Conquest Self-Defense Narrative / 兼并自卫叙事

Conquest self-defense narrative / 兼并自卫叙事 is the legitimacy move 《资治通鉴·秦纪》120-1｜谁是皇帝中的妈宝男？ identifies after 秦国 destroys the six eastern states. Once military unification is complete, 嬴政 / 秦始皇 needs a public story that makes conquest look like reluctant punishment rather than naked expansion.

In the episode’s reading, Qin does this by narrating each target as the offender. 韩国 first submits and then breaks faith; 赵国 tears up agreements and later shelters rebellion in 代国; 魏国 feigns submission while joining Han and Zhao; 楚国 violates covenant and attacks 南郡; 燕国 sends 荆轲 to assassinate the Qin king; 齐国 trusts 后胜 and is accused of severing relations and plotting rebellion.

The concept extends 道德化战争借口 from a prewar coordination tool into a postwar imperial explanation. It also overlaps with 亡国君污名建构 because the conquered rulers’ remembered faults become part of why the new empire claims it had to exist.

Key Claims

• A conqueror still needs legitimacy after victory, especially when it must govern former enemies.
• Self-defense language can recode aggressive expansion as reluctant response.
• The narrative works state by state: each conquered polity receives a specific charge that makes Qin’s attack appear deserved.
• The same story can calm subjects, instruct officials, and shape later memory of the fallen rulers.
• The concept is source-scoped to the episode’s reading of Qin’s post-unification explanation, not an independent verdict that every accusation was false.

Connections

• 嬴政 / 秦始皇 and 秦国 - ruler and state using the narrative after unification.
• 韩王安 / Han An, 赵迁 / 赵幽缪王, 赵嘉, 魏王假, 楚王负刍, 燕王喜, and 齐王建 / 田建 - fallen-ruler chain absorbed into the explanation.
• 道德化战争借口, 亡国君污名建构, and 天命合法性 - adjacent legitimacy and memory frames.
• 合纵, 远交近攻, and 秦国东进压力 - strategic context behind the narrative.