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Six Secret Teachings, Tiger Teaching — Fighting with Fire六韜 火戰

Wujing Qishu (The Seven Military Classics) — the six besides the Sunzi 武經七書 · Ascribed to Jiang Taigong · ascribed to Huang Shigong · Wei Liao · Wu Qi · Sima Rangju · Li Jing · Warring States to Tang (4th century BC to 7th century AD) · 1 passages · 216 Chinese characters · reading time 0.9 min

Wujing Qishu (The Seven Military Classics) — the six besides the Sunzi Six Secret Teachings The six that remain when the Art of War of Sunzi is taken out of the seven military books the Song set as the texts for examining military officers. The Six Secret Teachings is sixty chapters of questions and answers in which King Wen and King Wu ask Taigong Wang, running from the governing of a state to chariots, cavalry, battle in the open and the crossing of water; the Three Strategies is three short books said to have been given to Zhang Liang by Huang Shigong; the Wei Liaozi is twenty-four chapters setting down in detail the military orders and the squads of five and ten around the time of Qin; the Wuzi is six chapters of Wu Qi's answers to Marquis Wu of Wei; the Methods of the Sima is five chapters handing down the military rites of before the Spring and Autumn period; and Questions and Replies with Li Weigong is three books in which Taizong of Tang and Li Jing go back and forth over the unorthodox and the orthodox, the empty and the full, the frontier peoples and the Han, and attack and defense. "Arms are an instrument of ill omen," "bring the enemy to you and do not be brought to him," and "a thousand chapters and ten thousand phrases do not go beyond that one phrase" all come from here. The remaining six streams of the military school, read after the Art of War, are gathered in one place.

1Fighting with fire — stand on the burnt black ground

武王問太公曰：「引兵深入諸侯之地，遇深草蓊穢，周吾軍前後左右。三軍行數百里，人馬疲倦休止。敵人因天燥疾風之利，燔吾上風，車騎銳士，堅伏吾後。三軍恐怖，散亂而走，為之奈何？」太公曰：「若此者，則以雲梯、飛樓，遠望左右，謹察前後。見火起，即燔吾前而廣延之，又燔吾後。敵人苟至，即引軍而卻，按黑地而堅處。敵人之來，猶在吾後，見火起必遠走。吾按黑地而處，強弩材士，衛吾左右，又燔吾前後。若此，則敵人不能害我。」武王曰：「敵人燔吾左右，又燔前後，煙覆吾軍，其大兵按黑地而起，為之奈何？」太公曰：「若此者，為四武衝陣，強弩翼吾左右，其法無勝亦無負。」

King Wu asked Taigong, "I lead the army deep into the land of the feudal lords and come upon deep grass grown rank and thick, closing round our army before and behind and on both sides. The three armies have marched some hundreds of li, and the men and horses are worn out and halt to rest. Then the enemy takes the advantage of dry weather and a fierce wind, sets fire upwind of us, and lays his chariots and horsemen and keen troops in a firm ambush at our back. The three armies are in terror and scatter and run. What is to be done?" Taigong said, "At such a time use the cloud ladders and the flying towers to look far off to left and right, and watch before and behind with care. When you see the fire rise, at once burn the ground before us and let the burning spread wide, and burn the ground behind us as well. If the enemy comes, draw the army back, set foot on the black burnt ground and hold your place firmly. The enemy is still at our back as he comes, and when he sees the fire rise he is sure to run far off. We hold the black ground, with strong crossbows and able men guarding our left and right, and we burn the ground before us and behind us too. Do this, and the enemy cannot harm us." King Wu said, "The enemy burns the ground to left and right of us and burns before and behind as well; the smoke covers our army, and his main force sets foot on the black ground and rises against us. What is to be done?" Taigong said, "At such a time draw up the four-sided martial assault formation, and let strong crossbows wing our left and right. By that method there is neither winning nor losing."

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