Scorched Earth · Strategies · Canon

A defensive strategy against a stronger enemy that turns geographic depth, supplies and population into a buffer, trading space for time. The phrase comes from Xun Yu at the end of the Eastern Han, and under the Qing Jiaqing emperor it became a systematic method of suppressing revolts.

Late Eastern Han to present

195 · OriginIn the late Eastern Han, Xun Yu dissuaded Cao Cao from seizing Xu Province, warning that the enemy would 'fortify the walls and clear the fields to await you'; the phrase became the classic formulation of the strategy.1799 · EvolutionDuring the Jiaqing reign of the Qing, the court used walled villages, local militia, and cleared fields against the White Lotus uprising, turning the method into a systematic counter-insurgency policy.

Han Qing

Sources (2)

Scorched earth is a way of defence against a stronger enemy: geographic depth, supplies and people are all turned into a buffer, space is traded for time, and the enemy is delayed.

At the end of the Eastern Han, Xun Yu dissuaded Cao Cao from taking Xuzhou in the east, pointing out that the other side would surely "strengthen the walls and clear the fields to await the general". The line became the classic statement of this method.

Under the Qing Jiaqing emperor, when the court put down the White Lotus uprising, it had walls strengthened and fields cleared, together with stockaded villages and local militia, and by then this had become a complete method the court used against uprisings.

Scorched Earth is the class in the chapter on Strategies on the war of attrition that trades space for time. Against a stronger enemy, the defender strengthens his walls, clears supplies and people from the open country, delays the enemy and wins time for defence. The phrase comes from Xun Yu at the end of the Eastern Han.