It also aroused the ambition of unifying the Central Plains. Wei Wenhou knew that Qin people could not easily succumb to force, but he yearned for the culture of the Central Plains.
So Wei Wenhou reused Xia Zi, a famous scholar at that time, worshipped Xia Zi as a teacher and gave lectures in Xihe. Xia Zi, a student of Confucius, was named Shang Bo, 44 years younger than Confucius, and was born in 507 BC. When Wei Wenhou invited Xia Zi to Xihe, Xia Zi was already a centenarian, so he seldom taught in person. Moreover, in summer, I cried blind because of the pain of losing my son in old age. The true disciples in Xihe are Qi Rengong Yang Gao, Lu Liangchi, Duan Ganmu and Zi Gong's disciple Tian Zifang.
Xia Zi's political thoughts tend to be legalist. Among Confucius' disciples, Xia Zi did not stick to Confucius' Tao like Yan Hui and Zeng Senbei. He is a thinker with originality and heresy. He is no longer concerned with "self-denial and self-surrender" (the revival of Zhou rites), but with contemporary politics that keeps pace with the times. Therefore, Xia Zi developed a set of political and historical theories that deviated from Confucian orthodox political views.
Xia Zi said: "There are three changes in a gentleman: look at it like this, even if it is gentle, it is fierce to listen." (The Analects of Confucius Zhang Zi) It can be seen that the gentleman in Xia Zi's mind is a gentleman who knows politics, and is no longer the kind of "gentle" and "open-minded" alcohol Confucianism advocated by Confucius. These ideas embody the spirit of legalists to observe the situation and use power. This obviously violates the Confucian doctrine of upholding propriety and righteousness. So it is considered speculation by Confucian orthodoxy. Even Xunzi, a disciple of Xia Zi, once accused Xia Zi of profound thoughts: "He wears his clothes with the same color, but he doesn't talk all day." ("Xunzi Fei Twelve"). However, both Wu Qi and Shang Yang adopted the political strategy of showing people's trust first, which obviously originated from the skill of Xia Dynasty. Xia Zi paid attention to the king's skill in using power, and thought that the king must pay attention to studying political history. He said: "A state-owned family can't help learning Chunqiu." "People who are good at mastering power have long been ruined." ("Han Feizi's theory of foreign reserves") advocates that politicians should learn from historical books such as the Spring and Autumn Annals, take history as a mirror, nip the crisis in the bud, and prevent losing power and even a coup.
Although Xia Zi pays great attention to keeping in good health and has always been in good health, after all, she is old and blind, so she hesitated to invite Wei Wenhou at first. Wei Wenhou knew that Xia Zi was the soul master of scholars all over the world, and he was determined to invite Xia Zi to sit in Xihe. Therefore, Wei Wenhou personally worshipped Xia Zi as a teacher, showing great respect for Xia Zi. Being a teacher for the monarch is the highest honor of Confucianism, the so-called teacher for the emperor. Xia Zi was the first great scholar to enjoy this honor, and even Confucius had never enjoyed such a high honor before his death. Moved by Wei Wenhou's sincerity, Xia Zi decided to go to Xihe personally.
Since he became a teacher and personally sat in Xihe, the focus of China culture has shifted to Wei and Xihe, forming the famous Xihe School.