Chinese art of war in the "Books of wisdom" of the Ming dynasty

The article analyzes the circumstances and reasons that have become the cause of the synthesis of Confucian management theory and military strategic schools of thought in the «Books of Wisdom». The «Books of Wisdom» are traditional in form. Authors of the «Books of Wisdom» were supporters of the Wang Yangming′s Philosophy, differentiated by extremely conceptual individualism. The use of literary tradition allows to mask sufficiently bold or radical new ideas. Based on their social status, the authors of the «Books of Wisdom» were active officials, therefore, they had to reconcile their views with actual administrative practices. They simply could not avoid resorting to Aesop language in order to disguise their intentions. From a large variety of Chinese military thought, the «Books of Wisdom» chose a very narrow area of focus: art of war, namely the ability to «…subdue the enemy without fighting». Authors of the «Books of Wisdom» could rely on sufficiently authoritative examples. «The Seven Military Classics» acquired a mandatory textbook status and was officially published. The book featured comments not only by military theorists, but by civil servants as well. Wan Yangming was among those that also offered comment in the «Seven Military Classics». For Wang Yangming’s followers, who were successful in the combination of civil administration and military promotion, this was very attractive as practical proof related to the effectiveness of his Philosophy. During the reign of the Ming Dynasty, there was an extensive amount of military history and military-biographical literature. «Biographies of Famous Military Leaders» were mandatory educational tools for the military. A large number of additions and revisions of «Biographies of Famous Military Leaders» exist, created during the Ming Dynasty. Historical topics were also included in the survey works about military theory. Military theorists, who lived during the Ming Dynasty, often refer to «Master Zuo's Spring and Autumn Annals» to illustrate their own constructions. The synthesis of Confucian management theory and military schools of thought in the «Books of Wisdom» stemmed into general trends of the development of military, historical, and philosophical thought during the Ming Dynasty. The authors of the «Books of Wisdom» understood classic military theory, but used and retold it quite vaguely. The main source of inspiration and borrowing of ideas for the «Books of Wisdom» came from «The Art of War, Sun Zi’s Military Methods». The motivation and interest in military strategy of the authors of the «Books of Wisdom» came from their affiliation with the teachings of Wang Yangming, and especially bureaucratic ideology. The concept of «wisdom« was the theoretical and methodological foundation, which allowed the authors, who adhered to Confucian beliefs, to incorporate into their constructed understanding certain, separate provisions of military strategy. Authors of the «Books of Wisdom» attempted to remove the purely terminological contradictions between the concept of deceit, which has put forward by Sun Tzu, and the Confucian understanding of wisdom.