The following are the oldest Chinese treatises on war, after Sun Tzǔ . The notes on each have been drawn principally from the 西庫全書簡明目錄 Ssǔ kʽu chʽüan shu chien ming mu lu , ch. 9, fol. 22 sqq.
吳子 Wu Tzǔ , in 1 chüan or 6 篇 chapters. By 吳起 Wu Chʽi ( d. 381 BC ). A genuine work. See Shih Chi , ch. 65.
司馬法 Ssǔ-ma Fa , in 1 chüan or 5 chapters. Wrongly attributed to 司馬穰苴 Ssǔ-ma Jang-chü of the 6th century BC . Its date, however, must be early, as the customs of the three ancient dynasties are constantly to be met within its pages. 158 See Shih Chi , ch. 64.
The Ssǔ Kʽu Chʽüan Shu ( ch. 99, f. 1) remarks that the oldest three treatises on war, Sun Tzǔ , Wu Tzǔ and Ssǔ-ma Fa , are, generally speaking, only concerned with things strictly military—the art of producing, collecting, training and drilling troops, and the correct theory with regard to measures of expediency, laying plans, transport of goods and the handling of soldiers 159 —in strong contrast to later works, in which the science of war is usually blended with metaphysics, divination and magical arts in general.
六韜 Liu Tʽao , in 6 chüan , or 60 chapters. Attributed to 呂望 Lü Wang (or Lü 尚 Shang , also known as 太公 Tʽai Kung ) of the 12th century BC . 160 But its style does not belong to the era of the Three Dynasties. 161 陸德明 Lu Tê-ming (550–625 AD ) mentions the work, and enumerates the headings of the six sections, 文 , 武 , 虎 , 豹 , 龍 and 犬 , so that the forgery cannot have been later than Sui dynasty.
尉繚子 Wei Liao Tzǔ , in 5 chüan . Attributed to Wei Liao (4th cent. BC ), who studied under the famous 鬼谷子 Kuei-ku Tzǔ . The 漢志 , under 兵家 , mentions a book of Wei Liao in 31 chapters, whereas the text we possess contains only 24. Its matter is sound enough in the main, though the strategical devices differ considerably from those of the Warring States period. 162 It is been furnished with a commentary by the well-known Sung philosopher 張載 Chang Tsai .
三略 San Lüeh in 3 chüan . Attributed to 黃石公 Huang-shih Kung , a legendary personage who is said to have bestowed it on Chang Liang ( d. 187 BC ) in an interview on a bridge. 163 But here again, the style is not that of works dating from the Chʽin or Han period. The Han Emperor Kuang Wu (25–57 AD ) apparently quotes from it in one of his proclamations; but the passage in question may have been inserted later on, in order to prove the genuineness of the work. We shall not be far out if we refer it to the Northern Sung period (420–478 AD ), or somewhat earlier. 164
李衛公問對 Li Wei Kung Wên Tui , in 3 sections. Written in the form of a dialogue between Tʽai Tsung and his great general 李靖 Li Ching , it is usually ascribed to the latter. Competent authorities consider it a forgery, though the author was evidently well versed in the art of war. 165
李靖兵法 Li Ching Ping Fa (not to be confounded with the foregoing) is a short treatise in 8 chapters, preserved in the Tʽung Tien , but not published separately. This fact explains its omission from the Ssǔ Kʽu Chʽüan Shu .
握奇經 Wu Chʽi Ching , 166 in 1 chüan . Attributed to the legendary minister 風后 Fêng Hou , with exegetical notes by 公孫宏 Kung-sun Hung of the Han dynasty ( d. 121 BC ), and said to have been eulogized by the celebrated general 馬隆 Ma Lung ( d. 300 AD ). Yet the earliest mention of it is in the 宋志 . Although a forgery, the work is well put together. 167
Considering the high popular estimation in which 諸葛亮 Chu-ko Liang has always been held, it is not surprising to find more than one work on war ascribed to his pen. Such are (1) the 十六策 Shih Liu Tsʽê (1 chüan ), preserved in the 永樂大典 Yung Lo Ta Tien ; (2) 將苑 Chiang Yüan (1 chüan ); and (3) 心書 Hsin Shu (1 chüan ), which steals wholesale from Sun Tzǔ . None of these has the slightest claim to be considered genuine.
Most of the large Chinese encyclopedias contain extensive sections devoted to the literature of war. The following references may be found useful:—
通典 Tʽung Tien (circa 800 AD ), ch. 148–162
太平御覧 Tʽai Pʽing Yu Lan (983), ch. 270–35.
文獻通考 Wen Hsien Tung Kʽao (13th cent.), ch. 221.
玉海 Yu Hai (13th cent.), ch. 140, 141.
三才圖會 San Tsʽai Tʽu Hui (16th cent), 人事 ch. 7, 8.
廣博物志 Kuang Po Wu Chih (1607), ch. 31, 32.
潛確類書 Chʽien Chʽüeh Lei Shu (1632), ch. 75.
淵鑑類函 Yüan Chien Lei Han (1710), ch. 206–229
古今圖書集成 Ku Chin Tʽu Shu Chi Chʽeng (1726), section XXX , esp. ch. 81–90
續文獻通考 Hsu Wen Hsien Tʽung Kʽao (1784), ch. 121–134
皇朝經世文編 Huang Chʽao Ching Shih Wen Pien (1826), ch. 76, 77.
The bibliographical sections of certain historical works also deserve mention:—
前漢書 Chʽien Han Shu , ch. 30.
隋書 Sui Shu , ch. 32–35
舊唐書 Chiu Tʽang Shu , ch. 46, 47.
新唐書 Hsin Tʽang Shu , ch. 57,60.
宋史 Sung Shih , ch. 202–209
通志 Tʽung Chih (circa 1150), ch. 68.
To these of course must be added the great Catalogue of the Imperial Library:—
四庫全書總目提要 Ssǔ Kʽu Chʽüan Shu Tsung Mu Tʽi Yao (1790), ch. 99, 100.