Many people think that the eight-array diagram is about the eight-array diagram. Eight formations, ten to eight different formations. Shan Li, a native of the early Tang Dynasty, noted the Selected Works and quoted the Miscellaneous Military Books as saying: "Eight arrays, one is called square array, the other is called round array, the third is called square array, the fourth is called Zhen Niu, the fifth is called rushing array, the sixth is called wheel array, the seventh is called floating array, and the eighth is called eagle array." In addition, there are eight formations of Jin Mu's fire, water, earth, people in heaven and earth, dragons and tigers, birds and snakes in heaven and earth. Li Jing, a military strategist in the Tang Dynasty, denied these statements in Li Jingwen: "The ancients kept this law in secret, so they set up eight ears. Eight arrays are divided into eight. If heaven and earth, then depending on the banner; People in the storm, look at the name: people who are dragons, tigers, birds and snakes, look at the different teams; There is no biography in later generations, and it is more than eight! "
Actually, array originally refers to the formation of the army. Because the situation on the battlefield is changeable, the deployment of troops marching and camping is also changeable. However, in fighting and camping, there are always some basic arrangements for the composition of the army. These basic formations constitute the so-called array formation. Formation method is a method that changes the formation in battle due to different conditions such as terrain, climate and enemy situation. Strata and its changes are recorded in a map, which is a stratigraphic map.
Historian Wu Han once said: "The so-called formation method is the battle formation in the field and the defensive deployment in camping; The formation and deployment are marked with symbols and made into a battle plan, called a matrix. "
The ancient art of war often has drawings to illustrate the operational deployment.
There are 53 ancient books, 790 articles and 43 volumes in Hanshu Yiwenzhi. Sui Shu Jing Ji Zhi recorded a volume of Sun Tzu's Eight Arrays. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the wind of learning array was very strong and reached its peak in the Song Dynasty. In Taibai of the Tang Dynasty, there are Arrays and Dugu and his book Eight Arrays. The Northern Song Dynasty attached importance to the use of array law, and emperors would be keen on making array law maps. Various formations can often be found in the history books and art of war at that time.
Chen shou's "eight-array diagram" should be understood as eight-array diagram, that is, a set of operational plans about eight-array diagram. In short, the so-called "eight-array map" means that Zhuge Liang creatively formulated his own array method in the practice of training and fighting on the basis of inheriting the war thought of the previous generation of art of war. Eight-array map is an important military work to record his law enforcement. Among them, he raised funds to deduce various principles of array tactics and recorded his various creations of array tactics. For example, detailed regulations on training, marching, camping and fighting, and different operational plans of troops under different circumstances, etc.
What is particularly commendable is that his careful marching and camping arrangements have improved the ability of the troops to defend against wind energy and sudden attacks; He set up crossbowmen, set up special forces, formulated disposal tactics, and gave full play to their strengths. Under the new situation of war development, Zhuge Liang's contribution to the development of military science is indelible, and it is not surprising that he has been praised by people for thousands of years.