Three Strategies of Huang Shigong
Three Strategies of Huang Shigong | |
---|---|
Hanyu Pinyin | Huáng Shígōng Sān Lüè |
Yue: Cantonese | |
Jyutping | wong4 sek6 gung1 saam1 loek6 |
Middle Chinese | |
Middle Chinese | /ɦwɑŋ d͡ʑiᴇk̚ kuŋ sɑm lɨɐk̚/ |
Old Chinese | |
Zhengzhang | /*ɡʷaːŋ djaɡ kloːŋ suːm ɡ·raɡ/ |
Chinese military texts |
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The Three Strategies of Huang Shigong is a treatise on military strategy that was historically associated with the Taoist hermit
Content
As its title would suggest, the Three Strategies of Huang Shigong is organized into three sections, which can be interpreted as a hierarchy of importance or as simple indicators of position in the work. The work itself states that all three types of strategy are necessary for different styles of government. Much of the work is concerned with administrative control, but some important tactical concepts are also developed. Generals are placed in a high position, and must be unquestioned once they assume command. Attacks should be swift and decisive.[2]
There are three points that have to be mastered:
- Alternate hard and soft approaches. This means a leader must be both benevolent and awe-inspiring according to what is appropriate. This links to the second principle:
- Act according to the actual circumstances. Avoid responses which are based on imagination, memory of the past, or habits acquired in other circumstances. You must rely only on observation and perception and be willing to modify plans at any time.
- Employ only the capable. This requires an accurate insight into others.
Each of these principles has deep and various implications.[3]
Philosophical and Administrative Focus
Many of the themes and ideas present in the Three Strategies are similar to those found in the other Seven Military Classics. The text contains almost no direct emphasis on battlefield strategy and tactics, instead focusing on logistical concerns: "concepts of government, the administration of forces; the unification of the people; the characteristics of a capable general; methods of nurturing a sound material foundation; motivation of subordinates and the soldiers; implementing rewards and punishments"; and, how to foster majesty via the balance between hard and soft administrative practices.[4]
Philosophically, the book is a synthesis of
Military Theory
The sections of the Three Strategies which directly discuss military strategy and tactics emphasize quality generalship, swiftness, authority, the integration and balance of available forces, and the relationship between hard and soft tactics. The text supports the view that, once a general assumes command, his authority must be absolute. The commander must be emotionally controlled and never display doubt or indecision. He should be receptive to advice and constructive criticism, but his decisions must ultimately be unquestioned.[6]
The text agrees with
The general must cultivate his sense of awesomeness by rigorously, severely, and systematically employing a well-known, public system of rewards and punishments. It is only when such a system is unquestioned that the commander's awesomeness and majesty will be established. Without a system of rewards and punishments, the commander will lose the allegiance of his men, and his orders will be publicly ignored and disparaged.[7]
The author confirms the Daoist belief that the soft and weak can overcome the hard and strong, and extends this belief to military strategy and tactics. The Three Strategies teaches that an army must adopt a low, passive posture when not directly engaged in action, in order to prevent becoming brittle, exposed, and easily overcome. The text assumes that the employment of both hard and soft tactics must be utilized by a successful army, in order to achieve the desired levels of unpredictability and flexible deployment.[8]
History and authorship
Like the
Traditional Perspective
The Three Strategies achieved its place in the canon of Chinese military writings through its historical relationship with the early Han general
Scholars who believe the traditional account of the Three Strategies' transmission trace its origins directly back to the Taigong, assuming that it was written after the Six Secret Teachings, after Jiang Ziya was enfeoffed as Duke of Qi. This theory assumes that the old man who gave the book to Zhang must have been a descendant of Jiang and/or a retired scholar of the recently conquered
Alternative Perspectives
An alternative interpretation to the traditional theory is that the work was the product of the Taigong's disciples, growing and evolving around a core of material dating from antiquity until finally being compiled and revised shortly before Qi's conquest by Qin, in 221 BC. A third theory is that, rather than having anything to do with the Taigong, Huang Shigong simply wrote the work himself shortly before giving it to Zhang Liang. Supposedly, this accounts for the book's nominal early-Han Dynasty Daoist perspective. Another theory, historically identified with conservative literati in late Chinese history, is that the work is a forgery dating from the
Most Probable Perspective?
A final theory holds that the Three Strategies dates from the late Western Han Dynasty (206 BC - 9 AD), around the year 1 AD, and that it is a product of the now-extinct Huang-Lao school of Daoism. This theory assumes that the work transmitted to Zhang Liang was not the present Three Strategies, but was actually the Six Secret Teachings. (The work presently known as the Three Strategies of Huang Shigong was supposedly known as the Records of Huang Shigong until the Sui dynasty, accounting for this confusion). According to this theory, the late composition date accounts for the numerous references to political circumstances (powerful families usurping power; government affairs in an age of peace; and, philosophical syncretism organized around Huang-Lao concepts) and the advanced use of characters found in the text. In the absence of contrary archaeological evidence, many modern scholars consider this final theory to be the most probable.[14]
See also
- Qin Dynasty
- State of Qi
- Jiang Ziya
- Lingqijing
References
- ISBN 0-8133-1228-0.
- ^ Sawyer (1993) pp. 289-291
- ^ Cultural China "Three Strategies of Huang Shigong - One of the Seven Military Classic of Ancient China". Web. January 10, 2011. Retrieved from [1]
- ISBN 978-0-465-00304-4.
- ^ Sawyer (2007) pp. 284-286.
- ^ a b Sawyer (2007) p. 289.
- ^ Sawyer (2007) p. 290.
- ^ Sawyer (2007) p. 290-291.
- ^ Sawyer (1993) pp. 281-289
- ^ Sawyer (2007) p. 281-283
- ^ Sawyer (2007) p. 483
- ^ Sawyer (2007) pp. 282-283
- ^ Sawyer (2007) p. 283
- ^ Sawyer (2007) pp. 283-284, 484