1 general type theory
Ancient military strategists divided generals into different types according to their talent, morality and personality. The main points are as follows:
1. 1 three types of theory
According to the level of generals' ability, Huai Nan Zi Bing LuXun divides them into three types: "General", who can win heaven, land and people's hearts, uses his troops resolutely and has momentum, and is a general who always wins; "Lieutenant-General", I don't know the little land, everyone loves him, and he is a general who wins more and loses less. "Going to the general" has no firm opinion, self-doubt, "fear of being stationed, hesitate to make a move", and has repeatedly lost and fought. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the military book "Toubi Pi Tan" also divided the generals into three types: "The husband will have Confucian generals, military commanders and generals. Those who are Confucian generals will win the battle for the temple. Being a military commander is also a thousand miles away. Those who are generals are deep in the land of tomorrow, and they are also talented. " [1] This division is based not only on the ability of generals, but also on their personality.
1.2 five-type theory
Xuan Jie, a strategist in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, divided generals into five types: Confucian generals, brave generals, courageous generals, skillful generals and artistic generals. And pointed out: "Confucianism will be wise, brave in struggle, dare to act boldly, and skillfully control, and art will be able." [2] That is to say, Confucianism will be resourceful, brave and good at fighting, bold and daring, skillful craftsman is good at manufacturing, and art has several skills.
1.3 six types of theory
The article "Jiang Qi in Gangwon" holds that "Jiang Qi has different uses." According to this, the generals are divided into six types, and the talents and personalities of all kinds of generals are analyzed in detail: a general with ten husbands can distinguish right from wrong, find out the curse and be convinced by everyone, and a general with hundreds of husbands is diligent and responsible, and speaks carefully; Commander-in-chief, honest and frank, resourceful and brave; A general with dignified appearance, enthusiastic work, observing and caring for his subordinates; A general of 100,000 people, who accepts talents, is earnest and cautious, is sincere, pays attention to credit, is tolerant of others and is good at solving complex problems; The generals in the world are kind and trustworthy, know astronomy from above, know personnel from below, know geography from above, and feel at home all over the world.
1.4 Eight types of theories
In the Northern Song Dynasty, Xu Dong divided the generals into two categories and eight categories: "The biggest ones are the general of heaven, the general of earth, the general of man and the general of god; The youngest is a mighty general, a strong general, a brave general and an excellent general. " [3] On this basis, the author makes a comprehensive analysis of these eight generals from the aspects of military talent, morality and personality: Heaven will be able to assess the situation and judge whether it is good or bad; Be able to strategize and advance and retreat properly; Can calculate skillfully, use troops flexibly, confuse and defeat the enemy; Only by foreseeing the victory or defeat of the war, acting properly and keeping one's own place can we stabilize the morale of the army. Local commanders are good at fighting and arranging, and are good at observing the terrain; Be able to command troops flexibly and make them advance and retreat freely; Being good at bringing the troops back to life can also make the troops calm down and "move and win." "People will be honest, temperate and have no bad habits; Pay attention to etiquette, be loyal to the monarch, and share joys and sorrows with soldiers; Good at recruiting talents, bold and decisive, and moderate in benevolence and righteousness; Be generous to soldiers and be strict in rewards and punishments; Can distinguish between right and wrong, so that the military is stable; Can be treated differently according to the characteristics of soldiers; In military command, he can stand by and act according to his plan, and he can make full use of the favorable situation to make a decisive attack. God will be able to make flexible use of favorable conditions, such as weather and geographical location, and choose excellent talents. Three kinds of generals (general from heaven, general from earth and general from man) have both qualities. Jiang Wei, due to the lack of the original text, the specific content is unknown. Strong generals, when marching and fighting, can make use of the right time, place and people, can give full play to all kinds of talents, and can make all kinds of officers and men "smell the enemy and do it without doubt"; Can run the army according to law, let the enemy be frightened and win the battle. As a brave general, his command is free, his actions are changeable, and even if he is alone, he can "make the enemy lose his fear and flee far away." "elite soldiers" take prestige as the table and fierceness as the inside; With a powerful center and three generals. " [3]
1.5 Nine types of theories
According to their ability, morality and personality, generals are divided into nine categories, namely, benevolent generals, righteous generals, etiquette generals, wise generals, trustworthy generals, pedagogue generals, rider generals, fierce generals and general generals. The characteristics of all kinds of generals are: benevolent generals influence and teach soldiers with their noble morality, regulate soldiers' behavior with etiquette, care, be considerate and love their subordinates; Honest generals should not be perfunctory when they encounter problems. Don't let selfish interests shake their determination, be proud of being killed, and don't drag out an ignoble existence with humiliation. Polite generals, high in status but not arrogant, win without taking credit, talented but humble to subordinates, strong in personality but able to bear the burden of humiliation; Be wise, make good use of strategy, be unpredictable, improvise, turn unfavorable factors into favorable factors, and win in times of crisis; Believe in it, reward it fairly and timely, and punish it regardless of rank; Step by step, strong physique, courage overwhelming thousands of people, good at holding positions, good at killing with swords and spears; Ride a general, be good at riding and shooting, be a pioneer when attacking, and be a defender when retreating; As a brave soldier, his spirit runs through the whole army. He despises strong enemies, disdains small battles, and is emboldened to face big enemies. General, he is overjoyed, adopts the opinions of others with an open mind, is bold and resolute, and is brave and resourceful.
2 General quality theory
What qualities should a general possess? Since the art of war, there have been different opinions. Generally speaking, there are mainly the following viewpoints:
2. 1 On "Five Virtues and Five Risks"
Sun Tzu's Art of War: "Generals are wise, trustworthy, benevolent, brave and strict." In other words, as a general, you must have five standards: resourceful and decisive, trustworthy in reward and punishment, caring for foot soldiers, brave and firm, and knowing the law and judging orders, which is later called "five virtues." This does not sum up Sun Wu's requirements for the quality of generals. He also wrote in the article "Nine Changes": "There will be five risks: death and killing; Must be born to be captured; Anger is quick and can be bullied; Honesty is shameful; It's annoying to love people. There will be many of these five things, and it will be a disaster to use soldiers. " This is considered from the general's personality, which supplements the deficiency of the "five virtues". "Courage" is a virtue, but "death" and recklessness may be trapped and killed by the enemy; "Love" is a virtue, but if you love the people too much, you will get into trouble because you shield them. "Honesty" is a virtue, but too much honesty and self-love will make you lose your mind because you can't stand the insult of the enemy. As for those generals who are afraid of death and are on the verge of death, it is naturally unbearable. In this way, Sun Wu comprehensively analyzed the qualities that a general should have from both positive and negative aspects.
3. 1 "eight diagrams" theory
This is Tamia Liu's method of selecting generals. The book points out: "knowing and doing have eight characteristics: first, ask questions and observe their words;" Second, if you are poor, observe its changes in words; Third, use it to spy and see its sincerity; Fourth, ask clearly and see its virtue; Fifth, use money to make it look cheap; Sixth, try to look at its virginity with color; Seven days to sue, it is difficult to see its courage; Eight said drunk, you can look at the state with wine. If there are eight signs, then virtue is not worthy. " [2 1] On the one hand, it points out eight methods of selecting and inspecting generals, on the other hand, it points out eight psychological qualities that an excellent general must possess.
3.2 "Seven Views" Theory
"Jiang" pointed out: "It is not difficult to observe the nature of a lady. Although good and evil are different, their feelings and appearances are different. There are gentle thieves, respectful traitors, brave and timid people, and those who do their best but are disloyal. " Although people's psychology is difficult to test, it is not impossible to check. "There are seven ways to know people: one is to ask them right and wrong and see their aspirations; Second, the poor use words to persuade them to change; Third, look up and observe their knowledge through seeking; Fourth, tell it's difficult and watch it's brave; 5. If you are drunk, you can observe your sexuality by drinking; Sixth, look at the benefits of the face and see its honesty; During the seven-day period, the letter depends on the matter. " 3.3 "Seven Views and Seven Choices" Theory
Li Quan believes that we must pay attention to the "seven views on selecting generals": "Choose the virtuous according to the way, the virtuous according to the virtue, be resourceful, use your strength bravely, be greedy for profits, avoid loopholes through treachery, and be foolish to avoid danger. Look at things from the same angle, look at their virtues from different angles, look at their plans from contingency, look at their courage from aggression, look at their benefits from money, look at their gaps from marriage, or look at their safety from fear. " [22]
3.4 "Nine Tests" Theory
Master Wu Jing put forward the concept of "nine tests" to examine generals: "The so-called nine tests make them look at loyalty, ceremony and ability, ask them how to look at wisdom, trust in urgency, benevolence in danger, ceremony in drunkenness and ceremony in miscellaneous." [23]
3.5 "Four Differentiation" Theory
According to the Tiger Bell Classic, the investigation of generals can be carried out from four aspects, namely, looking at their appearance, listening to their words, observing their actions and observing their actions: "There are four ways to judge whether they are sincere in advance: one is their appearance, the other is their words, the third is their actions and the fourth is their actions." [24] The author also analyzes in detail how to assess generals from these four aspects, in which some regular phenomena in psychology are used.
To sum up, we can see that the ancient military strategists in China had a rich and insightful understanding of the psychological quality of generals. Excavating and sorting out valuable thoughts in this field will certainly contribute to the study of general psychology in modern military psychology and improve the quality of modern generals.