Sustaining War

AnonymousBashu Publishing House · ChinaJun 2024

3.3

Word count: 442 words
Chapters: 2

Summary

A military treatise recorded in the ancient Chinese classic Baizhan Qilue (One Hundred Strategies of Warfare), Yang Zhan discusses how troops should rest and rebuild morale after a setback in preparation for renewed fighting. It holds that once troops have suffered defeat, decisions on whether to fight or defend must be based on the state of morale: when morale is high, spur them to fight again; when it is low, rest and reorganize the troops until they are elite and spirited, then commit them against the enemy. Historical experience shows that all things in the world have their tension and relaxation, and that development remains vital only when the two alternate in due measure. The same principle governs the normal operation of an army's combat mechanism. Proceeding from the actual condition of the troops, one must both carry forward the style of continuous combat against the enemy and see to timely rest and regrouping to conserve strength, so that the troops keep high morale and strong fighting power. This chapter's focus on the relationship between resting troops and raising morale, and its emphasis on the importance of conserving strength, is a most valuable idea.

Editor's review

Though brief, this is one of the more dialectical chapters in The Hundred Stratagems. Its core lies not in teaching men how to charge into battle, but in discussing how to "nurture" the strength to fight again after a setback—rousing troops to renewed combat when morale is high, and resting and conserving strength when it flags, applying the principle of tension and relaxation to the army's combat mechanism. This practical approach, valuing both sustained operations and timely rest, contrasts with military manuals that stress mere reckless valor, and makes for thought-provoking reading. The 2024 Bashu Press edition makes the ancient military classics accessible to general readers. Suited to reading while studying ancient military thought, management decision-making, or the pacing of a team, and also usable as a short reader for understanding the traditional wisdom of "retreating in order to advance."

Who it's for

A good fit for

General readers interested in ancient military books and military thought
Managers who need to understand how a team recovers morale after a setback
Readers who enjoy short original texts and want an easy introduction to military science
Decision-makers concerned with the relationship between pacing and sustained operations

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting systematic military history or detailed analysis of battle cases
Those who need a complete modern management framework rather than fragmentary inspiration

Reading tips

Read the original text through first, then use the annotations to clarify the criteria for judging "nurturing combat" and the rise and fall of morale.
As you read, put yourself in your own team's shoes and consider when to rouse them to fight again and when to rest.
Read it alongside other chapters of The Hundred Stratagems to understand its place in the whole work.
After reading, write a short hundred-word review sorting out what "alternating tension and relaxation" suggests for daily work.

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
养战

FAQ

What is Nurturing Combat mainly about?

It discusses how a unit, after a setback, decides whether to fight or defend according to its morale: when morale is high, rouse it to fight again; when it flags, rest and conserve strength until the elite troops are spirited and can face the enemy. Its core is to clarify the relationship between resting troops and raising morale, stressing the importance of conserving strength.

Is this military text suitable for readers with no foundation in classical Chinese?

The original text is short and its main point relatively focused, so with annotations it is not hard to understand. But if you rely entirely on a vernacular interpretation, it is best to read the annotations and translation first, then return to the original, lest you remember only the conclusions and miss the logic of the argument.

How does reading this help in practical modern work?

It offers a way of thinking about pacing: sustained operations and timely rest are not opposites, but should be switched according to actual conditions. Whether to apply pressure or provide a buffer after a team setback can draw on the "rise and fall of morale" judgment—assess first, then decide, rather than mechanically persisting or simply relaxing.

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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.