Qi Jiguang's Military Strategy

Author: Zhao Haijun
Commentary
Publisher:
Publication Date: 1997-12-01
Features: Qi Jiguang continued to write despite his busy military career. His extensive writings have left behind an invaluable cultural heritage for later generations. In terms of military treatises, he authored multiple works, including the 18-volume and 14-volume editions of Jixiao Xinshu (New Book of Military Effectiveness), Lianbing Shizhi (Practical Records of Military Training), Lei Jie Xunli Bingzhu (Collected Exercises on Military Training), Hong Shangshu Chongbu Qi Shaowang Nanbei Pingding Lue (Supplement to Qi Shaowang’s Northern and Southern Pacification Records by Hong Shangshu), and Li Jie Yao Lue (Essential Precepts for Military Governance). Among these, the most influential is Jixiao Xinshu, written during the Southern Resistance to Japanese Invasion period; Lianbing Shizhi, during the military training in Jizhen; and the 14-volume edition of Jixiao Xinshu, completed after he was transferred to Guangdong in his later years. It is a revision of the 18-volume edition of Jixiao Xinshu, delving deeper into the essence of Lianbing Shizhi, and presents more refined and concentrated content, embodying the author’s military thought. Due to various reasons, this military classic was published multiple times during the Ming Dynasty but gradually became obscure after the Qing Dynasty. This annotated edition is titled Qi Jiguang’s Military Methods. Except for the removal of illustrations, tables, and some weapon training methods, it largely preserves the original form of the book. During collation, obvious errors and omissions were corrected based on the 18-volume edition of Jixiao Xinshu and Lianbing Shizhi, without further explanation. Variant characters and traditional characters were uniformly converted to simplified characters, while homophones were left unchanged. For those difficult to understand for general readers, annotations were provided.