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銀雀山漢簡《尉繚子》

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Text ID
KR3b0026
Date
-350–-200
Dynasty
周

Yínquèshān Hànjiǎn WèiLiáozǐ 銀雀山漢簡《尉繚子》

Yinqueshan Bamboo-Slip Weiliaozi attributed to 尉繚 (Wèi Liáo, Warring States, 周; attributed 撰)

About the work

The Yínquèshān 銀雀山 bamboo-slip version of the Wèiliáozǐ 尉繚子, preserved in five numbered chapters (piān). The slips were excavated in April 1972 from Tomb No. 1 at Yínquèshān, Línyí 臨沂, Shandong — the same tomb that yielded the Sūnzǐ bīngfǎ (KR3b0024), Sūn Bìn bīngfǎ (KR3b0025), Liù tāo (KR3b0027), and Shǒufǎ shǒulìng (KR3b0028). The tomb is dated to ca. 140–118 BCE (early reign of Hàn Wǔdì).

This file presents the five Yínquèshān Wèiliáozǐ chapters, which were organized with numbered headings (yī 一 through wǔ 五) in lieu of the chapter titles preserved in the received 24-chapter edition. The five chapter names reconstructed by the Yínquèshān editorial team (partly tentative, marked with 〔 〕) are: Zhìtán 治談 (Discussion of Governance), Bīngquán 兵權 (Military Authority), 〔Shǒuquán〕 守權 (Maintaining Authority), 〔Jiànglǐ〕 將理 (Principles for Generals), and 〔Yuánguān〕 原官 (Origins of Officials). These correspond partially — but not always by the same names — to chapters in the received 24-chapter Wèiliáozǐ.

The content of the first chapter (Zhìtán / 一) discusses the relationship between city-building, governance, and different levels of military effectiveness: “Military victory at court [cháotíng 朝廷], at mourning ceremonies [sāngjì 喪紀], at public works [tǔgōng 土功], at markets [shìjǐng 市井] — victory without raising armor is the ruler’s victory; victory in formation is the ruler’s victory; victory in battle is the minister’s victory” (兵勝於朝廷，勝於喪紀，勝於土功，勝於市井。睪甲而勝，主勝也。陳而勝，主勝也。戰勝，臣□也). This passage expresses the Wèiliáozǐ’s characteristic argument that the deepest form of military strength derives from sound governance rather than from battlefield prowess. Later sections address morale and command unity (二), siege defense (三), governance principles (四), and the virtues of righteous kingship (五).

Prefaces

This is an excavated bamboo-slip text; it carries no traditional preface or postface.

Abstract

The five Yínquèshān Wèiliáozǐ chapters are a critically important early witness to a military classic that had long been suspected of being a post-Hàn forgery. The pre-modern bibliographic record is complicated: the Hàn shū yìwén zhì lists two works named Wèi Liáo — a 29-chapter version in the Zájia (Miscellaneous Masters) category and a 31-chapter version under Bīng xíngshì (Military Topography). The received text has 24 chapters. Qīng scholars and some earlier commentators argued that the received Wèiliáozǐ was a Táng-era compilation or interpolation. The Yínquèshān find definitively refuted this view: the five bamboo-slip chapters are unmistakably Warring States in language, content, and paleography, and their content overlaps substantially with the received edition (the Zhìtán chapter mentions “帶甲十萬，□車千乘,” closely paralleling language in the Sūnzǐ 作戰 chapter). This confirms the Wèiliáozǐ as a genuine pre-Hàn text.

The Yínquèshān version represents only a fraction of the transmitted text (5 chapters vs. 24), which suggests substantial growth or reconstruction between the early Hàn and the received edition. Whether the Yínquèshān five chapters represent an early “core” or merely whatever was available to be copied for the tomb owner’s library is unknown. The correspondence between the Yínquèshān chapter titles and those of the received 24-chapter edition is imperfect: 守權, 將理, and 原官 have close equivalents, while 治談 and 兵權 do not map neatly onto the received Zhìtǎn 制談 and Gōngquán 攻權. This suggests that the early transmitted text was organized and named differently from the later canonical form.

The philosophical stance of the Wèiliáozǐ — interrelating warfare with politics and economics, stressing the peasantry as military resource, insisting that benevolent governance is the foundation of military strength — is fully apparent in the Yínquèshān fragments. The received text is catalogued as KR3b0006.

Translations and research

  • Sawyer, Ralph D. 1993. The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China. Westview. — complete English translation of the received Wèiliáozǐ; the Yínquèshān fragments are discussed in context.
  • Wilkinson, Endymion. Chinese History: A New Manual (6th edn, 2022), §26.5 (military classics), §59.7.2.2 (Yínquèshān slips).
  • Theobald, Ulrich. “Weiliaozi 尉繚子.” ChinaKnowledge.de — concise survey including the Yínquèshān evidence.
  • Yínquèshān Hànmù zhújiǎn 銀雀山漢墓竹簡, vol. 1. Wénwù chūbǎnshè, 1985. — principal edition, including the five Wèiliáozǐ chapters.
  • Liú Xiǎowén 刘小文. 2015. Yínquèshān Hànmù zhújiǎn bīngshū wǔzhǒng zhěnglǐ yǔ yánjiū. Jílín Dàxué. — study of all five Yínquèshān military texts.

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