Orderly Warfare

AnonymousBashu Publishing House · ChinaJun 2024

3.0

Word count: 252 words
Chapters: 2

Summary

This book is a chapter on the art of war recorded in the ancient Chinese military text Hundred Battles, Hundred Stratagems, and it sets out the guiding principles to be grasped when fighting an enemy whose ranks are strictly ordered. It holds that in battle, if one encounters an enemy whose formations are well ordered and whose soldiers are calm, one must not rashly join battle with them; one should wait until a change occurs in the enemy and then seize the moment to attack, and thus defeat them. Here it quotes “Do not intercept the properly ordered banners” from The Art of War. Intercept means block; properly ordered describes a state of neatness and strictness. The whole sentence means that one should not intercept an enemy whose banners are neat and whose ranks are strict. Evidently, this chapter, based on Sunzi’s thought, through its discussion of the problem of fighting an enemy whose formations are strictly ordered, further reveals the practical value of the important operational principles of avoiding the strong and striking the weak and adapting to changes in order to control the enemy. During the Three Kingdoms period, the campaign in Liaodong in which the Wei general Sima Yi pacified Gongsun Yuan is a successful example that well embodies the above guiding principles.

Editor's review

This book centers on the chapter “Strict Battle” in Hundred Battles, Hundred Stratagems, and its core is the discussion of operational principles when facing an enemy whose formations are strictly ordered and whose soldiers are calm. It quotes “Do not intercept the properly ordered banners” from The Art of War, explaining that one must not rashly block an enemy whose banners are neat and whose ranks are strict, but should wait for a change to occur and then seek an opportunity to attack, embodying the ideas of avoiding the strong and striking the weak and adapting to changes in order to control the enemy. The material also cites Sima Yi’s Liaodong campaign against Gongsun Yuan as a successful example, allowing the principle and the specific military events to corroborate each other. The book is concise and well suited as an entry point for thematic reading on ancient military strategy, and it is also convenient for enthusiasts of military history to understand the relationship between “strictness” and “change.” When reading, one can compare the principle, the quotation, and the campaign example in order to appreciate the way ancient military texts use brevity to master complexity.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Beginning readers interested in ancient Chinese military strategy
Middle school readers in need of short military history materials
Enthusiasts studying principles related to The Art of War
Readers who like to understand tactical thought through campaign examples

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting a complete annotated translation of the entire Hundred Battles, Hundred Stratagems
Military researchers seeking systematic modern theories of war
Readers who prefer lengthy campaign details and abundant maps

Reading tips

First read the main text of this chapter, then compare it with the original line from The Art of War to understand “Do not intercept the properly ordered banners”
When reading the example of Sima Yi’s campaign against Gongsun Yuan, mark the key moments for waiting for the enemy to change and for choosing the time to attack
One may make brief notes placing “Strict Battle” together with the principles of avoiding the strong and striking the weak and adapting to changes in order to control the enemy
After reading, return to the title “Strict Battle” and summarize its core warning in your own words

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
整战

FAQ

What is the chapter “Strict Battle” mainly about?

According to the material, this chapter discusses how to fight an enemy whose formations are strictly ordered and whose soldiers are calm. The key point is not to join battle rashly or block them, but to wait for the enemy to change and then seize the opportunity to attack, embodying the principles of avoiding the strong and striking the weak and adapting to changes in order to control the enemy.

How should the quoted line “Do not intercept the properly ordered banners” be understood?

The material explains it as not intercepting an enemy whose banners are neat and whose ranks are strict. Intercept means block, and properly ordered describes neatness and strictness. It emphasizes that when facing a disciplined, strictly ordered enemy, one should not clash head-on but should observe changes and look for an opening.

What role does Sima Yi’s campaign against Gongsun Yuan play?

The material presents this campaign as a successful case embodying the principle of “Strict Battle.” When reading, one can focus on how the campaign judged the enemy’s condition, how it waited for change, and how it chose the timing of attack, thereby grounding the abstract principle in specific military events.

Is this book suitable to be used directly as an introductory text on military strategy?

It centers on a single chapter and is concise, making it suitable as an entry point for understanding Hundred Battles, Hundred Stratagems and ancient military principles. But if one wants to study military strategy systematically, it should be supplemented with the original text of The Art of War and other campaign materials; one should not rely on a single chapter to summarize all military thought.

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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.