The strange method of fighting hundreds of battles, also known as the strange strategy of fighting hundreds of battles, was first recorded in Wen Yuan Ge Bibliography written by Yang Shiqi in Ming Dynasty, and later found in Baowentang Bibliography written by Chen Chao in Ming Dynasty, Blocked Edition of Ancient and Modern Books written by Zhou Hongzu, and History of China written by Jiao Hong in Ming Dynasty, but none of them were recorded by the author. The earliest extant edition is the attached edition of General Introduction to Wu Jing, which was engraved by Li Zan in the 17th year of Hongzhi in Ming Dynasty (1504). The preface of this edition of The Amazing Method of Hundreds of Battles says: "The author's surname died in the book." It means that the author can no longer be examined. In the Qing Dynasty, Huang Yuchuo and others wrote Supplementary Records of Liao, Jin and Yuan Dynasties, which recorded the "amazing methods of hundreds of battles". Some people thought it was a work of the Yuan Dynasty. However, Li Zan in Ming Dynasty combined it with Wu Jing Zong Yao, a military book in Song Dynasty. Mao's Preface to Wu Bei-zhi's Policy in Ming Dynasty clearly pointed out that "there were hundreds of strange methods in Song Dynasty, and then hundreds of them were passed on, and then hundreds of them were passed on, and historical wars were fought"; The military series "Strategize the World" published during the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty, with the title of "A New Introduction to the Hundred Victory Methods", is included in the full text, and recorded at the end of the volume as "Edited by Xie Fangde in Song Dynasty and edited by Wang Qi in Ming Dynasty". In the preface of Zou Fu in the Ming Dynasty, it was pointed out that "The Amazing Method of Hundreds of Wars" "did not specify the author's surname, ... it was almost written by Song people, and Zhang Yu and Dai Liuxiang went to Asia"; It is also verified that nearly 100 war examples cited in the book are all before the Five Dynasties, but there are no traces of war examples after the Song Dynasty. Based on this, it is inferred that it is a book of the Song Dynasty. The military series Seven Secrets of Land and Water Attacking and Defending Raiders compiled by Taoist priests in the Qing Dynasty and the military series Fourteen Complete Books compiled in the Qing Dynasty both contain the title of Liu Ji (Zibowen), the content of which is the same as that of the Ming Dynasty. Therefore, the wonderful book of hundreds of battles published in the Qing Dynasty is the wonderful book of hundreds of battles. In this regard, in the third year of Xianfeng in Qing Dynasty, when Lingui reprinted Seven Secrets of Land and Water Offensive and Defensive Strategies, he pointed out in his inscription for Hundred Wars: "This book was written by Liu Bowen and also has the name of Gai." In recent years, academic circles have conducted textual research and debates on the wonders of hundreds of battles. One view is that it was written by Liu Ji, and the inference was made by Liu Ji when he was studying the Five Classics during his eight-year "seclusion mechanics". Another negative opinion was made by Liu Ji, and according to the information in Yin's "Seven Books of Direct Interpretation of Five Classics", it was specifically determined that some of them were adapted by quiet people. It is said that "Chen Tong Taoist priest is neither a famous soldier on the battlefield nor a strategist. However, with the treasure of complete citations of strategic theories and historical cases, it is easy to expose the forgery of Mr. Liu Bowen's Hundred Wars. The above opinions and textual research are limited to the copying or publication of Liu Ji's "Amazing Stories of Hundreds of Wars", pretending to be the Qing Dynasty, and not related to the anecdotes of Hundreds of Wars for textual research. Although efforts have been made, the conclusion is absurd.

The Amazing Law of Hundreds of Battles is a military book with compilation characteristics. The author of this book reads extensively and sums up all aspects of the war into 100 topics, that is, "Hundred Wars" mentioned in the title. Each article first expounds its own understanding, then summarizes the content of this article with a famous saying from an ancient art book (mainly Sun Tzu), and finally cites examples of war or deeds of generals to prove it. For example, "Seeking War": "Where the enemy has a plan, I will attack it and make it fail and yield. The law says, "Go to the army and make a plan. Then, it lists the wars between the monarchs and ministers of Jin and Qi in the Spring and Autumn Period. It combines the theory of Sun Tzu's art of war with the examples of war fighting, which is easy to understand and master, and is one of its great advantages.

The titles of hundreds of battles are: planning war, plotting war, intermittent war, election campaign, stepping war, riding war, boat war, car war, faith war, teaching war, numerous war, few war, love war, threat war, reward war, punishment war, main battle, guest war, strong war, weak war, arrogant war, engagement war, shape war and war. The wars of profit, harm, security, danger, death, life, hunger, satiety, labor, loss, advance, retreat, challenge, cause, distance, melee, water, fire, slow, quick, total and disorderly.

The amazing method of winning every battle is very rich in content. Such as the nature of war, strategy and tactics, military strategy, national defense readiness, operational guidance, logistics supply, military geography, general cultivation and so on. In the view of war, he inherited the ancient traditional military thought, opposed militaristic tactics, and thought that "the country is not big, the people are not numerous, and it is unstoppable;" At the same time, he advocated that "we should not forget the danger in peace and the chaos in governance" and that "even if the world is at peace, if we forget the war, we will die". In operational guidance, he advocates flexible use of troops, arguing that "a strategist's method should be based on contingency, but knowing soldiers is good." If you move, you must first anticipate the enemy, and if the enemy remains unchanged, you must wait for it; Take advantage of its changes and make corresponding responses. "advocate' taking the plan as the head',' winning first and then fighting', seize the opportunity to attack and' advance before it is too late' when victory is certain; If the enemy is strong and we are weak, don't fight hard, avoid its sharp edge, "retreat when it is difficult" and wait for its gap. The book devotes a lot of space to discussing different tactics under different forces, different combat targets, different combat situations, different weather and terrain conditions. A mountain battle, there must be high; Valley war should be attached to the valley; The water war must be fought in half; Fire fighting should grasp the timing of the weather and so on. In running the army, we advocate teaching before fighting, believing in rewards and punishments, paying equal attention to kindness and prestige, and caring for the soldiers and obeying orders. In the aspect of logistics supply, we should pay special attention to the supply of grain, and ensure the smooth passage of grain and the supply of grain; For the enemy, we must try to cut off the route for providing grain and force him to yield. In military philosophy, the whole article is full of simple military dialectics because it brings together many essences of the art of war and the history of war. For example, we attach great importance to people's role in war and oppose superstitious activities such as witchcraft and divination. In the People's War, it pointed out that when an owl landed on the handsome flag or the flagpole suddenly broke during the March, the commander should give it proper treatment in time to stabilize the morale of the troops. As long as the prevalence of superstition is prohibited and the doubts of the troops are eliminated, they will not retreat even if they die. When explaining "don't pursue hard", he clearly put forward the view that "the extremes of things will turn against each other" and pointed out: "Being outnumbered, we are afraid of the situation of our army and flee without fighting. Don't chase, cover is the opposite. We should slow down the whole army and win. "It means that in the war, we were outnumbered, and the enemy was afraid and ran away, which is a favorable situation for me. But at this time, we can't rush to pursue, and the urgency will force the enemy to change from running away to desperate resistance. Not good for me. " Not chasing "means not chasing, but chasing slowly, waiting to destroy the enemy." It also discusses the dialectical relationship between strength and weakness, more and less, victory and defeat, security and danger, and the relationship between loving and respecting soldiers.

In addition, The Amazing Method of Hundreds of Battles has unique views on the interpretation and elaboration of many viewpoints in Sun Tzu's Art of War. For example, the "bottom-up siege" in Sun Tzu's Art of War has been accused of historical limitations. It seems that the author of The Amazing Method of Hundreds of Battles disagrees with this view, and thinks that "attacking the city from the bottom up" is a general guiding principle of war, which is relative to "cutting the product, cutting the enemy and cutting the soldiers". It advocates a small price for a big victory, not a big price for a big victory. It pointed out: "Any method of siege is the best policy, and it is a last resort. If the city is high and deep, there are many people but little food, and there is no rescue outside, it can be taken away and beneficial. " It quoted the example of the battle between Yan and Optics Valley in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and expressed this idea in Murong Ke's words: "If the enemy is far from strong and weak, and there are no reinforcements outside the enemy, our army has enough strength to subdue the enemy. At this time, we must first contain the enemy, slowly surround them, and wait for the enemy to be in a desperate situation. Sun Tzu's Art of War says that if you have ten times as many troops as the enemy, you will encircle them, and if you have five times as many troops as the enemy, you will attack them. This is a fact. Duan Xiaosheng of the Eastern Jin Dynasty paid great attention to unity with his subordinates, and his subordinates did not betray him. Now they rely on solid walls to defend wholeheartedly. If we use all the elite troops to attack it, we can capture it in a few days, but then we will kill many soldiers. Therefore, the most important thing to fight with soldiers is flexibility. " In the end, Murong Ke conquered Optics Valley by encircling but not attacking. Another example is Sun Tzu's "encirclement and collapse", which expounds that the essence of "encirclement and collapse" is a kind of spiritual tactics from two aspects, with the aim of shaking the enemy's will and inducing him to escape. To besiege the enemy, it is necessary to "surround it on all sides, open a corner to show the way out, and if the enemy is not strong, pull out the city of Pojun." I can use this tactic, and so can the enemy, so it points out the way to deal with it: when the enemy besieges me, "if the circle is outward, it will be surrounded by the enemy." Although there is a gap, I will fill it myself and expand my foot soldiers. If you work hard in all aspects, you will benefit from it. "

The Amazing Method of Hundreds of Battles is a collection of the essence of the art of war and the information of war history, with detailed analysis, classified compilation and conciseness. It can be read as Sun Tzu's Art of War, and it can also be used as a reference book for consulting war history materials. He Ming, the founder of Ming Dynasty, collected the first 50 battles of this book in his "Going to the altar must be investigated" and commented: "There are 50 strange methods in hundreds of battles, each of which is attached to Sun Tzu's Art of War, which is proved by the trip of the ancients. The gains and losses are obvious to all, which is enough to inspire future generations, but the tactics are slightly prepared. " Its style has a great influence on later generations. Many military books in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, such as Bai Hao's Art of War, Hundred Art of War and Thirty-six Strategies, all adopted this style. It is widely circulated and has certain reference value. But the book is also full of feudal dross, which needs to be criticized when reading; Some topics are not properly demonstrated. For example, "Harmful War" sounds chaotic, but it is actually about the defensive tactics in the fortress area; Some art of war and examples are not well chosen; The style before and after is not uniform enough. For example, only a few chapters are quoted from the History of the South, the History of the North and the History of the Five Dynasties, and most of them are not marked with their sources. This is an important defect.

Strange methods of hundreds of battles, unpublished in Song and Yuan Dynasties. The earliest book we can see now is the attached copy of Wu Jing Zong Ji carved by Li Zan in the 17th year of Hongzhi in Ming Dynasty (1504), followed by the attached copy of Wu Jing Zong Ji carved by Tang Fuchun in Jinling in Ming Dynasty and two volumes carved by Li Zhaode in the 7th year of Jiajing in Ming Dynasty. During the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty, when the book was included in the Art of War, it was renamed as A New Introduction to a Hundred Defeats. After Yongzheng in the Qing Dynasty, it was renamed Hundred Wars by a series of manuscripts, such as Wei Quanshu and Seven Kinds of Attacks and Defends on Land and Water, and it was wrongly called by Ming Liuji, which had a great influence. Until recent years, the printed and annotated editions published by some publishing houses still follow this erroneous statement. The People's Liberation Army Publishing House (1987 edition) restores the original name of this book, corrects the wrong statement written by Liu Ji, and makes it clear that this book is a work of the Song Dynasty.