Nominal Authority Mobilization Trap / 虚名权威动员陷阱

Nominal authority mobilization trap / 虚名权威动员陷阱 is the failure pattern 《资治通鉴·周纪》98丨历史上首个老赖登场了！ draws from 周赧王’s final anti-秦国 action. 楚考烈王 and 黄歇 / 春申君 appeal to the 周王室’s residual “天下共主” name, but Zhou Nan Wang no longer has the military or fiscal base needed to make that name function as command.

The trap is a negative counterpart to Zhou royal symbolic deterrence. In Zhouji 76, symbolic standing helps the weak royal house deter Chu from attacking; in Zhouji 98, the same symbolic standing becomes a lure into over-mobilization. The problem is not symbolism itself, but mistaking symbolic prestige for reliable coalition obedience and payable war finance.

Key Claims

• A title can still attract appeals even after the institution behind it has lost most material capacity.
• Stronger actors can borrow a weak authority’s prestige for their own coalition project.
• The weak authority may overestimate its ability to turn ritual standing into soldiers, money, and allied commitment.
• When the coalition fails, the weak authority bears the visible debt, humiliation, and punishment.

Connections

• 周赧王, 周王室, 西周国, and 东周西周分裂 - weakened authority setting.
• 楚考烈王, 黄歇 / 春申君, and 合纵 - actors and diplomatic form that trigger the mobilization.
• 联盟自保失灵 - implementation failure once allied states avoid cost.
• 债台高筑 - fiscal consequence of over-mobilization.
• 秦昭襄王, 秦国, and 秦国东进压力 - punishing external power.