Victorious Warfare

AnonymousBashu Publishing House · ChinaSep 2024

3.7

Word count: 316 words
Chapters: 2

Summary

Titled "Victorious War," this piece follows "Unconventional Warfare" and further discusses how to prevent arrogance and laxity after winning a battle. It holds that in combat against the enemy, if one has won a victory, one must not become arrogant and indolent; rather, one should intensify war preparations day and night to guard against enemy attack. In this way, even if the enemy comes to attack, one will not suffer defeat. This chapter quotes the phrase "victorious as if not victorious" from the Methods of the Sima, meaning that after winning a battle one should behave as if one had not won. Its essence is to warn people to be on guard against and prevent the breeding of arrogant and indolent sentiments after victory. "A proud army is bound to be defeated"—this is an objective truth of military struggle. The practical experience of wars ancient and modern proves that no army has ever avoided defeat in battle while its commanders were arrogant and its soldiers indolent. Especially after winning a battle, if victory is not treated correctly, it is often easy to become arrogant, and from arrogance comes indolence, and from indolence comes relaxed vigilance, and in the end one is inevitably seized upon by the enemy and victory turns into defeat. Therefore, whether after a victory one can maintain the thinking and attitude of "victorious as if not victorious" is an important criterion for judging whether a commander has deep foresight. This chapter develops its discussion precisely from this point.

Editor's review

"Victorious War" is a short, incisive piece of ancient military thought whose core proposition is "victorious as if not victorious": after winning a battle, one should behave as if one had not won. Starting from the ease with which arrogance and indolence arise after victory, the chapter points out that arrogance leads to indolence, indolence to relaxed vigilance, and ultimately to being seized upon by the enemy and turning victory into defeat; it therefore advocates that even after victory one should still intensify war preparations day and night. Its value lies in turning the military commonplace that "a proud army is bound to be defeated" into a warning line for self-examination, supported by a quotation from the Methods of the Sima, so that the argument rests on authority. Though brief, it sets out clearly the transformative relationship between victory and defeat, and is well suited as an entry point to the theme of "vigilance in times of peace" in military thought. When reading, it may be compared with relevant passages in The Art of War, and it may also be treated as an ancient mirror for handling the mindset after success; it should not, however, be regarded as a concrete tactical manual.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in ancient military thought and the Methods of the Sima
Managers seeking lessons on vigilance in times of peace and guarding against arrogance and indolence from the classics
Teachers and students needing short classical Chinese military texts for classroom discussion

Not a good fit for

Readers looking for concrete operational plans or modern military tactics
Those who only wish to read long, systematic military treatises and have no patience for short classical Chinese texts

Reading tips

First grasp the phrase "victorious as if not victorious," then review how the author moves from arrogance, indolence, and relaxed vigilance to defeat.
Read it alongside passages in The Art of War on guarding against arrogance and preparing against danger, and compare the two ways of argument.
After reading, write a few lines of reflection on an experience of slackening after success, and bring the chapter's meaning into your own life.

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
胜战

FAQ

What does "victorious as if not victorious" mean?

It means that after winning a battle one should behave as if one had not won, and not become arrogant or indolent because of victory. The chapter quotes this phrase from the Methods of the Sima to explain that after victory one must still intensify war preparations day and night, remain vigilant, and avoid the slide from arrogance to indolence to defeat.

Is this suitable for reading directly as a military manual?

It is a short essay in military thought, focusing on the mindset after victory and the principle of war preparation; it is not a set of concrete tactical regulations. Readers may treat it as an entry point to understanding the ancient notion that "a proud army is bound to be defeated," and read it alongside The Art of War and similar works, but should not expect operational plans that can be copied directly.

Why is it said that the period after a victory is more dangerous?

The chapter holds that after winning a battle one easily becomes arrogant, and from arrogance comes indolence, and from indolence comes relaxed vigilance, so the enemy may seize the opportunity to attack and turn victory into defeat. Therefore, whether one can maintain the attitude of "victorious as if not victorious" after victory is regarded as a sign of whether a commander has deep foresight.

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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.