ABSTRACT
Military texts begin to be composed from about 500 B.C. Liu Hsiang divided the separate section of military texts into four main types. First, those that discuss "military power and planning"; next, those that emphasize "military form and positional advantage"; next, Yin-Yang theorists ; and lastly, "military technologists and craft specialists". The development of military specialization in Warring States China was therefore an extremely important component of the cultural, administrative, and organizational evolution in the pre-imperial period and directly influenced the form taken by the later imperial Chinese state. The form of the text thus reflects the change towards a more literate culture that was taking place in Warring States China, a change that is manifest in many different ways: the use of seals in administrative practice, the custom of writing down statements in the judicial process.
