刘寅及其《武经直解》的编撰

Liu Yin and Compilation of Wu Jing Zhi Jie(Art of War Interpretation)

《武经直解》的作者是生活于元末明初的刘寅,他一生经历坎坷,年轻时为躲避战乱而随家人迁居山谷之中,曾向父亲刘溥学过兵法;考中进士后,先由兵部主事升迁为江西佥事,后持续受到贬谪,最终因罪被发往云南金齿卫,至永乐十三年以后才离开。在金齿卫期间,刘寅为响应朝廷开展军事理论教育的号召,谋求戴罪立功,同时为满足卫所军官子弟的教育需求,编撰了《武经直解》一书。该书体现了作者对文本校勘和兵学实用性质的重视,贯彻了“直解”原则和“援儒释兵”的旨趣,因而不仅在明代得到广泛传播,切实发挥了军事理论教育的作用,而且对明代其他“武经”类兵书的编撰起到了重要引领、示范作用,对于推动明代兵学的发展具有不容忽视的作用。

Liu Yin,the author of Wu Jing Zhi Jie(Art of War Interpretation),who lived in late Yuan and early Ming Dynasties,experienced ups and downs throughout his life.At an early age,he moved with his family to avoid war and learned military tactics from his father Liu Pu.Later,he passed the imperial examination and was promoted to the rank of military commissioner in Jiangxi,but was then frequently relegated.Eventually he was punished and sent to Jinchi Garrison in Yunnan and he stayed there until the thirteenth year of Yongle.Such experiences laid a solid foundation for his compilation of Wu Jing Zhi Jie.During his time in Yunnan,in order to answer the imperial court's call to develop military theory education and also to meet the needs of education for military officers’children,Liu Yin finished the writing of Wu Jing Zhi Jie.This book was widely accepted and extensively spread at the time because it accurately grasped the characteristics of military education and formed reasonable and distinct writing features.It not only had a significant impact on military theory education and greatly promoted the development of military science,but also played an important guiding and exemplary role in the compilation of other military works in the Ming Dynasty.