虞卿 / Yu Qing
虞卿 / Yu Qing enters the wiki through 《资治通鉴·周纪》94丨杀神白起，长平之战中的“草包”名将？（1） as the 赵国 adviser who gives the clearest diplomatic warning before the 长平之战 command crisis. When 赵丹 / 赵孝成王 asks how to respond to Qin pressure, Yu Qing rejects direct peace-seeking with 秦国 because Qin already holds battlefield initiative and has little reason to grant a real settlement.
His alternative is to rebuild leverage first. Yu Qing urges Zhao to send important figures and gifts to 楚国 and 齐国, renew a 合纵 posture, and only then negotiate with Qin from a position that is not isolated.
The episode validates his forecast through 郑朱’s mission. Qin receives the envoy visibly, letting other lords conclude that Zhao is already seeking peace, but it does not conclude peace. Yu Qing therefore becomes the source’s strategic-clear-sight figure: he understands that a diplomatic gesture can become information that weakens the sender.
《资治通鉴·周纪》95丨长平之战后秦国为什么没有灭了赵国（2） returns Yu Qing after the battlefield disaster, now advising against executing the six-city cession to 秦国. He argues that Qin withdrew because it was exhausted, so giving Qin land would help the enemy recover. His alternative is to give the same cities to 齐国, converting a humiliating cession into a visible 合纵 signal, though the episode cautions that Qi’s willingness is doubtful.
《资治通鉴·周纪》95丨长平之战后秦国为什么没有灭了赵国（3） turns Yu Qing from adviser into actor. When 赵丹 / 赵孝成王 orders the hunt for 魏齐 in order to recover 平原君 from Qin, Yu Qing concludes that he cannot reverse the ruler’s decision. He gives up his Zhao chancellor position, flees with Wei Qi through 大梁, and seeks 信陵君’s help for a possible escape to Chu.
The episode uses this choice to explain 司马迁’s mixed admiration and puzzlement. Yu Qing is repeatedly shown as a sharp strategist for Zhao, yet he sacrifices office and future usefulness for a friend, later living in Wei and writing the lost 《虞氏春秋》. He therefore becomes a central case for 贵族义气与国家秩序冲突.
《资治通鉴·周纪》95丨长平之战后秦国为什么没有灭了赵国（4） supplies the ethical mechanism behind that sacrifice. The episode says Yu Qing may not even have been an old friend of Wei Qi; the decisive fact is that Wei Qi entrusts life and family to him. Inside 士为知己者死, being trusted in that way becomes recognition that must be repaid.
The source also makes Yu Qing a test case for 死党之义与守职奉上. 李白 can admire the abandoned office as heroic spirit, while 荀悦 criticizes the same act because it puts friend-protection ahead of Zhao office, ruler, and public responsibility.
Connections
- 赵丹 / 赵孝成王, 娄昌, and 郑朱 - ruler, rival advice, and the mission that proves Yu Qing’s warning.
- 合纵, 楚国, and 齐国 - coalition leverage Yu Qing wants restored before negotiation.
- 秦国, 长平之战, and 赵国 - interstate crisis setting.
- 楼缓, 抱薪救火式割地求和, and 利益重构式说服 - Zhouji 95 part 2 debate over whether the same six cities buy safety, weakness, or coalition pressure.
- 魏齐, 平原君, 信陵君, 侯嬴, and 贵族义气与国家秩序冲突 - Zhouji 95 part 3 resignation, flight, and friend-protection conflict.
- 豫让, 李白, 荀悦, 士为知己者死, and 死党之义与守职奉上 - Zhouji 95 part 4 recognition logic and later critique of Yu Qing’s office-abandoning loyalty.