Actual Combat

AnonymousBashu Publishing House · ChinaJun 2024

2.7

Word count: 221 words
Chapters: 2

Summary

Practical Combat is a military treatise recorded in the ancient Chinese military book Hundred Battles and Strange Strategies. It aims to explain what guiding principles should be adopted when fighting an enemy of abundant strength. Actual combat; actual fighting.

Editor's review

Practical Combat is taken from a chapter in the ancient Chinese military book Hundred Battles and Strange Strategies and discusses what guiding principles should be adopted when facing an enemy of abundant strength. It is not long, yet it places the proposition of “actual combat” back into concrete circumstances for examination: rather than empty talk about bravery, it reminds readers, in a situation where the enemy is strong and one is weak, to first assess the situation and then decide how to respond. As a single chapter in a military book, its value lies not in providing a universal formula but in presenting the way the ancients thought about battles—governing change with principles and restraining recklessness with caution. It is suitable as an entry point for readers interested in ancient military thought, and also for managers and enthusiasts of strategic games to reflect on judgments of strength and weakness in competition. When reading, one should stay close to the original context and avoid mechanically applying it without regard to its historical background.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Introductory readers interested in ancient military books and military thought
Managers who want to draw competitive strategy ideas from traditional military texts
General readers who enjoy short classical Chinese texts and are willing to read closely sentence by sentence
Thinkers interested in strength-weakness contests and situational judgment

Not a good fit for

Military professionals seeking a modern operational manual for warfare tactics
Readers hoping for a complete annotated translation of the entire Hundred Battles and Strange Strategies
Readers expecting long case stories or novel-like narrative

Reading tips

First read through once to grasp the general meaning, then read closely sentence by sentence with annotations and mark key principles.
After reading, summarize in your own words the core approach to “fighting a strong enemy” in no more than one hundred characters.
Reflect once by comparing it with a situation of strength-weakness contest at work or in life, and record what you learn.
If interested, read other chapters of Hundred Battles and Strange Strategies and compare the principles in different situations.

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
实战

FAQ

Is Practical Combat an independent book?

It is not an independent work. It is a military treatise recorded in the ancient Chinese military book Hundred Battles and Strange Strategies, presented here as a single chapter. Readers should understand it as an entry in a military book rather than a complete military monograph; for a systematic understanding, they also need to consult other chapters of Hundred Battles and Strange Strategies.

What principle does this military treatise mainly discuss?

According to the source material, this chapter aims to explain what guiding principles should be adopted when fighting an enemy of abundant strength, with its core being situational judgment and response ideas developed around “actual combat.” It emphasizes prudent decision-making when the enemy is strong rather than mere competition in bravery. Readers need to read the original text closely to appreciate the specific provisions.

Do I need a foundation in classical Chinese to read this?

Basic reading ability in classical Chinese will make it smoother, but it is not a hard threshold. It is advisable to first read through to grasp the general meaning, then use annotations to understand it sentence by sentence; do not insist on getting everything right the first time when encountering obscure places—repeatedly consulting the context is enough. General readers interested in ancient military thought can also draw inspiration from it.

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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.