An Analysis Of The Alliance In The Period Of Jin Chu Hegemony(632-546 B.C.)

This study proposes a theoretical framework of interpretation from an interactive perspective.Alliance behavior is the comprehensive consideration of multiple factors such as ensuring security and pursuing interests.From the perspective of interactive thinking,alliance should not only consider its own strength and the strength gap between itself and the hegemonic countries in the system,but also consider the behavior of other actors,especially the behavior in the process of interaction with hegemonic countries and the cognitive changes.The alliance among countries is the result of the interaction of power and cognitive change.The power gap is the primary and fundamental consideration factor of alliance among countries.During the period of struggle for hegemony by countries Jin and Chu(632-546 BC),ten countries with different strengths of Qin,Qi,Zheng,Song,Lu,Wei,Cao together with Chen,Cai and Xu showed different alliance behaviors: Qin firmly allied with Chu to fight against Jin after the war of Xiao.Before the war of An,Qi pursued the policy of nonalignment,but Qi allied with Jin for a long time after this war.Song implemented the policy of alliance with Jin State in the whole period,while Zheng always swayed between Jin and Chu in 86 years.For a long time,the three countries named Lu,Wei and Cao had generally adhered to the policy of alliance with Jin while Chen,Cai and Xu had aligned with Chu.The classical alliance theories,such as power balance theory,threat balance theory and interest balance theory,can not explain the alliance behavior of these countries in 86 years very well.The main reasons for Qin’s long-term alliance with Chu are the small gap between Qin and Jin’s strength and the cognitive change of Jin’s threat.In addition,Jin blocked the way of Qin’s struggle for hegemony,which made Qin-Chu alliance more stable.The widened power gap between Qi and Jin is the main reason for the alliance between the two countries after the battle of An.For the countries Zheng and Song,maintaining their own security is a more fundamental and urgent choice than expanding their interests.The difference of the alliance between the two countries is more determined by the external factors,that is,the intensity of the competition between Jin and Chu.The power gap between the six small countries and the two hegemonic countries of Jin and Chu is huge.They have limited ability to resist the threat of hegemonic countries or even medium-sized powers to protect their own security,which makes them ally with neighboring hegemonic countries.