Cherishing Battle

AnonymousBashu Publishing House · ChinaJun 2024

2.8

Word count: 322 words
Chapters: 3

Summary

The Art of Cherishing Troops is a treatise on military strategy recorded in the ancient Chinese book of warfare Baizhan Qilue (One Hundred Strategies for Warfare), and it sets out to explain the importance of a commander cherishing his troops. Here "cherishing" is synonymous with "bestowing kindness." It holds that in battle, the reason soldiers are willing to risk death by advancing rather than fall back in search of survival is that their commanders have habitually bestowed kindness upon them.

Editor's review

This short passage, taken from Baizhan Qilue, is devoted to the causal relationship between a commander's "cherishing his troops" and the soldiers' willingness to give their lives. It treats "kindness" as the psychological foundation of combat effectiveness, pointing out that soldiers' willingness to risk death by advancing rather than fall back in search of survival stems from the trust accumulated through the commander's habitual bestowal of kindness. Though brief, it sets out clearly the emotional investment in troop management and the behavioral choices on the battlefield, and serves as a suitable entry point for understanding the ancient military thought of "combining kindness with severity." Readers can use it to observe how traditional military culture turned interpersonal relationships into organizational执行力, and can also read it alongside sayings such as "regard the soldiers as infants" in The Art of War to appreciate how different military texts express the same proposition. When reading, it is best to place it back within the classificatory framework of Baizhan Qilue, pay attention to its way of giving examples and reasoning, and not treat it as an independent and complete treatise on strategy.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Introductory readers interested in ancient military thought
Military enthusiasts who need to understand traditional concepts of troop management
Readers engaged in management or team building who want to draw on the ancients' ideas about employing people

Not a good fit for

Military researchers expecting systematic strategic and tactical theory
Readers hoping to read a complete military text rather than a single selected passage

Reading tips

First read the original text through, then consult the relevant chapters of Baizhan Qilue to understand its place in the classification.
Read it alongside the passages in The Art of War that discuss a commander's cherishing of soldiers, and compare their ways of reasoning.
After reading, summarize in your own words the relationship between "kindness" and combat effectiveness 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
正文一
正文二

FAQ

Is The Art of Cherishing Troops a complete military text?

No. It is a short passage in Baizhan Qilue, developed around the theme of a commander cherishing his troops; its length is limited, and it cannot be equated with a complete military text.

What exactly does "cherishing" refer to in the text?

In the text, "cherishing" is synonymous with "kindness," referring to a commander's habitual bestowal of kindness on soldiers and building of trust, so that soldiers are willing to risk death by advancing on the battlefield.

Is this content suitable for direct application to modern management?

It should not be applied directly. It discusses superior-subordinate relations in ancient armies; modern management can draw on its idea of valuing the accumulation of trust, but this needs to be re-examined in light of the specific organizational environment.

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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.