This paper mainly discusses the ideological connotation on tactics of Zizhi Tongjian. It explores military science theory which can be used for reference from the historical battles in the book. On the basis of spirits of Tongjian edited by Sima Guang, it explores thrilling war history described in the book and combs the consistent part with military science theory. Military science theory takes the Art of War of Sun Tzu as the basis, and summarizes the essence of thought of Sun Wu, a Chinese military master, such as “The Moral Law; Heaven; Earth; The Commander; Method and discipline” and “supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy‘s resistance without fighting, the highest form of generalship is to balk enemy‘s plans, the skillful fighter puts himself into a position which makes defeat impossible, heedful for war, complete victory and so on”.
Besides praising the talents of Sima Guang on history, literature, political and science, the study purpose aims to highlight the achievements of Sima Guang on military science discussions. The author takes reference inductive analysis, historical research and other methods to discuss the essence of Tongjian, and uses table formats to show the contents of Art of War of Sun Tzu or Seven Military Classics cited in the text of Tongjian, so as to verify the military science thought contained in Tongjian.
Main structure of this paper is from Chapter IV to Chapter VI, and details of each chapter are listed in annexes in chart format. Main points discussed in this paper include three aspects. First, it uses military thought extended by “five constant factors” in the Art of War of Sun Tzu to distinguish three major fields; “Strategic Thinking (the Moral Law), tactical guidance (Heaven and Earth), and military management principle (Commander and Method & Discipline). Second, it cites the examples in the original text of Tongjian and describes the ideological connotation of military science. Third, it uses military science in Tongjian for alert and proposes “Reflections and Reference”. Based on above conclusion, it is expected to provide references for Tongjian researchers and general decision-makers.