The Warring States Policy, also known as the National Policy, is a national history book compiled by Liu Xiang in the Western Han Dynasty. The original author is unknown, and it is generally believed that it was not written by one person. Most of the materials can be traced back to the Warring States period, including the works of strategists and records of historical materials. There are 497 articles in the book. As early as the Song Dynasty, there were many defects, which were corrected by Ceng Gong's "Visiting the Scholar-officials' House". It was revised several times later. The Warring States policy we see today is far from the version of the Eastern Han Dynasty.
Traditionally, The Warring States Policy is classified as a historical work, but many chapters in the book are absurd and lack historical basis. They are not so much history as literary stories. Interestingly, the language and logic of these works are quite wonderful and have strong literariness. The other part is not very literary, but it has historical basis, which is of great historical value to the study of the history of the Warring States.
Literary features
When lobbying, strategists in the Warring States paid great attention to the use of various rhetorical devices to make the rhetoric more beautiful and vivid, to express those abstract truths with gorgeous vocabulary and vivid language, and to combine reason with form and make them vivid and sensible. In order to impress people, they often analyze the situation without scruple, directly state their own interests, and even exaggerate or even alarmist. Only in this way can rhetoric be infectious and persuasive.