Types of War Equipment

AnonymousBashu Publishing House · ChinaJun 2024

3.4

Word count: 5.9K words
Chapters: 2

Summary

The Classics say: "Those skilled in defense hide beneath the ninefold earth; those skilled in attack move above the ninefold heaven." What men cannot see is called the ninefold earth; what their sight cannot reach is called the ninefold heaven. Thus Mo Di, with a belt as a rampart, left Gongshu no way to use his cloud-ladder's cunning. So it is said: the skilled defender leaves the enemy unsure what to attack; the skilled attacker leaves the enemy unsure what to defend. To defend and surely hold is to defend where the enemy does not attack; to attack and surely take is to attack where the enemy does not defend. Sun Wu said: "Prepare weapons and equipment, and in three months they are ready. Raise ramparts and walls, and in three months they are done." The implements of attack and defense differ between ancient and modern times; now I select those suited to practical use and employ them.

Editor's review

Zhanju Lei gathers essential passages from ancient military texts on the implements and principles of attack and defense. It opens with the famous line "The skilled defender hides beneath the ninefold earth; the skilled attacker moves above the ninefold heaven," then uses the tales of Mo Di's defense and Gongshu's cloud-ladder to show how offensive and defensive devices counter and generate one another. The text stresses the dialectical idea of "attacking where the enemy does not defend and defending where the enemy does not attack," and cites Sun Wu's remark that "preparing weapons and equipment takes three months" to underscore the time and importance of equipment preparation and fortification. This Bashu Shushe edition of 2024 collects such scattered materials into one volume, making it easy for readers to survey ancient offensive and defensive devices and principles of warfare. Its strength lies not in detailing dimensions or craftsmanship but in principled discussion, concise and to the point; it can be read alongside the city-defense chapters of the Mozi and the attack-and-defense sections of The Art of War. It suits readers interested in ancient military-technical thought as topical browsing, and serves as an auxiliary reader for military literature.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in ancient military thought and the tactics of attack and defense
Students seeking background on weapons and equipment while reading Sunzi and Mozi
General readers who enjoy short compilations of military learning for casual dipping

Not a good fit for

Readers seeking a systematic study of ancient weapon forms and manufacturing techniques
Military historians expecting complete military treatises or detailed battle analyses

Reading tips

Read the opening general discussion of attack and defense first, then compare it with the attack-and-defense chapters of The Art of War.
When encountering allusions such as Mo Di and Gongshu, consult the relevant chapters of the Mozi for background.
Extract the principled statements and set them against specific battles to test your understanding.

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
卷四

FAQ

What exactly do "ninefold earth" and "ninefold heaven" mean?

The text explains itself: what men cannot see is called the ninefold earth; what their sight cannot reach is the ninefold heaven. These are figurative expressions for concealment in defense and speed in attack, stressing that the skilled defender hides deeply and the skilled attacker strikes unexpectedly; they are not fixed geographical or astronomical concepts.

Does this book cover the actual making of weapons?

From the given text, this chapter focuses on principles of attack and defense and on the importance of preparing equipment; it cites Sun Wu's "preparing weapons and equipment takes three months" to show the weight of such work, without detailing dimensions or craftsmanship. For specifics of form and manufacture, consult specialized technical literature.

What is its relation to The Art of War?

The text directly quotes Sun Wu, and its dialectical thinking on attack and defense is akin to that in The Art of War. It can be seen as a later compilation and extension of the principles of attack and defense in military learning; reading it alongside the original makes the line of transmission clearer.

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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.