Chapter 36 Section 4 Social Significance and Historical Value of Military Books of Past Dynasties

The issues discussed in Chinese military books of all dynasties not only include all aspects in the military field, but also involve many other disciplines, and have extensive social significance and far-reaching historical value.Mainly manifested in the following aspects. Each book of war not only summarizes the experience of the predecessors, but also guides subsequent wars.Sun Wu benefited from "Military Records" and "Military Administration" and achieved success.Han Xin (see Figure 18) used the principle of "the human being is invisible" in "Sun Tzu" to mobilize warships at the Linjin Ferry, pretending to show the illusion that he must cross, and concealing his Xiayang (now South of Hancheng, Shaanxi Province), an attempt to smuggle people with wooden poppy, a simple river crossing device, resulted in a major defeat of the Wei army, capture of Wei Wangbao, and a complete victory in Wei's land.Looking at the accomplished military strategists throughout the ages, in addition to displaying their creative talents in war practice, most of them are familiar with military books and delved into the art of war, benefiting from the improvement of art of war theory.Sun Wu delved into the art of war, wrote 13 great works, and finally became the "Sage of Soldiers".Wu Qi abandoned Confucianism and studied military affairs and became as famous as Sun Wu.Sun Bin practiced the art of war with his feet, created a famous battle example of besieging Wei and saving Zhao, and his name will go down in history.Zhuge Liang (see Figure 19) has been familiar with military books since he was a child, assisted Liu Bei, used soldiers like a god, and became one of the most respected military strategists in later generations.Therefore, Tang Wanling of the Ming Dynasty said in his "Leisure Qinglun": "There are those who read books but cannot become famous generals, and those who have not become famous generals do not study." This statement is in line with historical facts and is undeniable.

All the sage monarchs and politicians who have made a difference in the past dynasties of China have educated their ministers and sons to study military books and study the art of war.During the Three Kingdoms period, Sun Quan, the Lord of Wu, saw that Lu Meng did not read military books, so he ordered him to spare time to study "Sun Tzu's Art of War" and "Six Secret Teachings".Fan Zhongyan, a politician of the Song Dynasty, persuaded Di Qing, who only relied on blood and courage but lacked resourcefulness, to study military books with the words "the general does not know the past and the present, but the man has a brave ear".Di Qing followed his teachings, read through the military books of the past dynasties, and became a famous general in the Song Dynasty who was proficient in the tactics of military formations.Yue Fei, a famous anti-gold general in the Southern Song Dynasty, studied "Sun Tzu's Art of War" and "Wu Zi" in poverty. After more than 120 battles in his life, he was never defeated.His famous saying of "Battle after formation, the art of war is common. The magic of using it is in one mind" is a summary of his familiar military books and the theory of the art of war.Liu Bei, the lord of Shu in the Three Kingdoms, ordered his son Liu Chan to study "Six Secret Teachings" and "Book of Shang Jun" before his death.It's a pity that Adou, who can't help him, not only ignores his father's precepts, but also violates Kong Ming's teacher's teachings, playing and wandering all day long, resulting in the loss of the country and land, and the loss of the foundation that his father built with difficulty, which is ridiculed by future generations.Song Renzong feared that the generals would "learn ancient and modern knowledge", so he specially organized Zeng Gongliang and others to compile "The General Essentials of Wu Jing" for the generals to study so that they can "know the style of generals".

Since the Song Dynasty, the book of war has become a textbook for standardizing the training of officers and soldiers and conducting martial arts education.During the Renzong period of the Song Dynasty, the imperial court successively established martial arts and martial arts, and issued an edict to revise the "Seven Books of Martial Arts" as teaching materials for martial arts teaching and elevating scholars. It remained unchanged until the Ming and Qing Dynasties.In the late Ming Dynasty, Qi Jiguang, in order to standardize the training of the "Qi Family Army", in addition to continuing to use the effective military books, also personally compiled the "New Book of Ji Xiao" and "Records of Military Training", which made the combat effectiveness of the "Qi Family Army" far superior to other troops. superior.In the late Qing Dynasty, Zeng Guofan compiled and trained the Hunan Army on the basis of basically following these two textbooks.After the Sino-Japanese Sino-Japanese War, Nie Shicheng, Zhang Zhidong, Yuan Shikai and other military commanders all wrote new military books as textbooks for military education and training of the Qing army.The "New Book of Military Science" edited by Xu Jianyin was a textbook that met the needs of education and training at that time.Various army and naval academies established in the late Qing Dynasty also compiled new military textbooks accordingly.These textbooks are actually military books for learning Western military science. They contain both military theory and military technology content, and have become an important symbol of the transition from traditional Chinese military science to new military science.

The military books of the past dynasties in China have special significance and value because of the rich and rare historical materials recorded.For example, in "Six Secret Secrets", the members of the army command organization and their division of labor and responsibilities, the chariots used in combat and various other weapons and equipment, Yin Talismans and Yin Shu.Li Chunfeng of the Tang Dynasty recorded in "Yisi Zhan" the "Xiangfeng Bronze Bird" for measuring wind direction and wind force, and the wind direction device made of chicken feathers. The guide fish and the earliest three gunpowder formulas in "Wu Jing Zong Yao". The jet-type long bamboo musket in "Shouchenglu". The "Three Flying Arrows" in "Records of Military Training", such as flying guns and arrows, flying knives and flying swords and arrows (see Figure 20). Underwater mines in "Wu Bian". The matchlock gun in "The Artifact Spectrum". Nail canopy rockets and various gunpowder formulas in "Bing Lu". Various rockets such as the "Zheng He's Nautical Chart" in "Wu Bei Zhi", the fire dragon coming out of the water and the flying crow of the divine fire (see Figure 21, Figure 22).These creative achievements are not recorded in other classics.

The ideas and art of command such as decision-making, strategy, appointing generals, and governing the army discussed in the military books of all dynasties in China are often borrowed by other fields, and this practice has been increasing in recent years.Takeo Ohashi, a Japanese entrepreneur, wrote a book "Managing with the Art of War", advocating that people use the military theory of "Sun Tzu's Art of War" to compete in business and trade.In "How to Be a Business Leader", Gu Dumei regards the "Tao" in "Sun Tzu's Art of War" as the basic policy of the enterprise, "heaven" is the economic climate, and "land" is the location, market, resources, labor and other factors of the enterprise. "General" refers to management talents, and "law" refers to the rules and regulations of the enterprise. If you manage the enterprise in this way, you will surely succeed.In the sports world, some people have turned the way of using troops into a practical training method.In other fields such as medicine, there are also examples of using the principles of the art of war to achieve results.