History and authorship

The work is purportedly named after Wei Liao, who is said to have either been a student of Lord Shang or an important advisor during the Qin Dynasty. However, there is little evidence to support either view. The only textual reference to Wei Liao outside of the Wei Liaozi is in the Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji), where he is cast as an advisor to Qin Shi Huang, the youthful king of the state of Qin. Since the Wei Liaozi contains almost no actual strategy, it is thought that Wei Liao was a theoretician. Questions of authorship are further clouded by the fact that two different works of the same name appear to have been known during the Han dynasty. The work assumed its present form around the end of the fourth century BC. A new version of the Wei Liaozi was discovered in 1972 at a Han Dynasty tomb in Linyi. It is more philosophical in tone than the received text, but differs significantly in only a few places.

Content

The Wei Liaozi frequently advocates both a civil and military approach to affairs. According to the text, agriculture and people are the two greatest resources of the state, and both should be nurtured and provided for. Although the Wei Liaozi does not specifically mention Confucianism, the text advocates a government based on humanistic values, in line with that school of thought. The ruler should be the paradigm of virtue in the state. However, heterodoxy and other values not conducive to the state should be punished using draconian measures.

题解

《尉缭子》一书，对于它的作者、成书年代以及性质归属历代都颇有争议。一说《尉缭子》的作者是魏惠王时的隐士，一说为秦始皇时的大梁人尉缭。一般署名是尉缭子。最早著录于《汉书·艺文志》，书中杂家类著录《尉缭》29篇，兵形势家类著录《尉缭》31篇。1972年在山东临沂银雀山汉墓出土了《尉缭子》残简，说明此书在西汉已流行，一般认为成书于战国时代。

评价

《尉缭子》的军事思想具有战国时代的特色，颇有价值。北宋元丰年间（1078年—1085年），被定为《武经七书》之一，为武学科举必读的兵学教材。虽然此书多少有其时代局限，但书中最后结语说：「臣闻古之善用兵者能杀士卒之半，...能杀其半者，威加海内...，故曰：『百万之众不用命，不如万人之斗也...』。」文中(杀)为裁减之意，明确指出精兵主义之必要性，值得后人深思。

版本

• 竹简残本——1972年出土的，是现今为止最早的版本。

• 1935年中华学艺社影宋刻《武经七书》本。

• 《四库全书》本。

• 《清芬堂丛书》本。

• 《百子全书》本。

• 丁氏八千卷楼藏刘寅《武经七书直解》影印本。

• 《群书治要》本。

• 《太平御览》本。

• 《续古逸丛书》影宋《五经七书》本。

体例

现存24篇，1~12篇主要论述战争和政治，13~24篇讲军令和军制。

参看

• 尉缭子中英文全译

• 尉缭子（繁体：静嘉堂藏本。天策府繁体兵书）

• 尉缭子白话翻译（局部）