I hereby post an essay from 1000 years ago, which is leant by every Chinese high school student, and often quoted in the recent trade war, on the topic of warring states 2500 years ago, to show the importance of resistance.
《六国论》
On the Six Kingdoms**
**六国破灭，非兵不利，战不善，弊在赂秦。赂秦而力亏，破灭之道也。**
The six kingdoms perished, not because their weapons were blunt or their strategies unsound, but because they bribed Qin. By bribing Qin, they sapped their own strength—this was the path to their ruin.
**或曰：六国互丧，率赂秦耶？曰：不赂者以赂者丧。盖失强援，不能独完。故曰：弊在赂秦也。**
Some may say: “Did all six kingdoms fall solely due to bribing Qin?” I reply: “Those who did not bribe perished *because of* those who did. Without strong allies, no state could survive alone. Thus, the fault truly lies in bribing Qin.”
---
**秦以攻取之外，小则获邑，大则得城。较秦之所得，与战胜而得者，其实百倍；诸侯之所亡，与战败而亡者，其实亦百倍。**
Apart from seizing land by force, Qin gained territories through bribes—small towns or large cities. What Qin acquired through bribery was a hundredfold greater than what it won by battle. What the feudal lords lost through bribery was also a hundredfold more than their battlefield losses.
**则秦之所大欲，诸侯之所大患，固不在战矣。思厥先祖父，暴霜露，斩荆棘，以有尺寸之地。子孙视之不甚惜，举以予人，如弃草芥。**
Thus, Qin’s greatest desire and the lords’ gravest threat lay not in war. Consider their ancestors: braving frost and dew, clearing thorns and brambles to win every inch of land. Yet their descendants treated it lightly, surrendering it to others like discarded weeds.
**今日割五城，明日割十城，然后得一夕安寝。起视四境，而秦兵又至矣。然则诸侯之地有限，暴秦之欲无厌，奉之弥繁，侵之愈急。故不战而强弱胜负已判矣。至于颠覆，理固宜然。**
Today they ceded five cities; tomorrow, ten—gaining but a night’s peace. Upon dawn, Qin’s armies returned. Yet the lords’ lands were finite, while Qin’s greed was insatiable. The more they offered, the fiercer Qin encroached. Thus, without fighting, strength and weakness, victory and defeat, were decided. Their downfall was inevitable.
---
**古人云：“以地事秦，犹抱薪救火，薪不尽，火不灭。”此言得之。**
The ancients said: “To appease Qin with territory is like dousing fire with firewood—until the wood is gone, the fire won’t die.” These words hold truth.
---
**齐人未尝赂秦，终继五国迁灭，何哉？与嬴而不助五国也。五国既丧，齐亦不免矣。**
Though Qi never bribed Qin, it too fell after the other five. Why? By allying with Qin (surname Ying) instead of aiding the five kingdoms. Once the five were lost, Qi could not escape.
**燕赵之君，始有远略，能守其土，义不赂秦。**
The rulers of Yan and Zhao initially had foresight. They defended their lands and *refused* to bribe Qin.
**是故燕虽小国而后亡，斯用兵之效也。至丹以荆卿为计，始速祸焉。**
Thus Yan, though small, perished last—proof that arms worked. But when Prince Dan sent Jing Ke (to assassinate Qin’s king), he hastened disaster.
**赵尝五战于秦，二败而三胜。后秦击赵者再，李牧连却之。洎牧以谗诛，邯郸为郡，惜其用武而不终也。**
Zhao fought Qin five times—losing twice, winning thrice. Later, Qin attacked Zhao repeatedly, but Li Mu repelled them. Yet when Li Mu was slandered and executed, Handan fell, becoming a Qin commandery. Alas! They took up arms but failed to persist.
---
**且燕赵处秦革灭殆尽之际，可谓智力孤危，战败而亡，诚不得已。**
Moreover, Yan and Zhao resisted when Qin had nearly wiped out the others. Isolated and desperate, their defeat was unavoidable.
**向使三国各爱其地，齐人勿附于秦，刺客不行，良将犹在，则胜负之数，存亡之理，当与秦相较，或未易量。**
Had the three states (Han, Wei, Chu) cherished their lands, had Qi not allied with Qin, had no assassin been sent (by Yan), and had Zhao’s great general (Li Mu) lived—then the fate of victory or defeat, survival or ruin, might have differed against Qin.
---
**呜呼！以赂秦之地封天下之谋臣，以事秦之心礼天下之奇才，并力西向，则吾恐秦人食之不得下咽也。**
Alas! Had they granted the lands (used for bribes) to the realm’s wise counselors, and honored its talents with the devotion shown to Qin, uniting against the west (Qin), then the Qin rulers might have choked on their meals!
**悲夫！有如此之势，而为秦人积威之所劫，日削月割，以趋于亡。为国者无使为积威之所劫哉！**
How tragic! Possessing such advantage, yet cowed by Qin’s long-building might—day by day carved, month by month severed—they marched toward ruin. Rulers must never be intimidated by accumulated threats!
---
**夫六国与秦皆诸侯，其势弱于秦，而犹有可以不赂而胜之之势。苟以天下之大，下而从六国破亡之故事，是又在六国下矣。**
The six kingdoms and Qin were all feudal lords. Though weaker, they *could* have overcome Qin without bribes. Yet if a vast empire today followed their doomed path, it would rank *beneath* those six kingdoms!
