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六韜

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Text ID
KR3b0002
Date
-350–-100
Dynasty
周

Liù tāo 六韜

The Six Sheath-Sleeves attributed to 呂望 (Lǚ Wàng — Tàigōng 太公, ca. 1100–1015 BCE in legend; the work is conventionally Warring States or early Hàn in actual composition, 周, 撰)

About the work

A six-juan classical military treatise, traditionally attributed to Lǚ Wàng (Tàigōng) of the early Zhōu but in actual form a Warring States or Hàn-period compilation. The six juan correspond to the six 韜 (tāo, “sheath-sleeves” — covering: Wén tāo 文韜 (civil arts), Wǔ tāo 武韜 (martial arts), Lóng tāo 龍韜, Hǔ tāo 虎韜, Bào tāo 豹韜, Quǎn tāo 犬韜 — the latter four named for the ancestral animal-banners of the four military divisions). The work’s authentic pre-Qín / Warring States nucleus has been confirmed by the Yínquèshān 銀雀山 bamboo-strip find (1972), which preserved fragmentary Liù tāo passages dating to the 2nd c. BCE — establishing the work as substantially pre-Hàn in origin. Within the Sòng-period Wǔ jīng qī shū 武經七書 canonisation (under Shénzōng, 1080), the Liù tāo is one of the seven canonical military classics.

Abstract

The Liù tāo is one of the seven Wǔ jīng qī shū canonical military classics. Composition window: bracketed by Warring States (post-350 BCE) through Hàn (pre-100 BCE), with the Yínquèshān find establishing pre-2nd-c.-BCE composition for at least the nucleus. The frontmatter brackets to ca. -350 to -100. Traditional attribution to Tàigōng is universally rejected by post-Sòng critical bibliography.

The substantive content covers a wider range than the focused Sūnzǐ bīngfǎ — including civil-government chapters (Wén tāo) alongside the strictly military Wǔ tāo and the four animal-named tāo on tactics, deployment, terrain and special operations.

The bibliographic record: Hàn shū yìwén zhì (records Tàigōng 237 篇 — including Móu 81 piān, Yán 71 piān, Bīng 85 piān); Suí shū jīngjí zhì (Liù tāo 6 juan, attributed to Tàigōng); Wǔ jīng qī shū canonisation (1080); SKQS Zǐbù — Bīngjiā lèi.

Translations and research

  • Ralph D. Sawyer, The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China, Westview, 1993 — the standard English translation, including the Liù tāo.
  • Robin D. S. Yates, “New Light on Ancient Chinese Military Texts: Notes on Their Nature and Evolution and the Development of Military Specialization in Warring States China”, T’oung Pao 74 (1988) — major treatment.
  • Yín-què-shān 銀雀山 bamboo-strip studies — for the recovered text.
  • Standard modern Chinese editions integrate Yín-què-shān variants.

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