As an ancient civilization with a long history, China naturally started early in military construction and has made remarkable achievements, which has promoted the continuous enhancement of ancient China's military power. Although the army has appeared a long time ago, when did China's real military staff appear? We still have many questions about this issue.
During the early days of the establishment of the Shang Dynasty, Shang Tang had a right-hand assistant, Yi Yin. The most famous story between them occurred when Yi Yin came up with a plan for Shang Tang to test Xia's military strength during the extermination of Xia. Yi Yin instructed Tang to "thwart the lack of tribute posts." Xia Jie was furious when he saw Shang Tang not coming to pay tribute, and launched a large-scale army to attack. At this time, Yi Yin saw that Xia's strength was still very strong, and it was not a good time to destroy Xia. Then he asked Tang Qian to apologize. A year later, Tang "hindered the lack of tribute posts" again. This time Xia Jie did not have the appeal to mobilize such a large number of troops, and became a lonely man. Yi Yin proposed at this time that this was the right time to attack Xia, so Shang Tang destroyed Jie in one fell swoop and completed the change of a dynasty. In this process, Yi Yin obviously played a very important role and could be called a staff officer, so the idea that staff officers first came from the Shang Dynasty emerged.
Yi Yin is just a minister after all. When he performed his functions as a minister, he came up with some strategies that were helpful for military victory. If he is counted as the earliest Will the staff members be too broad and hasty?
The "Three Kingdoms·Book of Wei" clearly records the emergence of the position of staff officer in the late Han Dynasty. At that time, it was called "joining the army", which meant taking charge of military affairs. For example, Tao Qian, the governor of Youzhou during the reign of Emperor Ling of the Eastern Han Dynasty, served as a military advisor to the cavalry general Zhang Wen. However, from the Shang Dynasty to the end of the Han Dynasty, the time difference was too great, and none of us can deny that there was no position of this nature as a staff officer.
Sure enough, in the "Six Tao" written by Jiang Taigong of the Zhou Dynasty, the division of labor and responsibilities of the military staff are described in a systematic and detailed manner. According to records, there are a total of 72 such staff members, responsible for strategy, military art, reconnaissance, communications, engineering, meteorology, geography, propaganda, food and salary, medicine, finance, etc. It is really amazing. However, why such a creative theory does not appear in the important classic "Zhou Rites" is a puzzle that makes people frown.
So, which of these three answers is the real time when the staff members appeared? People still need to wait for more and more sufficient evidence.
"The Six Taoists" is also known as "The Six Taoists of Taigong" and "The Art of War of Taigong", written by Jiang Ziya. However, since the Southern Song Dynasty, "Six Tao" has been suspected to be a forgery. In April 1972, a large number of bamboo slips were discovered in the ancient tombs of the Western Han Dynasty in Yinqueshan, Linyi, Shandong, including more than 50 pieces of the "Six Tao". This proves that the "Six Tao" had been widely circulated at least in the Western Han Dynasty. It is a collection of pre-Qin military thoughts and has a great influence on the military thoughts of future generations. It is known as the ancestor of military strategy. Sima Qian's "Historical Records: The Family of Qi Taigong" stated: "Later generations talked about military affairs and the Yin power of Zhou. They all followed the Taigong as their original plan." "Six Taoists" was introduced to Japan in the 16th century and to Europe in the 18th century. It has now been translated into Japanese, French, Korean, Vietnamese, English, Russian and other languages.