论先秦兵家的性质及其产生

从《汉书.艺文志》著录各个部类书籍之后的类序和后代目录学家对书籍的分类可以看出,古代人是把兵书和诸子同类看待的。虽然诸子和兵家的形成吸收了“王官之学”的某些思想资料或文化元素,但直接说学派本身源自王官某职是不确切的。从历史的递进层次来看,第一阶段是有兵事而无兵学,第二阶段是有兵学而无兵家。从《兵书略》和《诸子略》对先秦同一作者的文献采用在不同类中进行“交叉著录”的方法,我们可以分析得知,到战国初才正式产生兵家。而且最早的兵家人物与法家人物常常是二位一体,其共同渊源则是在孔子身后分散各地的“别儒”。

The Nature and Appearance of Pre-Qin Military Theories

Through the study of ancient documents a conclusion is drawn that military theories appeared together with the philosophers' theories in the pre-Qin era, and it was not until the Warring States period that books on military theory first appeared, and that the military theoretacian were often the Legalists.