Military Instruction, Part Two

AnonymousBashu Publishing House · ChinaJun 2024

3.9

Word count: 878 words
Chapters: 2

Summary

"Bing Jiao Xia, Chapter Twenty-One" is a military treatise recorded in the ancient Chinese art of war text Wei Liaozi. This chapter specifically discusses methods, procedures, and discipline for training troops, as well as systems of reward and punishment. It also states that the purpose of training is to "open up territory, guard the state altars, remove harm and disaster, and complete martial virtue."

Editor's review

"Bing Jiao Xia" and "Bing Jiao Shang" are both chapters in Wei Liaozi that discuss military training. They continue the focus on training methods, procedures, discipline, and systems of reward and punishment, and likewise sum up the purpose of training as "opening up territory, guarding the state altars, removing harm and disaster, and completing martial virtue." Read on its own, a single chapter may easily seem similar in content to the preceding one, but within the overall structure of Wei Liaozi, the two chapters together form a continuous line of ancient thought on "how to train a usable army." Its value lies not in offering a plan that can be directly applied, but in presenting the governance logic of pre-Qin military thinkers, who bound institutions, discipline, and political goals together. This Bashu Shushe edition is suitable for thematic comparative reading: readers can observe how ancient military texts convey training principles through brief provisions, and can also use it to reflect on the relationship among "training, discipline, and goals." It is recommended to read it alongside the preceding chapter and related chapters of the whole book, and to avoid understanding it in isolation.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who have read "Bing Jiao Shang" and wish to continue tracing the training thought of Wei Liaozi
Students of literature and history specializing in pre-Qin military institutions and military texts
Readers interested in the history of management and in ancient disciplinary culture and reward and punishment mechanisms
Teachers who need short military text materials for classroom discussion

Not a good fit for

Readers who want to obtain a complete system of military strategy from a single chapter
Readers who prefer modern management handbooks and resist the classical Chinese context
General leisure readers with little interest in ancient military institutions

Reading tips

Read in comparison with "Bing Jiao Shang," and list the similarities and differences between the two chapters in training procedures and reward and punishment provisions.
First read the vernacular translation and explanation to grasp the main points, then return to the original text to check key terms and sentences, avoiding literal misinterpretation.
After reading, combine it with other chapters of Wei Liaozi and sort out the place of "the purpose of training" within the whole book.

About the publisher

Bashu Publishing House China · Founded in 1983

Bashu Publishing House is a publisher centered on collating and publishing classical Chinese cultural texts, with its main publishing areas covering classical literature, Eastern philosophy, ancient poetry, and educational classics. Its library currently holds 1,075 titles, including representative works such as Dream of the Red Chamber, the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Gathering, Renjian Cihua, and Out to the Frontier, involving authors such as Cao Xueqin, Wang Xizhi, Wang Guowei, Wang Changling, Liu Xie, and Yan Yu. These reflect the publisher's focus on literary classics, poetry criticism, and philosophical readings. Its publishing character lies in working around ancient texts and canonical works, with attention to textual collation and presentation. Public information on its more detailed publishing background and series plans is limited; this introduction is based only on the library's book information.

版权信息
兵教下第二十二

FAQ

Is the content of "Bing Jiao Xia" repetitive with that of "Bing Jiao Shang"?

The two chapters have similar themes and both discuss training methods, procedures, discipline, and reward and punishment, but they are divided into upper and lower chapters, each with its own emphasis. It is difficult to judge all the differences from the introduction alone; it is recommended to read the original texts in comparison and understand them with reference to the structure of the whole book.

Why is the statement of the purpose of training the same in both chapters?

The materials show that both chapters state that the purpose of training is "opening up territory, guarding the state altars, removing harm and disaster, and completing martial virtue," indicating that this goal governs both the upper and lower chapters. Its repeated appearance can be seen as an emphasis on the purpose of training rather than a simple repetition of content.

Is it suitable as material for a reading group?

It is suitable for a reading group focused on close reading of short texts. The length is not long and the topics are concentrated, so discussion can revolve around "what training serves" and "how rewards and punishments are implemented," but annotations or translations and explanations should be prepared in advance to lower the barrier of classical Chinese.

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About the author

Anonymous Author

Anonymous is not a real personal name but a general Chinese designation for authors whose names are unknown, lost, or unsigned. Neither nationality nor dates of birth and death can be verified, and available public information is limited, so the works attributed to this name are the only basis for description. The collection holds 2,078 works under Anonymous, spanning medicine, classics, historical readings, ancient poetry, classical literature, and philosophy. Representative works include The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon: Lingshu, Mencius, The Book of Documents, Nineteen Old Poems, Complete Song Ci, and The Peacock Flies Southeast. Most of these works took shape through long transmission and editing, emerging either from collective folk creation or from authors whose names were lost over time. In ancient China, the Book of Songs, the Great Learning, and many popular storybooks and plays were signed Anonymous because their authors could not be traced. Anonymous works cross the classics, histories, philosophical writings, medical texts, and poetry; their subjects are broad, and their styles vary from archaic simplicity to clear naturalness, making them important and influential sources for understanding ancient Chinese thought, medicine, and literature.