The name of this book is "Tai Gong's Art of War", also known as "Six Tao", "Tai Gong's Six Tao" and "Su Shu". This book is a collection of pre-Qin military thoughts. It has a great influence on the military thoughts of future generations and is known as the ancestor of military strategy. According to legend, it was written by Taigong, and some people think it was written by later generations.
The content of this book, in terms of military affairs, advocates "fighting chaos and prohibiting violence", "going to war without fighting", and emphasizing "knowledge". "He knows himself", "Secretly detects the enemy's opportunities", "I am invisible to others", "I am weak to the enemy in advance".
War leaders are required to "make endless changes and seek unexpected benefits" and to use various strategies and tactics flexibly.
We believe that the most important thing in combat is the change of surprise and change. For siege, it believes that the best way is to encircle and reinforce the enemy and force the enemy to surrender.
Pay attention to the impact of terrain and weather on tactics.
It summarizes the respective combat methods of infantry, vehicles, and cavalry as well as the coordinated tactics of various arms.
Attach great importance to the organization and equipment of the troops, describe in detail the personnel composition and respective responsibilities of the ancient command organs, and put forward the principle of forming separate formations according to the strengths of the soldiers.
It attaches great importance to secret communications in the military and describes the methods and methods of secret communications in the ancient military.
Attach great importance to the cultivation and selection of generals, believing that "the safety of the country depends on the generals." Generals must not only be familiar with strategies and tactics, know how to advance and retreat, attack and defend, and win by surprise, but also know how to control chaos, rise and fall, and be able to cooperate with others. Soldiers share joys and sorrows, and are safe and sound. He also proposed eight methods for inspecting generals, the so-called "Eight Signs."
In terms of military philosophy, "Six Tao" has simple materialist ideas.
On the one hand, it opposes the superstitious activities of witchcraft and divination and lists it as one of the "seven evils" that must be banned. On the other hand, it advocates using destiny, ghosts and gods to confuse the enemy. He has a simple dialectical thought, initially recognized the opposition and transformation of contradictions, and put forward the important dialectical thought of "going against the grain", which is an important contribution to ancient dialectical thought. Many of its military thoughts are based on this idea, such as "What survives does not exist because it is worried about death; what is happy is not happy because it worries about disaster", "Great wisdom is not wise, great planning is not good, great courage is not If you are not brave, you will be unfavorable to the big gains." "If you are too strong, you will be defeated, if you are too open, you will be short-lived."