theories"). He asserted that the nature of having few desires made people easily satisfied. "Five sheng of rice is enough" (from "The Chapter of the World" in Zhuangzi), which was consistent with Laozi's views of "less is more, more leads to confusion" and "being content". He asserted that being insulted was not a disgrace, thus advocating the elimination of conflicts. He said, "One should not feel humiliated when being insulted." "Clearly understanding that being insulted is not a disgrace can prevent people from fighting. People fight because they all think that being insulted is a disgrace. If they know that being insulted is not a disgrace, they will not fight." (from "Xunzi: On Correct Theories"), which was in line with Laozi's advocated "virtue of not contending".

While adhering to the Huang-Lao ideology, due to his advocacy of "valuing practical utility", "emphasizing great frugality", and "neglecting hierarchical differences" (as seen in "Xunzi: Criticizing Twelve Philosophers"), his views were consistent with those of Mohism. In particular, his view of "banning attacks and stopping wars to save the world from war" (from "The Chapter of the World" in Zhuangzi) was consistent with Mozi's advocacy of non-aggression. Therefore, Xunzi compared Song Xing with Mo Di: "Those who do not know how to unify the world and establish the principles of a state, who value practical utility, emphasize great frugality, and neglect hierarchical differences, are not even capable of distinguishing differences and establishing the order between the monarch and his subjects. However, they have their reasons for holding their views, and their words are reasonable enough to deceive and mislead the ignorant masses. These are Mo Di and Song Xing." (from "Xunzi: Criticizing Twelve Philosophers")

Song Xing also advocated "starting to understand all things by getting rid of prejudices" (from "The Chapter of the World" in Zhuangzi), believing that when understanding things, one should first get rid of subjective biases. The "Book of Han: Treatise on Arts and Letters" listed 18 chapters of "Song Zi" in the category of novels. Ban Gu self-annotated, "Xun Qing talked about Song Zi, and his words contained the essence of Huang-Lao." This book was lost long ago.