| Wubei Zhi | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 武備志 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 武备志 | ||||||
| Literal meaning | military preparation records | ||||||
| |||||||
| Chinese military texts |
|---|
TheWubei Zhi (Chinese:武備志;Treatise on Armament Technology orRecords of Armaments and Military Provisions) is a military book inChinese history. It was compiled in 1621 byMao Yuanyi [zh] （茅元儀Máo Yuányí; 1594–1640?), an officer of waterborne troops in theMing dynasty. TheWubei Zhi contains 240 volumes, 10,405 pages, and more than 200,000Chinese characters.
It should not be confused with the Bubishi (Japanese: 武備志), which is a document on the martial arts techniques ofWhite Crane fist andKarate.[1][2][3]
Wubei Zhi consists of five sections, "Bing Jue Ping", "Zhan Lue Kao", "Zhen Lian Zhi", "Jun Zi Sheng", and "Zhan Du Zai".
Containing 18 chapters, this section includes military theories from significant figures including, but not limited to,Sun Tzu. Some of these theories date back to the last years of theEastern Zhou dynasty, more than 1,800 years before the editor.
This section consists of 31 chapters, and describes more than 600 specific examples of battles that took place between theEastern Zhou dynasty and theYuan dynasty. Among these are theBattle of Maling andBattle of Red Cliffs, the latter of which is a classic example of defeating an overpowering enemy.
This section of the book contains 41 chapters. It contains different methods of training troops, including infantry, cavalry, and chariots, as well as individual martial arts training with different weapons such as the spear andDao.
This section is divided into 55 categories, covering a variety of contents related to wartime logistics, such as marching, encampments, troops arrays, transmitting orders, attacking and defending cities, and provision of food, weapons, healthcare, and transportation, among others.
In this section, which is 96 chapters long, the author discusses aspects of weather and geographic features that are related to combat, as well as traditional Chinese methods of divination, formation, and finally, marine navigation. Included into this section is the so-called "Mao Kun map", the unique surviving map representing the Pacific and Indian Ocean shipping routes used by the fleets ofZheng He.[4]
Being known as "a military encyclopedia in ancient China",Wubei Zhi is one of the most influential works in Chinese history on warfare. It is a rare source of many maps and weapon designs, and contributed enormously to its various chapters' corresponding areas. It also provides an account of ancient Chinese military theories and Chinese militarists' thoughts.[5]
