Unorthodox Warfare

AnonymousBashu Publishing House · ChinaJun 2024

3.2

Word count: 640 words
Chapters: 2

Summary

It is a military treatise recorded in the ancient Chinese book of warfare Baizhan Qilue, intended to explain how to apply the principle and methods of achieving victory through surprise in combat. It holds that in fighting the enemy, in order to achieve the operational effect of “attacking where the enemy is unprepared, appearing where they do not expect,” one should use the deceptive tactics of “startling the front and striking the rear, charging east and hitting west” to confuse the enemy, leaving them unable to guard against us.

In this way, the enemy can be defeated. “Attacking where the enemy is unprepared, appearing where they do not expect” is the famous saying on war first proposed by Sun Wu, the great military strategist of the late Spring and Autumn period in China; its essence is to emphasize the suddenness of attack. To achieve suddenness in attacking the enemy, one must adopt secret and ingenious tactics and, when the enemy has not anticipated it, suddenly attack their unprepared weak points, so as to place the enemy in mortal danger at one stroke and thus achieve the operational goal of winning by surprise.

Editor's review

This book centers on the “Qi Zhan” chapter of Baizhan Qilue. Its core is the deceptive tactics of “attacking where the enemy is unprepared, appearing where they do not expect” and “startling the front and striking the rear, charging east and hitting west,” making the principle of sudden attack first proposed by Sun Wu concrete and perceptible. Its value lies not in length but in breaking a tactical concept into an understandable operational logic: first use false appearances to maneuver the enemy, then attack their unprepared weak points, thereby winning at one stroke. For general readers, it is more like a small window through which to glimpse the mode of thinking in ancient Chinese military studies, which values strategy and the coordination of the substantial and the illusory; for military enthusiasts with some grounding in classical Chinese, it can serve as an introductory excerpt for studying Baizhan Qilue. When reading, one should read the original closely and note the distinction between exposition of principles and specific battle examples, and need not apply ancient tactics directly to modern life. On the whole, it is suitable for slow reading and repeated reflection rather than for seeking a continuous plot in one sitting.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Introductory readers interested in ancient Chinese military books and military strategy
Students or self-learners who need to study selected chapters of Baizhan Qilue
Readers who enjoy perceiving traditional wisdom through short classical Chinese texts
People engaged in popularizing traditional culture or in writing who need reference material on military studies

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting complete battle stories or long narrative
People lacking patience for reading classical Chinese who only want quick conclusions
People hoping to directly copy military tactics to solve modern workplace problems

Reading tips

First read the original text and annotations, then restate the logical chain of “winning by surprise” in your own words.
Read “startling the front and striking the rear, charging east and hitting west” alongside Sun Wu’s original sentence to appreciate the origin of the concept.
After reading, try to find a historical battle example to corroborate it, but be careful not to force a connection.
Read alongside other chapters of Baizhan Qilue and compare the applicable conditions of different tactics.

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
正文

FAQ

What is the core principle of “Qi Zhan”?

The core is winning by surprise, that is, creating suddenness through secret and ingenious tactics so as to “attack where the enemy is unprepared, appear where they do not expect.” Specific means include deceptive tactics such as “startling the front and striking the rear, charging east and hitting west,” which leave the enemy unable to guard, and then attacking their weak points. This principle was first proposed by Sun Wu, and this chapter is an exposition of it.

Can someone without a foundation in classical Chinese read this chapter?

Yes, but it is advisable to use annotations and translations. This is a short military treatise; its difficulty lies mainly in classical Chinese wording and ancient military terminology. First read the vernacular explanation to grasp the general idea, then return to the original; usually one can understand its tactical logic without having to puzzle over every character from the start.

Can this military treatise be applied to modern life?

It can help one understand the strategic thinking of “creating false appearances, hiding intentions, and attacking when the enemy is unprepared,” but ancient tactics have a specific context and should not be mechanically applied to the workplace or interpersonal relations. A safer reading is to treat it as a specimen for understanding traditional military thinking rather than as a ready-made manual of methods.

Related on WeRead

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

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.