Wujing Zongyao
| Wujing Zongyao | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 武經總要 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 武经总要 | ||||||||
| Literal meaning | Collection of the Most Important Military Techniques | ||||||||
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| Transcriptions | |
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| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Wǔjīng Zǒngyào |
| Wade–Giles | Wu3-ching1 Tsung3-yao4 |
The Wujing Zongyao, known in English as 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, 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 ), 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.
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.
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