Sun Tzu puts forward five rules to predict victory: judging battle timing, deploying troops properly, uniting all ranks, staying fully prepared and letting capable generals command freely without royal interference.
Generals are vital to a state. Rulers may ruin the army by wrongly ordering advances or retreats, interfering in military affairs and commands. Confused troops will invite enemy attacks and lead to defeat.
–Mao Zedong, September 9, 1961 Amid dusk’s haze stands the strong pine,Through wild cloud surges, calm it doth shine.A cave of immortals by nature’s design –All grandest sights on perilous peak align.
–Mao Zedong, 1935 High hills, long roads, deep ravines lie;Our mighty army surges far and nigh.Who dares stand sword in hand, steed astride?None but our General Peng, with fearless pride! Note Composed in October 1935, right after the Battle of Wuqi Town (the “Cutting the Tail” battle) during the Long March. This was the…
The Master said, “The noble person (Confucian gentleman) is easy to work with but hard to please. If you try to please him in ways that violate the Way (Dao), he will not be pleased; yet when he employs others, he uses them according to their abilities. The petty person is hard to work…
This article recounts the legendary test of discipline by Sun Tzu in the State of Wu. To prove his military philosophy – that “with true discipline, even women can fight” – Sun Tzu was given 150 palace maids to train. When the women, led by the King’s favorite concubines, treated the drills as a…
In the novel “Romance of the Three Kingdoms,” Guan Yu is one of the most renowned military generals. It can be argued that Guan Yu essentially stands as the top general throughout half of the epic, as other elite warriors exited the historical stage early. For instance, Sun Jian died from an arrow wound…
When discussing the military hierarchy of Dong Zhuo’s regime, it is essential to look beyond the romanticized narrative of Luo Guanzhong’s Romance of the Three Kingdoms and consult the more sober accounts of historical records such as Chen Shou’s Records of the Three Kingdoms and Fan Ye’s Book of the Later Han.