Shows that reference classic war texts

The whole thing is basically based off of The Art of War. Highly recommend reading The Art of War while watching the show. 

This show has several instances of using principles from the Art of War. Can't remember the earlier ones, but one of them is in episode 35. When the Crown Prince is afraid to fight, Gu Tingye convinces him by telling him he will die if he goes back, which is employing 

• "Throw your soldiers into positions whence there is no escape, and they will prefer death to flight."

In episode 38, Minglan notes that Gu Tingye knows himself very well, to which he smiles and replies that its good for person to know himself. To me this felt like a reference to:

• "Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle."

In episode 41 she talks about using retreat as offense and some other things which I think is the section on stratagems but dont quote me on that.

"My husband has a reputation of loving his soldiers like sons" also a  teaching of the Art of War (episode 42) 

• "Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look upon them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death."

Therer's a cute moment where Gu Tingye compliments his wife for quoting the Art of War in episode 44. Minglan says she needs to win without fighting referencing,

• "Therefore the skillful leader subdues the enemy’s troops without any fighting"

The episode with the fire over the wall

Also reference Strategies of the Warring States by Zhan Guo Ce) and The Thirty Six Stratagems  

Eternal Love uses some of strategems of The Art of War in its first war. 

• "Throw your soldiers into positions whence there is no escape, and they will prefer death to flight." XI 23
  • Mo Yuan alerts one of his generals that she will be going into a battle to sacrifice 10,000 soldiers in order for their next battle plan to work
• "Surviving spies, finally, are those who bring back news from the enemy’s camp." XIII 13
  • Xuan Nü functions like this kind of spy for the enemy
• "In a position of this sort, even though the enemy should offer us an attractive bait, it will be advisable not to stir forth, but rather to retreat, thus enticing the enemy in his turn; then, when part of his army has come out, we may deliver our attack with advantage." X 7
  •  Feigning a retreat in order to attack (the three princes during the strategy meeting with Mo Yuan

I think they might have also referenced the 36 Strategems but I don't remember. 

A'nian reads the Art of War in episode 13

In episode 14, the prince is reading from the Art of War. I think there is an earlier reference to it as well but I don't remember what it was or what episode it was. 

In episode 33, the prince says "all war is deception," which again is a reference to the Art of War. From then on there are several methods from the Art of War that are used in the prince's battle on the mountain. I think a lot of it comes out in episode 35 though. Seeking high ground and defensible passages, making the enemy think you're desperate to lure them out and make them over confident, getting your soldiers to feel like  their only other option is death to get them to fight like mad, etc., etc.

Episode 2 references the 36th stratagem "If everything else fails, retreat." The fansubber accidentally marked it as a reference to The Art of War. 

The Art of War, I think it's one of the first books that the FL is tasked to read by her mother, really just to test her literacy (which she fails). However she does implement strategies from it throughout the show. There's a few things done that it doesn't recommend (like choosing the base of a valley to hunker down in instead of high ground) but it's a fun watch if you know a bit about the book and want to see them apply stuff. Honestly makes me want to reread it haha Even though Shaoshang hasn't read the Art of War (as far as I can tell she was officially trained in the teachings of philosophy), she says things that are reflections of it, which I think is to show her natural talent and wisdom coming from the household of two generals.