|
The ''Wujing Zongyao'' (), or the ''Complete Essentials for the Military Classics'', is a Chinese military compendium written from around 1040 to 1044. It contains the earliest known written formulas for gunpowder, made from saltpeter, sulphur, and charcoal, along with many added ingredients. The book was compiled during the Northern Song dynasty by scholars such as Zeng Gongliang (曾公亮), Ding Du (丁度) and Yang Weide (楊惟德), whose writing influenced many later Chinese military writers. The compendium was published under the auspices of Emperor Renzong, who also authored the book's preface. The book covers a wide range of subjects, everything from naval warships to different types of catapults. In addition to formulas for gunpowder, the compendium contains details on various gunpowder weapons such as incendiary bombs, fire arrows, incendiary projectiles, grenades, and smoke bombs. It also describes an early form of the compass (using thermoremanence), and has the oldest illustration of a Chinese Greek fire flamethrower with a double-acting two-piston cylinder-pump capable of shooting a continuous blast of flame. ==History== The ''Wujing Zongyao'' was compiled under the imperial sponsorship of Emperor Renzong of Song (r. 1022–1063 AD), partially as a response to the Song dynasty's war with the Tanguts of Western Xia. A team of Chinese scholars compiled the treatise of the ''Wujing Zongyao'' from 1040 to 1044, in order to improve the knowledge of all the known martial techniques used in warfare. Its chief editor was Zeng Gongliang, while he was assisted by the prominent astronomer Yang Weide and the scholar Ding Du. After five years, the book was published with a preface authored by Emperor Renzong. Historian Peter Lorge theorizes that the purpose of the compendium was to disseminate military knowledge to a wider government audience. Emperor Renzong was concerned that many officials were unfamiliar with the military classics. Lorge remarks that Zeng Gongliang, the chief editor, was a government official rather than a military general. The book was likely written to be read by other government officials. Parts of the ''Wujing Zongyao'' were copied form older sources; historian Ralph D. Sawyer calls it "essentially a cut-and-paste job." The book contains many passages from earlier classical military writings whose original authors are left unidentified, a common practice at the time. During the Song dynasty, the ''Wujing Zongyao'' was appended to two other books: the ''Xingjun xuzhi'' and the ''Baizhan qifa'', which were written by anonymous authors. The ''Wujing Zongyao'' was one of 347 military treatises listed in the biographical chapters of the ''Song Shi'' (1345 AD), the historical work that embodied part of the Twenty-Four Histories. Of these 347 different military treatises from the Song dynasty period, only the ''Wujing Zongyao'', the ''Huqianjing'' (Tiger Seal Manual) of Xu Dong in 1004 AD, and fragments of similar works found in the later ''Yonglo Datian'' have survived. The original text of the ''Wujing Zongyao'' was kept in the Imperial Library, while a number of hand-written copies were distributed elsewhere, including a copy given to Wang Shao by Emperor Shenzong of Song in 1069 AD. However, with the sacking of the capital Kaifeng in the Jin–Song wars by the invading Jurchens in 1126 AD, the enormous amount of prized literature found in the Imperial Library was lost, including the original copy of the ''Wujing Zongyao''. After the original was lost, there was only a scarce number of surviving copies rewritten by hand. There was a scarcity because the book was meant to be kept a secret amongst a few trustees of the government, as publishing and printing many copies using woodblock printing would have allowed the possibility of it falling into enemy hands. Nevertheless, from a remaining copy of the ''Wujing Zongyao'', it was remade into a newly published edition in 1231 AD during the Southern Song dynasty era. Then, during the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644 AD), a book published in 1439 AD featured fragments of the original ''Wujing Zongyao'' edition of 1231 while omitting some material and combining it with two other books, the preface of this book written by Li Jin. Then there was a reprinted edition of the entire ''Wujing Zongyao'' in 1510 AD, this complete version being the oldest extant copy available. Furthermore, the historian Joseph Needham asserts that this edition of 1510 AD is the most reliable in its faithfulness to the original version, since it was printed from blocks that were re-carved directly from tracings of the edition made in 1231 AD. After the edition of 1510 was printed, other Ming Dynasty copies were made. This included the Jiajing edition (1522–1566 AD), the Wanli edition (1573–1619 AD) of Quanzhou, and the Wanli edition (1573–1619) of Jinling by Tang Xinyün (preserved by Cunjingge). During the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911 AD) it was also reprinted in two different editions during the 18th century, and again in 1934 with the Shanghai edition. The ''Xu Wujing Zongyao'' (續武經總要; literally "Continuation of Wujing Zongyao") is a sequel or "continuation" of the ''Wujing Zongyao'' written in the late Ming dynasty. The book primarily discusses army formations and military deployments. It was written by Fan Jingwen (1587–1644), who was then the Vice President of the Board of War (兵部尚書; ''bingbu shangshu''). Fan wrote the book because he felt that reprints of the ''Wujing Zongyao'' circulating at that time were out of date and did not take into account the technological and strategic changes that had occurred since the Song dynasty. The only surviving copy of the ''Xu Wujing Zongyao'' is held by Fudan University Library. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Wujing Zongyao」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|