In its long history and culture, China's ancient military thought is a splendid flower. There are many ancient wars, military classics, military stars and military laws and regulations in China, ranking first in the world, and the development level of military thought has always been in the leading position in the world. However, in the modern military field, there are two different voices: one thinks that China's ancient military thought (represented by the so-called Seven Military Classics headed by Sun Tzu) is completely out of date, and it is a pile of old paper in front of the world's new military revolution characterized by precise guidance, rapid global maneuvering, GPS and C4ISH; Another view is just the opposite. It is believed that the US military won the Gulf War and the recent Iraq War under the guidance of Sun Tzu's Art of War. It even claimed that the US military commander issued Sun Tzu's Art of War to every American soldier to study hard in the cold, and the book was packed in their bulging backpacks.
China's ancient military thought formed early, developed rapidly and was rich in content.
1. The Book of History, Military Records and Zheng Jun of the Western Zhou Dynasty are the earliest military books in China. Although they have long died out or only a few words remain, they highly summarize and abstract some rational principles about war and war guidance. For example, the military and political authorities say that "words don't match, so it is a golden drum; Meeting each other is a flag. In military training, it is said that' if you allow it, you will retreat',' when you are in trouble',' you can't take morality as your enemy',' the ancestors have the heart to rob others, and future generations will wait for their decline' and so on.
2. The Art of War, which appeared in the late Spring and Autumn Period, is the earliest existing art of war in China, with lofty thoughts, profound originality and strong philosophy. Known as "the classic of military strategists" and "the first art of war in the world", it has been highly praised by military strategists in past dynasties and has had a far-reaching impact on China and even the world. * * * Thirteen articles with 5900 words.
3. During the Warring States Period, a large number of masterpieces of the art of war, such as Woods, Sima Fa, Wei Liaozi and Sun Bin, emerged, reaching a peak of China's ancient military thought. China's ancient military thoughts not only have a long history, but also are rich in writings, with more than 3,000 historical records, ranking first in the world.
During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, drastic social changes, frequent and fierce wars of hegemony and annexation, the progress of military technology and the contention of a hundred schools of thought in academic thought strongly promoted the development of military thought, and made China's ancient military thought appear an unprecedented period of prosperity. There are not only a lot of profound military thoughts in the classic works of cowardice, Taoism, France and Mohism, but also a group of military scientists such as Sun Wu, Wuqi and Sun Bin have emerged, resulting in a large number of military works such as Sun Tzu's Art of War, Woods, Sima Fa, Sun Bin's Art of War and Wei Liaozi. Sun Wu is an outstanding representative of the pre-Qin military theorist. His Art of War is not only the first milestone in the development history of China's military thought, but also the first milestone in the development history of the world's military thought. The pre-Qin military thought represented by Sun Tzu's Art of War mainly has ten viewpoints:
First, clearly put forward the simple materialistic view that war "must be taken from people."
Secondly, it is pointed out that war has the nature of "righteousness" and "injustice", and it is appropriate to talk about "injustice" with "righteousness".
The third is that war is a national event, so we should "fight cautiously", otherwise we will die if we are militaristic.
Fourthly, it is considered that the national politics, general ability, favorable weather and geographical position, military system and number of troops, training and law and discipline of the opposing sides should be comprehensively compared to predict the outcome of the war.
Fifth, it is believed that political factors such as "Tao", "virtue" and "benevolence" have great influence on the war.
The sixth is to sum up the military laws such as knowing ourselves and ourselves, practicing ink with the enemy, using power with form, attacking the few with few, avoiding reality and attacking the virtual, and taking people instead of themselves.
Seventh, it summarizes the unique categories in the military field, such as strangeness, straightforwardness, strength, attack and defense, subject and object, advance and retreat, virtual reality, parallelism, separation and integration, and dialectically explains their relationships.
Eighth, advocate going to the army to cut down the accumulation, and defeat the enemy without fighting.
Ninth, advocate the combination of agriculture and war, enrich Qiang Bing and be prepared for danger in times of peace.
Ten is to emphasize the first discipline, strict laws, "control by words, control by force", and military power is highly concentrated in the supreme ruler.
Military thoughts after qin dynasty.
From the establishment of the Qin Dynasty in 22 1 BC to the Opium War in 22 1840, China's military thought did not appear as prosperous as in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, but it still developed slowly and rapidly. When Qin unified the six countries, distant friends attacked and destroyed each other; The attack from the west to the east in the unified war of the Eastern Han Dynasty was broken one by one from near to far. The extensive alliance between the Three Kingdoms, the Jin Dynasty and the Southern and Northern Dynasties; At the end of Sui Dynasty, Li Yuan unified the whole country and took advantage of the situation to enter the customs, which was at stake and enhanced his prestige. Genghis Khan and Kublai Khan made long-distance detours in the early Mongolian Yuan Dynasty, while the Southern Song Dynasty pretended to destroy the gold. In the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Sheng's "building a high wall, accumulating a wide grain, and calling the king slow"; In the early Qing Dynasty, Nurhachi's general plan of "I will go all the way well only if I go my own way" developed China's ancient strategic thought to a certain extent. The military power put forward and implemented by the rulers of the Song Dynasty was highly centralized, the military administrative power belonged to the Privy Council, and the military command power belonged to the "three divisions" and "three generals", which restricted each other and embodied the emperor's thought of unifying the army. A set of relatively complete principles and methods of military training put forward by Qi Jiguang in Ming Dynasty added new content to China's ancient thought of running the army. The thought of "controlling the blockage with danger" in the construction of Wan Li Great Wall in Qin Dynasty: the military garrison measures were implemented in Han Dynasty; From the Sui Dynasty to the early Tang Dynasty, the whole country was divided into several military strategic zones, and the principle of troop deployment was to use the strong to bring the weak, control the outside world, and maintain China and foreign countries. The coastal defense thought of defending the ocean, attacking the offshore, consolidating the coast and defending the important town put forward in the Ming Dynasty made China's ancient national defense thought have a new development. Li Shimin's "lasting" defense and siege, two grams at a time; The viewpoint put forward by Gong Wei in Sun Tzu's Art of War is quick and lasting. After the appearance of firearms, in the Ming Dynasty, some people put forward the idea that firearms should come first and all arms and services should work together, which further enriched the guiding ideology of China's ancient operations.
It can be seen that China's ancient military thought was summed up through a long historical test and the long-term war experience of ancient strategists, and it has valuable value. Therefore, I think that China's ancient military thought, represented by the thirteen articles of Sun Tzu's Art of War (or China's ancient art of war), is still of great guiding significance to modern warfare, because as long as human beings have wars, many of its political and military principles will always be applicable.
Some people may think that China's ancient art of war is just "the method of using troops", which is outdated and useless because the war at that time was fundamentally different from the modern war. This is actually a misunderstanding. China's ancient military thoughts were profound. In many ways, it is not just the question of using troops, but the relationship between politics and war, and the relationship between economy and war. Then, the military and strategic issues are discussed from the political and economic level, and many political, military and economic viewpoints that are still useful today are put forward. At the same time, China's ancient art of war also involves many theories of military strategists, Science of Tactics, military science, military geography, military psychology, military management, military talents and the nature of war. These basic theoretical principles are of universal reference and guiding significance to China's army and China's national defense construction in the face of new military changes in the world.
Today, we are going to talk about China's ancient military thoughts and art of war. We should not stick to how to deploy, March and fight, fire and so on in ancient times. History has entered 2 1 century, and the world has also entered the era of new military revolution. The form of ancient warfare is quite different from that of modern warfare. However, many famous thoughts and conclusions of China's ancient military thought and art of war, such as "Soldiers are a national event, a place of life and death, and a way to survive", "Soldiers are treacherous", "Take the enemy by surprise", "It is good to defeat him without fighting" and "Go to the army to cut, then cut, and then cut.
In addition to the above general military principles with universal significance, China's ancient military thoughts put forward extremely important and correct ideas on military education in terms of war guidance theory, operational guidance theory, army building theory and military organizational discipline.
In the theory of war guidance, China's ancient military thought holds that the basic factors that determine the outcome of war are people's hearts, economic strength, generals, meteorology and geography, and these are a whole; This paper puts forward the political viewpoint of "cultivating oneself internally and managing military equipment externally" and the relationship between "three treasures" to develop economy and strengthen national defense force, and points out that on the basis of the above basic conditions, guiding war with strategy is the main way to achieve the greatest victory at the least cost.
In the theory of operational guidance, a prominent feature of China's ancient military theory is that it emphasizes outwitting and "conquering the enemy without fighting" and "conquering the enemy without fighting". Those who win every battle are also in the middle; Deep trenches and high bases are self-defense, and so is the next one. " Strive to achieve the strategic "total victory" realm. To this end, several main principles are put forward: for example, we should "win first and then fight", not fight unprepared battles, and "soldiers are superior to courts"; It is necessary to "take people without people" and ensure the initiative in the war; In order to "judge the enemy's reality and hasten its danger", that is, to avoid reality and attack the virtual, we must use the method of "strangeness" and "righteousness" "Those who are good at using troops are all right and strange, making the enemy unpredictable, so righteousness also wins, and strangeness also wins" and then "attack them unprepared", "use troops according to shape" and "win because of the enemy"
On the theory of army building, China's ancient military thought put forward the thought of "people's war" that "soldiers are more important than people" and put forward the correct proposition that "soldiers are more important than people". At the same time, it also puts forward a correct view of talents, with special emphasis on the selection and appointment of generals. He also put forward that "a general is not subject to heaven, earth and human control" and "a sword is not a thing to do", and stressed that the personality of a general is the most important condition for selecting a general.
Regarding the organizational discipline of the army, China's ancient military thought advocated the perfection of various laws and regulations, and believed that "customization must be made first", and at the same time emphasized "taking reward as the table and punishment as the inside" to achieve "killing the big and rewarding the small". For the education of the army, it advocates "convincing people with reason and moving people with courtesy", and the army should have moral norms, "taking weapons as plants and literature as species", and so on.
The influence of China's ancient military thoughts on modern warfare can be said to be pervasive. No matter how advanced the military strategy and tactics are now, it is also inseparable from the essence of ancient military thought. It can be said that without the pioneering military thinking of the ancients, the current military thinking would not have developed so fast. Therefore, China's ancient military thought has an absolute guiding role in today's war.