Pingpi baijin fang 洴澼百金方

Pingpi baijin fang 洴澼百金方 "Hundred golden methods of silk flapping in the wind" is a military treatise compiled during the Qing period 清 (1644-1911). It has a length of 14 juan and includes 175 illustrations of weapons, machines and battleships. The author is not known, but there is a scholar mentioned in the preface called Huilu Jiumin 惠麓酒民, and also a certain Wu Gonggui 吳宮桂 or Yuan Gonggui 袁宮桂, courtesy name Ruanshan 阮山. The term pingpi is derived from the book Zhuangzi 莊子 and describes a method to govern a country.

The book was finished in 1736 and was printed in 1788. In a reprint from the Daoguang reign-period 道光 (1821-1850), the book is named Beiyulu 備豫錄 "On preparedness". There are several reprints from the 19th century. The book deals mainly with defence methods throughout history, but also with other warfare issues. The basic idea is that war must always be waged to protect the people. The people had, therefore, also to fight jointly with the troops. The soldiers had to be trained physically and mentally to achieve loyalty, endurance, bravery, and trustworthiness. The leading troops were made out of local militia (xiangbing 鄉兵). Preparing sufficient foodstuff and appropriate weapons was equally crucial for achieving victory. During a siege, defence combined with excursions was the best method. A last important point mentioned in the book is the appropriate topography observation.