If you can attack the heart, the side will disappear. Since ancient times, we have known that soldiers are not warlike;
It is a mistake to be lenient and severe without assessing the situation. Later, when governing Shu, we must think deeply.
——Written by Zhao Fan in the Qing Dynasty, the "attacking the heart" couplet of Wuhou Temple in Chengdu
To understand the meaning of the first couplet, we must first understand two phrases: one is "attacking the heart". The word "Gongxin" comes from Pei Songzhi's annotation of "Three Kingdoms, Biography of Ma Di" and "Lun on Xiangyang". Zhuge Liang said that Ma Di was "talked about from day to night every time he was introduced to him." Ma Su said: "The way to use troops is to attack the heart first, and to attack the city next; to fight the heart first, and to fight the army second." He believed that the most important thing in fighting is to disintegrate the enemy's fighting spirit and conquer the enemy's heart. Its meaning is similar to "Sun Tzu" "Strategy first... attack the city secondly". This strategy was appreciated by Zhuge Liang. The second is "reverse side". The opposite here means being dishonest and disobedient. "Poetry, Xiaoya, He Rensi": "I wrote this good song to express the most negative feelings." It means that I wrote this song to express the most negative and unfair feelings. "Gou Zi, King System": "The people who run away from the law and turn against the law." Yang Note: "The people who turn against the law are the restless people." Therefore, turning against the law refers to some people who are restless and law-abiding. Once you understand these two phrases, it will be easier to understand the first couplet. It means that if a person fighting can make the other party realize his mistake and his own strength, so that he will not fight or dare not fight, and he will be convinced, then he will not rebel again in the future. For example, Zhuge Liang captured Meng Huo but did not kill him, but instead captured and restrained him seven times. This made Meng Huo know that he was far from Zhuge Liang's opponent, and he thanked him for not killing him, saying, "Because of the power of God, the southerners will no longer rebel." Eliminated his rebellious intentions. Later, Zhuge Liang implemented a series of lenient support policies for the southern ethnic minorities, and they were loved by them. Instead of rebelling, they assisted Zhuge Liang in the Northern Expedition. This strategy is much better than previous ones. On the other hand, Cao Cao only used force to suppress local ethnic minorities. He repeatedly surrendered and rebelled, and never found peace. It was a far cry from that. It can be seen from this that Zhuge Liang and some of the later people who adopted the mind-attack strategy were not people who liked fighting, but people who wanted to end wars with war and use force to stop the war, and had noble ideas. As for the second line, it actually refutes some people's partial view that Zhuge Liang is a Legalist. Legalists advocated strict governance and believed that "a hundred pieces of chrome and gold can be stolen and the soles of the plant will not be broken", which is different from Confucianism. Confucianism in governing the country advocates "the punishment of the world is light and the world is heavy", "lenity is used to relieve the fierce, and violence is lenient". Punishment should be lenient and severe, and should be dialectically adjusted according to the times and national conditions. The reason why Zhuge Liang governs Shu with strictness is as he said in reply to Li Yan: "Liu Zhang's country is weak. Since Liu Yan, he has been kind to him for many generations. He has been bound by laws and regulations, and has been supported by all the people. He has not promoted virtue and government, and has not been strict with punishment. Ten people in Shu." , The prime minister is self-reliant, and the way of the monarch and his ministers is gradually replaced by dredging." It can be seen that Zhuge Liang used heavy laws to govern Shu because the previous generation was too lenient. Therefore, he followed the Confucian principle of "the world should be ignored and the world should be valued, and lenient and fierce should be balanced", and he was by no means blindly strict like the Legalists. If you do not examine the current situation and blindly use strictness or leniency, it will bring serious consequences and it is wrong. Therefore, Zhao Fan warned future generations that they should not blindly follow Zhuge Liang and use strictness, nor blindly oppose Zhuge Liang's use of leniency. Instead, they should examine the situation at the time, think carefully, and then decide whether to use strictness or leniency. This couplet not only praises the correctness of Zhuge Liang's strategy of attacking the heart, but also praises the correctness of his policy of strictly governing Shu. Finally, it warns future generations not to blindly use strictness or leniency, but should make decisions based on the situation at that time. This is very true.