中國時常被認為具有「不戰而屈人之兵」與「文化道德主義」等兩項獨特的戰略文化，但本文將依據物質條件的邏輯來檢視這兩個論點。文化是建立在物質條件下層結構之上的上層結構，本文據此主張，中國「不戰而屈人之兵」與「文化道德主義」這兩項戰略文化的背後，都有其物質條件為基礎，分別是「農業文明」與「單極」的權力結構。在農業文明之下，因為軍隊武器、編組、後勤、指揮等因素，使得武力無法成為一種有效的工具。在東亞區域中國呈單極獨霸的時代裡，中國作為霸權仍需要某種道德美化的包裝，來輔助單純的武力，因此中國強調儒家的以德服人。然而，這兩種物質條件卻不是中國所獨有。當西方世界也處於農業文明之際，西方世界也無法使武力成為一種有效的工具，也有著「不戰而屈人之兵」的觀念。而今，當美國在冷戰之後取得了單極的獨霸地位，也出現了美國式的「文化道德主義」，在世界上推動「民主」、「自由」與「市場經濟」，做為純粹武力的美化包裝。因此，視「不戰而屈人之兵」與「文化道德主義」為中國獨特的戰略文化，其實只是時空的錯置。

China is thought to have two unique strategic culture: “to defeat the enemy without combat” and “culture moralism”, but this article will reject them by a material logic. Culture is nothing more than a superstructure built on the material bases, so the two feature of Chinese strategic culture are both the products of some particular material structure. “To defeat the enemy without combat” is a strategic culture of agriculture civilization. The weaponry, organization, logistics, and commanding factors in agriculture civilization make the combat not a decisive tool. “Culture moralism” is a strategic culture of hegemon. Hegemon needs some moral appeals to modify the sheer violence. However, both agriculture civilization and hegemon are not the unique features of China. When the western world was also in the stage of agriculture civilization, “to defeat the enemy without combat” was also a creed of its military. And, when the US became a hegemon after the cold war, it also pursuits its moral appeals like freedom, democracy, and market economy. Accordingly, this article could conclude that, take “to defeat the enemy without combat” and “culture moralism” as Chinese unique strategic culture is a misplacement of time and space.