The Art of War

The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Art of War, by Sun Tzu
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restr
ictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms o
f the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenb
erg.org
Title: The Art of War
Author: Sun Tzu
Translator: Lionel Giles
Release Date: May 1994 [eBook #132] [Most recently updated December 3, 2007]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ART OF WAR ***
Note: Please see Project Gutenberg's eBook #17405 for a version of this eBook wi
thout the Giles commentary (that is, with only the Sun Tzu text).
SUN TZU ON THE ART OF WAR
THE OLDEST MILITARY TREATISE IN THE WORLD
Translated from the Chinese with Introduction and Critical Notes
BY
LIONEL GILES, M.A.
Assistant in the Department of Oriental Printed Books and MSS. in the British Mu
seum
First Published in 1910
-----------------------------------------------------------------
To my brother Captain Valentine Giles, R.G. in the hope that a work 2400 years o
ld may yet contain lessons worth consideration by the soldier of today this tran
slation is affectionately dedicated.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Preface to the Project Gutenburg Etext --------------------------------------
When Lionel Giles began his translation of Sun Tzu's ART OF WAR, the work was vi
rtually unknown in Europe. Its introduction to Europe began in 1782 when a Frenc
h Jesuit Father living in China, Joseph Amiot, acquired a copy of it, and transl
ated it into French. It was not a good translation because, according to Dr. Gil
es, "[I]t contains a great deal that Sun Tzu did not write, and very little inde
ed of what he did." The first translation into English was published in 1905 in
Tokyo by Capt. E. F. Calthrop, R.F.A. However, this translation is, in the words
of Dr. Giles, "excessively bad." He goes further in this criticism: "It is not
merely a question of downright blunders, from which none can hope to be wholly e
xempt. Omissions were frequent; hard passages were willfully distorted or slurre
d over. Such offenses are less pardonable. They would not be tolerated in any ed
ition of a Latin or Greek classic, and a similar standard of honesty ought to be
insisted upon in translations from Chinese." In 1908 a new edition of Capt. Cal
throp's translation was published in London. It was an improvement on the first
-- omissions filled up and numerous mistakes corrected -- but new errors were cr
eated in the process. Dr. Giles, in justifying his translation, wrote: "It was n
ot undertaken out of any inflated estimate of my own powers; but I could not hel
p feeling that Sun Tzu deserved a better fate than had befallen him, and I knew
that, at any rate, I could hardly fail to improve on the work of my predecessors
." Clearly, Dr. Giles' work established much of the groundwork for the work of l
ater translators who published their own editions. Of the later editions of the
ART OF WAR I have examined; two feature Giles' edited translation and notes, the
other two present the same basic information from the ancient Chinese commentat
ors found in the Giles edition. Of these four, Giles' 1910 edition is the most s
cholarly and presents the reader an incredible amount of information concerning
Sun Tzu's text, much more than any other translation. The Giles' edition of the
ART OF WAR, as stated above, was a scholarly work. Dr. Giles was a leading sinol
ogue at the time and an assistant in the Department of Oriental Printed Books an
d Manuscripts in the British Museum. Apparently he wanted to produce a definitiv
e edition, superior to anything else that existed and perhaps something that wou
ld become a standard translation. It was the best translation available for 50 y
ears. But apparently there was not much interest in Sun Tzu in English- speaking
countries since it took the start of the Second World War to renew interest in
his work. Several people published unsatisfactory English translations of Sun Tz
u. In 1944, Dr. Giles' translation was edited and published in the United States
in a series of military science books. But it wasn't until 1963 that a good Eng
lish translation (by Samuel B. Griffith and still in print) was published that w
as an equal to Giles' translation. While this translation is more lucid than Dr.
Giles' translation, it lacks his copious notes that make his so interesting. Dr
. Giles produced a work primarily intended for scholars of the Chinese civilizat
ion and language. It contains the Chinese text of Sun Tzu, the English translati
on, and voluminous notes along with numerous footnotes. Unfortunately, some of h
is notes and footnotes contain Chinese characters; some are completely Chinese.
Thus, a conversion to a Latin alphabet etext was difficult. I did the conversion
in complete ignorance of Chinese (except for what I learned while doing the con
version). Thus, I faced the difficult task of paraphrasing it while retaining as
much of the important text as I could. Every paraphrase represents a loss; thus
I did what I could to retain as much of the text as possible. Because the 1910
text contains a Chinese concordance, I was able to transliterate proper names, b
ooks, and the like at the risk of making the text more obscure. However, the tex
t, on the whole, is quite satisfactory for the casual reader, a transformation m
ade possible by conversion to an etext. However, I come away from this task with
the feeling of loss because I know that someone with a background in Chinese ca
n do a better job than I did; any such attempt would be welcomed.
Bob Sutton [email protected] [email protected]
----------------------------------------------------------------- INTRODUCTION
Sun Wu and his Book -------------------
Ssu-ma Ch`ien gives the following biography of Sun Tzu: [1] --
Sun Tzu Wu was a native of the Ch`i State. His ART OF WAR brought him to the not
ice of Ho Lu, [2] King of Wu. Ho Lu said to him: "I have carefully perused your
13 chapters. May I submit your theory of managing soldiers to a slight test?" Su
n Tzu replied: "You may." Ho Lu asked: "May the test be applied to women?" The a
nswer was again in the affirmative, so arrangements were made to bring 180 ladie
s out of the Palace. Sun Tzu divided them into two companies, and placed one of
the King's favorite concubines at the head of each. He then bade them all take s
pears in their hands, and addressed them thus: "I presume you know the differenc
e between front and back, right hand and left hand?" The girls replied: Yes. Sun
Tzu went on: "When I say "Eyes front," you must look straight ahead. When I say
"Left turn," you must face towards your left hand. When I say "Right turn," you
must face towards your right hand. When I say "About turn," you must face right
round towards your back." Again the girls assented. The words of command having
been thus explained, he set up the halberds and battle-axes in order to begin t
he drill. Then, to the sound of drums, he gave the order "Right turn." But the g
irls only burst out laughing. Sun Tzu said: "If words of command are not clear a
nd distinct, if orders are not thoroughly understood, then the general is to bla
me." So he started drilling them again, and this time gave the order "Left turn,
" whereupon the girls once more burst into fits of laughter. Sun Tzu: "If words
of command are not clear and distinct, if orders are not thoroughly understood,
the general is to blame. But if his orders ARE clear, and the soldiers neverthel
ess disobey, then it is the fault of their officers." So saying, he ordered the
leaders of the two companies to be beheaded. Now the king of Wu was watching the
scene from the top of a raised pavilion; and when he saw that his favorite conc
ubines were about to be executed, he was greatly alarmed and hurriedly sent down
the following message: "We are now quite satisfied as to our general's ability
to handle troops. If We are bereft of these two concubines, our meat and drink w
ill lose their savor. It is our wish that they shall not be beheaded." Sun Tzu r
eplied: "Having once received His Majesty's commission to be the general of his
forces, there are certain commands of His Majesty which, acting in that capacity
, I am unable to accept." Accordingly, he had the two leaders beheaded, and stra
ightway installed the pair next in order as leaders in their place. When this ha
d been done, the drum was sounded for the drill once more; and the girls went th
rough all the evolutions, turning to the right or to the left, marching ahead or
wheeling back, kneeling or standing, with perfect accuracy and precision, not v
enturing to utter a sound. Then Sun Tzu sent a messenger to the King saying: "Yo
ur soldiers, Sire, are now properly drilled and disciplined, and ready for your
majesty's inspection. They can be put to any use that their sovereign may desire
; bid them go through fire and water, and they will not disobey." But the King r
eplied: "Let our general cease drilling and return to camp. As for us, We have n
o wish to come down and inspect the troops." Thereupon Sun Tzu said: "The King i
s only fond of words, and cannot translate them into deeds." After that, Ho Lu s
aw that Sun Tzu was one who knew how to handle an army, and finally appointed hi
m general. In the west, he defeated the Ch`u State and forced his way into Ying,
the capital; to the north he put fear into the States of Ch`i and Chin, and spr
ead his fame abroad amongst the feudal princes. And Sun Tzu shared in the might
of the King.
About Sun Tzu himself this is all that Ssu-ma Ch`ien has to tell us in this chap
ter. But he proceeds to give a biography of his descendant, Sun Pin, born about
a hundred years after his famous ancestor's death, and also the outstanding mili
tary genius of his time. The historian speaks of him too as Sun Tzu, and in his
preface we read: "Sun Tzu had his feet cut off and yet continued to discuss the
art of war." [3] It seems likely, then, that "Pin" was a nickname bestowed on hi
m after his mutilation, unless the story was invented in order to account for th
e name. The crowning incident of his career, the crushing defeat of his treacher
ous rival P`ang Chuan, will be found briefly related in Chapter V. ss. 19, note.
To return to the elder Sun Tzu. He is mentioned in two other passages of the SH
IH CHI: --
In the third year of his reign [512 B.C.] Ho Lu, king of Wu, took the field with
Tzu-hsu [i.e. Wu Yuan] and Po P`ei, and attacked Ch`u. He captured the town of
Shu and slew the two prince's sons who had formerly been generals of Wu. He was
then meditating a descent on Ying [the capital]; but the general Sun Wu said: "T
he army is exhausted. It is not yet possible. We must wait".... [After further s
uccessful fighting,] "in the ninth year [506 B.C.], King Ho Lu addressed Wu Tzu-
hsu and Sun Wu, saying: "Formerly, you declared that it was not yet possible for
us to enter Ying. Is the time ripe now?" The two men replied: "Ch`u's general T
zu-ch`ang, [4] is grasping and covetous, and the princes of T`ang and Ts`ai both
have a grudge against him. If Your Majesty has resolved to make a grand attack,
you must win over T`ang and Ts`ai, and then you may succeed." Ho Lu followed th
is advice, [beat Ch`u in five pitched battles and marched into Ying.] [5]
This is the latest date at which anything is recorded of Sun Wu. He does not app
ear to have survived his patron, who died from the effects of a wound in 496. In
another chapter there occurs this passage: [6]
From this time onward, a number of famous soldiers arose, one after the other: K
ao-fan, [7] who was employed by the Chin State; Wang-tzu, [8] in the service of
Ch`i; and Sun Wu, in the service of Wu. These men developed and threw light upon
the principles of war.
It is obvious enough that Ssu-ma Ch`ien at least had no doubt about the reality
of Sun Wu as an historical personage; and with one exception, to be noticed pres
ently, he is by far the most important authority on the period in question. It w
ill not be necessary, therefore, to say much of such a work as the WU YUEH CH`UN
CH`IU, which is supposed to have been written by Chao Yeh of the 1st century A.
D. The attribution is somewhat doubtful; but even if it were otherwise, his acco
unt would be of little value, based as it is on the SHIH CHI and expanded with r
omantic details. The story of Sun Tzu will be found, for what it is worth, in ch
apter 2. The only new points in it worth noting are: (1) Sun Tzu was first recom
mended to Ho Lu by Wu Tzu-hsu. (2) He is called a native of Wu. (3) He had previ
ously lived a retired life, and his contemporaries were unaware of his ability.
The following passage occurs in the Huai-nan Tzu: "When sovereign and ministers
show perversity of mind, it is impossible even for a Sun Tzu to encounter the fo
e." Assuming that this work is genuine (and hitherto no doubt has been cast upon
it), we have here the earliest direct reference for Sun Tzu, for Huai-nan Tzu d
ied in 122 B.C., many years before the SHIH CHI was given to the world. Liu Hsia
ng (80-9 B.C.) says: "The reason why Sun Tzu at the head of 30,000 men beat Ch`u
with 200,000 is that the latter were undisciplined." Teng Ming-shih informs us
that the surname "Sun" was bestowed on Sun Wu's grandfather by Duke Ching of Ch`
i [547-490 B.C.]. Sun Wu's father Sun P`ing, rose to be a Minister of State in C
h`i, and Sun Wu himself, whose style was Ch`ang-ch`ing, fled to Wu on account of
the rebellion which was being fomented by the kindred of T`ien Pao. He had thre
e sons, of whom the second, named Ming, was the father of Sun Pin. According to
this account then, Pin was the grandson of Wu, which, considering that Sun Pin's
victory over Wei was gained in 341 B.C., may be dismissed as chronological impo
ssible. Whence these data were obtained by Teng Ming-shih I do not know, but of
course no reliance whatever can be placed in them. An interesting document which
has survived from the close of the Han period is the short preface written by t
he Great Ts`ao Ts`ao, or Wei Wu Ti, for his edition of Sun Tzu. I shall give it
in full: --
I have heard that the ancients used bows and arrows to their advantage. [10] The
SHU CHU mentions "the army" among the "eight objects of government." The I CHIN
G says: "'army' indicates firmness and justice; the experienced leader will have
good fortune." The SHIH CHING says: "The King rose majestic in his wrath, and h
e marshaled his troops." The Yellow Emperor, T`ang the Completer and Wu Wang all
used spears and battle-axes in order to succor their generation. The SSU-MA FA
says: "If one man slay another of set purpose, he himself may rightfully be slai
n." He who relies solely on warlike measures shall be exterminated; he who relie
s solely on peaceful measures shall perish. Instances of this are Fu Ch`ai [11]
on the one hand and Yen Wang on the other. [12] In military matters, the Sage's
rule is normally to keep the peace, and to move his forces only when occasion re
quires. He will not use armed force unless driven to it by necessity. Many books
have I read on the subject of war and fighting; but the work composed by Sun Wu
is the profoundest of them all. [Sun Tzu was a native of the Ch`i state, his pe
rsonal name was Wu. He wrote the ART OF WAR in 13 chapters for Ho Lu, King of Wu
. Its principles were tested on women, and he was subsequently made a general. H
e led an army westwards, crushed the Ch`u state and entered Ying the capital. In
the north, he kept Ch`i and Chin in awe. A hundred years and more after his tim
e, Sun Pin lived. He was a descendant of Wu.] [13] In his treatment of deliberat
ion and planning, the importance of rapidity in taking the field, [14] clearness
of conception, and depth of design, Sun Tzu stands beyond the reach of carping
criticism. My contemporaries, however, have failed to grasp the full meaning of
his instructions, and while putting into practice the smaller details in which h
is work abounds, they have overlooked its essential purport. That is the motive
which has led me to outline a rough explanation of the whole.
One thing to be noticed in the above is the explicit statement that the 13 chapt
ers were specially composed for King Ho Lu. This is supported by the internal ev
idence of I. ss. 15, in which it seems clear that some ruler is addressed. In th
e bibliographic section of the HAN SHU, there is an entry which has given rise t
o much discussion: "The works of Sun Tzu of Wu in 82 P`IEN (or chapters), with d
iagrams in 9 CHUAN." It is evident that this cannot be merely the 13 chapters kn
own to Ssu-ma Ch`ien, or those we possess today. Chang Shou-chieh refers to an e
dition of Sun Tzu's ART OF WAR of which the "13 chapters" formed the first CHUAN
, adding that there were two other CHUAN besides. This has brought forth a theor
y, that the bulk of these 82 chapters consisted of other writings of Sun Tzu --
we should call them apocryphal -- similar to the WEN TA, of which a specimen dea
ling with the Nine Situations [15] is preserved in the T`UNG TIEN, and another i
n Ho Shin's commentary. It is suggested that before his interview with Ho Lu, Su
n Tzu had only written the 13 chapters, but afterwards composed a sort of exeges
is in the form of question and answer between himself and the King. Pi I-hsun, t
he author of the SUN TZU HSU LU, backs this up with a quotation from the WU YUEH
CH`UN CH`IU: "The King of Wu summoned Sun Tzu, and asked him questions about th
e art of war. Each time he set forth a chapter of his work, the King could not f
ind words enough to praise him." As he points out, if the whole work was expound
ed on the same scale as in the above- mentioned fragments, the total number of c
hapters could not fail to be considerable. Then the numerous other treatises att
ributed to Sun Tzu might be included. The fact that the HAN CHIH mentions no wor
k of Sun Tzu except the 82 P`IEN, whereas the Sui and T`ang bibliographies give
the titles of others in addition to the "13 chapters," is good proof, Pi I-hsun
thinks, that all of these were contained in the 82 P`IEN. Without pinning our fa
ith to the accuracy of details supplied by the WU YUEH CH`UN CH`IU, or admitting
the genuineness of any of the treatises cited by Pi I-hsun, we may see in this
theory a probable solution of the mystery. Between Ssu-ma Ch`ien and Pan Ku ther
e was plenty of time for a luxuriant crop of forgeries to have grown up under th
e magic name of Sun Tzu, and the 82 P`IEN may very well represent a collected ed
ition of these lumped together with the original work. It is also possible, thou
gh less likely, that some of them existed in the time of the earlier historian a
nd were purposely ignored by him. [16] Tu Mu's conjecture seems to be based on a
passage which states: "Wei Wu Ti strung together Sun Wu's Art of War," which in
turn may have resulted from a misunderstanding of the final words of Ts`ao King
's preface. This, as Sun Hsing-yen points out, is only a modest way of saying th
at he made an explanatory paraphrase, or in other words, wrote a commentary on i
t. On the whole, this theory has met with very little acceptance. Thus, the SSU
K`U CH`UAN SHU says: "The mention of the 13 chapters in the SHIH CHI shows that
they were in existence before the HAN CHIH, and that latter accretions are not t
o be considered part of the original work. Tu Mu's assertion can certainly not b
e taken as proof." There is every reason to suppose, then, that the 13 chapters
existed in the time of Ssu-ma Ch`ien practically as we have them now. That the w
ork was then well known he tells us in so many words. "Sun Tzu's 13 Chapters and
Wu Ch`i's Art of War are the two books that people commonly refer to on the sub
ject of military matters. Both of them are widely distributed, so I will not dis
cuss them here." But as we go further back, serious difficulties begin to arise.
The salient fact which has to be faced is that the TSO CHUAN, the greatest cont
emporary record, makes no mention whatsoever of Sun Wu, either as a general or a
s a writer. It is natural, in view of this awkward circumstance, that many schol
ars should not only cast doubt on the story of Sun Wu as given in the SHIH CHI,
but even show themselves frankly skeptical as to the existence of the man at all
. The most powerful presentment of this side of the case is to be found in the f
ollowing disposition by Yeh Shui-hsin: [17] --
It is stated in Ssu-ma Ch`ien's history that Sun Wu was a native of the Ch`i Sta
te, and employed by Wu; and that in the reign of Ho Lu he crushed Ch`u, entered
Ying, and was a great general. But in Tso's Commentary no Sun Wu appears at all.
It is true that Tso's Commentary need not contain absolutely everything that ot
her histories contain. But Tso has not omitted to mention vulgar plebeians and h
ireling ruffians such as Ying K`ao-shu, [18] Ts`ao Kuei, [19], Chu Chih-wu and C
huan She-chu [20]. In the case of Sun Wu, whose fame and achievements were so br
illiant, the omission is much more glaring. Again, details are given, in their d
ue order, about his contemporaries Wu Yuan and the Minister P`ei. [21] Is it cre
dible that Sun Wu alone should have been passed over? In point of literary style
, Sun Tzu's work belongs to the same school as KUAN TZU, [22] LIU T`AO, [23] and
the YUEH YU [24] and may have been the production of some private scholar livin
g towards the end of the "Spring and Autumn" or the beginning of the "Warring St
ates" period. [25] The story that his precepts were actually applied by the Wu S
tate, is merely the outcome of big talk on the part of his followers. From the f
lourishing period of the Chou dynasty [26] down to the time of the "Spring and A
utumn," all military commanders were statesmen as well, and the class of profess
ional generals, for conducting external campaigns, did not then exist. It was no
t until the period of the "Six States" [27] that this custom changed. Now althou
gh Wu was an uncivilized State, it is conceivable that Tso should have left unre
corded the fact that Sun Wu was a great general and yet held no civil office? Wh
at we are told, therefore, about Jang-chu [28] and Sun Wu, is not authentic matt
er, but the reckless fabrication of theorizing pundits. The story of Ho Lu's exp
eriment on the women, in particular, is utterly preposterous and incredible.
Yeh Shui-hsin represents Ssu-ma Ch`ien as having said that Sun Wu crushed Ch`u a
nd entered Ying. This is not quite correct. No doubt the impression left on the
reader's mind is that he at least shared in these exploits. The fact may or may
not be significant; but it is nowhere explicitly stated in the SHIH CHI either t
hat Sun Tzu was general on the occasion of the taking of Ying, or that he even w
ent there at all. Moreover, as we know that Wu Yuan and Po P`ei both took part i
n the expedition, and also that its success was largely due to the dash and ente
rprise of Fu Kai, Ho Lu's younger brother, it is not easy to see how yet another
general could have played a very prominent part in the same campaign. Ch`en Che
n-sun of the Sung dynasty has the note: --
Military writers look upon Sun Wu as the father of their art. But the fact that
he does not appear in the TSO CHUAN, although he is said to have served under Ho
Lu King of Wu, makes it uncertain what period he really belonged to.
He also says: --
The works of Sun Wu and Wu Ch`i may be of genuine antiquity.
It is noticeable that both Yeh Shui-hsin and Ch`en Chen-sun, while rejecting the
personality of Sun Wu as he figures in Ssu-ma Ch`ien's history, are inclined to
accept the date traditionally assigned to the work which passes under his name.
The author of the HSU LU fails to appreciate this distinction, and consequently
his bitter attack on Ch`en Chen-sun really misses its mark. He makes one of two
points, however, which certainly tell in favor of the high antiquity of our "13
chapters." "Sun Tzu," he says, "must have lived in the age of Ching Wang [519-4
76], because he is frequently plagiarized in subsequent works of the Chou, Ch`in
and Han dynasties." The two most shameless offenders in this respect are Wu Ch`
i and Huai-nan Tzu, both of them important historical personages in their day. T
he former lived only a century after the alleged date of Sun Tzu, and his death
is known to have taken place in 381 B.C. It was to him, according to Liu Hsiang,
that Tseng Shen delivered the TSO CHUAN, which had been entrusted to him by its
author. [29] Now the fact that quotations from the ART OF WAR, acknowledged or
otherwise, are to be found in so many authors of different epochs, establishes a
very strong anterior to them all, -- in other words, that Sun Tzu's treatise wa
s already in existence towards the end of the 5th century B.C. Further proof of
Sun Tzu's antiquity is furnished by the archaic or wholly obsolete meanings atta
ching to a number of the words he uses. A list of these, which might perhaps be
extended, is given in the HSU LU; and though some of the interpretations are dou
btful, the main argument is hardly affected thereby. Again, it must not be forgo
tten that Yeh Shui- hsin, a scholar and critic of the first rank, deliberately p
ronounces the style of the 13 chapters to belong to the early part of the fifth
century. Seeing that he is actually engaged in an attempt to disprove the existe
nce of Sun Wu himself, we may be sure that he would not have hesitated to assign
the work to a later date had he not honestly believed the contrary. And it is p
recisely on such a point that the judgment of an educated Chinaman will carry mo
st weight. Other internal evidence is not far to seek. Thus in XIII. ss. 1, ther
e is an unmistakable allusion to the ancient system of land-tenure which had alr
eady passed away by the time of Mencius, who was anxious to see it revived in a
modified form. [30] The only warfare Sun Tzu knows is that carried on between th
e various feudal princes, in which armored chariots play a large part. Their use
seems to have entirely died out before the end of the Chou dynasty. He speaks a
s a man of Wu, a state which ceased to exist as early as 473 B.C. On this I shal
l touch presently.
But once refer the work to the 5th century or earlier, and the chances of its be
ing other than a bona fide production are sensibly diminished. The great age of
forgeries did not come until long after. That it should have been forged in the
period immediately following 473 is particularly unlikely, for no one, as a rule
, hastens to identify himself with a lost cause. As for Yeh Shui-hsin's theory,
that the author was a literary recluse, that seems to me quite untenable. If one
thing is more apparent than another after reading the maxims of Sun Tzu, it is
that their essence has been distilled from a large store of personal observation
and experience. They reflect the mind not only of a born strategist, gifted wit
h a rare faculty of generalization, but also of a practical soldier closely acqu
ainted with the military conditions of his time. To say nothing of the fact that
these sayings have been accepted and endorsed by all the greatest captains of C
hinese history, they offer a combination of freshness and sincerity, acuteness a
nd common sense, which quite excludes the idea that they were artificially conco
cted in the study. If we admit, then, that the 13 chapters were the genuine prod
uction of a military man living towards the end of the "CH`UN CH`IU" period, are
we not bound, in spite of the silence of the TSO CHUAN, to accept Ssu-ma Ch`ien
's account in its entirety? In view of his high repute as a sober historian, mus
t we not hesitate to assume that the records he drew upon for Sun Wu's biography
were false and untrustworthy? The answer, I fear, must be in the negative. Ther
e is still one grave, if not fatal, objection to the chronology involved in the
story as told in the SHIH CHI, which, so far as I am aware, nobody has yet point
ed out. There are two passages in Sun Tzu in which he alludes to contemporary af
fairs. The first in in VI. ss. 21: --
Though according to my estimate the soldiers of Yueh exceed our own in number, t
hat shall advantage them nothing in the matter of victory. I say then that victo
ry can be achieved.
The other is in XI. ss. 30: --
Asked if an army can be made to imitate the SHUAI-JAN, I should answer, Yes. For
the men of Wu and the men of Yueh are enemies; yet if they are crossing a river
in the same boat and are caught by a storm, they will come to each other's assi
stance just as the left hand helps the right.
These two paragraphs are extremely valuable as evidence of the date of compositi
on. They assign the work to the period of the struggle between Wu and Yueh. So m
uch has been observed by Pi I-hsun. But what has hitherto escaped notice is that
they also seriously impair the credibility of Ssu-ma Ch`ien's narrative. As we
have seen above, the first positive date given in connection with Sun Wu is 512
B.C. He is then spoken of as a general, acting as confidential adviser to Ho Lu,
so that his alleged introduction to that monarch had already taken place, and o
f course the 13 chapters must have been written earlier still. But at that time,
and for several years after, down to the capture of Ying in 506, Ch`u and not Y
ueh, was the great hereditary enemy of Wu. The two states, Ch`u and Wu, had been
constantly at war for over half a century, [31] whereas the first war between W
u and Yueh was waged only in 510, [32] and even then was no more than a short in
terlude sandwiched in the midst of the fierce struggle with Ch`u. Now Ch`u is no
t mentioned in the 13 chapters at all. The natural inference is that they were w
ritten at a time when Yueh had become the prime antagonist of Wu, that is, after
Ch`u had suffered the great humiliation of 506. At this point, a table of dates
may be found useful.
B.C. | | 514 | Accession of Ho Lu. 512 | Ho Lu attacks Ch`u, but is dissuaded fr
om entering Ying, | the capital. SHI CHI mentions Sun Wu as general. 511 | Anoth
er attack on Ch`u. 510 | Wu makes a successful attack on Yueh. This is the first
| war between the two states. 509 | or | Ch`u invades Wu, but is signally defea
ted at Yu-chang. 508 | 506 | Ho Lu attacks Ch`u with the aid of T`ang and Ts`ai.
| Decisive battle of Po-chu, and capture of Ying. Last | mention of Sun Wu in S
HIH CHI. 505 | Yueh makes a raid on Wu in the absence of its army. Wu | is beate
n by Ch`in and evacuates Ying. 504 | Ho Lu sends Fu Ch`ai to attack Ch`u. 497 |
Kou Chien becomes King of Yueh. 496 | Wu attacks Yueh, but is defeated by Kou Ch
ien at Tsui-li. | Ho Lu is killed. 494 | Fu Ch`ai defeats Kou Chien in the great
battle of Fu- | chaio, and enters the capital of Yueh. 485 | or | Kou Chien ren
ders homage to Wu. Death of Wu Tzu-hsu. 484 | 482 | Kou Chien invades Wu in the
absence of Fu Ch`ai. 478 | to | Further attacks by Yueh on Wu. 476 | 475 | Kou C
hien lays siege to the capital of Wu. 473 | Final defeat and extinction of Wu.
The sentence quoted above from VI. ss. 21 hardly strikes me as one that could ha
ve been written in the full flush of victory. It seems rather to imply that, for
the moment at least, the tide had turned against Wu, and that she was getting t
he worst of the struggle. Hence we may conclude that our treatise was not in exi
stence in 505, before which date Yueh does not appear to have scored any notable
success against Wu. Ho Lu died in 496, so that if the book was written for him,
it must have been during the period 505-496, when there was a lull in the hosti
lities, Wu having presumably exhausted by its supreme effort against Ch`u. On th
e other hand, if we choose to disregard the tradition connecting Sun Wu's name w
ith Ho Lu, it might equally well have seen the light between 496 and 494, or pos
sibly in the period 482-473, when Yueh was once again becoming a very serious me
nace. [33] We may feel fairly certain that the author, whoever he may have been,
was not a man of any great eminence in his own day. On this point the negative
testimony of the TSO CHUAN far outweighs any shred of authority still attaching
to the SHIH CHI, if once its other facts are discredited. Sun Hsing-yen, however
, makes a feeble attempt to explain the omission of his name from the great comm
entary. It was Wu Tzu-hsu, he says, who got all the credit of Sun Wu's exploits,
because the latter (being an alien) was not rewarded with an office in the Stat
e. How then did the Sun Tzu legend originate? It may be that the growing celebri
ty of the book imparted by degrees a kind of factitious renown to its author. It
was felt to be only right and proper that one so well versed in the science of
war should have solid achievements to his credit as well. Now the capture of Yin
g was undoubtedly the greatest feat of arms in Ho Lu's reign; it made a deep and
lasting impression on all the surrounding states, and raised Wu to the short-li
ved zenith of her power. Hence, what more natural, as time went on, than that th
e acknowledged master of strategy, Sun Wu, should be popularly identified with t
hat campaign, at first perhaps only in the sense that his brain conceived and pl
anned it; afterwards, that it was actually carried out by him in conjunction wit
h Wu Yuan, [34] Po P`ei and Fu Kai? It is obvious that any attempt to reconstruc
t even the outline of Sun Tzu's life must be based almost wholly on conjecture.
With this necessary proviso, I should say that he probably entered the service o
f Wu about the time of Ho Lu's accession, and gathered experience, though only i
n the capacity of a subordinate officer, during the intense military activity wh
ich marked the first half of the prince's reign. [35] If he rose to be a general
at all, he certainly was never on an equal footing with the three above mention
ed. He was doubtless present at the investment and occupation of Ying, and witne
ssed Wu's sudden collapse in the following year. Yueh's attack at this critical
juncture, when her rival was embarrassed on every side, seems to have convinced
him that this upstart kingdom was the great enemy against whom every effort woul
d henceforth have to be directed. Sun Wu was thus a well-seasoned warrior when h
e sat down to write his famous book, which according to my reckoning must have a
ppeared towards the end, rather than the beginning of Ho Lu's reign. The story o
f the women may possibly have grown out of some real incident occurring about th
e same time. As we hear no more of Sun Wu after this from any source, he is hard
ly likely to have survived his patron or to have taken part in the death-struggl
e with Yueh, which began with the disaster at Tsui- li. If these inferences are
approximately correct, there is a certain irony in the fate which decreed that C
hina's most illustrious man of peace should be contemporary with her greatest wr
iter on war.
The Text of Sun Tzu -------------------
I have found it difficult to glean much about the history of Sun Tzu's text. The
quotations that occur in early authors go to show that the "13 chapters" of whi
ch Ssu-ma Ch`ien speaks were essentially the same as those now extant. We have h
is word for it that they were widely circulated in his day, and can only regret
that he refrained from discussing them on that account. Sun Hsing-yen says in hi
s preface: --
During the Ch`in and Han dynasties Sun Tzu's ART OF WAR was in general use among
st military commanders, but they seem to have treated it as a work of mysterious
import, and were unwilling to expound it for the benefit of posterity. Thus it
came about that Wei Wu was the first to write a commentary on it.
As we have already seen, there is no reasonable ground to suppose that Ts`ao Kun
g tampered with the text. But the text itself is often so obscure, and the numbe
r of editions which appeared from that time onward so great, especially during t
he T`ang and Sung dynasties, that it would be surprising if numerous corruptions
had not managed to creep in. Towards the middle of the Sung period, by which ti
me all the chief commentaries on Sun Tzu were in existence, a certain Chi T`ien-
pao published a work in 15 CHUAN entitled "Sun Tzu with the collected commentari
es of ten writers." There was another text, with variant readings put forward by
Chu Fu of Ta-hsing, which also had supporters among the scholars of that period
; but in the Ming editions, Sun Hsing- yen tells us, these readings were for som
e reason or other no longer put into circulation. Thus, until the end of the 18t
h century, the text in sole possession of the field was one derived from Chi T`i
en-pao's edition, although no actual copy of that important work was known to ha
ve survived. That, therefore, is the text of Sun Tzu which appears in the War se
ction of the great Imperial encyclopedia printed in 1726, the KU CHIN T`U SHU CH
I CH`ENG. Another copy at my disposal of what is practically the same text, with
slight variations, is that contained in the "Eleven philosophers of the Chou an
d Ch`in dynasties" [1758]. And the Chinese printed in Capt. Calthrop's first edi
tion is evidently a similar version which has filtered through Japanese channels
. So things remained until Sun Hsing-yen [1752-1818], a distinguished antiquaria
n and classical scholar, who claimed to be an actual descendant of Sun Wu, [36]
accidentally discovered a copy of Chi T`ien-pao's long-lost work, when on a visi
t to the library of the Hua-yin temple. [37] Appended to it was the I SHUO of Ch
eng Yu-Hsien, mentioned in the T`UNG CHIH, and also believed to have perished. T
his is what Sun Hsing-yen designates as the "original edition (or text)" -- a ra
ther misleading name, for it cannot by any means claim to set before us the text
of Sun Tzu in its pristine purity. Chi T`ien-pao was a careless compiler, and a
ppears to have been content to reproduce the somewhat debased version current in
his day, without troubling to collate it with the earliest editions then availa
ble. Fortunately, two versions of Sun Tzu, even older than the newly discovered
work, were still extant, one buried in the T`UNG TIEN, Tu Yu's great treatise on
the Constitution, the other similarly enshrined in the T`AI P`ING YU LAN encycl
opedia. In both the complete text is to be found, though split up into fragments
, intermixed with other matter, and scattered piecemeal over a number of differe
nt sections. Considering that the YU LAN takes us back to the year 983, and the
T`UNG TIEN about 200 years further still, to the middle of the T`ang dynasty, th
e value of these early transcripts of Sun Tzu can hardly be overestimated. Yet t
he idea of utilizing them does not seem to have occurred to anyone until Sun Hsi
ng-yen, acting under Government instructions, undertook a thorough recension of
the text. This is his own account: --
Because of the numerous mistakes in the text of Sun Tzu which his editors had ha
nded down, the Government ordered that the ancient edition [of Chi T`ien-pao] sh
ould be used, and that the text should be revised and corrected throughout. It h
appened that Wu Nien-hu, the Governor Pi Kua, and Hsi, a graduate of the second
degree, had all devoted themselves to this study, probably surpassing me therein
. Accordingly, I have had the whole work cut on blocks as a textbook for militar
y men.
The three individuals here referred to had evidently been occupied on the text o
f Sun Tzu prior to Sun Hsing-yen's commission, but we are left in doubt as to th
e work they really accomplished. At any rate, the new edition, when ultimately p
roduced, appeared in the names of Sun Hsing-yen and only one co- editor Wu Jen-s
hi. They took the "original edition" as their basis, and by careful comparison w
ith older versions, as well as the extant commentaries and other sources of info
rmation such as the I SHUO, succeeded in restoring a very large number of doubtf
ul passages, and turned out, on the whole, what must be accepted as the closes a
pproximation we are ever likely to get to Sun Tzu's original work. This is what
will hereafter be denominated the "standard text." The copy which I have used be
longs to a reissue dated 1877. it is in 6 PEN, forming part of a well-printed se
t of 23 early philosophical works in 83 PEN. [38] It opens with a preface by Sun
Hsing-yen (largely quoted in this introduction), vindicating the traditional vi
ew of Sun Tzu's life and performances, and summing up in remarkably concise fash
ion the evidence in its favor. This is followed by Ts`ao Kung's preface to his e
dition, and the biography of Sun Tzu from the SHIH CHI, both translated above. T
hen come, firstly, Cheng Yu-hsien's I SHUO, [39] with author's preface, and next
, a short miscellany of historical and bibliographical information entitled SUN
TZU HSU LU, compiled by Pi I-hsun. As regards the body of the work, each separat
e sentence is followed by a note on the text, if required, and then by the vario
us commentaries appertaining to it, arranged in chronological order. These we sh
all now proceed to discuss briefly, one by one.
The Commentators ----------------
Sun Tzu can boast an exceptionally long distinguished roll of commentators, whic
h would do honor to any classic. Ou-yang Hsiu remarks on this fact, though he wr
ote before the tale was complete, and rather ingeniously explains it by saying t
hat the artifices of war, being inexhaustible, must therefore be susceptible of
treatment in a great variety of ways.
1. TS`AO TS`AO or Ts`ao Kung, afterwards known as Wei Wu Ti [A.D. 155-220]. Ther
e is hardly any room for doubt that the earliest commentary on Sun Tzu actually
came from the pen of this extraordinary man, whose biography in the SAN KUO CHIH
reads like a romance. One of the greatest military geniuses that the world has
seen, and Napoleonic in the scale of his operations, he was especially famed for
the marvelous rapidity of his marches, which has found expression in the line "
Talk of Ts`ao Ts`ao, and Ts`ao Ts`ao will appear." Ou-yang Hsiu says of him that
he was a great captain who "measured his strength against Tung Cho, Lu Pu and t
he two Yuan, father and son, and vanquished them all; whereupon he divided the E
mpire of Han with Wu and Shu, and made himself king. It is recorded that wheneve
r a council of war was held by Wei on the eve of a far-reaching campaign, he had
all his calculations ready; those generals who made use of them did not lose on
e battle in ten; those who ran counter to them in any particular saw their armie
s incontinently beaten and put to flight." Ts`ao Kung's notes on Sun Tzu, models
of austere brevity, are so thoroughly characteristic of the stern commander kno
wn to history, that it is hard indeed to conceive of them as the work of a mere
LITTERATEUR. Sometimes, indeed, owing to extreme compression, they are scarcely
intelligible and stand no less in need of a commentary than the text itself. [40
]
2. MENG SHIH. The commentary which has come down to us under this name is compar
atively meager, and nothing about the author is known. Even his personal name ha
s not been recorded. Chi T`ien-pao's edition places him after Chia Lin,and Ch`ao
Kung- wu also assigns him to the T`ang dynasty, [41] but this is a mistake. In
Sun Hsing-yen's preface, he appears as Meng Shih of the Liang dynasty [502-557].
Others would identify him with Meng K`ang of the 3rd century. He is named in on
e work as the last of the "Five Commentators," the others being Wei Wu Ti, Tu Mu
, Ch`en Hao and Chia Lin.
3. LI CH`UAN of the 8th century was a well-known writer on military tactics. One
of his works has been in constant use down to the present day. The T`UNG CHIH m
entions "Lives of famous generals from the Chou to the T`ang dynasty" as written
by him. [42] According to Ch`ao Kung-wu and the T`IEN-I-KO catalogue, he follow
ed a variant of the text of Sun Tzu which differs considerably from those now ex
tant. His notes are mostly short and to the point, and he frequently illustrates
his remarks by anecdotes from Chinese history.
4. TU YU (died 812) did not publish a separate commentary on Sun Tzu, his notes
being taken from the T`UNG TIEN, the encyclopedic treatise on the Constitution w
hich was his life- work. They are largely repetitions of Ts`ao Kung and Meng Shi
h, besides which it is believed that he drew on the ancient commentaries of Wang
Ling and others. Owing to the peculiar arrangement of T`UNG TIEN, he has to exp
lain each passage on its merits, apart from the context, and sometimes his own e
xplanation does not agree with that of Ts`ao Kung, whom he always quotes first.
Though not strictly to be reckoned as one of the "Ten Commentators," he was adde
d to their number by Chi T`ien-pao, being wrongly placed after his grandson Tu M
u.
5. TU MU (803-852) is perhaps the best known as a poet -- a bright star even in
the glorious galaxy of the T`ang period. We learn from Ch`ao Kung-wu that althou
gh he had no practical experience of war, he was extremely fond of discussing th
e subject, and was moreover well read in the military history of the CH`UN CH`IU
and CHAN KUO eras. His notes, therefore, are well worth attention. They are ver
y copious, and replete with historical parallels. The gist of Sun Tzu's work is
thus summarized by him: "Practice benevolence and justice, but on the other hand
make full use of artifice and measures of expediency." He further declared that
all the military triumphs and disasters of the thousand years which had elapsed
since Sun Tzu's death would, upon examination, be found to uphold and corrobora
te, in every particular, the maxims contained in his book. Tu Mu's somewhat spit
eful charge against Ts`ao Kung has already been considered elsewhere.
6. CH`EN HAO appears to have been a contemporary of Tu Mu. Ch`ao Kung-wu says th
at he was impelled to write a new commentary on Sun Tzu because Ts`ao Kung's on
the one hand was too obscure and subtle, and that of Tu Mu on the other too long
-winded and diffuse. Ou-yang Hsiu, writing in the middle of the 11th century, ca
lls Ts`ao Kung, Tu Mu and Ch`en Hao the three chief commentators on Sun Tzu, and
observes that Ch`en Hao is continually attacking Tu Mu's shortcomings. His comm
entary, though not lacking in merit, must rank below those of his predecessors.
7. CHIA LIN is known to have lived under the T`ang dynasty, for his commentary o
n Sun Tzu is mentioned in the T`ang Shu and was afterwards republished by Chi Hs
ieh of the same dynasty together with those of Meng Shih and Tu Yu. It is of som
ewhat scanty texture, and in point of quality, too, perhaps the least valuable o
f the eleven.
8. MEI YAO-CH`EN (1002-1060), commonly known by his "style" as Mei Sheng-yu, was
, like Tu Mu, a poet of distinction. His commentary was published with a laudato
ry preface by the great Ou-yang Hsiu, from which we may cull the following: --
Later scholars have misread Sun Tzu, distorting his words and trying to make the
m square with their own one-sided views. Thus, though commentators have not been
lacking, only a few have proved equal to the task. My friend Sheng-yu has not f
allen into this mistake. In attempting to provide a critical commentary for Sun
Tzu's work, he does not lose sight of the fact that these sayings were intended
for states engaged in internecine warfare; that the author is not concerned with
the military conditions prevailing under the sovereigns of the three ancient dy
nasties, [43] nor with the nine punitive measures prescribed to the Minister of
War. [44] Again, Sun Wu loved brevity of diction, but his meaning is always deep
. Whether the subject be marching an army, or handling soldiers, or estimating t
he enemy, or controlling the forces of victory, it is always systematically trea
ted; the sayings are bound together in strict logical sequence, though this has
been obscured by commentators who have probably failed to grasp their meaning. I
n his own commentary, Mei Sheng-yu has brushed aside all the obstinate prejudice
s of these critics, and has tried to bring out the true meaning of Sun Tzu himse
lf. In this way, the clouds of confusion have been dispersed and the sayings mad
e clear. I am convinced that the present work deserves to be handed down side by
side with the three great commentaries; and for a great deal that they find in
the sayings, coming generations will have constant reason to thank my friend She
ng-yu.
Making some allowance for the exuberance of friendship, I am inclined to endorse
this favorable judgment, and would certainly place him above Ch`en Hao in order
of merit.
9. WANG HSI, also of the Sung dynasty, is decidedly original in some of his inte
rpretations, but much less judicious than Mei Yao-ch`en, and on the whole not a
very trustworthy guide. He is fond of comparing his own commentary with that of
Ts`ao Kung, but the comparison is not often flattering to him. We learn from Ch`
ao Kung-wu that Wang Hsi revised the ancient text of Sun Tzu, filling up lacunae
and correcting mistakes. [45]
10. HO YEN-HSI of the Sung dynasty. The personal name of this commentator is giv
en as above by Cheng Ch`iao in the TUNG CHIH, written about the middle of the tw
elfth century, but he appears simply as Ho Shih in the YU HAI, and Ma Tuan-lin q
uotes Ch`ao Kung-wu as saying that his personal name is unknown. There seems to
be no reason to doubt Cheng Ch`iao's statement, otherwise I should have been inc
lined to hazard a guess and identify him with one Ho Ch`u-fei, the author of a s
hort treatise on war, who lived in the latter part of the 11th century. Ho Shih'
s commentary, in the words of the T`IEN-I-KO catalogue, "contains helpful additi
ons" here and there, but is chiefly remarkable for the copious extracts taken, i
n adapted form, from the dynastic histories and other sources.
11. CHANG YU. The list closes with a commentator of no great originality perhaps
, but gifted with admirable powers of lucid exposition. His commentator is based
on that of Ts`ao Kung, whose terse sentences he contrives to expand and develop
in masterly fashion. Without Chang Yu, it is safe to say that much of Ts`ao Kun
g's commentary would have remained cloaked in its pristine obscurity and therefo
re valueless. His work is not mentioned in the Sung history, the T`UNG K`AO, or
the YU HAI, but it finds a niche in the T`UNG CHIH, which also names him as the
author of the "Lives of Famous Generals." [46] It is rather remarkable that the
last-named four should all have flourished within so short a space of time. Ch`a
o Kung-wu accounts for it by saying: "During the early years of the Sung dynasty
the Empire enjoyed a long spell of peace, and men ceased to practice the art of
war. but when [Chao] Yuan-hao's rebellion came [1038-42] and the frontier gener
als were defeated time after time, the Court made strenuous inquiry for men skil
led in war, and military topics became the vogue amongst all the high officials.
Hence it is that the commentators of Sun Tzu in our dynasty belong mainly to th
at period. [47]
Besides these eleven commentators, there are several others whose work has not c
ome down to us. The SUI SHU mentions four, namely Wang Ling (often quoted by Tu
Yu as Wang Tzu); Chang Tzu- shang; Chia Hsu of Wei; [48] and Shen Yu of Wu. The
T`ANG SHU adds Sun Hao, and the T`UNG CHIH Hsiao Chi, while the T`U SHU mentions
a Ming commentator, Huang Jun-yu. It is possible that some of these may have be
en merely collectors and editors of other commentaries, like Chi T`ien-pao and C
hi Hsieh, mentioned above.
Appreciations of Sun Tzu ------------------------
Sun Tzu has exercised a potent fascination over the minds of some of China's gre
atest men. Among the famous generals who are known to have studied his pages wit
h enthusiasm may be mentioned Han Hsin (d. 196 B.C.), [49] Feng I (d. 34 A.D.),
[50] Lu Meng (d. 219), [51] and Yo Fei (1103-1141). [52] The opinion of Ts`ao Ku
ng, who disputes with Han Hsin the highest place in Chinese military annals, has
already been recorded. [53] Still more remarkable, in one way, is the testimony
of purely literary men, such as Su Hsun (the father of Su Tung-p`o), who wrote
several essays on military topics, all of which owe their chief inspiration to S
un Tzu. The following short passage by him is preserved in the YU HAI: [54] --
Sun Wu's saying, that in war one cannot make certain of conquering, [55] is very
different indeed from what other books tell us. [56] Wu Ch`i was a man of the s
ame stamp as Sun Wu: they both wrote books on war, and they are linked together
in popular speech as "Sun and Wu." But Wu Ch`i's remarks on war are less weighty
, his rules are rougher and more crudely stated, and there is not the same unity
of plan as in Sun Tzu's work, where the style is terse, but the meaning fully b
rought out.
The following is an extract from the "Impartial Judgments in the Garden of Liter
ature" by Cheng Hou: --
Sun Tzu's 13 chapters are not only the staple and base of all military men's tra
ining, but also compel the most careful attention of scholars and men of letters
. His sayings are terse yet elegant, simple yet profound, perspicuous and eminen
tly practical. Such works as the LUN YU, the I CHING and the great Commentary, [
57] as well as the writings of Mencius, Hsun K`uang and Yang Chu, all fall below
the level of Sun Tzu.
Chu Hsi, commenting on this, fully admits the first part of the criticism, altho
ugh he dislikes the audacious comparison with the venerated classical works. Lan
guage of this sort, he says, "encourages a ruler's bent towards unrelenting warf
are and reckless militarism."
Apologies for War -----------------
Accustomed as we are to think of China as the greatest peace-loving nation on ea
rth, we are in some danger of forgetting that her experience of war in all its p
hases has also been such as no modern State can parallel. Her long military anna
ls stretch back to a point at which they are lost in the mists of time. She had
built the Great Wall and was maintaining a huge standing army along her frontier
centuries before the first Roman legionary was seen on the Danube. What with th
e perpetual collisions of the ancient feudal States, the grim conflicts with Hun
s, Turks and other invaders after the centralization of government, the terrific
upheavals which accompanied the overthrow of so many dynasties, besides the cou
ntless rebellions and minor disturbances that have flamed up and flickered out a
gain one by one, it is hardly too much to say that the clash of arms has never c
eased to resound in one portion or another of the Empire. No less remarkable is
the succession of illustrious captains to whom China can point with pride. As in
all countries, the greatest are fond of emerging at the most fateful crises of
her history. Thus, Po Ch`i stands out conspicuous in the period when Ch`in was e
ntering upon her final struggle with the remaining independent states. The storm
y years which followed the break-up of the Ch`in dynasty are illuminated by the
transcendent genius of Han Hsin. When the House of Han in turn is tottering to i
ts fall, the great and baleful figure of Ts`ao Ts`ao dominates the scene. And in
the establishment of the T`ang dynasty,one of the mightiest tasks achieved by m
an, the superhuman energy of Li Shih-min (afterwards the Emperor T`ai Tsung) was
seconded by the brilliant strategy of Li Ching. None of these generals need fea
r comparison with the greatest names in the military history of Europe. In spite
of all this, the great body of Chinese sentiment, from Lao Tzu downwards, and e
specially as reflected in the standard literature of Confucianism, has been cons
istently pacific and intensely opposed to militarism in any form. It is such an
uncommon thing to find any of the literati defending warfare on principle, that
I have thought it worth while to collect and translate a few passages in which t
he unorthodox view is upheld. The following, by Ssu-ma Ch`ien, shows that for al
l his ardent admiration of Confucius, he was yet no advocate of peace at any pri
ce: --
Military weapons are the means used by the Sage to punish violence and cruelty,
to give peace to troublous times, to remove difficulties and dangers, and to suc
cor those who are in peril. Every animal with blood in its veins and horns on it
s head will fight when it is attacked. How much more so will man, who carries in
his breast the faculties of love and hatred, joy and anger! When he is pleased,
a feeling of affection springs up within him; when angry, his poisoned sting is
brought into play. That is the natural law which governs his being.... What the
n shall be said of those scholars of our time, blind to all great issues, and wi
thout any appreciation of relative values, who can only bark out their stale for
mulas about "virtue" and "civilization," condemning the use of military weapons?
They will surely bring our country to impotence and dishonor and the loss of he
r rightful heritage; or, at the very least, they will bring about invasion and r
ebellion, sacrifice of territory and general enfeeblement. Yet they obstinately
refuse to modify the position they have taken up. The truth is that, just as in
the family the teacher must not spare the rod, and punishments cannot be dispens
ed with in the State, so military chastisement can never be allowed to fall into
abeyance in the Empire. All one can say is that this power will be exercised wi
sely by some, foolishly by others, and that among those who bear arms some will
be loyal and others rebellious. [58]
The next piece is taken from Tu Mu's preface to his commentary on Sun Tzu: --
War may be defined as punishment, which is one of the functions of government. I
t was the profession of Chung Yu and Jan Ch`iu, both disciples of Confucius. Now
adays, the holding of trials and hearing of litigation, the imprisonment of offe
nders and their execution by flogging in the market- place, are all done by offi
cials. But the wielding of huge armies, the throwing down of fortified cities, t
he hauling of women and children into captivity, and the beheading of traitors -
- this is also work which is done by officials. The objects of the rack and of m
ilitary weapons are essentially the same. There is no intrinsic difference betwe
en the punishment of flogging and cutting off heads in war. For the lesser infra
ctions of law, which are easily dealt with, only a small amount of force need be
employed: hence the use of military weapons and wholesale decapitation. In both
cases, however, the end in view is to get rid of wicked people, and to give com
fort and relief to the good.... Chi-sun asked Jan Yu, saying: "Have you, Sir, ac
quired your military aptitude by study, or is it innate?" Jan Yu replied: "It ha
s been acquired by study." [59] "How can that be so," said Chi-sun, "seeing that
you are a disciple of Confucius?" "It is a fact," replied Jan Yu; "I was taught
by Confucius. It is fitting that the great Sage should exercise both civil and
military functions, though to be sure my instruction in the art of fighting has
not yet gone very far." Now, who the author was of this rigid distinction betwee
n the "civil" and the "military," and the limitation of each to a separate spher
e of action, or in what year of which dynasty it was first introduced, is more t
han I can say. But, at any rate, it has come about that the members of the gover
ning class are quite afraid of enlarging on military topics, or do so only in a
shamefaced manner. If any are bold enough to discuss the subject, they are at on
ce set down as eccentric individuals of coarse and brutal propensities. This is
an extraordinary instance in which, through sheer lack of reasoning, men unhappi
ly lose sight of fundamental principles. When the Duke of Chou was minister unde
r Ch`eng Wang, he regulated ceremonies and made music, and venerated the arts of
scholarship and learning; yet when the barbarians of the River Huai revolted, [
60] he sallied forth and chastised them. When Confucius held office under the Du
ke of Lu, and a meeting was convened at Chia-ku, [61] he said: "If pacific negot
iations are in progress, warlike preparations should have been made beforehand."
He rebuked and shamed the Marquis of Ch`i, who cowered under him and dared not
proceed to violence. How can it be said that these two great Sages had no knowle
dge of military matters?
We have seen that the great Chu Hsi held Sun Tzu in high esteem. He also appeals
to the authority of the Classics: --
Our Master Confucius, answering Duke Ling of Wei, said: "I have never studied ma
tters connected with armies and battalions." [62] Replying to K`ung Wen-tzu, he
said: I have not been instructed about buff-coats and weapons." But if we turn t
o the meeting at Chia-ku, we find that he used armed force against the men of La
i, so that the marquis of Ch`i was overawed. Again, when the inhabitants of Pi r
evolted, the ordered his officers to attack them, whereupon they were defeated a
nd fled in confusion. He once uttered the words: "If I fight, I conquer." [63] A
nd Jan Yu also said: "The Sage exercises both civil and military functions." [64
] Can it be a fact that Confucius never studied or received instruction in the a
rt of war? We can only say that he did not specially choose matters connected wi
th armies and fighting to be the subject of his teaching.
Sun Hsing-yen, the editor of Sun Tzu, writes in similar strain: --
Confucius said: "I am unversed in military matters." [65] He also said: "If I fi
ght, I conquer." Confucius ordered ceremonies and regulated music. Now war const
itutes one of the five classes of State ceremonial, [66] and must not be treated
as an independent branch of study. Hence, the words "I am unversed in" must be
taken to mean that there are things which even an inspired Teacher does not know
. Those who have to lead an army and devise stratagems, must learn the art of wa
r. But if one can command the services of a good general like Sun Tzu, who was e
mployed by Wu Tzu-hsu, there is no need to learn it oneself. Hence the remark ad
ded by Confucius: "If I fight, I conquer." The men of the present day, however,
willfully interpret these words of Confucius in their narrowest sense, as though
he meant that books on the art of war were not worth reading. With blind persis
tency, they adduce the example of Chao Kua, who pored over his father's books to
no purpose, [67] as a proof that all military theory is useless. Again, seeing
that books on war have to do with such things as opportunism in designing plans,
and the conversion of spies, they hold that the art is immoral and unworthy of
a sage. These people ignore the fact that the studies of our scholars and the ci
vil administration of our officials also require steady application and practice
before efficiency is reached. The ancients were particularly chary of allowing
mere novices to botch their work. [68] Weapons are baneful [69] and fighting per
ilous; and useless unless a general is in constant practice, he ought not to haz
ard other men's lives in battle. [70] Hence it is essential that Sun Tzu's 13 ch
apters should be studied. Hsiang Liang used to instruct his nephew Chi [71] in t
he art of war. Chi got a rough idea of the art in its general bearings, but woul
d not pursue his studies to their proper outcome, the consequence being that he
was finally defeated and overthrown. He did not realize that the tricks and arti
fices of war are beyond verbal computation. Duke Hsiang of Sung and King Yen of
Hsu were brought to destruction by their misplaced humanity. The treacherous and
underhand nature of war necessitates the use of guile and stratagem suited to t
he occasion. There is a case on record of Confucius himself having violated an e
xtorted oath, [72] and also of his having left the Sung State in disguise. [73]
Can we then recklessly arraign Sun Tzu for disregarding truth and honesty?
Bibliography ------------
The following are the oldest Chinese treatises on war, after Sun Tzu. The notes
on each have been drawn principally from the SSU K`U CH`UAN SHU CHIEN MING MU LU
, ch. 9, fol. 22 sqq.
1. WU TZU, in 1 CHUAN or 6 chapters. By Wu Ch`i (d. 381 B.C.). A genuine work. S
ee SHIH CHI, ch. 65.
2. SSU-MA FA, in 1 CHUAN or 5 chapters. Wrongly attributed to Ssu-ma Jang-chu of
the 6th century B.C. Its date, however, must be early, as the customs of the th
ree ancient dynasties are constantly to be met within its pages. See SHIH CHI, c
h. 64. The SSU K`U CH`UAN SHU (ch. 99, f. 1) remarks that the oldest three treat
ises on war, SUN TZU, WU TZU and SSU-MA FA, are, generally speaking, only concer
ned with things strictly military -- the art of producing, collecting, training
and drilling troops, and the correct theory with regard to measures of expedienc
y, laying plans, transport of goods and the handling of soldiers -- in strong co
ntrast to later works, in which the science of war is usually blended with metap
hysics, divination and magical arts in general.
3. LIU T`AO, in 6 CHUAN, or 60 chapters. Attributed to Lu Wang (or Lu Shang, als
o known as T`ai Kung) of the 12th century B.C. [74] But its style does not belon
g to the era of the Three Dynasties. Lu Te-ming (550-625 A.D.) mentions the work
, and enumerates the headings of the six sections so that the forgery cannot hav
e been later than Sui dynasty.
4. WEI LIAO TZU, in 5 CHUAN. Attributed to Wei Liao (4th cent. B.C.), who studie
d under the famous Kuei-ku Tzu. The work appears to have been originally in 31 c
hapters, whereas the text we possess contains only 24. Its matter is sound enoug
h in the main, though the strategical devices differ considerably from those of
the Warring States period. It is been furnished with a commentary by the well-kn
own Sung philosopher Chang Tsai.
5. SAN LUEH, in 3 CHUAN. Attributed to Huang-shih Kung, a legendary personage wh
o is said to have bestowed it on Chang Liang (d. 187 B.C.) in an interview on a
bridge. But here again, the style is not that of works dating from the Ch`in or
Han period. The Han Emperor Kuang Wu [25-57 A.D.] apparently quotes from it in o
ne of his proclamations; but the passage in question may have been inserted late
r on, in order to prove the genuineness of the work. We shall not be far out if
we refer it to the Northern Sung period [420-478 A.D.], or somewhat earlier.
6. LI WEI KUNG WEN TUI, in 3 sections. Written in the form of a dialogue between
T`ai Tsung and his great general Li Ching, it is usually ascribed to the latter
. Competent authorities consider it a forgery, though the author was evidently w
ell versed in the art of war.
7. LI CHING PING FA (not to be confounded with the foregoing) is a short treatis
e in 8 chapters, preserved in the T`ung Tien, but not published separately. This
fact explains its omission from the SSU K`U CH`UAN SHU.
8. WU CH`I CHING, in 1 CHUAN. Attributed to the legendary minister Feng Hou, wit
h exegetical notes by Kung-sun Hung of the Han dynasty (d. 121 B.C.), and said t
o have been eulogized by the celebrated general Ma Lung (d. 300 A.D.). Yet the e
arliest mention of it is in the SUNG CHIH. Although a forgery, the work is well
put together.
Considering the high popular estimation in which Chu-ko Liang has always been he
ld, it is not surprising to find more than one work on war ascribed to his pen.
Such are (1) the SHIH LIU TS`E (1 CHUAN), preserved in the YUNG LO TA TIEN; (2)
CHIANG YUAN (1 CHUAN); and (3) HSIN SHU (1 CHUAN), which steals wholesale from S
un Tzu. None of these has the slightest claim to be considered genuine. Most of
the large Chinese encyclopedias contain extensive sections devoted to the litera
ture of war. The following references may be found useful: --
T`UNG TIEN (circa 800 A.D.), ch. 148-162. T`AI P`ING YU LAN (983), ch. 270-359.
WEN HSIEN TUNG K`AO (13th cent.), ch. 221. YU HAI (13th cent.), ch. 140, 141. SA
N TS`AI T`U HUI (16th cent). KUANG PO WU CHIH (1607), ch. 31, 32. CH`IEN CH`IO L
EI SHU (1632), ch. 75. YUAN CHIEN LEI HAN (1710), ch. 206-229. KU CHIN T`U SHU C
HI CH`ENG (1726), section XXX, esp. ch. 81- 90. HSU WEN HSIEN T`UNG K`AO (1784),
ch. 121-134. HUANG CH`AO CHING SHIH WEN PIEN (1826), ch. 76, 77.
The bibliographical sections of certain historical works also deserve mention: -
-
CH`IEN HAN SHU, ch. 30. SUI SHU, ch. 32-35. CHIU T`ANG SHU, ch. 46, 47. HSIN T`A
NG SHU, ch. 57,60. SUNG SHIH, ch. 202-209. T`UNG CHIH (circa 1150), ch. 68.
To these of course must be added the great Catalogue of the Imperial Library: --
SSU K`U CH`UAN SHU TSUNG MU T`I YAO (1790), ch. 99, 100.
Footnotes ---------
1. SHI CHI, ch. 65.
2. He reigned from 514 to 496 B.C.
3. SHI CHI, ch. 130.
4. The appellation of Nang Wa.
5. SHI CHI, ch. 31.
6. SHI CHI, ch. 25.
7. The appellation of Hu Yen, mentioned in ch. 39 under the year 637.
8. Wang-tzu Ch`eng-fu, ch. 32, year 607.
9. The mistake is natural enough. Native critics refer to a work of the Han dyna
sty, which says: "Ten LI outside the WU gate [of the city of Wu, now Soochow in
Kiangsu] there is a great mound, raised to commemorate the entertainment of Sun
Wu of Ch`i, who excelled in the art of war, by the King of Wu."
10. "They attached strings to wood to make bows, and sharpened wood to make arro
ws. The use of bows and arrows is to keep the Empire in awe."
11. The son and successor of Ho Lu. He was finally defeated and overthrown by Ko
u chien, King of Yueh, in 473 B.C. See post.
12. King Yen of Hsu, a fabulous being, of whom Sun Hsing-yen says in his preface
: "His humanity brought him to destruction."
13. The passage I have put in brackets is omitted in the T`U SHU, and may be an
interpolation. It was known, however to Chang Shou-chieh of the T`ang dynasty, a
nd appears in the T`AI P`ING YU LAN.
14. Ts`ao Kung seems to be thinking of the first part of chap. II, perhaps espec
ially of ss. 8.
15. See chap. XI.
16. On the other hand, it is noteworthy that WU TZU, which is not in 6 chapters,
has 48 assigned to it in the HAN CHIH. Likewise, the CHUNG YUNG is credited wit
h 49 chapters, though now only in one only. In the case of very short works, one
is tempted to think that P`IEN might simply mean "leaves."
17. Yeh Shih of the Sung dynasty [1151-1223].
18. He hardly deserves to be bracketed with assassins.
19. See Chapter 7, ss. 27 and Chapter 11, ss. 28.
20. See Chapter 11, ss. 28. Chuan Chu is the abbreviated form of his name.
21. I.e. Po P`ei. See ante.
22. The nucleus of this work is probably genuine, though large additions have be
en made by later hands. Kuan chung died in 645 B.C.
23. See infra, beginning of INTRODUCTION.
24. I do not know what this work, unless it be the last chapter of another work.
Why that chapter should be singled out, however, is not clear.
25. About 480 B.C.
26. That is, I suppose, the age of Wu Wang and Chou Kung.
27. In the 3rd century B.C.
28. Ssu-ma Jang-chu, whose family name was T`ien, lived in the latter half of th
e 6th century B.C., and is also believed to have written a work on war. See SHIH
CHI, ch. 64, and infra at the beginning of the INTRODUCTION.
29. See Legge's Classics, vol. V, Prolegomena p. 27. Legge thinks that the TSO C
HUAN must have been written in the 5th century, but not before 424 B.C.
30. See MENCIUS III. 1. iii. 13-20.
31. When Wu first appears in the CH`UN CH`IU in 584, it is already at variance w
ith its powerful neighbor. The CH`UN CH`IU first mentions Yueh in 537, the TSO C
HUAN in 601.
32. This is explicitly stated in the TSO CHUAN, XXXII, 2.
33. There is this to be said for the later period, that the feud would tend to g
row more bitter after each encounter, and thus more fully justify the language u
sed in XI. ss. 30.
34. With Wu Yuan himself the case is just the reverse: -- a spurious treatise on
war has been fathered on him simply because he was a great general. Here we hav
e an obvious inducement to forgery. Sun Wu, on the other hand, cannot have been
widely known to fame in the 5th century.
35. From TSO CHUAN: "From the date of King Chao's accession [515] there was no y
ear in which Ch`u was not attacked by Wu."
36. Preface ad fin: "My family comes from Lo-an, and we are really descended fro
m Sun Tzu. I am ashamed to say that I only read my ancestor's work from a litera
ry point of view, without comprehending the military technique. So long have we
been enjoying the blessings of peace!"
37. Hoa-yin is about 14 miles from T`ung-kuan on the eastern border of Shensi. T
he temple in question is still visited by those about the ascent of the Western
Sacred Mountain. It is mentioned in a text as being "situated five LI east of th
e district city of Hua-yin. The temple contains the Hua-shan tablet inscribed by
the T`ang Emperor Hsuan Tsung [713-755]."
38. See my "Catalogue of Chinese Books" (Luzac & Co., 1908), no. 40.
39. This is a discussion of 29 difficult passages in Sun Tzu.
40. Cf. Catalogue of the library of Fan family at Ningpo: "His commentary is fre
quently obscure; it furnishes a clue, but does not fully develop the meaning."
41. WEN HSIEN T`UNG K`AO, ch. 221.
42. It is interesting to note that M. Pelliot has recently discovered chapters 1
, 4 and 5 of this lost work in the "Grottos of the Thousand Buddhas." See B.E.F.
E.O., t. VIII, nos. 3-4, p. 525.
43. The Hsia, the Shang and the Chou. Although the last-named was nominally exis
tent in Sun Tzu's day, it retained hardly a vestige of power, and the old milita
ry organization had practically gone by the board. I can suggest no other explan
ation of the passage.
44. See CHOU LI, xxix. 6-10.
45. T`UNG K`AO, ch. 221.
46. This appears to be still extant. See Wylie's "Notes," p. 91 (new edition).
47. T`UNG K`AO, loc. cit.
48. A notable person in his day. His biography is given in the SAN KUO CHIH, ch.
10.
49. See XI. ss. 58, note.
50. HOU HAN SHU, ch. 17 ad init.
51. SAN KUO CHIH, ch. 54.
52. SUNG SHIH, ch. 365 ad init.
53. The few Europeans who have yet had an opportunity of acquainting themselves
with Sun Tzu are not behindhand in their praise. In this connection, I may perha
ps be excused for quoting from a letter from Lord Roberts, to whom the sheets of
the present work were submitted previous to publication: "Many of Sun Wu's maxi
ms are perfectly applicable to the present day, and no. 11 [in Chapter VIII] is
one that the people of this country would do well to take to heart."
54. Ch. 140.
55. See IV. ss. 3.
56. The allusion may be to Mencius VI. 2. ix. 2.
57. The TSO CHUAN.
58. SHIH CHI, ch. 25, fol. I.
59. Cf. SHIH CHI, ch 47.
60. See SHU CHING, preface ss. 55.
61. See SHIH CHI, ch. 47.
62. Lun Yu, XV. 1.
63. I failed to trace this utterance.
64. Supra.
65. Supra.
66. The other four being worship, mourning, entertainment of guests, and festive
rites. See SHU CHING, ii. 1. III. 8, and CHOU LI, IX. fol. 49.
67. See XIII. ss. 11, note.
68. This is a rather obscure allusion to the TSO CHUAN, where Tzu-ch`an says: "I
f you have a piece of beautiful brocade, you will not employ a mere learner to m
ake it up."
69. Cf. TAO TE CHING, ch. 31.
70. Sun Hsing-yen might have quoted Confucius again. See LUN YU, XIII. 29, 30.
71. Better known as Hsiang Yu [233-202 B.C.].
72. SHIH CHI, ch. 47.
73. SHIH CHI, ch. 38.
74. See XIII. ss. 27, note. Further details on T`ai Kung will be found in the SH
IH CHI, ch. 32 ad init. Besides the tradition which makes him a former minister
of Chou Hsin, two other accounts of him are there given, according to which he w
ould appear to have been first raised from a humble private station by Wen Wang.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
I. LAYING PLANS
[Ts`ao Kung, in defining the meaning of the Chinese for the title of this chapte
r, says it refers to the deliberations in the temple selected by the general for
his temporary use, or as we should say, in his tent. See. ss. 26.]
1. Sun Tzu said: The art of war is of vital importance to the State. 2. It is a
matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subj
ect of inquiry which can on no account be neglected. 3. The art of war, then, is
governed by five constant factors, to be taken into account in one's deliberati
ons, when seeking to determine the conditions obtaining in the field. 4. These a
re: (1) The Moral Law; (2) Heaven; (3) Earth; (4) The Commander; (5) Method and
discipline.
[It appears from what follows that Sun Tzu means by "Moral Law" a principle of h
armony, not unlike the Tao of Lao Tzu in its moral aspect. One might be tempted
to render it by "morale," were it not considered as an attribute of the ruler in
ss. 13.]
5, 6. The MORAL LAW causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler,
so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any dange
r.
[Tu Yu quotes Wang Tzu as saying: "Without constant practice, the officers will
be nervous and undecided when mustering for battle; without constant practice, t
he general will be wavering and irresolute when the crisis is at hand."]
7. HEAVEN signifies night and day, cold and heat, times and seasons.
[The commentators, I think, make an unnecessary mystery of two words here. Meng
Shih refers to "the hard and the soft, waxing and waning" of Heaven. Wang Hsi, h
owever, may be right in saying that what is meant is "the general economy of Hea
ven," including the five elements, the four seasons, wind and clouds, and other
phenomena.]
8. EARTH comprises distances, great and small; danger and security; open ground
and narrow passes; the chances of life and death. 9. The COMMANDER stands for th
e virtues of wisdom, sincerely, benevolence, courage and strictness.
[The five cardinal virtues of the Chinese are (1) humanity or benevolence; (2) u
prightness of mind; (3) self-respect, self- control, or "proper feeling;" (4) wi
sdom; (5) sincerity or good faith. Here "wisdom" and "sincerity" are put before
"humanity or benevolence," and the two military virtues of "courage" and "strict
ness" substituted for "uprightness of mind" and "self- respect, self-control, or
'proper feeling.'"]
10. By METHOD AND DISCIPLINE are to be understood the marshaling of the army in
its proper subdivisions, the graduations of rank among the officers, the mainten
ance of roads by which supplies may reach the army, and the control of military
expenditure. 11. These five heads should be familiar to every general: he who kn
ows them will be victorious; he who knows them not will fail. 12. Therefore, in
your deliberations, when seeking to determine the military conditions, let them
be made the basis of a comparison, in this wise: -- 13. (1) Which of the two sov
ereigns is imbued with the Moral law?
[I.e., "is in harmony with his subjects." Cf. ss. 5.]
(2) Which of the two generals has most ability? (3) With whom lie the advantages
derived from Heaven and Earth?
[See ss. 7,8]
(4) On which side is discipline most rigorously enforced?
[Tu Mu alludes to the remarkable story of Ts`ao Ts`ao (A.D. 155-220), who was su
ch a strict disciplinarian that once, in accordance with his own severe regulati
ons against injury to standing crops, he condemned himself to death for having a
llowed him horse to shy into a field of corn! However, in lieu of losing his hea
d, he was persuaded to satisfy his sense of justice by cutting off his hair. Ts`
ao Ts`ao's own comment on the present passage is characteristically curt: "when
you lay down a law, see that it is not disobeyed; if it is disobeyed the offende
r must be put to death."]
(5) Which army is stronger?
[Morally as well as physically. As Mei Yao-ch`en puts it, freely rendered, "ESPI
RIT DE CORPS and 'big battalions.'"]
(6) On which side are officers and men more highly trained?
[Tu Yu quotes Wang Tzu as saying: "Without constant practice, the officers will
be nervous and undecided when mustering for battle; without constant practice, t
he general will be wavering and irresolute when the crisis is at hand."]
(7) In which army is there the greater constancy both in reward and punishment?
[On which side is there the most absolute certainty that merit will be properly
rewarded and misdeeds summarily punished?]
14. By means of these seven considerations I can forecast victory or defeat. 15.
The general that hearkens to my counsel and acts upon it, will conquer: --let s
uch a one be retained in command! The general that hearkens not to my counsel no
r acts upon it, will suffer defeat: --let such a one be dismissed!
[The form of this paragraph reminds us that Sun Tzu's treatise was composed expr
essly for the benefit of his patron Ho Lu, king of the Wu State.]
16. While heading the profit of my counsel, avail yourself also of any helpful c
ircumstances over and beyond the ordinary rules. 17. According as circumstances
are favorable, one should modify one's plans.
[Sun Tzu, as a practical soldier, will have none of the "bookish theoric." He ca
utions us here not to pin our faith to abstract principles; "for," as Chang Yu p
uts it, "while the main laws of strategy can be stated clearly enough for the be
nefit of all and sundry, you must be guided by the actions of the enemy in attem
pting to secure a favorable position in actual warfare." On the eve of the battl
e of Waterloo, Lord Uxbridge, commanding the cavalry, went to the Duke of Wellin
gton in order to learn what his plans and calculations were for the morrow, beca
use, as he explained, he might suddenly find himself Commander-in-chief and woul
d be unable to frame new plans in a critical moment. The Duke listened quietly a
nd then said: "Who will attack the first tomorrow -- I or Bonaparte?" "Bonaparte
," replied Lord Uxbridge. "Well," continued the Duke, "Bonaparte has not given m
e any idea of his projects; and as my plans will depend upon his, how can you ex
pect me to tell you what mine are?" [1] ]
18. All warfare is based on deception.
[The truth of this pithy and profound saying will be admitted by every soldier.
Col. Henderson tells us that Wellington, great in so many military qualities, wa
s especially distinguished by "the extraordinary skill with which he concealed h
is movements and deceived both friend and foe."]
19. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we m
ust seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far a
way; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. 20. Hold out baits to
entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.
[All commentators, except Chang Yu, say, "When he is in disorder, crush him." It
is more natural to suppose that Sun Tzu is still illustrating the uses of decep
tion in war.]
21. If he is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior str
ength, evade him. 22. If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate h
im. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.
[Wang Tzu, quoted by Tu Yu, says that the good tactician plays with his adversar
y as a cat plays with a mouse, first feigning weakness and immobility, and then
suddenly pouncing upon him.]
23. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest.
[This is probably the meaning though Mei Yao-ch`en has the note: "while we are t
aking our ease, wait for the enemy to tire himself out." The YU LAN has "Lure hi
m on and tire him out."]
If his forces are united, separate them.
[Less plausible is the interpretation favored by most of the commentators: "If s
overeign and subject are in accord, put division between them."]
24. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected. 25. Th
ese military devices, leading to victory, must not be divulged beforehand. 26. N
ow the general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the b
attle is fought.
[Chang Yu tells us that in ancient times it was customary for a temple to be set
apart for the use of a general who was about to take the field, in order that h
e might there elaborate his plan of campaign.]
The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand. Thus do ma
ny calculations lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat: how much more n
o calculation at all! It is by attention to this point that I can foresee who is
likely to win or lose.
[1] "Words on Wellington," by Sir. W. Fraser.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
II. WAGING WAR
[Ts`ao Kung has the note: "He who wishes to fight must first count the cost," wh
ich prepares us for the discovery that the subject of the chapter is not what we
might expect from the title, but is primarily a consideration of ways and means
.]
1. Sun Tzu said: In the operations of war, where there are in the field a thousa
nd swift chariots, as many heavy chariots, and a hundred thousand mail-clad sold
iers,
[The "swift chariots" were lightly built and, according to Chang Yu, used for th
e attack; the "heavy chariots" were heavier, and designed for purposes of defens
e. Li Ch`uan, it is true, says that the latter were light, but this seems hardly
probable. It is interesting to note the analogies between early Chinese warfare
and that of the Homeric Greeks. In each case, the war- chariot was the importan
t factor, forming as it did the nucleus round which was grouped a certain number
of foot-soldiers. With regard to the numbers given here, we are informed that e
ach swift chariot was accompanied by 75 footmen, and each heavy chariot by 25 fo
otmen, so that the whole army would be divided up into a thousand battalions, ea
ch consisting of two chariots and a hundred men.]
with provisions enough to carry them a thousand LI,
[2.78 modern LI go to a mile. The length may have varied slightly since Sun Tzu'
s time.]
the expenditure at home and at the front, including entertainment of guests, sma
ll items such as glue and paint, and sums spent on chariots and armor, will reac
h the total of a thousand ounces of silver per day. Such is the cost of raising
an army of 100,000 men. 2. When you engage in actual fighting, if victory is lon
g in coming, then men's weapons will grow dull and their ardor will be damped. I
f you lay siege to a town, you will exhaust your strength. 3. Again, if the camp
aign is protracted, the resources of the State will not be equal to the strain.
4. Now, when your weapons are dulled, your ardor damped, your strength exhausted
and your treasure spent, other chieftains will spring up to take advantage of y
our extremity. Then no man, however wise, will be able to avert the consequences
that must ensue. 5. Thus, though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverne
ss has never been seen associated with long delays.
[This concise and difficult sentence is not well explained by any of the comment
ators. Ts`ao Kung, Li Ch`uan, Meng Shih, Tu Yu, Tu Mu and Mei Yao-ch`en have not
es to the effect that a general, though naturally stupid, may nevertheless conqu
er through sheer force of rapidity. Ho Shih says: "Haste may be stupid, but at a
ny rate it saves expenditure of energy and treasure; protracted operations may b
e very clever, but they bring calamity in their train." Wang Hsi evades the diff
iculty by remarking: "Lengthy operations mean an army growing old, wealth being
expended, an empty exchequer and distress among the people; true cleverness insu
res against the occurrence of such calamities." Chang Yu says: "So long as victo
ry can be attained, stupid haste is preferable to clever dilatoriness." Now Sun
Tzu says nothing whatever, except possibly by implication, about ill-considered
haste being better than ingenious but lengthy operations. What he does say is so
mething much more guarded, namely that, while speed may sometimes be injudicious
, tardiness can never be anything but foolish -- if only because it means impove
rishment to the nation. In considering the point raised here by Sun Tzu, the cla
ssic example of Fabius Cunctator will inevitably occur to the mind. That general
deliberately measured the endurance of Rome against that of Hannibals's isolate
d army, because it seemed to him that the latter was more likely to suffer from
a long campaign in a strange country. But it is quite a moot question whether hi
s tactics would have proved successful in the long run. Their reversal it is tru
e, led to Cannae; but this only establishes a negative presumption in their favo
r.]
6. There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare. 7.
It is only one who is thoroughly acquainted with the evils of war that can thor
oughly understand the profitable way of carrying it on.
[That is, with rapidity. Only one who knows the disastrous effects of a long war
can realize the supreme importance of rapidity in bringing it to a close. Only
two commentators seem to favor this interpretation, but it fits well into the lo
gic of the context, whereas the rendering, "He who does not know the evils of wa
r cannot appreciate its benefits," is distinctly pointless.]
8. The skillful soldier does not raise a second levy, neither are his supply-wag
ons loaded more than twice.
[Once war is declared, he will not waste precious time in waiting for reinforcem
ents, nor will he return his army back for fresh supplies, but crosses the enemy
's frontier without delay. This may seem an audacious policy to recommend, but w
ith all great strategists, from Julius Caesar to Napoleon Bonaparte, the value o
f time -- that is, being a little ahead of your opponent -- has counted for more
than either numerical superiority or the nicest calculations with regard to com
missariat.]
9. Bring war material with you from home, but forage on the enemy. Thus the army
will have food enough for its needs.
[The Chinese word translated here as "war material" literally means "things to b
e used", and is meant in the widest sense. It includes all the impedimenta of an
army, apart from provisions.]
10. Poverty of the State exchequer causes an army to be maintained by contributi
ons from a distance. Contributing to maintain an army at a distance causes the p
eople to be impoverished.
[The beginning of this sentence does not balance properly with the next, though
obviously intended to do so. The arrangement, moreover, is so awkward that I can
not help suspecting some corruption in the text. It never seems to occur to Chin
ese commentators that an emendation may be necessary for the sense, and we get n
o help from them there. The Chinese words Sun Tzu used to indicate the cause of
the people's impoverishment clearly have reference to some system by which the h
usbandmen sent their contributions of corn to the army direct. But why should it
fall on them to maintain an army in this way, except because the State or Gover
nment is too poor to do so?]
11. On the other hand, the proximity of an army causes prices to go up; and high
prices cause the people's substance to be drained away.
[Wang Hsi says high prices occur before the army has left its own territory. Ts`
ao Kung understands it of an army that has already crossed the frontier.]
12. When their substance is drained away, the peasantry will be afflicted by hea
vy exactions. 13, 14. With this loss of substance and exhaustion of strength, th
e homes of the people will be stripped bare, and three-tenths of their income wi
ll be dissipated;
[Tu Mu and Wang Hsi agree that the people are not mulcted not of 3/10, but of 7/
10, of their income. But this is hardly to be extracted from our text. Ho Shih h
as a characteristic tag: "The PEOPLE being regarded as the essential part of the
State, and FOOD as the people's heaven, is it not right that those in authority
should value and be careful of both?"]
while government expenses for broken chariots, worn-out horses, breast-plates an
d helmets, bows and arrows, spears and shields, protective mantles, draught-oxen
and heavy wagons, will amount to four-tenths of its total revenue. 15. Hence a
wise general makes a point of foraging on the enemy. One cartload of the enemy's
provisions is equivalent to twenty of one's own, and likewise a single PICUL of
his provender is equivalent to twenty from one's own store.
[Because twenty cartloads will be consumed in the process of transporting one ca
rtload to the front. A PICUL is a unit of measure equal to 133.3 pounds (65.5 ki
lograms).]
16. Now in order to kill the enemy, our men must be roused to anger; that there
may be advantage from defeating the enemy, they must have their rewards.
[Tu Mu says: "Rewards are necessary in order to make the soldiers see the advant
age of beating the enemy; thus, when you capture spoils from the enemy, they mus
t be used as rewards, so that all your men may have a keen desire to fight, each
on his own account."]
17. Therefore in chariot fighting, when ten or more chariots have been taken, th
ose should be rewarded who took the first. Our own flags should be substituted f
or those of the enemy, and the chariots mingled and used in conjunction with our
s. The captured soldiers should be kindly treated and kept. 18. This is called,
using the conquered foe to augment one's own strength. 19. In war, then, let you
r great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns.
[As Ho Shih remarks: "War is not a thing to be trifled with." Sun Tzu here reite
rates the main lesson which this chapter is intended to enforce."]
20. Thus it may be known that the leader of armies is the arbiter of the people'
s fate, the man on whom it depends whether the nation shall be in peace or in pe
ril.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
III. ATTACK BY STRATAGEM
1. Sun Tzu said: In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take t
he enemy's country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good. S
o, too, it is better to recapture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture
a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them.
[The equivalent to an army corps, according to Ssu-ma Fa, consisted nominally of
12500 men; according to Ts`ao Kung, the equivalent of a regiment contained 500
men, the equivalent to a detachment consists from any number between 100 and 500
, and the equivalent of a company contains from 5 to 100 men. For the last two,
however, Chang Yu gives the exact figures of 100 and 5 respectively.]
2. Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; sup
reme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.
[Here again, no modern strategist but will approve the words of the old Chinese
general. Moltke's greatest triumph, the capitulation of the huge French army at
Sedan, was won practically without bloodshed.]
3. Thus the highest form of generalship is to balk the enemy's plans;
[Perhaps the word "balk" falls short of expressing the full force of the Chinese
word, which implies not an attitude of defense, whereby one might be content to
foil the enemy's stratagems one after another, but an active policy of counter-
attack. Ho Shih puts this very clearly in his note: "When the enemy has made a
plan of attack against us, we must anticipate him by delivering our own attack f
irst."]
the next best is to prevent the junction of the enemy's forces;
[Isolating him from his allies. We must not forget that Sun Tzu, in speaking of
hostilities, always has in mind the numerous states or principalities into which
the China of his day was split up.]
the next in order is to attack the enemy's army in the field;
[When he is already at full strength.]
and the worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities.
4. The rule is, not to besiege walled cities if it can possibly be avoided.
[Another sound piece of military theory. Had the Boers acted upon it in 1899, an
d refrained from dissipating their strength before Kimberley, Mafeking, or even
Ladysmith, it is more than probable that they would have been masters of the sit
uation before the British were ready seriously to oppose them.]
The preparation of mantlets, movable shelters, and various implements of war, wi
ll take up three whole months;
[It is not quite clear what the Chinese word, here translated as "mantlets", des
cribed. Ts`ao Kung simply defines them as "large shields," but we get a better i
dea of them from Li Ch`uan, who says they were to protect the heads of those who
were assaulting the city walls at close quarters. This seems to suggest a sort
of Roman TESTUDO, ready made. Tu Mu says they were wheeled vehicles used in repe
lling attacks, but this is denied by Ch`en Hao. See supra II. 14. The name is al
so applied to turrets on city walls. Of the "movable shelters" we get a fairly c
lear description from several commentators. They were wooden missile-proof struc
tures on four wheels, propelled from within, covered over with raw hides, and us
ed in sieges to convey parties of men to and from the walls, for the purpose of
filling up the encircling moat with earth. Tu Mu adds that they are now called "
wooden donkeys."]
and the piling up of mounds over against the walls will take three months more.
[These were great mounds or ramparts of earth heaped up to the level of the enem
y's walls in order to discover the weak points in the defense, and also to destr
oy the fortified turrets mentioned in the preceding note.]
5. The general, unable to control his irritation, will launch his men to the ass
ault like swarming ants,
[This vivid simile of Ts`ao Kung is taken from the spectacle of an army of ants
climbing a wall. The meaning is that the general, losing patience at the long de
lay, may make a premature attempt to storm the place before his engines of war a
re ready.]
with the result that one-third of his men are slain, while the town still remain
s untaken. Such are the disastrous effects of a siege.
[We are reminded of the terrible losses of the Japanese before Port Arthur, in t
he most recent siege which history has to record.]
6. Therefore the skillful leader subdues the enemy's troops without any fighting
; he captures their cities without laying siege to them; he overthrows their kin
gdom without lengthy operations in the field.
[Chia Lin notes that he only overthrows the Government, but does no harm to indi
viduals. The classical instance is Wu Wang, who after having put an end to the Y
in dynasty was acclaimed "Father and mother of the people."]
7. With his forces intact he will dispute the mastery of the Empire, and thus, w
ithout losing a man, his triumph will be complete.
[Owing to the double meanings in the Chinese text, the latter part of the senten
ce is susceptible of quite a different meaning: "And thus, the weapon not being
blunted by use, its keenness remains perfect."]
This is the method of attacking by stratagem. 8. It is the rule in war, if our f
orces are ten to the enemy's one, to surround him; if five to one, to attack him
;
[Straightway, without waiting for any further advantage.]
if twice as numerous, to divide our army into two.
[Tu Mu takes exception to the saying; and at first sight, indeed, it appears to
violate a fundamental principle of war. Ts'ao Kung, however, gives a clue to Sun
Tzu's meaning: "Being two to the enemy's one, we may use one part of our army i
n the regular way, and the other for some special diversion." Chang Yu thus furt
her elucidates the point: "If our force is twice as numerous as that of the enem
y, it should be split up into two divisions, one to meet the enemy in front, and
one to fall upon his rear; if he replies to the frontal attack, he may be crush
ed from behind; if to the rearward attack, he may be crushed in front." This is
what is meant by saying that 'one part may be used in the regular way, and the o
ther for some special diversion.' Tu Mu does not understand that dividing one's
army is simply an irregular, just as concentrating it is the regular, strategica
l method, and he is too hasty in calling this a mistake."]
9. If equally matched, we can offer battle;
[Li Ch`uan, followed by Ho Shih, gives the following paraphrase: "If attackers a
nd attacked are equally matched in strength, only the able general will fight."]
if slightly inferior in numbers, we can avoid the enemy;
[The meaning, "we can WATCH the enemy," is certainly a great improvement on the
above; but unfortunately there appears to be no very good authority for the vari
ant. Chang Yu reminds us that the saying only applies if the other factors are e
qual; a small difference in numbers is often more than counterbalanced by superi
or energy and discipline.]
if quite unequal in every way, we can flee from him. 10. Hence, though an obstin
ate fight may be made by a small force, in the end it must be captured by the la
rger force. 11. Now the general is the bulwark of the State; if the bulwark is c
omplete at all points; the State will be strong; if the bulwark is defective, th
e State will be weak.
[As Li Ch`uan tersely puts it: "Gap indicates deficiency; if the general's abili
ty is not perfect (i.e. if he is not thoroughly versed in his profession), his a
rmy will lack strength."]
12. There are three ways in which a ruler can bring misfortune upon his army:--
13. (1) By commanding the army to advance or to retreat, being ignorant of the f
act that it cannot obey. This is called hobbling the army.
[Li Ch`uan adds the comment: "It is like tying together the legs of a thoroughbr
ed, so that it is unable to gallop." One would naturally think of "the ruler" in
this passage as being at home, and trying to direct the movements of his army f
rom a distance. But the commentators understand just the reverse, and quote the
saying of T`ai Kung: "A kingdom should not be governed from without, and army sh
ould not be directed from within." Of course it is true that, during an engageme
nt, or when in close touch with the enemy, the general should not be in the thic
k of his own troops, but a little distance apart. Otherwise, he will be liable t
o misjudge the position as a whole, and give wrong orders.]
14. (2) By attempting to govern an army in the same way as he administers a king
dom, being ignorant of the conditions which obtain in an army. This causes restl
essness in the soldier's minds.
[Ts`ao Kung's note is, freely translated: "The military sphere and the civil sph
ere are wholly distinct; you can't handle an army in kid gloves." And Chang Yu s
ays: "Humanity and justice are the principles on which to govern a state, but no
t an army; opportunism and flexibility, on the other hand, are military rather t
han civil virtues to assimilate the governing of an army"--to that of a State, u
nderstood.]
15. (3) By employing the officers of his army without discrimination,
[That is, he is not careful to use the right man in the right place.]
through ignorance of the military principle of adaptation to circumstances. This
shakes the confidence of the soldiers.
[I follow Mei Yao-ch`en here. The other commentators refer not to the ruler, as
in SS. 13, 14, but to the officers he employs. Thus Tu Yu says: "If a general is
ignorant of the principle of adaptability, he must not be entrusted with a posi
tion of authority." Tu Mu quotes: "The skillful employer of men will employ the
wise man, the brave man, the covetous man, and the stupid man. For the wise man
delights in establishing his merit, the brave man likes to show his courage in a
ction, the covetous man is quick at seizing advantages, and the stupid man has n
o fear of death."]
16. But when the army is restless and distrustful, trouble is sure to come from
the other feudal princes. This is simply bringing anarchy into the army, and fli
nging victory away. 17. Thus we may know that there are five essentials for vict
ory: (1) He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.
[Chang Yu says: If he can fight, he advances and takes the offensive; if he cann
ot fight, he retreats and remains on the defensive. He will invariably conquer w
ho knows whether it is right to take the offensive or the defensive.]
(2) He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces.
[This is not merely the general's ability to estimate numbers correctly, as Li C
h`uan and others make out. Chang Yu expounds the saying more satisfactorily: "By
applying the art of war, it is possible with a lesser force to defeat a greater
, and vice versa. The secret lies in an eye for locality, and in not letting the
right moment slip. Thus Wu Tzu says: 'With a superior force, make for easy grou
nd; with an inferior one, make for difficult ground.'"]
(3) He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ran
ks. (4) He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared. (
5) He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sover
eign.
[Tu Yu quotes Wang Tzu as saying: "It is the sovereign's function to give broad
instructions, but to decide on battle it is the function of the general." It is
needless to dilate on the military disasters which have been caused by undue int
erference with operations in the field on the part of the home government. Napol
eon undoubtedly owed much of his extraordinary success to the fact that he was n
ot hampered by central authority.]
18. 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 ev
ery victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.
[Li Ch`uan cites the case of Fu Chien, prince of Ch`in, who in 383 A.D. marched
with a vast army against the Chin Emperor. When warned not to despise an enemy w
ho could command the services of such men as Hsieh An and Huan Ch`ung, he boastf
ully replied: "I have the population of eight provinces at my back, infantry and
horsemen to the number of one million; why, they could dam up the Yangtsze Rive
r itself by merely throwing their whips into the stream. What danger have I to f
ear?" Nevertheless, his forces were soon after disastrously routed at the Fei Ri
ver, and he was obliged to beat a hasty retreat.]
If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.
[Chang Yu said: "Knowing the enemy enables you to take the offensive, knowing yo
urself enables you to stand on the defensive." He adds: "Attack is the secret of
defense; defense is the planning of an attack." It would be hard to find a bett
er epitome of the root-principle of war.]
-----------------------------------------------------------------
IV. TACTICAL DISPOSITIONS
[Ts`ao Kung explains the Chinese meaning of the words for the title of this chap
ter: "marching and countermarching on the part of the two armies with a view to
discovering each other's condition." Tu Mu says: "It is through the dispositions
of an army that its condition may be discovered. Conceal your dispositions, and
your condition will remain secret, which leads to victory,; show your dispositi
ons, and your condition will become patent, which leads to defeat." Wang Hsi rem
arks that the good general can "secure success by modifying his tactics to meet
those of the enemy."]
1. Sun Tzu said: The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possib
ility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy. 2. T
o secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of
defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.
[That is, of course, by a mistake on the enemy's part.]
3. Thus the good fighter is able to secure himself against defeat,
[Chang Yu says this is done, "By concealing the disposition of his troops, cover
ing up his tracks, and taking unremitting precautions."]
but cannot make certain of defeating the enemy. 4. Hence the saying: One may KNO
W how to conquer without being able to DO it. 5. Security against defeat implies
defensive tactics; ability to defeat the enemy means taking the offensive.
[I retain the sense found in a similar passage in ss. 1-3, in spite of the fact
that the commentators are all against me. The meaning they give, "He who cannot
conquer takes the defensive," is plausible enough.]
6. Standing on the defensive indicates insufficient strength; attacking, a super
abundance of strength. 7. The general who is skilled in defense hides in the mos
t secret recesses of the earth;
[Literally, "hides under the ninth earth," which is a metaphor indicating the ut
most secrecy and concealment, so that the enemy may not know his whereabouts."]
he who is skilled in attack flashes forth from the topmost heights of heaven.
[Another metaphor, implying that he falls on his adversary like a thunderbolt, a
gainst which there is no time to prepare. This is the opinion of most of the com
mentators.]
Thus on the one hand we have ability to protect ourselves; on the other, a victo
ry that is complete. 8. To see victory only when it is within the ken of the com
mon herd is not the acme of excellence.
[As Ts`ao Kung remarks, "the thing is to see the plant before it has germinated,
" to foresee the event before the action has begun. Li Ch`uan alludes to the sto
ry of Han Hsin who, when about to attack the vastly superior army of Chao, which
was strongly entrenched in the city of Ch`eng-an, said to his officers: "Gentle
men, we are going to annihilate the enemy, and shall meet again at dinner." The
officers hardly took his words seriously, and gave a very dubious assent. But Ha
n Hsin had already worked out in his mind the details of a clever stratagem, whe
reby, as he foresaw, he was able to capture the city and inflict a crushing defe
at on his adversary."]
9. Neither is it the acme of excellence if you fight and conquer and the whole E
mpire says, "Well done!"
[True excellence being, as Tu Mu says: "To plan secretly, to move surreptitiousl
y, to foil the enemy's intentions and balk his schemes, so that at last the day
may be won without shedding a drop of blood." Sun Tzu reserves his approbation f
or things that "the world's coarse thumb And finger fail to plumb."]
10. To lift an autumn hair is no sign of great strength;
["Autumn" hair" is explained as the fur of a hare, which is finest in autumn, wh
en it begins to grow afresh. The phrase is a very common one in Chinese writers.
]
to see the sun and moon is no sign of sharp sight; to hear the noise of thunder
is no sign of a quick ear.
[Ho Shih gives as real instances of strength, sharp sight and quick hearing: Wu
Huo, who could lift a tripod weighing 250 stone; Li Chu, who at a distance of a
hundred paces could see objects no bigger than a mustard seed; and Shih K`uang,
a blind musician who could hear the footsteps of a mosquito.]
11. What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but exce
ls in winning with ease.
[The last half is literally "one who, conquering, excels in easy conquering." Me
i Yao-ch`en says: "He who only sees the obvious, wins his battles with difficult
y; he who looks below the surface of things, wins with ease."]
12. Hence his victories bring him neither reputation for wisdom nor credit for c
ourage.
[Tu Mu explains this very well: "Inasmuch as his victories are gained over circu
mstances that have not come to light, the world as large knows nothing of them,
and he wins no reputation for wisdom; inasmuch as the hostile state submits befo
re there has been any bloodshed, he receives no credit for courage."]
13. He wins his battles by making no mistakes.
[Ch`en Hao says: "He plans no superfluous marches, he devises no futile attacks.
" The connection of ideas is thus explained by Chang Yu: "One who seeks to conqu
er by sheer strength, clever though he may be at winning pitched battles, is als
o liable on occasion to be vanquished; whereas he who can look into the future a
nd discern conditions that are not yet manifest, will never make a blunder and t
herefore invariably win."]
Making no mistakes is what establishes the certainty of victory, for it means co
nquering an enemy that is already defeated. 14. Hence the skillful fighter puts
himself into a position which makes defeat impossible, and does not miss the mom
ent for defeating the enemy.
[A "counsel of perfection" as Tu Mu truly observes. "Position" need not be confi
ned to the actual ground occupied by the troops. It includes all the arrangement
s and preparations which a wise general will make to increase the safety of his
army.]
15. Thus it is that in war the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the
victory has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and aft
erwards looks for victory.
[Ho Shih thus expounds the paradox: "In warfare, first lay plans which will ensu
re victory, and then lead your army to battle; if you will not begin with strata
gem but rely on brute strength alone, victory will no longer be assured."]
16. The consummate leader cultivates the moral law, and strictly adheres to meth
od and discipline; thus it is in his power to control success. 17. In respect of
military method, we have, firstly, Measurement; secondly, Estimation of quantit
y; thirdly, Calculation; fourthly, Balancing of chances; fifthly, Victory. 18. M
easurement owes its existence to Earth; Estimation of quantity to Measurement; C
alculation to Estimation of quantity; Balancing of chances to Calculation; and V
ictory to Balancing of chances.
[It is not easy to distinguish the four terms very clearly in the Chinese. The f
irst seems to be surveying and measurement of the ground, which enable us to for
m an estimate of the enemy's strength, and to make calculations based on the dat
a thus obtained; we are thus led to a general weighing-up, or comparison of the
enemy's chances with our own; if the latter turn the scale, then victory ensues.
The chief difficulty lies in third term, which in the Chinese some commentators
take as a calculation of NUMBERS, thereby making it nearly synonymous with the
second term. Perhaps the second term should be thought of as a consideration of
the enemy's general position or condition, while the third term is the estimate
of his numerical strength. On the other hand, Tu Mu says: "The question of relat
ive strength having been settled, we can bring the varied resources of cunning i
nto play." Ho Shih seconds this interpretation, but weakens it. However, it poin
ts to the third term as being a calculation of numbers.]
19. A victorious army opposed to a routed one, is as a pound's weight placed in
the scale against a single grain.
[Literally, "a victorious army is like an I (20 oz.) weighed against a SHU (1/24
oz.); a routed army is a SHU weighed against an I." The point is simply the eno
rmous advantage which a disciplined force, flushed with victory, has over one de
moralized by defeat." Legge, in his note on Mencius, I. 2. ix. 2, makes the I to
be 24 Chinese ounces, and corrects Chu Hsi's statement that it equaled 20 oz. o
nly. But Li Ch`uan of the T`ang dynasty here gives the same figure as Chu Hsi.]
20. The onrush of a conquering force is like the bursting of pent-up waters into
a chasm a thousand fathoms deep.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
V. ENERGY
1. Sun Tzu said: The control of a large force is the same principle as the contr
ol of a few men: it is merely a question of dividing up their numbers.
[That is, cutting up the army into regiments, companies, etc., with subordinate
officers in command of each. Tu Mu reminds us of Han Hsin's famous reply to the
first Han Emperor, who once said to him: "How large an army do you think I could
lead?" "Not more than 100,000 men, your Majesty." "And you?" asked the Emperor.
"Oh!" he answered, "the more the better."]
2. Fighting with a large army under your command is nowise different from fighti
ng with a small one: it is merely a question of instituting signs and signals. 3
. To ensure that your whole host may withstand the brunt of the enemy's attack a
nd remain unshaken - this is effected by maneuvers direct and indirect.
[We now come to one of the most interesting parts of Sun Tzu's treatise, the dis
cussion of the CHENG and the CH`I." As it is by no means easy to grasp the full
significance of these two terms, or to render them consistently by good English
equivalents; it may be as well to tabulate some of the commentators' remarks on
the subject before proceeding further. Li Ch`uan: "Facing the enemy is CHENG, ma
king lateral diversion is CH`I. Chia Lin: "In presence of the enemy, your troops
should be arrayed in normal fashion, but in order to secure victory abnormal ma
neuvers must be employed." Mei Yao-ch`en: "CH`I is active, CHENG is passive; pas
sivity means waiting for an opportunity, activity beings the victory itself." Ho
Shih: "We must cause the enemy to regard our straightforward attack as one that
is secretly designed, and vice versa; thus CHENG may also be CH`I, and CH`I may
also be CHENG." He instances the famous exploit of Han Hsin, who when marching
ostensibly against Lin- chin (now Chao-i in Shensi), suddenly threw a large forc
e across the Yellow River in wooden tubs, utterly disconcerting his opponent. [C
h`ien Han Shu, ch. 3.] Here, we are told, the march on Lin-chin was CHENG, and t
he surprise maneuver was CH`I." Chang Yu gives the following summary of opinions
on the words: "Military writers do not agree with regard to the meaning of CH`I
and CHENG. Wei Liao Tzu [4th cent. B.C.] says: 'Direct warfare favors frontal a
ttacks, indirect warfare attacks from the rear.' Ts`ao Kung says: 'Going straigh
t out to join battle is a direct operation; appearing on the enemy's rear is an
indirect maneuver.' Li Wei-kung [6th and 7th cent. A.D.] says: 'In war, to march
straight ahead is CHENG; turning movements, on the other hand, are CH`I.' These
writers simply regard CHENG as CHENG, and CH`I as CH`I; they do not note that t
he two are mutually interchangeable and run into each other like the two sides o
f a circle [see infra, ss. 11]. A comment on the T`ang Emperor T`ai Tsung goes t
o the root of the matter: 'A CH`I maneuver may be CHENG, if we make the enemy lo
ok upon it as CHENG; then our real attack will be CH`I, and vice versa. The whol
e secret lies in confusing the enemy, so that he cannot fathom our real intent.'
" To put it perhaps a little more clearly: any attack or other operation is CHEN
G, on which the enemy has had his attention fixed; whereas that is CH`I," which
takes him by surprise or comes from an unexpected quarter. If the enemy perceive
s a movement which is meant to be CH`I," it immediately becomes CHENG."]
4. That the impact of your army may be like a grindstone dashed against an egg -
this is effected by the science of weak points and strong. 5. In all fighting,
the direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect methods will be n
eeded in order to secure victory.
[Chang Yu says: "Steadily develop indirect tactics, either by pounding the enemy
's flanks or falling on his rear." A brilliant example of "indirect tactics" whi
ch decided the fortunes of a campaign was Lord Roberts' night march round the Pe
iwar Kotal in the second Afghan war. [1]
6. Indirect tactics, efficiently applied, are inexhausible as Heaven and Earth,
unending as the flow of rivers and streams; like the sun and moon, they end but
to begin anew; like the four seasons, they pass away to return once more.
[Tu Yu and Chang Yu understand this of the permutations of CH`I and CHENG." But
at present Sun Tzu is not speaking of CHENG at all, unless, indeed, we suppose w
ith Cheng Yu-hsien that a clause relating to it has fallen out of the text. Of c
ourse, as has already been pointed out, the two are so inextricably interwoven i
n all military operations, that they cannot really be considered apart. Here we
simply have an expression, in figurative language, of the almost infinite resour
ce of a great leader.]
7. There are not more than five musical notes, yet the combinations of these fiv
e give rise to more melodies than can ever be heard. 8. There are not more than
five primary colors (blue, yellow, red, white, and black), yet in combination th
ey produce more hues than can ever been seen. 9 There are not more than five car
dinal tastes (sour, acrid, salt, sweet, bitter), yet combinations of them yield
more flavors than can ever be tasted. 10. In battle, there are not more than two
methods of attack - the direct and the indirect; yet these two in combination g
ive rise to an endless series of maneuvers. 11. The direct and the indirect lead
on to each other in turn. It is like moving in a circle - you never come to an
end. Who can exhaust the possibilities of their combination? 12. The onset of tr
oops is like the rush of a torrent which will even roll stones along in its cour
se. 13. The quality of decision is like the well-timed swoop of a falcon which e
nables it to strike and destroy its victim.
[The Chinese here is tricky and a certain key word in the context it is used def
ies the best efforts of the translator. Tu Mu defines this word as "the measurem
ent or estimation of distance." But this meaning does not quite fit the illustra
tive simile in ss. 15. Applying this definition to the falcon, it seems to me to
denote that instinct of SELF RESTRAINT which keeps the bird from swooping on it
s quarry until the right moment, together with the power of judging when the rig
ht moment has arrived. The analogous quality in soldiers is the highly important
one of being able to reserve their fire until the very instant at which it will
be most effective. When the "Victory" went into action at Trafalgar at hardly m
ore than drifting pace, she was for several minutes exposed to a storm of shot a
nd shell before replying with a single gun. Nelson coolly waited until he was wi
thin close range, when the broadside he brought to bear worked fearful havoc on
the enemy's nearest ships.]
14. Therefore the good fighter will be terrible in his onset, and prompt in his
decision.
[The word "decision" would have reference to the measurement of distance mention
ed above, letting the enemy get near before striking. But I cannot help thinking
that Sun Tzu meant to use the word in a figurative sense comparable to our own
idiom "short and sharp." Cf. Wang Hsi's note, which after describing the falcon'
s mode of attack, proceeds: "This is just how the 'psychological moment' should
be seized in war."]
15. Energy may be likened to the bending of a crossbow; decision, to the releasi
ng of a trigger.
[None of the commentators seem to grasp the real point of the simile of energy a
nd the force stored up in the bent cross- bow until released by the finger on th
e trigger.]
16. Amid the turmoil and tumult of battle, there may be seeming disorder and yet
no real disorder at all; amid confusion and chaos, your array may be without he
ad or tail, yet it will be proof against defeat.
[Mei Yao-ch`en says: "The subdivisions of the army having been previously fixed,
and the various signals agreed upon, the separating and joining, the dispersing
and collecting which will take place in the course of a battle, may give the ap
pearance of disorder when no real disorder is possible. Your formation may be wi
thout head or tail, your dispositions all topsy-turvy, and yet a rout of your fo
rces quite out of the question."]
17. Simulated disorder postulates perfect discipline, simulated fear postulates
courage; simulated weakness postulates strength.
[In order to make the translation intelligible, it is necessary to tone down the
sharply paradoxical form of the original. Ts`ao Kung throws out a hint of the m
eaning in his brief note: "These things all serve to destroy formation and conce
al one's condition." But Tu Mu is the first to put it quite plainly: "If you wis
h to feign confusion in order to lure the enemy on, you must first have perfect
discipline; if you wish to display timidity in order to entrap the enemy, you mu
st have extreme courage; if you wish to parade your weakness in order to make th
e enemy over-confident, you must have exceeding strength."]
18. Hiding order beneath the cloak of disorder is simply a question of subdivisi
on;
[See supra, ss. 1.]
concealing courage under a show of timidity presupposes a fund of latent energy;
[The commentators strongly understand a certain Chinese word here differently th
an anywhere else in this chapter. Thus Tu Mu says: "seeing that we are favorably
circumstanced and yet make no move, the enemy will believe that we are really a
fraid."]
masking strength with weakness is to be effected by tactical dispositions.
[Chang Yu relates the following anecdote of Kao Tsu, the first Han Emperor: "Wis
hing to crush the Hsiung-nu, he sent out spies to report on their condition. But
the Hsiung-nu, forewarned, carefully concealed all their able-bodied men and we
ll-fed horses, and only allowed infirm soldiers and emaciated cattle to be seen.
The result was that spies one and all recommended the Emperor to deliver his at
tack. Lou Ching alone opposed them, saying: "When two countries go to war, they
are naturally inclined to make an ostentatious display of their strength. Yet ou
r spies have seen nothing but old age and infirmity. This is surely some ruse on
the part of the enemy, and it would be unwise for us to attack." The Emperor, h
owever, disregarding this advice, fell into the trap and found himself surrounde
d at Po-teng."]
19. Thus one who is skillful at keeping the enemy on the move maintains deceitfu
l appearances, according to which the enemy will act.
[Ts`ao Kung's note is "Make a display of weakness and want." Tu Mu says: "If our
force happens to be superior to the enemy's, weakness may be simulated in order
to lure him on; but if inferior, he must be led to believe that we are strong,
in order that he may keep off. In fact, all the enemy's movements should be dete
rmined by the signs that we choose to give him." Note the following anecdote of
Sun Pin, a descendent of Sun Wu: In 341 B.C., the Ch`i State being at war with W
ei, sent T`ien Chi and Sun Pin against the general P`ang Chuan, who happened to
be a deadly personal enemy of the later. Sun Pin said: "The Ch`i State has a rep
utation for cowardice, and therefore our adversary despises us. Let us turn this
circumstance to account." Accordingly, when the army had crossed the border int
o Wei territory, he gave orders to show 100,000 fires on the first night, 50,000
on the next, and the night after only 20,000. P`ang Chuan pursued them hotly, s
aying to himself: "I knew these men of Ch`i were cowards: their numbers have alr
eady fallen away by more than half." In his retreat, Sun Pin came to a narrow de
file, with he calculated that his pursuers would reach after dark. Here he had a
tree stripped of its bark, and inscribed upon it the words: "Under this tree sh
all P`ang Chuan die." Then, as night began to fall, he placed a strong body of a
rchers in ambush near by, with orders to shoot directly they saw a light. Later
on, P`ang Chuan arrived at the spot, and noticing the tree, struck a light in or
der to read what was written on it. His body was immediately riddled by a volley
of arrows, and his whole army thrown into confusion. [The above is Tu Mu's vers
ion of the story; the SHIH CHI, less dramatically but probably with more histori
cal truth, makes P`ang Chuan cut his own throat with an exclamation of despair,
after the rout of his army.] ]
He sacrifices something, that the enemy may snatch at it.
20. By holding out baits, he keeps him on the march; then with a body of picked
men he lies in wait for him.
[With an emendation suggested by Li Ching, this then reads, "He lies in wait wit
h the main body of his troops."]
21. The clever combatant looks to the effect of combined energy, and does not re
quire too much from individuals.
[Tu Mu says: "He first of all considers the power of his army in the bulk; after
wards he takes individual talent into account, and uses each men according to hi
s capabilities. He does not demand perfection from the untalented."]
Hence his ability to pick out the right men and utilize combined energy. 22. Whe
n he utilizes combined energy, his fighting men become as it were like unto roll
ing logs or stones. For it is the nature of a log or stone to remain motionless
on level ground, and to move when on a slope; if four-cornered, to come to a sta
ndstill, but if round-shaped, to go rolling down.
[Ts`au Kung calls this "the use of natural or inherent power."]
23. Thus the energy developed by good fighting men is as the momentum of a round
stone rolled down a mountain thousands of feet in height. So much on the subjec
t of energy.
[The chief lesson of this chapter, in Tu Mu's opinion, is the paramount importan
ce in war of rapid evolutions and sudden rushes. "Great results," he adds, "can
thus be achieved with small forces."]
[1] "Forty-one Years in India," chapter 46.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
VI. WEAK POINTS AND STRONG
[Chang Yu attempts to explain the sequence of chapters as follows: "Chapter IV,
on Tactical Dispositions, treated of the offensive and the defensive; chapter V,
on Energy, dealt with direct and indirect methods. The good general acquaints h
imself first with the theory of attack and defense, and then turns his attention
to direct and indirect methods. He studies the art of varying and combining the
se two methods before proceeding to the subject of weak and strong points. For t
he use of direct or indirect methods arises out of attack and defense, and the p
erception of weak and strong points depends again on the above methods. Hence th
e present chapter comes immediately after the chapter on Energy."]
1. Sun Tzu said: Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enem
y, will be fresh for the fight; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten
to battle will arrive exhausted. 2. Therefore the clever combatant imposes his
will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him.
[One mark of a great soldier is that he fight on his own terms or fights not at
all. [1] ]
3. By holding out advantages to him, he can cause the enemy to approach of his o
wn accord; or, by inflicting damage, he can make it impossible for the enemy to
draw near.
[In the first case, he will entice him with a bait; in the second, he will strik
e at some important point which the enemy will have to defend.]
4. If the enemy is taking his ease, he can harass him;
[This passage may be cited as evidence against Mei Yao- Ch`en's interpretation o
f I. ss. 23.]
if well supplied with food, he can starve him out; if quietly encamped, he can f
orce him to move. 5. Appear at points which the enemy must hasten to defend; mar
ch swiftly to places where you are not expected. 6. An army may march great dist
ances without distress, if it marches through country where the enemy is not.
[Ts`ao Kung sums up very well: "Emerge from the void [q.d. like "a bolt from the
blue"], strike at vulnerable points, shun places that are defended, attack in u
nexpected quarters."]
7. You can be sure of succeeding in your attacks if you only attack places which
are undefended.
[Wang Hsi explains "undefended places" as "weak points; that is to say, where th
e general is lacking in capacity, or the soldiers in spirit; where the walls are
not strong enough, or the precautions not strict enough; where relief comes too
late, or provisions are too scanty, or the defenders are variance amongst thems
elves."]
You can ensure the safety of your defense if you only hold positions that cannot
be attacked.
[I.e., where there are none of the weak points mentioned above. There is rather
a nice point involved in the interpretation of this later clause. Tu Mu, Ch`en H
ao, and Mei Yao-ch`en assume the meaning to be: "In order to make your defense q
uite safe, you must defend EVEN those places that are not likely to be attacked;
" and Tu Mu adds: "How much more, then, those that will be attacked." Taken thus
, however, the clause balances less well with the preceding--always a considerat
ion in the highly antithetical style which is natural to the Chinese. Chang Yu,
therefore, seems to come nearer the mark in saying: "He who is skilled in attack
flashes forth from the topmost heights of heaven [see IV. ss. 7], making it imp
ossible for the enemy to guard against him. This being so, the places that I sha
ll attack are precisely those that the enemy cannot defend.... He who is skilled
in defense hides in the most secret recesses of the earth, making it impossible
for the enemy to estimate his whereabouts. This being so, the places that I sha
ll hold are precisely those that the enemy cannot attack."]
8. Hence that general is skillful in attack whose opponent does not know what to
defend; and he is skillful in defense whose opponent does not know what to atta
ck.
[An aphorism which puts the whole art of war in a nutshell.]
9. O divine art of subtlety and secrecy! Through you we learn to be invisible, t
hrough you inaudible;
[Literally, "without form or sound," but it is said of course with reference to
the enemy.]
and hence we can hold the enemy's fate in our hands. 10. You may advance and be
absolutely irresistible, if you make for the enemy's weak points; you may retire
and be safe from pursuit if your movements are more rapid than those of the ene
my. 11. If we wish to fight, the enemy can be forced to an engagement even thoug
h he be sheltered behind a high rampart and a deep ditch. All we need do is atta
ck some other place that he will be obliged to relieve.
[Tu Mu says: "If the enemy is the invading party, we can cut his line of communi
cations and occupy the roads by which he will have to return; if we are the inva
ders, we may direct our attack against the sovereign himself." It is clear that
Sun Tzu, unlike certain generals in the late Boer war, was no believer in fronta
l attacks.]
12. If we do not wish to fight, we can prevent the enemy from engaging us even t
hough the lines of our encampment be merely traced out on the ground. All we nee
d do is to throw something odd and unaccountable in his way.
[This extremely concise expression is intelligibly paraphrased by Chia Lin: "eve
n though we have constructed neither wall nor ditch." Li Ch`uan says: "we puzzle
him by strange and unusual dispositions;" and Tu Mu finally clinches the meanin
g by three illustrative anecdotes--one of Chu-ko Liang, who when occupying Yang-
p`ing and about to be attacked by Ssu-ma I, suddenly struck his colors, stopped
the beating of the drums, and flung open the city gates, showing only a few men
engaged in sweeping and sprinkling the ground. This unexpected proceeding had th
e intended effect; for Ssu-ma I, suspecting an ambush, actually drew off his arm
y and retreated. What Sun Tzu is advocating here, therefore, is nothing more nor
less than the timely use of "bluff."]
13. By discovering the enemy's dispositions and remaining invisible ourselves, w
e can keep our forces concentrated, while the enemy's must be divided.
[The conclusion is perhaps not very obvious, but Chang Yu (after Mei Yao-ch`en)
rightly explains it thus: "If the enemy's dispositions are visible, we can make
for him in one body; whereas, our own dispositions being kept secret, the enemy
will be obliged to divide his forces in order to guard against attack from every
quarter."]
14. We can form a single united body, while the enemy must split up into fractio
ns. Hence there will be a whole pitted against separate parts of a whole, which
means that we shall be many to the enemy's few. 15. And if we are able thus to a
ttack an inferior force with a superior one, our opponents will be in dire strai
ts. 16. The spot where we intend to fight must not be made known; for then the e
nemy will have to prepare against a possible attack at several different points;
[Sheridan once explained the reason of General Grant's victories by saying that
"while his opponents were kept fully employed wondering what he was going to do,
HE was thinking most of what he was going to do himself."]
and his forces being thus distributed in many directions, the numbers we shall h
ave to face at any given point will be proportionately few. 17. For should the e
nemy strengthen his van, he will weaken his rear; should he strengthen his rear,
he will weaken his van; should he strengthen his left, he will weaken his right
; should he strengthen his right, he will weaken his left. If he sends reinforce
ments everywhere, he will everywhere be weak.
[In Frederick the Great's INSTRUCTIONS TO HIS GENERALS we read: "A defensive war
is apt to betray us into too frequent detachment. Those generals who have had b
ut little experience attempt to protect every point, while those who are better
acquainted with their profession, having only the capital object in view, guard
against a decisive blow, and acquiesce in small misfortunes to avoid greater."]
18. Numerical weakness comes from having to prepare against possible attacks; nu
merical strength, from compelling our adversary to make these preparations again
st us.
[The highest generalship, in Col. Henderson's words, is "to compel the enemy to
disperse his army, and then to concentrate superior force against each fraction
in turn."]
19. Knowing the place and the time of the coming battle, we may concentrate from
the greatest distances in order to fight.
[What Sun Tzu evidently has in mind is that nice calculation of distances and th
at masterly employment of strategy which enable a general to divide his army for
the purpose of a long and rapid march, and afterwards to effect a junction at p
recisely the right spot and the right hour in order to confront the enemy in ove
rwhelming strength. Among many such successful junctions which military history
records, one of the most dramatic and decisive was the appearance of Blucher jus
t at the critical moment on the field of Waterloo.]
20. But if neither time nor place be known, then the left wing will be impotent
to succor the right, the right equally impotent to succor the left, the van unab
le to relieve the rear, or the rear to support the van. How much more so if the
furthest portions of the army are anything under a hundred LI apart, and even th
e nearest are separated by several LI!
[The Chinese of this last sentence is a little lacking in precision, but the men
tal picture we are required to draw is probably that of an army advancing toward
s a given rendezvous in separate columns, each of which has orders to be there o
n a fixed date. If the general allows the various detachments to proceed at haph
azard, without precise instructions as to the time and place of meeting, the ene
my will be able to annihilate the army in detail. Chang Yu's note may be worth q
uoting here: "If we do not know the place where our opponents mean to concentrat
e or the day on which they will join battle, our unity will be forfeited through
our preparations for defense, and the positions we hold will be insecure. Sudde
nly happening upon a powerful foe, we shall be brought to battle in a flurried c
ondition, and no mutual support will be possible between wings, vanguard or rear
, especially if there is any great distance between the foremost and hindmost di
visions of the army."]
21. Though according to my estimate the soldiers of Yueh exceed our own in numbe
r, that shall advantage them nothing in the matter of victory. I say then that v
ictory can be achieved.
[Alas for these brave words! The long feud between the two states ended in 473 B
.C. with the total defeat of Wu by Kou Chien and its incorporation in Yueh. This
was doubtless long after Sun Tzu's death. With his present assertion compare IV
. ss. 4. Chang Yu is the only one to point out the seeming discrepancy, which he
thus goes on to explain: "In the chapter on Tactical Dispositions it is said, '
One may KNOW how to conquer without being able to DO it,' whereas here we have t
he statement that 'victory' can be achieved.' The explanation is, that in the fo
rmer chapter, where the offensive and defensive are under discussion, it is said
that if the enemy is fully prepared, one cannot make certain of beating him. Bu
t the present passage refers particularly to the soldiers of Yueh who, according
to Sun Tzu's calculations, will be kept in ignorance of the time and place of t
he impending struggle. That is why he says here that victory can be achieved."]
22. Though the enemy be stronger in numbers, we may prevent him from fighting. S
cheme so as to discover his plans and the likelihood of their success.
[An alternative reading offered by Chia Lin is: "Know beforehand all plans condu
cive to our success and to the enemy's failure."
23. Rouse him, and learn the principle of his activity or inactivity.
[Chang Yu tells us that by noting the joy or anger shown by the enemy on being t
hus disturbed, we shall be able to conclude whether his policy is to lie low or
the reverse. He instances the action of Cho-ku Liang, who sent the scornful pres
ent of a woman's head-dress to Ssu-ma I, in order to goad him out of his Fabian
tactics.]
Force him to reveal himself, so as to find out his vulnerable spots. 24. Careful
ly compare the opposing army with your own, so that you may know where strength
is superabundant and where it is deficient.
[Cf. IV. ss. 6.]
25. In making tactical dispositions, the highest pitch you can attain is to conc
eal them;
[The piquancy of the paradox evaporates in translation. Concealment is perhaps n
ot so much actual invisibility (see supra ss. 9) as "showing no sign" of what yo
u mean to do, of the plans that are formed in your brain.]
conceal your dispositions, and you will be safe from the prying of the subtlest
spies, from the machinations of the wisest brains.
[Tu Mu explains: "Though the enemy may have clever and capable officers, they wi
ll not be able to lay any plans against us."]
26. How victory may be produced for them out of the enemy's own tactics--that is
what the multitude cannot comprehend. 27. All men can see the tactics whereby I
conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.
[I.e., everybody can see superficially how a battle is won; what they cannot see
is the long series of plans and combinations which has preceded the battle.]
28. Do not repeat the tactics which have gained you one victory, but let your me
thods be regulated by the infinite variety of circumstances.
[As Wang Hsi sagely remarks: "There is but one root- principle underlying victor
y, but the tactics which lead up to it are infinite in number." With this compar
e Col. Henderson: "The rules of strategy are few and simple. They may be learned
in a week. They may be taught by familiar illustrations or a dozen diagrams. Bu
t such knowledge will no more teach a man to lead an army like Napoleon than a k
nowledge of grammar will teach him to write like Gibbon."]
29. Military tactics are like unto water; for water in its natural course runs a
way from high places and hastens downwards. 30. So in war, the way is to avoid w
hat is strong and to strike at what is weak.
[Like water, taking the line of least resistance.]
31. Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it
flows; the soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facin
g. 32. Therefore, just as water retains no constant shape, so in warfare there a
re no constant conditions. 33. He who can modify his tactics in relation to his
opponent and thereby succeed in winning, may be called a heaven- born captain. 3
4. The five elements (water, fire, wood, metal, earth) are not always equally pr
edominant;
[That is, as Wang Hsi says: "they predominate alternately."]
the four seasons make way for each other in turn.
[Literally, "have no invariable seat."]
There are short days and long; the moon has its periods of waning and waxing.
[Cf. V. ss. 6. The purport of the passage is simply to illustrate the want of fi
xity in war by the changes constantly taking place in Nature. The comparison is
not very happy, however, because the regularity of the phenomena which Sun Tzu m
entions is by no means paralleled in war.]
[1] See Col. Henderson's biography of Stonewall Jackson, 1902 ed., vol. II, p. 4
90.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
VII. MANEUVERING
1. Sun Tzu said: In war, the general receives his commands from the sovereign. 2
. Having collected an army and concentrated his forces, he must blend and harmon
ize the different elements thereof before pitching his camp.
["Chang Yu says: "the establishment of harmony and confidence between the higher
and lower ranks before venturing into the field;" and he quotes a saying of Wu
Tzu (chap. 1 ad init.): "Without harmony in the State, no military expedition ca
n be undertaken; without harmony in the army, no battle array can be formed." In
an historical romance Sun Tzu is represented as saying to Wu Yuan: "As a genera
l rule, those who are waging war should get rid of all the domestic troubles bef
ore proceeding to attack the external foe."]
3. After that, comes tactical maneuvering, than which there is nothing more diff
icult.
[I have departed slightly from the traditional interpretation of Ts`ao Kung, who
says: "From the time of receiving the sovereign's instructions until our encamp
ment over against the enemy, the tactics to be pursued are most difficult." It s
eems to me that the tactics or maneuvers can hardly be said to begin until the a
rmy has sallied forth and encamped, and Ch`ien Hao's note gives color to this vi
ew: "For levying, concentrating, harmonizing and entrenching an army, there are
plenty of old rules which will serve. The real difficulty comes when we engage i
n tactical operations." Tu Yu also observes that "the great difficulty is to be
beforehand with the enemy in seizing favorable position."]
The difficulty of tactical maneuvering consists in turning the devious into the
direct, and misfortune into gain.
[This sentence contains one of those highly condensed and somewhat enigmatical e
xpressions of which Sun Tzu is so fond. This is how it is explained by Ts`ao Kun
g: "Make it appear that you are a long way off, then cover the distance rapidly
and arrive on the scene before your opponent." Tu Mu says: "Hoodwink the enemy,
so that he may be remiss and leisurely while you are dashing along with utmost s
peed." Ho Shih gives a slightly different turn: "Although you may have difficult
ground to traverse and natural obstacles to encounter this is a drawback which
can be turned into actual advantage by celerity of movement." Signal examples of
this saying are afforded by the two famous passages across the Alps--that of Ha
nnibal, which laid Italy at his mercy, and that of Napoleon two thousand years l
ater, which resulted in the great victory of Marengo.]
4. Thus, to take a long and circuitous route, after enticing the enemy out of th
e way, and though starting after him, to contrive to reach the goal before him,
shows knowledge of the artifice of DEVIATION.
[Tu Mu cites the famous march of Chao She in 270 B.C. to relieve the town of O-y
u, which was closely invested by a Ch`in army. The King of Chao first consulted
Lien P`o on the advisability of attempting a relief, but the latter thought the
distance too great, and the intervening country too rugged and difficult. His Ma
jesty then turned to Chao She, who fully admitted the hazardous nature of the ma
rch, but finally said: "We shall be like two rats fighting in a whole--and the p
luckier one will win!" So he left the capital with his army, but had only gone a
distance of 30 LI when he stopped and began throwing up entrenchments. For 28 d
ays he continued strengthening his fortifications, and took care that spies shou
ld carry the intelligence to the enemy. The Ch`in general was overjoyed, and att
ributed his adversary's tardiness to the fact that the beleaguered city was in t
he Han State, and thus not actually part of Chao territory. But the spies had no
sooner departed than Chao She began a forced march lasting for two days and one
night, and arrive on the scene of action with such astonishing rapidity that he
was able to occupy a commanding position on the "North hill" before the enemy h
ad got wind of his movements. A crushing defeat followed for the Ch`in forces, w
ho were obliged to raise the siege of O-yu in all haste and retreat across the b
order.]
5. Maneuvering with an army is advantageous; with an undisciplined multitude, mo
st dangerous.
[I adopt the reading of the T`UNG TIEN, Cheng Yu-hsien and the T`U SHU, since th
ey appear to apply the exact nuance required in order to make sense. The comment
ators using the standard text take this line to mean that maneuvers may be profi
table, or they may be dangerous: it all depends on the ability of the general.]
6. If you set a fully equipped army in march in order to snatch an advantage, th
e chances are that you will be too late. On the other hand, to detach a flying c
olumn for the purpose involves the sacrifice of its baggage and stores.
[Some of the Chinese text is unintelligible to the Chinese commentators, who par
aphrase the sentence. I submit my own rendering without much enthusiasm, being c
onvinced that there is some deep-seated corruption in the text. On the whole, it
is clear that Sun Tzu does not approve of a lengthy march being undertaken with
out supplies. Cf. infra, ss. 11.]
7. Thus, if you order your men to roll up their buff-coats, and make forced marc
hes without halting day or night, covering double the usual distance at a stretc
h,
[The ordinary day's march, according to Tu Mu, was 30 LI; but on one occasion, w
hen pursuing Liu Pei, Ts`ao Ts`ao is said to have covered the incredible distanc
e of 300 li within twenty-four hours.]
doing a hundred LI in order to wrest an advantage, the leaders of all your three
divisions will fall into the hands of the enemy. 8. The stronger men will be in
front, the jaded ones will fall behind, and on this plan only one-tenth of your
army will reach its destination.
[The moral is, as Ts`ao Kung and others point out: Don't march a hundred LI to g
ain a tactical advantage, either with or without impedimenta. Maneuvers of this
description should be confined to short distances. Stonewall Jackson said: "The
hardships of forced marches are often more painful than the dangers of battle."
He did not often call upon his troops for extraordinary exertions. It was only w
hen he intended a surprise, or when a rapid retreat was imperative, that he sacr
ificed everything for speed. [1] ]
9. If you march fifty LI in order to outmaneuver the enemy, you will lose the le
ader of your first division, and only half your force will reach the goal.
[Literally, "the leader of the first division will be TORN AWAY."]
10. If you march thirty LI with the same object, two-thirds of your army will ar
rive.
[In the T`UNG TIEN is added: "From this we may know the difficulty of maneuverin
g."]
11. We may take it then that an army without its baggage- train is lost; without
provisions it is lost; without bases of supply it is lost.
[I think Sun Tzu meant "stores accumulated in depots." But Tu Yu says "fodder an
d the like," Chang Yu says "Goods in general," and Wang Hsi says "fuel, salt, fo
odstuffs, etc."]
12. We cannot enter into alliances until we are acquainted with the designs of o
ur neighbors. 13. We are not fit to lead an army on the march unless we are fami
liar with the face of the country--its mountains and forests, its pitfalls and p
recipices, its marshes and swamps. 14. We shall be unable to turn natural advant
age to account unless we make use of local guides.
[ss. 12-14 are repeated in chap. XI. ss. 52.]
15. In war, practice dissimulation, and you will succeed.
[In the tactics of Turenne, deception of the enemy, especially as to the numeric
al strength of his troops, took a very prominent position. [2] ]
16. Whether to concentrate or to divide your troops, must be decided by circumst
ances. 17. Let your rapidity be that of the wind,
[The simile is doubly appropriate, because the wind is not only swift but, as Me
i Yao-ch`en points out, "invisible and leaves no tracks."]
your compactness that of the forest.
[Meng Shih comes nearer to the mark in his note: "When slowly marching, order an
d ranks must be preserved"--so as to guard against surprise attacks. But natural
forest do not grow in rows, whereas they do generally possess the quality of de
nsity or compactness.]
18. In raiding and plundering be like fire,
[Cf. SHIH CHING, IV. 3. iv. 6: "Fierce as a blazing fire which no man can check.
"]
in immovability like a mountain.
[That is, when holding a position from which the enemy is trying to dislodge you
, or perhaps, as Tu Yu says, when he is trying to entice you into a trap.]
19. Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall li
ke a thunderbolt.
[Tu Yu quotes a saying of T`ai Kung which has passed into a proverb: "You cannot
shut your ears to the thunder or your eyes to the lighting--so rapid are they."
Likewise, an attack should be made so quickly that it cannot be parried.]
20. When you plunder a countryside, let the spoil be divided amongst your men;
[Sun Tzu wishes to lessen the abuses of indiscriminate plundering by insisting t
hat all booty shall be thrown into a common stock, which may afterwards be fairl
y divided amongst all.]
when you capture new territory, cut it up into allotments for the benefit of the
soldiery.
[Ch`en Hao says "quarter your soldiers on the land, and let them sow and plant i
t." It is by acting on this principle, and harvesting the lands they invaded, th
at the Chinese have succeeded in carrying out some of their most memorable and t
riumphant expeditions, such as that of Pan Ch`ao who penetrated to the Caspian,
and in more recent years, those of Fu-k`ang-an and Tso Tsung-t`ang.]
21. Ponder and deliberate before you make a move.
[Chang Yu quotes Wei Liao Tzu as saying that we must not break camp until we hav
e gained the resisting power of the enemy and the cleverness of the opposing gen
eral. Cf. the "seven comparisons" in I. ss. 13.]
22. He will conquer who has learnt the artifice of deviation.
[See supra, SS. 3, 4.]
Such is the art of maneuvering.
[With these words, the chapter would naturally come to an end. But there now fol
lows a long appendix in the shape of an extract from an earlier book on War, now
lost, but apparently extant at the time when Sun Tzu wrote. The style of this f
ragment is not noticeable different from that of Sun Tzu himself, but no comment
ator raises a doubt as to its genuineness.]
23. The Book of Army Management says:
[It is perhaps significant that none of the earlier commentators give us any inf
ormation about this work. Mei Yao- Ch`en calls it "an ancient military classic,"
and Wang Hsi, "an old book on war." Considering the enormous amount of fighting
that had gone on for centuries before Sun Tzu's time between the various kingdo
ms and principalities of China, it is not in itself improbable that a collection
of military maxims should have been made and written down at some earlier perio
d.]
On the field of battle,
[Implied, though not actually in the Chinese.]
the spoken word does not carry far enough: hence the institution of gongs and dr
ums. Nor can ordinary objects be seen clearly enough: hence the institution of b
anners and flags. 24. Gongs and drums, banners and flags, are means whereby the
ears and eyes of the host may be focused on one particular point.
[Chang Yu says: "If sight and hearing converge simultaneously on the same object
, the evolutions of as many as a million soldiers will be like those of a single
man."!]
25. The host thus forming a single united body, is it impossible either for the
brave to advance alone, or for the cowardly to retreat alone.
[Chuang Yu quotes a saying: "Equally guilty are those who advance against orders
and those who retreat against orders." Tu Mu tells a story in this connection o
f Wu Ch`i, when he was fighting against the Ch`in State. Before the battle had b
egun, one of his soldiers, a man of matchless daring, sallied forth by himself,
captured two heads from the enemy, and returned to camp. Wu Ch`i had the man ins
tantly executed, whereupon an officer ventured to remonstrate, saying: "This man
was a good soldier, and ought not to have been beheaded." Wu Ch`i replied: "I f
ully believe he was a good soldier, but I had him beheaded because he acted with
out orders."]
This is the art of handling large masses of men. 26. In night-fighting, then, ma
ke much use of signal-fires and drums, and in fighting by day, of flags and bann
ers, as a means of influencing the ears and eyes of your army.
[Ch`en Hao alludes to Li Kuang-pi's night ride to Ho-yang at the head of 500 mou
nted men; they made such an imposing display with torches, that though the rebel
leader Shih Ssu-ming had a large army, he did not dare to dispute their passage
.]
27. A whole army may be robbed of its spirit;
["In war," says Chang Yu, "if a spirit of anger can be made to pervade all ranks
of an army at one and the same time, its onset will be irresistible. Now the sp
irit of the enemy's soldiers will be keenest when they have newly arrived on the
scene, and it is therefore our cue not to fight at once, but to wait until thei
r ardor and enthusiasm have worn off, and then strike. It is in this way that th
ey may be robbed of their keen spirit." Li Ch`uan and others tell an anecdote (t
o be found in the TSO CHUAN, year 10, ss. 1) of Ts`ao Kuei, a protege of Duke Ch
uang of Lu. The latter State was attacked by Ch`i, and the duke was about to joi
n battle at Ch`ang-cho, after the first roll of the enemy's drums, when Ts`ao sa
id: "Not just yet." Only after their drums had beaten for the third time, did he
give the word for attack. Then they fought, and the men of Ch`i were utterly de
feated. Questioned afterwards by the Duke as to the meaning of his delay, Ts`ao
Kuei replied: "In battle, a courageous spirit is everything. Now the first roll
of the drum tends to create this spirit, but with the second it is already on th
e wane, and after the third it is gone altogether. I attacked when their spirit
was gone and ours was at its height. Hence our victory." Wu Tzu (chap. 4) puts "
spirit" first among the "four important influences" in war, and continues: "The
value of a whole army--a mighty host of a million men--is dependent on one man a
lone: such is the influence of spirit!"]
a commander-in-chief may be robbed of his presence of mind.
[Chang Yu says: "Presence of mind is the general's most important asset. It is t
he quality which enables him to discipline disorder and to inspire courage into
the panic- stricken." The great general Li Ching (A.D. 571-649) has a saying: "A
ttacking does not merely consist in assaulting walled cities or striking at an a
rmy in battle array; it must include the art of assailing the enemy's mental equ
ilibrium."]
28. Now a soldier's spirit is keenest in the morning;
[Always provided, I suppose, that he has had breakfast. At the battle of the Tre
bia, the Romans were foolishly allowed to fight fasting, whereas Hannibal's men
had breakfasted at their leisure. See Livy, XXI, liv. 8, lv. 1 and 8.]
by noonday it has begun to flag; and in the evening, his mind is bent only on re
turning to camp. 29. A clever general, therefore, avoids an army when its spirit
is keen, but attacks it when it is sluggish and inclined to return. This is the
art of studying moods. 30. Disciplined and calm, to await the appearance of dis
order and hubbub amongst the enemy:--this is the art of retaining self-possessio
n. 31. To be near the goal while the enemy is still far from it, to wait at ease
while the enemy is toiling and struggling, to be well-fed while the enemy is fa
mished:--this is the art of husbanding one's strength. 32. To refrain from inter
cepting an enemy whose banners are in perfect order, to refrain from attacking a
n army drawn up in calm and confident array:--this is the art of studying circum
stances. 33. It is a military axiom not to advance uphill against the enemy, nor
to oppose him when he comes downhill. 34. Do not pursue an enemy who simulates
flight; do not attack soldiers whose temper is keen. 35. Do not swallow bait off
ered by the enemy.
[Li Ch`uan and Tu Mu, with extraordinary inability to see a metaphor, take these
words quite literally of food and drink that have been poisoned by the enemy. C
h`en Hao and Chang Yu carefully point out that the saying has a wider applicatio
n.]
Do not interfere with an army that is returning home.
[The commentators explain this rather singular piece of advice by saying that a
man whose heart is set on returning home will fight to the death against any att
empt to bar his way, and is therefore too dangerous an opponent to be tackled. C
hang Yu quotes the words of Han Hsin: "Invincible is the soldier who hath his de
sire and returneth homewards." A marvelous tale is told of Ts`ao Ts`ao's courage
and resource in ch. 1 of the SAN KUO CHI: In 198 A.D., he was besieging Chang H
siu in Jang, when Liu Piao sent reinforcements with a view to cutting off Ts`ao'
s retreat. The latter was obliged to draw off his troops, only to find himself h
emmed in between two enemies, who were guarding each outlet of a narrow pass in
which he had engaged himself. In this desperate plight Ts`ao waited until nightf
all, when he bored a tunnel into the mountain side and laid an ambush in it. As
soon as the whole army had passed by, the hidden troops fell on his rear, while
Ts`ao himself turned and met his pursuers in front, so that they were thrown int
o confusion and annihilated. Ts`ao Ts`ao said afterwards: "The brigands tried to
check my army in its retreat and brought me to battle in a desperate position:
hence I knew how to overcome them."]
36. When you surround an army, leave an outlet free.
[This does not mean that the enemy is to be allowed to escape. The object, as Tu
Mu puts it, is "to make him believe that there is a road to safety, and thus pr
event his fighting with the courage of despair." Tu Mu adds pleasantly: "After t
hat, you may crush him."]
Do not press a desperate foe too hard.
[Ch`en Hao quotes the saying: "Birds and beasts when brought to bay will use the
ir claws and teeth." Chang Yu says: "If your adversary has burned his boats and
destroyed his cooking-pots, and is ready to stake all on the issue of a battle,
he must not be pushed to extremities." Ho Shih illustrates the meaning by a stor
y taken from the life of Yen-ch`ing. That general, together with his colleague T
u Chung-wei was surrounded by a vastly superior army of Khitans in the year 945
A.D. The country was bare and desert-like, and the little Chinese force was soon
in dire straits for want of water. The wells they bored ran dry, and the men we
re reduced to squeezing lumps of mud and sucking out the moisture. Their ranks t
hinned rapidly, until at last Fu Yen-ch`ing exclaimed: "We are desperate men. Fa
r better to die for our country than to go with fettered hands into captivity!"
A strong gale happened to be blowing from the northeast and darkening the air wi
th dense clouds of sandy dust. To Chung-wei was for waiting until this had abate
d before deciding on a final attack; but luckily another officer, Li Shou- cheng
by name, was quicker to see an opportunity, and said: "They are many and we are
few, but in the midst of this sandstorm our numbers will not be discernible; vi
ctory will go to the strenuous fighter, and the wind will be our best ally." Acc
ordingly, Fu Yen-ch`ing made a sudden and wholly unexpected onslaught with his c
avalry, routed the barbarians and succeeded in breaking through to safety.]
37. Such is the art of warfare.
[1] See Col. Henderson, op. cit. vol. I. p. 426.
[2] For a number of maxims on this head, see "Marshal Turenne" (Longmans, 1907),
p. 29.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
VIII. VARIATION IN TACTICS
[The heading means literally "The Nine Variations," but as Sun Tzu does not appe
ar to enumerate these, and as, indeed, he has already told us (V SS. 6-11) that
such deflections from the ordinary course are practically innumerable, we have l
ittle option but to follow Wang Hsi, who says that "Nine" stands for an indefini
tely large number. "All it means is that in warfare we ought to very our tactics
to the utmost degree.... I do not know what Ts`ao Kung makes these Nine Variati
ons out to be, but it has been suggested that they are connected with the Nine S
ituations" - of chapt. XI. This is the view adopted by Chang Yu. The only other
alternative is to suppose that something has been lost--a supposition to which t
he unusual shortness of the chapter lends some weight.]
1. Sun Tzu said: In war, the general receives his commands from the sovereign, c
ollects his army and concentrates his forces.
[Repeated from VII. ss. 1, where it is certainly more in place. It may have been
interpolated here merely in order to supply a beginning to the chapter.]
2. When in difficult country, do not encamp. In country where high roads interse
ct, join hands with your allies. Do not linger in dangerously isolated positions
.
[The last situation is not one of the Nine Situations as given in the beginning
of chap. XI, but occurs later on (ibid. ss. 43. q.v.). Chang Yu defines this sit
uation as being situated across the frontier, in hostile territory. Li Ch`uan sa
ys it is "country in which there are no springs or wells, flocks or herds, veget
ables or firewood;" Chia Lin, "one of gorges, chasms and precipices, without a r
oad by which to advance."]
In hemmed-in situations, you must resort to stratagem. In desperate position, yo
u must fight. 3. There are roads which must not be followed,
["Especially those leading through narrow defiles," says Li Ch`uan, "where an am
bush is to be feared."]
armies which must be not attacked,
[More correctly, perhaps, "there are times when an army must not be attacked." C
h`en Hao says: "When you see your way to obtain a rival advantage, but are power
less to inflict a real defeat, refrain from attacking, for fear of overtaxing yo
ur men's strength."]
towns which must not be besieged,
[Cf. III. ss. 4 Ts`ao Kung gives an interesting illustration from his own experi
ence. When invading the territory of Hsu-chou, he ignored the city of Hua-pi, wh
ich lay directly in his path, and pressed on into the heart of the country. This
excellent strategy was rewarded by the subsequent capture of no fewer than four
teen important district cities. Chang Yu says: "No town should be attacked which
, if taken, cannot be held, or if left alone, will not cause any trouble." Hsun
Ying, when urged to attack Pi-yang, replied: "The city is small and well-fortifi
ed; even if I succeed intaking it, it will be no great feat of arms; whereas if
I fail, I shall make myself a laughing-stock." In the seventeenth century, siege
s still formed a large proportion of war. It was Turenne who directed attention
to the importance of marches, countermarches and maneuvers. He said: "It is a gr
eat mistake to waste men in taking a town when the same expenditure of soldiers
will gain a province." [1] ]
positions which must not be contested, commands of the sovereign which must not
be obeyed.
[This is a hard saying for the Chinese, with their reverence for authority, and
Wei Liao Tzu (quoted by Tu Mu) is moved to exclaim: "Weapons are baleful instrum
ents, strife is antagonistic to virtue, a military commander is the negation of
civil order!" The unpalatable fact remains, however, that even Imperial wishes m
ust be subordinated to military necessity.]
4. The general who thoroughly understands the advantages that accompany variatio
n of tactics knows how to handle his troops. 5. The general who does not underst
and these, may be well acquainted with the configuration of the country, yet he
will not be able to turn his knowledge to practical account.
[Literally, "get the advantage of the ground," which means not only securing goo
d positions, but availing oneself of natural advantages in every possible way. C
hang Yu says: "Every kind of ground is characterized by certain natural features
, and also gives scope for a certain variability of plan. How it is possible to
turn these natural features to account unless topographical knowledge is supplem
ented by versatility of mind?"]
6. So, the student of war who is unversed in the art of war of varying his plans
, even though he be acquainted with the Five Advantages, will fail to make the b
est use of his men.
[Chia Lin tells us that these imply five obvious and generally advantageous line
s of action, namely: "if a certain road is short, it must be followed; if an arm
y is isolated, it must be attacked; if a town is in a parlous condition, it must
be besieged; if a position can be stormed, it must be attempted; and if consist
ent with military operations, the ruler's commands must be obeyed." But there ar
e circumstances which sometimes forbid a general to use these advantages. For in
stance, "a certain road may be the shortest way for him, but if he knows that it
abounds in natural obstacles, or that the enemy has laid an ambush on it, he wi
ll not follow that road. A hostile force may be open to attack, but if he knows
that it is hard-pressed and likely to fight with desperation, he will refrain fr
om striking," and so on.]
7. Hence in the wise leader's plans, considerations of advantage and of disadvan
tage will be blended together.
["Whether in an advantageous position or a disadvantageous one," says Ts`ao Kung
, "the opposite state should be always present to your mind."]
8. If our expectation of advantage be tempered in this way, we may succeed in ac
complishing the essential part of our schemes.
[Tu Mu says: "If we wish to wrest an advantage from the enemy, we must not fix o
ur minds on that alone, but allow for the possibility of the enemy also doing so
me harm to us, and let this enter as a factor into our calculations."]
9. If, on the other hand, in the midst of difficulties we are always ready to se
ize an advantage, we may extricate ourselves from misfortune.
[Tu Mu says: "If I wish to extricate myself from a dangerous position, I must co
nsider not only the enemy's ability to injure me, but also my own ability to gai
n an advantage over the enemy. If in my counsels these two considerations are pr
operly blended, I shall succeed in liberating myself.... For instance; if I am s
urrounded by the enemy and only think of effecting an escape, the nervelessness
of my policy will incite my adversary to pursue and crush me; it would be far be
tter to encourage my men to deliver a bold counter-attack, and use the advantage
thus gained to free myself from the enemy's toils." See the story of Ts`ao Ts`a
o, VII. ss. 35, note.]
10. Reduce the hostile chiefs by inflicting damage on them;
[Chia Lin enumerates several ways of inflicting this injury, some of which would
only occur to the Oriental mind:--"Entice away the enemy's best and wisest men,
so that he may be left without counselors. Introduce traitors into his country,
that the government policy may be rendered futile. Foment intrigue and deceit,
and thus sow dissension between the ruler and his ministers. By means of every a
rtful contrivance, cause deterioration amongst his men and waste of his treasure
. Corrupt his morals by insidious gifts leading him into excess. Disturb and uns
ettle his mind by presenting him with lovely women." Chang Yu (after Wang Hsi) m
akes a different interpretation of Sun Tzu here: "Get the enemy into a position
where he must suffer injury, and he will submit of his own accord."]
and make trouble for them,
[Tu Mu, in this phrase, in his interpretation indicates that trouble should be m
ake for the enemy affecting their "possessions," or, as we might say, "assets,"
which he considers to be "a large army, a rich exchequer, harmony amongst the so
ldiers, punctual fulfillment of commands." These give us a whip-hand over the en
emy.]
and keep them constantly engaged;
[Literally, "make servants of them." Tu Yu says "prevent the from having any res
t."]
hold out specious allurements, and make them rush to any given point.
[Meng Shih's note contains an excellent example of the idiomatic use of: "cause
them to forget PIEN (the reasons for acting otherwise than on their first impuls
e), and hasten in our direction."]
11. The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy's not c
oming, but on our own readiness to receive him; not on the chance of his not att
acking, but rather on the fact that we have made our position unassailable. 12.
There are five dangerous faults which may affect a general: (1) Recklessness, wh
ich leads to destruction;
["Bravery without forethought," as Ts`ao Kung analyzes it, which causes a man to
fight blindly and desperately like a mad bull. Such an opponent, says Chang Yu,
"must not be encountered with brute force, but may be lured into an ambush and
slain." Cf. Wu Tzu, chap. IV. ad init.: "In estimating the character of a genera
l, men are wont to pay exclusive attention to his courage, forgetting that coura
ge is only one out of many qualities which a general should possess. The merely
brave man is prone to fight recklessly; and he who fights recklessly, without an
y perception of what is expedient, must be condemned." Ssu-ma Fa, too, make the
incisive remark: "Simply going to one's death does not bring about victory."]
(2) cowardice, which leads to capture;
[Ts`ao Kung defines the Chinese word translated here as "cowardice" as being of
the man "whom timidity prevents from advancing to seize an advantage," and Wang
Hsi adds "who is quick to flee at the sight of danger." Meng Shih gives the clos
er paraphrase "he who is bent on returning alive," this is, the man who will nev
er take a risk. But, as Sun Tzu knew, nothing is to be achieved in war unless yo
u are willing to take risks. T`ai Kung said: "He who lets an advantage slip will
subsequently bring upon himself real disaster." In 404 A.D., Liu Yu pursued the
rebel Huan Hsuan up the Yangtsze and fought a naval battle with him at the isla
nd of Ch`eng-hung. The loyal troops numbered only a few thousands, while their o
pponents were in great force. But Huan Hsuan, fearing the fate which was in stor
e for him should be be overcome, had a light boat made fast to the side of his w
ar-junk, so that he might escape, if necessary, at a moment's notice. The natura
l result was that the fighting spirit of his soldiers was utterly quenched, and
when the loyalists made an attack from windward with fireships, all striving wit
h the utmost ardor to be first in the fray, Huan Hsuan's forces were routed, had
to burn all their baggage and fled for two days and nights without stopping. Ch
ang Yu tells a somewhat similar story of Chao Ying-ch`i, a general of the Chin S
tate who during a battle with the army of Ch`u in 597 B.C. had a boat kept in re
adiness for him on the river, wishing in case of defeat to be the first to get a
cross.]
(3) a hasty temper, which can be provoked by insults;
[Tu Mu tells us that Yao Hsing, when opposed in 357 A.D. by Huang Mei, Teng Ch`i
ang and others shut himself up behind his walls and refused to fight. Teng Ch`ia
ng said: "Our adversary is of a choleric temper and easily provoked; let us make
constant sallies and break down his walls, then he will grow angry and come out
. Once we can bring his force to battle, it is doomed to be our prey." This plan
was acted upon, Yao Hsiang came out to fight, was lured as far as San-yuan by t
he enemy's pretended flight, and finally attacked and slain.]
(4) a delicacy of honor which is sensitive to shame;
[This need not be taken to mean that a sense of honor is really a defect in a ge
neral. What Sun Tzu condemns is rather an exaggerated sensitiveness to slanderou
s reports, the thin-skinned man who is stung by opprobrium, however undeserved.
Mei Yao- ch`en truly observes, though somewhat paradoxically: "The seek after gl
ory should be careless of public opinion."]
(5) over-solicitude for his men, which exposes him to worry and trouble.
[Here again, Sun Tzu does not mean that the general is to be careless of the wel
fare of his troops. All he wishes to emphasize is the danger of sacrificing any
important military advantage to the immediate comfort of his men. This is a shor
tsighted policy, because in the long run the troops will suffer more from the de
feat, or, at best, the prolongation of the war, which will be the consequence. A
mistaken feeling of pity will often induce a general to relieve a beleaguered c
ity, or to reinforce a hard-pressed detachment, contrary to his military instinc
ts. It is now generally admitted that our repeated efforts to relieve Ladysmith
in the South African War were so many strategical blunders which defeated their
own purpose. And in the end, relief came through the very man who started out wi
th the distinct resolve no longer to subordinate the interests of the whole to s
entiment in favor of a part. An old soldier of one of our generals who failed mo
st conspicuously in this war, tried once, I remember, to defend him to me on the
ground that he was always "so good to his men." By this plea, had he but known
it, he was only condemning him out of Sun Tzu's mouth.]
13. These are the five besetting sins of a general, ruinous to the conduct of wa
r. 14. When an army is overthrown and its leader slain, the cause will surely be
found among these five dangerous faults. Let them be a subject of meditation.
[1] "Marshal Turenne," p. 50.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
IX. THE ARMY ON THE MARCH
[The contents of this interesting chapter are better indicated in ss. 1 than by
this heading.]
1. Sun Tzu said: We come now to the question of encamping the army, and observin
g signs of the enemy. Pass quickly over mountains, and keep in the neighborhood
of valleys.
[The idea is, not to linger among barren uplands, but to keep close to supplies
of water and grass. Cf. Wu Tzu, ch. 3: "Abide not in natural ovens," i.e. "the o
penings of valleys." Chang Yu tells the following anecdote: Wu-tu Ch`iang was a
robber captain in the time of the Later Han, and Ma Yuan was sent to exterminate
his gang. Ch`iang having found a refuge in the hills, Ma Yuan made no attempt t
o force a battle, but seized all the favorable positions commanding supplies of
water and forage. Ch`iang was soon in such a desperate plight for want of provis
ions that he was forced to make a total surrender. He did not know the advantage
of keeping in the neighborhood of valleys."]
2. Camp in high places,
[Not on high hills, but on knolls or hillocks elevated above the surrounding cou
ntry.]
facing the sun.
[Tu Mu takes this to mean "facing south," and Ch`en Hao "facing east." Cf. infra
, SS. 11, 13.
Do not climb heights in order to fight. So much for mountain warfare. 3. After c
rossing a river, you should get far away from it.
["In order to tempt the enemy to cross after you," according to Ts`ao Kung, and
also, says Chang Yu, "in order not to be impeded in your evolutions." The T`UNG
TIEN reads, "If THE ENEMY crosses a river," etc. But in view of the next sentenc
e, this is almost certainly an interpolation.]
4. When an invading force crosses a river in its onward march, do not advance to
meet it in mid-stream. It will be best to let half the army get across, and the
n deliver your attack.
[Li Ch`uan alludes to the great victory won by Han Hsin over Lung Chu at the Wei
River. Turning to the CH`IEN HAN SHU, ch. 34, fol. 6 verso, we find the battle
described as follows: "The two armies were drawn up on opposite sides of the riv
er. In the night, Han Hsin ordered his men to take some ten thousand sacks fille
d with sand and construct a dam higher up. Then, leading half his army across, h
e attacked Lung Chu; but after a time, pretending to have failed in his attempt,
he hastily withdrew to the other bank. Lung Chu was much elated by this unlooke
d-for success, and exclaiming: "I felt sure that Han Hsin was really a coward!"
he pursued him and began crossing the river in his turn. Han Hsin now sent a par
ty to cut open the sandbags, thus releasing a great volume of water, which swept
down and prevented the greater portion of Lung Chu's army from getting across.
He then turned upon the force which had been cut off, and annihilated it, Lung C
hu himself being amongst the slain. The rest of the army, on the further bank, a
lso scattered and fled in all directions.]
5. If you are anxious to fight, you should not go to meet the invader near a riv
er which he has to cross.
[For fear of preventing his crossing.]
6. Moor your craft higher up than the enemy, and facing the sun.
[See supra, ss. 2. The repetition of these words in connection with water is ver
y awkward. Chang Yu has the note: "Said either of troops marshaled on the river-
bank, or of boats anchored in the stream itself; in either case it is essential
to be higher than the enemy and facing the sun." The other commentators are not
at all explicit.]
Do not move up-stream to meet the enemy.
[Tu Mu says: "As water flows downwards, we must not pitch our camp on the lower
reaches of a river, for fear the enemy should open the sluices and sweep us away
in a flood. Chu-ko Wu- hou has remarked that 'in river warfare we must not adva
nce against the stream,' which is as much as to say that our fleet must not be a
nchored below that of the enemy, for then they would be able to take advantage o
f the current and make short work of us." There is also the danger, noted by oth
er commentators, that the enemy may throw poison on the water to be carried down
to us.]
So much for river warfare. 7. In crossing salt-marshes, your sole concern should
be to get over them quickly, without any delay.
[Because of the lack of fresh water, the poor quality of the herbage, and last b
ut not least, because they are low, flat, and exposed to attack.]
8. If forced to fight in a salt-marsh, you should have water and grass near you,
and get your back to a clump of trees.
[Li Ch`uan remarks that the ground is less likely to be treacherous where there
are trees, while Tu Mu says that they will serve to protect the rear.]
So much for operations in salt-marches. 9. In dry, level country, take up an eas
ily accessible position with rising ground to your right and on your rear,
[Tu Mu quotes T`ai Kung as saying: "An army should have a stream or a marsh on i
ts left, and a hill or tumulus on its right."]
so that the danger may be in front, and safety lie behind. So much for campaigni
ng in flat country. 10. These are the four useful branches of military knowledge
[Those, namely, concerned with (1) mountains, (2) rivers, (3) marshes, and (4) p
lains. Compare Napoleon's "Military Maxims," no. 1.]
which enabled the Yellow Emperor to vanquish four several sovereigns.
[Regarding the "Yellow Emperor": Mei Yao-ch`en asks, with some plausibility, whe
ther there is an error in the text as nothing is known of Huang Ti having conque
red four other Emperors. The SHIH CHI (ch. 1 ad init.) speaks only of his victor
ies over Yen Ti and Ch`ih Yu. In the LIU T`AO it is mentioned that he "fought se
venty battles and pacified the Empire." Ts`ao Kung's explanation is, that the Ye
llow Emperor was the first to institute the feudal system of vassals princes, ea
ch of whom (to the number of four) originally bore the title of Emperor. Li Ch`u
an tells us that the art of war originated under Huang Ti, who received it from
his Minister Feng Hou.]
11. All armies prefer high ground to low.
["High Ground," says Mei Yao-ch`en, "is not only more agreement and salubrious,
but more convenient from a military point of view; low ground is not only damp a
nd unhealthy, but also disadvantageous for fighting."]
and sunny places to dark. 12. If you are careful of your men,
[Ts`ao Kung says: "Make for fresh water and pasture, where you can turn out your
animals to graze."]
and camp on hard ground, the army will be free from disease of every kind,
[Chang Yu says: "The dryness of the climate will prevent the outbreak of illness
."]
and this will spell victory. 13. When you come to a hill or a bank, occupy the s
unny side, with the slope on your right rear. Thus you will at once act for the
benefit of your soldiers and utilize the natural advantages of the ground. 14. W
hen, in consequence of heavy rains up-country, a river which you wish to ford is
swollen and flecked with foam, you must wait until it subsides. 15. Country in
which there are precipitous cliffs with torrents running between, deep natural h
ollows,
[The latter defined as "places enclosed on every side by steep banks, with pools
of water at the bottom.]
confined places,
[Defined as "natural pens or prisons" or "places surrounded by precipices on thr
ee sides--easy to get into, but hard to get out of."]
tangled thickets,
[Defined as "places covered with such dense undergrowth that spears cannot be us
ed."]
quagmires
[Defined as "low-lying places, so heavy with mud as to be impassable for chariot
s and horsemen."]
and crevasses,
[Defined by Mei Yao-ch`en as "a narrow difficult way between beetling cliffs." T
u Mu's note is "ground covered with trees and rocks, and intersected by numerous
ravines and pitfalls." This is very vague, but Chia Lin explains it clearly eno
ugh as a defile or narrow pass, and Chang Yu takes much the same view. On the wh
ole, the weight of the commentators certainly inclines to the rendering "defile.
" But the ordinary meaning of the Chinese in one place is "a crack or fissure" a
nd the fact that the meaning of the Chinese elsewhere in the sentence indicates
something in the nature of a defile, make me think that Sun Tzu is here speaking
of crevasses.]
should be left with all possible speed and not approached. 16. While we keep awa
y from such places, we should get the enemy to approach them; while we face them
, we should let the enemy have them on his rear. 17. If in the neighborhood of y
our camp there should be any hilly country, ponds surrounded by aquatic grass, h
ollow basins filled with reeds, or woods with thick undergrowth, they must be ca
refully routed out and searched; for these are places where men in ambush or ins
idious spies are likely to be lurking.
[Chang Yu has the note: "We must also be on our guard against traitors who may l
ie in close covert, secretly spying out our weaknesses and overhearing our instr
uctions."]
18. When the enemy is close at hand and remains quiet, he is relying on the natu
ral strength of his position.
[Here begin Sun Tzu's remarks on the reading of signs, much of which is so good
that it could almost be included in a modern manual like Gen. Baden-Powell's "Ai
ds to Scouting."]
19. When he keeps aloof and tries to provoke a battle, he is anxious for the oth
er side to advance.
[Probably because we are in a strong position from which he wishes to dislodge u
s. "If he came close up to us, says Tu Mu, "and tried to force a battle, he woul
d seem to despise us, and there would be less probability of our responding to t
he challenge."]
20. If his place of encampment is easy of access, he is tendering a bait. 21. Mo
vement amongst the trees of a forest shows that the enemy is advancing.
[Ts`ao Kung explains this as "felling trees to clear a passage," and Chang Yu sa
ys: "Every man sends out scouts to climb high places and observe the enemy. If a
scout sees that the trees of a forest are moving and shaking, he may know that
they are being cut down to clear a passage for the enemy's march."]
The appearance of a number of screens in the midst of thick grass means that the
enemy wants to make us suspicious.
[Tu Yu's explanation, borrowed from Ts`ao Kung's, is as follows: "The presence o
f a number of screens or sheds in the midst of thick vegetation is a sure sign t
hat the enemy has fled and, fearing pursuit, has constructed these hiding-places
in order to make us suspect an ambush." It appears that these "screens" were ha
stily knotted together out of any long grass which the retreating enemy happened
to come across.]
22. The rising of birds in their flight is the sign of an ambuscade.
[Chang Yu's explanation is doubtless right: "When birds that are flying along in
a straight line suddenly shoot upwards, it means that soldiers are in ambush at
the spot beneath."]
Startled beasts indicate that a sudden attack is coming. 23. When there is dust
rising in a high column, it is the sign of chariots advancing; when the dust is
low, but spread over a wide area, it betokens the approach of infantry.
["High and sharp," or rising to a peak, is of course somewhat exaggerated as app
lied to dust. The commentators explain the phenomenon by saying that horses and
chariots, being heavier than men, raise more dust, and also follow one another i
n the same wheel-track, whereas foot-soldiers would be marching in ranks, many a
breast. According to Chang Yu, "every army on the march must have scouts some wa
y in advance, who on sighting dust raised by the enemy, will gallop back and rep
ort it to the commander-in-chief." Cf. Gen. Baden-Powell: "As you move along, sa
y, in a hostile country, your eyes should be looking afar for the enemy or any s
igns of him: figures, dust rising, birds getting up, glitter of arms, etc." [1]
]
When it branches out in different directions, it shows that parties have been se
nt to collect firewood. A few clouds of dust moving to and fro signify that the
army is encamping.
[Chang Yu says: "In apportioning the defenses for a cantonment, light horse will
be sent out to survey the position and ascertain the weak and strong points all
along its circumference. Hence the small quantity of dust and its motion."]
24. Humble words and increased preparations are signs that the enemy is about to
advance.
["As though they stood in great fear of us," says Tu Mu. "Their object is to mak
e us contemptuous and careless, after which they will attack us." Chang Yu allud
es to the story of T`ien Tan of the Ch`i-mo against the Yen forces, led by Ch`i
Chieh. In ch. 82 of the SHIH CHI we read: "T`ien Tan openly said: 'My only fear
is that the Yen army may cut off the noses of their Ch`i prisoners and place the
m in the front rank to fight against us; that would be the undoing of our city.'
The other side being informed of this speech, at once acted on the suggestion;
but those within the city were enraged at seeing their fellow-countrymen thus mu
tilated, and fearing only lest they should fall into the enemy's hands, were ner
ved to defend themselves more obstinately than ever. Once again T`ien Tan sent b
ack converted spies who reported these words to the enemy: "What I dread most is
that the men of Yen may dig up the ancestral tombs outside the town, and by inf
licting this indignity on our forefathers cause us to become faint-hearted.' For
thwith the besiegers dug up all the graves and burned the corpses lying in them.
And the inhabitants of Chi-mo, witnessing the outrage from the city-walls, wept
passionately and were all impatient to go out and fight, their fury being incre
ased tenfold. T`ien Tan knew then that his soldiers were ready for any enterpris
e. But instead of a sword, he himself too a mattock in his hands, and ordered ot
hers to be distributed amongst his best warriors, while the ranks were filled up
with their wives and concubines. He then served out all the remaining rations a
nd bade his men eat their fill. The regular soldiers were told to keep out of si
ght, and the walls were manned with the old and weaker men and with women. This
done, envoys were dispatched to the enemy's camp to arrange terms of surrender,
whereupon the Yen army began shouting for joy. T`ien Tan also collected 20,000 o
unces of silver from the people, and got the wealthy citizens of Chi-mo to send
it to the Yen general with the prayer that, when the town capitulated, he would
allow their homes to be plundered or their women to be maltreated. Ch`i Chieh, i
n high good humor, granted their prayer; but his army now became increasingly sl
ack and careless. Meanwhile, T`ien Tan got together a thousand oxen, decked them
with pieces of red silk, painted their bodies, dragon-like, with colored stripe
s, and fastened sharp blades on their horns and well-greased rushes on their tai
ls. When night came on, he lighted the ends of the rushes, and drove the oxen th
rough a number of holes which he had pierced in the walls, backing them up with
a force of 5000 picked warriors. The animals, maddened with pain, dashed furious
ly into the enemy's camp where they caused the utmost confusion and dismay; for
their tails acted as torches, showing up the hideous pattern on their bodies, an
d the weapons on their horns killed or wounded any with whom they came into cont
act. In the meantime, the band of 5000 had crept up with gags in their mouths, a
nd now threw themselves on the enemy. At the same moment a frightful din arose i
n the city itself, all those that remained behind making as much noise as possib
le by banging drums and hammering on bronze vessels, until heaven and earth were
convulsed by the uproar. Terror-stricken, the Yen army fled in disorder, hotly
pursued by the men of Ch`i, who succeeded in slaying their general Ch`i Chien...
. The result of the battle was the ultimate recovery of some seventy cities whic
h had belonged to the Ch`i State."]
Violent language and driving forward as if to the attack are signs that he will
retreat. 25. When the light chariots come out first and take up a position on th
e wings, it is a sign that the enemy is forming for battle. 26. Peace proposals
unaccompanied by a sworn covenant indicate a plot.
[The reading here is uncertain. Li Ch`uan indicates "a treaty confirmed by oaths
and hostages." Wang Hsi and Chang Yu, on the other hand, simply say "without re
ason," "on a frivolous pretext."]
27. When there is much running about
[Every man hastening to his proper place under his own regimental banner.]
and the soldiers fall into rank, it means that the critical moment has come. 28.
When some are seen advancing and some retreating, it is a lure. 29. When the so
ldiers stand leaning on their spears, they are faint from want of food. 30. If t
hose who are sent to draw water begin by drinking themselves, the army is suffer
ing from thirst.
[As Tu Mu remarks: "One may know the condition of a whole army from the behavior
of a single man."]
31. If the enemy sees an advantage to be gained and makes no effort to secure it
, the soldiers are exhausted. 32. If birds gather on any spot, it is unoccupied.
[A useful fact to bear in mind when, for instance, as Ch`en Hao says, the enemy
has secretly abandoned his camp.]
Clamor by night betokens nervousness.
33. If there is disturbance in the camp, the general's authority is weak. If the
banners and flags are shifted about, sedition is afoot. If the officers are ang
ry, it means that the men are weary.
[Tu Mu understands the sentence differently: "If all the officers of an army are
angry with their general, it means that they are broken with fatigue" owing to
the exertions which he has demanded from them.]
34. When an army feeds its horses with grain and kills its cattle for food,
[In the ordinary course of things, the men would be fed on grain and the horses
chiefly on grass.]
and when the men do not hang their cooking-pots over the camp- fires, showing th
at they will not return to their tents, you may know that they are determined to
fight to the death.
[I may quote here the illustrative passage from the HOU HAN SHU, ch. 71, given i
n abbreviated form by the P`EI WEN YUN FU: "The rebel Wang Kuo of Liang was besi
eging the town of Ch`en- ts`ang, and Huang-fu Sung, who was in supreme command,
and Tung Cho were sent out against him. The latter pressed for hasty measures, b
ut Sung turned a deaf ear to his counsel. At last the rebels were utterly worn o
ut, and began to throw down their weapons of their own accord. Sung was not adva
ncing to the attack, but Cho said: 'It is a principle of war not to pursue despe
rate men and not to press a retreating host.' Sung answered: 'That does not appl
y here. What I am about to attack is a jaded army, not a retreating host; with d
isciplined troops I am falling on a disorganized multitude, not a band of desper
ate men.' Thereupon he advances to the attack unsupported by his colleague, and
routed the enemy, Wang Kuo being slain."]
35. The sight of men whispering together in small knots or speaking in subdued t
ones points to disaffection amongst the rank and file. 36. Too frequent rewards
signify that the enemy is at the end of his resources;
[Because, when an army is hard pressed, as Tu Mu says, there is always a fear of
mutiny, and lavish rewards are given to keep the men in good temper.]
too many punishments betray a condition of dire distress.
[Because in such case discipline becomes relaxed, and unwonted severity is neces
sary to keep the men to their duty.]
37. To begin by bluster, but afterwards to take fright at the enemy's numbers, s
hows a supreme lack of intelligence.
[I follow the interpretation of Ts`ao Kung, also adopted by Li Ch`uan, Tu Mu, an
d Chang Yu. Another possible meaning set forth by Tu Yu, Chia Lin, Mei Tao-ch`en
and Wang Hsi, is: "The general who is first tyrannical towards his men, and the
n in terror lest they should mutiny, etc." This would connect the sentence with
what went before about rewards and punishments.]
38. When envoys are sent with compliments in their mouths, it is a sign that the
enemy wishes for a truce.
[Tu Mu says: "If the enemy open friendly relations be sending hostages, it is a
sign that they are anxious for an armistice, either because their strength is ex
hausted or for some other reason." But it hardly needs a Sun Tzu to draw such an
obvious inference.]
39. If the enemy's troops march up angrily and remain facing ours for a long tim
e without either joining battle or taking themselves off again, the situation is
one that demands great vigilance and circumspection.
[Ts`ao Kung says a maneuver of this sort may be only a ruse to gain time for an
unexpected flank attack or the laying of an ambush.]
40. If our troops are no more in number than the enemy, that is amply sufficient
; it only means that no direct attack can be made.
[Literally, "no martial advance." That is to say, CHENG tactics and frontal atta
cks must be eschewed, and stratagem resorted to instead.]
What we can do is simply to concentrate all our available strength, keep a close
watch on the enemy, and obtain reinforcements.
[This is an obscure sentence, and none of the commentators succeed in squeezing
very good sense out of it. I follow Li Ch`uan, who appears to offer the simplest
explanation: "Only the side that gets more men will win." Fortunately we have C
hang Yu to expound its meaning to us in language which is lucidity itself: "When
the numbers are even, and no favorable opening presents itself, although we may
not be strong enough to deliver a sustained attack, we can find additional recr
uits amongst our sutlers and camp-followers, and then, concentrating our forces
and keeping a close watch on the enemy, contrive to snatch the victory. But we m
ust avoid borrowing foreign soldiers to help us." He then quotes from Wei Liao T
zu, ch. 3: "The nominal strength of mercenary troops may be 100,000, but their r
eal value will be not more than half that figure."]
41. He who exercises no forethought but makes light of his opponents is sure to
be captured by them.
[Ch`en Hao, quoting from the TSO CHUAN, says: "If bees and scorpions carry poiso
n, how much more will a hostile state! Even a puny opponent, then, should not be
treated with contempt."]
42. If soldiers are punished before they have grown attached to you, they will n
ot prove submissive; and, unless submissive, then will be practically useless. I
f, when the soldiers have become attached to you, punishments are not enforced,
they will still be unless. 43. Therefore soldiers must be treated in the first i
nstance with humanity, but kept under control by means of iron discipline.
[Yen Tzu [B.C. 493] said of Ssu-ma Jang-chu: "His civil virtues endeared him to
the people; his martial prowess kept his enemies in awe." Cf. Wu Tzu, ch. 4 init
.: "The ideal commander unites culture with a warlike temper; the profession of
arms requires a combination of hardness and tenderness."]
This is a certain road to victory.
44. If in training soldiers commands are habitually enforced, the army will be w
ell-disciplined; if not, its discipline will be bad. 45. If a general shows conf
idence in his men but always insists on his orders being obeyed,
[Tu Mu says: "A general ought in time of peace to show kindly confidence in his
men and also make his authority respected, so that when they come to face the en
emy, orders may be executed and discipline maintained, because they all trust an
d look up to him." What Sun Tzu has said in ss. 44, however, would lead one rath
er to expect something like this: "If a general is always confident that his ord
ers will be carried out," etc."]
the gain will be mutual.
[Chang Yu says: "The general has confidence in the men under his command, and th
e men are docile, having confidence in him. Thus the gain is mutual" He quotes a
pregnant sentence from Wei Liao Tzu, ch. 4: "The art of giving orders is not to
try to rectify minor blunders and not to be swayed by petty doubts." Vacillatio
n and fussiness are the surest means of sapping the confidence of an army.]
[1] "Aids to Scouting," p. 26.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
X. TERRAIN
[Only about a third of the chapter, comprising ss. ss. 1-13, deals with "terrain
," the subject being more fully treated in ch. XI. The "six calamities" are disc
ussed in SS. 14-20, and the rest of the chapter is again a mere string of desult
ory remarks, though not less interesting, perhaps, on that account.]
1. Sun Tzu said: We may distinguish six kinds of terrain, to wit: (1) Accessible
ground;
[Mei Yao-ch`en says: "plentifully provided with roads and means of communication
s."]
(2) entangling ground;
[The same commentator says: "Net-like country, venturing into which you become e
ntangled."]
(3) temporizing ground;
[Ground which allows you to "stave off" or "delay."]
(4) narrow passes; (5) precipitous heights; (6) positions at a great distance fr
om the enemy.
[It is hardly necessary to point out the faultiness of this classification. A st
range lack of logical perception is shown in the Chinaman's unquestioning accept
ance of glaring cross- divisions such as the above.]
2. Ground which can be freely traversed by both sides is called ACCESSIBLE. 3. W
ith regard to ground of this nature, be before the enemy in occupying the raised
and sunny spots, and carefully guard your line of supplies.
[The general meaning of the last phrase is doubtlessly, as Tu Yu says, "not to a
llow the enemy to cut your communications." In view of Napoleon's dictum, "the s
ecret of war lies in the communications," [1] we could wish that Sun Tzu had don
e more than skirt the edge of this important subject here and in I. ss. 10, VII.
ss. 11. Col. Henderson says: "The line of supply may be said to be as vital to
the existence of an army as the heart to the life of a human being. Just as the
duelist who finds his adversary's point menacing him with certain death, and his
own guard astray, is compelled to conform to his adversary's movements, and to
content himself with warding off his thrusts, so the commander whose communicati
ons are suddenly threatened finds himself in a false position, and he will be fo
rtunate if he has not to change all his plans, to split up his force into more o
r less isolated detachments, and to fight with inferior numbers on ground which
he has not had time to prepare, and where defeat will not be an ordinary failure
, but will entail the ruin or surrender of his whole army." [2]
Then you will be able to fight with advantage. 4. Ground which can be abandoned
but is hard to re-occupy is called ENTANGLING. 5. From a position of this sort,
if the enemy is unprepared, you may sally forth and defeat him. But if the enemy
is prepared for your coming, and you fail to defeat him, then, return being imp
ossible, disaster will ensue. 6. When the position is such that neither side wil
l gain by making the first move, it is called TEMPORIZING ground.
[Tu Mu says: "Each side finds it inconvenient to move, and the situation remains
at a deadlock."]
7. In a position of this sort, even though the enemy should offer us an attracti
ve bait,
[Tu Yu says, "turning their backs on us and pretending to flee." But this is onl
y one of the lures which might induce us to quit our position.]
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. 8. With regard to NARROW PASSES, if you can occupy them
first, let them be strongly garrisoned and await the advent of the enemy.
[Because then, as Tu Yu observes, "the initiative will lie with us, and by makin
g sudden and unexpected attacks we shall have the enemy at our mercy."]
9. Should the army forestall you in occupying a pass, do not go after him if the
pass is fully garrisoned, but only if it is weakly garrisoned. 10. With regard
to PRECIPITOUS HEIGHTS, if you are beforehand with your adversary, you should oc
cupy the raised and sunny spots, and there wait for him to come up.
[Ts`ao Kung says: "The particular advantage of securing heights and defiles is t
hat your actions cannot then be dictated by the enemy." [For the enunciation of
the grand principle alluded to, see VI. ss. 2]. Chang Yu tells the following ane
cdote of P`ei Hsing-chien (A.D. 619-682), who was sent on a punitive expedition
against the Turkic tribes. "At night he pitched his camp as usual, and it had al
ready been completely fortified by wall and ditch, when suddenly he gave orders
that the army should shift its quarters to a hill near by. This was highly displ
easing to his officers, who protested loudly against the extra fatigue which it
would entail on the men. P`ei Hsing- chien, however, paid no heed to their remon
strances and had the camp moved as quickly as possible. The same night, a terrif
ic storm came on, which flooded their former place of encampment to the depth of
over twelve feet. The recalcitrant officers were amazed at the sight, and owned
that they had been in the wrong. 'How did you know what was going to happen?' t
hey asked. P`ei Hsing-chien replied: 'From this time forward be content to obey
orders without asking unnecessary questions.' From this it may be seen," Chang Y
u continues, "that high and sunny places are advantageous not only for fighting,
but also because they are immune from disastrous floods."]
11. If the enemy has occupied them before you, do not follow him, but retreat an
d try to entice him away.
[The turning point of Li Shih-min's campaign in 621 A.D. against the two rebels,
Tou Chien-te, King of Hsia, and Wang Shih-ch`ung, Prince of Cheng, was his seiz
ure of the heights of Wu-lao, in spike of which Tou Chien-te persisted in his at
tempt to relieve his ally in Lo-yang, was defeated and taken prisoner. See CHIU
T`ANG, ch. 2, fol. 5 verso, and also ch. 54.]
12. If you are situated at a great distance from the enemy, and the strength of
the two armies is equal, it is not easy to provoke a battle,
[The point is that we must not think of undertaking a long and wearisome march,
at the end of which, as Tu Yu says, "we should be exhausted and our adversary fr
esh and keen."]
and fighting will be to your disadvantage.
13. These six are the principles connected with Earth.
[Or perhaps, "the principles relating to ground." See, however, I. ss. 8.]
The general who has attained a responsible post must be careful to study them. 1
4. Now an army is exposed to six several calamities, not arising from natural ca
uses, but from faults for which the general is responsible. These are: (1) Fligh
t; (2) insubordination; (3) collapse; (4) ruin; (5) disorganization; (6) rout. 1
5. Other conditions being equal, if one force is hurled against another ten time
s its size, the result will be the FLIGHT of the former. 16. When the common sol
diers are too strong and their officers too weak, the result is INSUBORDINATION.
[Tu Mu cites the unhappy case of T`ien Pu [HSIN T`ANG SHU, ch. 148], who was sen
t to Wei in 821 A.D. with orders to lead an army against Wang T`ing-ts`ou. But t
he whole time he was in command, his soldiers treated him with the utmost contem
pt, and openly flouted his authority by riding about the camp on donkeys, severa
l thousands at a time. T`ien Pu was powerless to put a stop to this conduct, and
when, after some months had passed, he made an attempt to engage the enemy, his
troops turned tail and dispersed in every direction. After that, the unfortunat
e man committed suicide by cutting his throat.]
When the officers are too strong and the common soldiers too weak, the result is
COLLAPSE.
[Ts`ao Kung says: "The officers are energetic and want to press on, the common s
oldiers are feeble and suddenly collapse."]
17. When the higher officers are angry and insubordinate, and on meeting the ene
my give battle on their own account from a feeling of resentment, before the com
mander-in-chief can tell whether or no he is in a position to fight, the result
is RUIN.
[Wang Hsi`s note is: "This means, the general is angry without cause, and at the
same time does not appreciate the ability of his subordinate officers; thus he
arouses fierce resentment and brings an avalanche of ruin upon his head."]
18. When the general is weak and without authority; when his orders are not clea
r and distinct;
[Wei Liao Tzu (ch. 4) says: "If the commander gives his orders with decision, th
e soldiers will not wait to hear them twice; if his moves are made without vacil
lation, the soldiers will not be in two minds about doing their duty." General B
aden- Powell says, italicizing the words: "The secret of getting successful work
out of your trained men lies in one nutshell--in the clearness of the instructi
ons they receive." [3] Cf. also Wu Tzu ch. 3: "the most fatal defect in a milita
ry leader is difference; the worst calamities that befall an army arise from hes
itation."]
when there are no fixes duties assigned to officers and men,
[Tu Mu says: "Neither officers nor men have any regular routine."]
and the ranks are formed in a slovenly haphazard manner, the result is utter DIS
ORGANIZATION. 19. When a general, unable to estimate the enemy's strength, allow
s an inferior force to engage a larger one, or hurls a weak detachment against a
powerful one, and neglects to place picked soldiers in the front rank, the resu
lt must be ROUT.
[Chang Yu paraphrases the latter part of the sentence and continues: "Whenever t
here is fighting to be done, the keenest spirits should be appointed to serve in
the front ranks, both in order to strengthen the resolution of our own men and
to demoralize the enemy." Cf. the primi ordines of Caesar ("De Bello Gallico," V
. 28, 44, et al.).]
20. These are six ways of courting defeat, which must be carefully noted by the
general who has attained a responsible post.
[See supra, ss. 13.]
21. The natural formation of the country is the soldier's best ally;
[Ch`en Hao says: "The advantages of weather and season are not equal to those co
nnected with ground."]
but a power of estimating the adversary, of controlling the forces of victory, a
nd of shrewdly calculating difficulties, dangers and distances, constitutes the
test of a great general. 22. He who knows these things, and in fighting puts his
knowledge into practice, will win his battles. He who knows them not, nor pract
ices them, will surely be defeated. 23. If fighting is sure to result in victory
, then you must fight, even though the ruler forbid it; if fighting will not res
ult in victory, then you must not fight even at the ruler's bidding.
[Cf. VIII. ss. 3 fin. Huang Shih-kung of the Ch`in dynasty, who is said to have
been the patron of Chang Liang and to have written the SAN LUEH, has these words
attributed to him: "The responsibility of setting an army in motion must devolv
e on the general alone; if advance and retreat are controlled from the Palace, b
rilliant results will hardly be achieved. Hence the god-like ruler and the enlig
htened monarch are content to play a humble part in furthering their country's c
ause [lit., kneel down to push the chariot wheel]." This means that "in matters
lying outside the zenana, the decision of the military commander must be absolut
e." Chang Yu also quote the saying: "Decrees from the Son of Heaven do not penet
rate the walls of a camp."] 24. The general who advances without coveting fame a
nd retreats without fearing disgrace,
[It was Wellington, I think, who said that the hardest thing of all for a soldie
r is to retreat.]
whose only thought is to protect his country and do good service for his soverei
gn, is the jewel of the kingdom.
[A noble presentiment, in few words, of the Chinese "happy warrior." Such a man,
says Ho Shih, "even if he had to suffer punishment, would not regret his conduc
t."]
25. Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the dee
pest valleys; look upon them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by yo
u even unto death.
[Cf. I. ss. 6. In this connection, Tu Mu draws for us an engaging picture of the
famous general Wu Ch`i, from whose treatise on war I have frequently had occasi
on to quote: "He wore the same clothes and ate the same food as the meanest of h
is soldiers, refused to have either a horse to ride or a mat to sleep on, carrie
d his own surplus rations wrapped in a parcel, and shared every hardship with hi
s men. One of his soldiers was suffering from an abscess, and Wu Ch`i himself su
cked out the virus. The soldier's mother, hearing this, began wailing and lament
ing. Somebody asked her, saying: 'Why do you cry? Your son is only a common sold
ier, and yet the commander-in-chief himself has sucked the poison from his sore.
' The woman replied, 'Many years ago, Lord Wu performed a similar service for my
husband, who never left him afterwards, and finally met his death at the hands
of the enemy. And now that he has done the same for my son, he too will fall fig
hting I know not where.'" Li Ch`uan mentions the Viscount of Ch`u, who invaded t
he small state of Hsiao during the winter. The Duke of Shen said to him: "Many o
f the soldiers are suffering severely from the cold." So he made a round of the
whole army, comforting and encouraging the men; and straightway they felt as if
they were clothed in garments lined with floss silk.]
26. If, however, you are indulgent, but unable to make your authority felt; kind
-hearted, but unable to enforce your commands; and incapable, moreover, of quell
ing disorder: then your soldiers must be likened to spoilt children; they are us
eless for any practical purpose.
[Li Ching once said that if you could make your soldiers afraid of you, they wou
ld not be afraid of the enemy. Tu Mu recalls an instance of stern military disci
pline which occurred in 219 A.D., when Lu Meng was occupying the town of Chiang-
ling. He had given stringent orders to his army not to molest the inhabitants no
r take anything from them by force. Nevertheless, a certain officer serving unde
r his banner, who happened to be a fellow-townsman, ventured to appropriate a ba
mboo hat belonging to one of the people, in order to wear it over his regulation
helmet as a protection against the rain. Lu Meng considered that the fact of hi
s being also a native of Ju-nan should not be allowed to palliate a clear breach
of discipline, and accordingly he ordered his summary execution, the tears roll
ing down his face, however, as he did so. This act of severity filled the army w
ith wholesome awe, and from that time forth even articles dropped in the highway
were not picked up.]
27. If we know that our own men are in a condition to attack, but are unaware th
at the enemy is not open to attack, we have gone only halfway towards victory.
[That is, Ts`ao Kung says, "the issue in this case is uncertain."]
28. If we know that the enemy is open to attack, but are unaware that our own me
n are not in a condition to attack, we have gone only halfway towards victory.
[Cf. III. ss. 13 (1).]
29. If we know that the enemy is open to attack, and also know that our men are
in a condition to attack, but are unaware that the nature of the ground makes fi
ghting impracticable, we have still gone only halfway towards victory. 30. Hence
the experienced soldier, once in motion, is never bewildered; once he has broke
n camp, he is never at a loss.
[The reason being, according to Tu Mu, that he has taken his measures so thoroug
hly as to ensure victory beforehand. "He does not move recklessly," says Chang Y
u, "so that when he does move, he makes no mistakes."]
31. Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and know yourself, your victory will
not stand in doubt; if you know Heaven and know Earth, you may make your victor
y complete.
[Li Ch`uan sums up as follows: "Given a knowledge of three things--the affairs o
f men, the seasons of heaven and the natural advantages of earth--, victory will
invariably crown your battles."]
[1] See "Pensees de Napoleon 1er," no. 47.
[2] "The Science of War," chap. 2.
[3] "Aids to Scouting," p. xii.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
XI. THE NINE SITUATIONS
1. Sun Tzu said: The art of war recognizes nine varieties of ground: (1) Dispers
ive ground; (2) facile ground; (3) contentious ground; (4) open ground; (5) grou
nd of intersecting highways; (6) serious ground; (7) difficult ground; (8) hemme
d-in ground; (9) desperate ground. 2. When a chieftain is fighting in his own te
rritory, it is dispersive ground.
[So called because the soldiers, being near to their homes and anxious to see th
eir wives and children, are likely to seize the opportunity afforded by a battle
and scatter in every direction. "In their advance," observes Tu Mu, "they will
lack the valor of desperation, and when they retreat, they will find harbors of
refuge."]
3. When he has penetrated into hostile territory, but to no great distance, it i
s facile ground.
[Li Ch`uan and Ho Shih say "because of the facility for retreating," and the oth
er commentators give similar explanations. Tu Mu remarks: "When your army has cr
ossed the border, you should burn your boats and bridges, in order to make it cl
ear to everybody that you have no hankering after home."]
4. Ground the possession of which imports great advantage to either side, is con
tentious ground.
[Tu Mu defines the ground as ground "to be contended for." Ts`ao Kung says: "gro
und on which the few and the weak can defeat the many and the strong," such as "
the neck of a pass," instanced by Li Ch`uan. Thus, Thermopylae was of this class
ification because the possession of it, even for a few days only, meant holding
the entire invading army in check and thus gaining invaluable time. Cf. Wu Tzu,
ch. V. ad init.: "For those who have to fight in the ratio of one to ten, there
is nothing better than a narrow pass." When Lu Kuang was returning from his triu
mphant expedition to Turkestan in 385 A.D., and had got as far as I-ho, laden wi
th spoils, Liang Hsi, administrator of Liang-chou, taking advantage of the death
of Fu Chien, King of Ch`in, plotted against him and was for barring his way int
o the province. Yang Han, governor of Kao-ch`ang, counseled him, saying: "Lu Kua
ng is fresh from his victories in the west, and his soldiers are vigorous and me
ttlesome. If we oppose him in the shifting sands of the desert, we shall be no m
atch for him, and we must therefore try a different plan. Let us hasten to occup
y the defile at the mouth of the Kao-wu pass, thus cutting him off from supplies
of water, and when his troops are prostrated with thirst, we can dictate our ow
n terms without moving. Or if you think that the pass I mention is too far off,
we could make a stand against him at the I-wu pass, which is nearer. The cunning
and resource of Tzu-fang himself would be expended in vain against the enormous
strength of these two positions." Liang Hsi, refusing to act on this advice, wa
s overwhelmed and swept away by the invader.]
5. Ground on which each side has liberty of movement is open ground.
[There are various interpretations of the Chinese adjective for this type of gro
und. Ts`ao Kung says it means "ground covered with a network of roads," like a c
hessboard. Ho Shih suggested: "ground on which intercommunication is easy."]
6. Ground which forms the key to three contiguous states,
[Ts`au Kung defines this as: "Our country adjoining the enemy's and a third coun
try conterminous with both." Meng Shih instances the small principality of Cheng
, which was bounded on the north-east by Ch`i, on the west by Chin, and on the s
outh by Ch`u.]
so that he who occupies it first has most of the Empire at his command,
[The belligerent who holds this dominating position can constrain most of them t
o become his allies.]
is a ground of intersecting highways. 7. When an army has penetrated into the he
art of a hostile country, leaving a number of fortified cities in its rear, it i
s serious ground.
[Wang Hsi explains the name by saying that "when an army has reached such a poin
t, its situation is serious."]
8. Mountain forests,
[Or simply "forests."]
rugged steeps, marshes and fens--all country that is hard to traverse: this is d
ifficult ground. 9. Ground which is reached through narrow gorges, and from whic
h we can only retire by tortuous paths, so that a small number of the enemy woul
d suffice to crush a large body of our men: this is hemmed in ground. 10. Ground
on which we can only be saved from destruction by fighting without delay, is de
sperate ground.
[The situation, as pictured by Ts`ao Kung, is very similar to the "hemmed-in gro
und" except that here escape is no longer possible: "A lofty mountain in front,
a large river behind, advance impossible, retreat blocked." Ch`en Hao says: "to
be on 'desperate ground' is like sitting in a leaking boat or crouching in a bur
ning house." Tu Mu quotes from Li Ching a vivid description of the plight of an
army thus entrapped: "Suppose an army invading hostile territory without the aid
of local guides: -- it falls into a fatal snare and is at the enemy's mercy. A
ravine on the left, a mountain on the right, a pathway so perilous that the hors
es have to be roped together and the chariots carried in slings, no passage open
in front, retreat cut off behind, no choice but to proceed in single file. Then
, before there is time to range our soldiers in order of battle, the enemy is ov
erwhelming strength suddenly appears on the scene. Advancing, we can nowhere tak
e a breathing-space; retreating, we have no haven of refuge. We seek a pitched b
attle, but in vain; yet standing on the defensive, none of us has a moment's res
pite. If we simply maintain our ground, whole days and months will crawl by; the
moment we make a move, we have to sustain the enemy's attacks on front and rear
. The country is wild, destitute of water and plants; the army is lacking in the
necessaries of life, the horses are jaded and the men worn-out, all the resourc
es of strength and skill unavailing, the pass so narrow that a single man defend
ing it can check the onset of ten thousand; all means of offense in the hands of
the enemy, all points of vantage already forfeited by ourselves:--in this terri
ble plight, even though we had the most valiant soldiers and the keenest of weap
ons, how could they be employed with the slightest effect?" Students of Greek hi
story may be reminded of the awful close to the Sicilian expedition, and the ago
ny of the Athenians under Nicias and Demonsthenes. [See Thucydides, VII. 78 sqq.
].]
11. On dispersive ground, therefore, fight not. On facile ground, halt not. On c
ontentious ground, attack not.
[But rather let all your energies be bent on occupying the advantageous position
first. So Ts`ao Kung. Li Ch`uan and others, however, suppose the meaning to be
that the enemy has already forestalled us, sot that it would be sheer madness to
attack. In the SUN TZU HSU LU, when the King of Wu inquires what should be done
in this case, Sun Tzu replies: "The rule with regard to contentious ground is t
hat those in possession have the advantage over the other side. If a position of
this kind is secured first by the enemy, beware of attacking him. Lure him away
by pretending to flee--show your banners and sound your drums--make a dash for
other places that he cannot afford to lose--trail brushwood and raise a dust--co
nfound his ears and eyes--detach a body of your best troops, and place it secret
ly in ambuscade. Then your opponent will sally forth to the rescue."]
12. On open ground, do not try to block the enemy's way.
[Because the attempt would be futile, and would expose the blocking force itself
to serious risks. There are two interpretations available here. I follow that o
f Chang Yu. The other is indicated in Ts`ao Kung's brief note: "Draw closer toge
ther"--i.e., see that a portion of your own army is not cut off.]
On the ground of intersecting highways, join hands with your allies.
[Or perhaps, "form alliances with neighboring states."]
13. On serious ground, gather in plunder.
[On this, Li Ch`uan has the following delicious note: "When an army penetrates f
ar into the enemy's country, care must be taken not to alienate the people by un
just treatment. Follow the example of the Han Emperor Kao Tsu, whose march into
Ch`in territory was marked by no violation of women or looting of valuables. [No
ta bene: this was in 207 B.C., and may well cause us to blush for the Christian
armies that entered Peking in 1900 A.D.] Thus he won the hearts of all. In the p
resent passage, then, I think that the true reading must be, not 'plunder,' but
'do not plunder.'" Alas, I fear that in this instance the worthy commentator's f
eelings outran his judgment. Tu Mu, at least, has no such illusions. He says: "W
hen encamped on 'serious ground,' there being no inducement as yet to advance fu
rther, and no possibility of retreat, one ought to take measures for a protracte
d resistance by bringing in provisions from all sides, and keep a close watch on
the enemy."]
In difficult ground, keep steadily on the march.
[Or, in the words of VIII. ss. 2, "do not encamp.]
14. On hemmed-in ground, resort to stratagem.
[Ts`au Kung says: "Try the effect of some unusual artifice;" and Tu Yu amplifies
this by saying: "In such a position, some scheme must be devised which will sui
t the circumstances, and if we can succeed in deluding the enemy, the peril may
be escaped." This is exactly what happened on the famous occasion when Hannibal
was hemmed in among the mountains on the road to Casilinum, and to all appearanc
es entrapped by the dictator Fabius. The stratagem which Hannibal devised to baf
fle his foes was remarkably like that which T`ien Tan had also employed with suc
cess exactly 62 years before. [See IX. ss. 24, note.] When night came on, bundle
s of twigs were fastened to the horns of some 2000 oxen and set on fire, the ter
rified animals being then quickly driven along the mountain side towards the pas
ses which were beset by the enemy. The strange spectacle of these rapidly moving
lights so alarmed and discomfited the Romans that they withdrew from their posi
tion, and Hannibal's army passed safely through the defile. [See Polybius, III.
93, 94; Livy, XXII. 16 17.]
On desperate ground, fight.
[For, as Chia Lin remarks: "if you fight with all your might, there is a chance
of life; where as death is certain if you cling to your corner."]
15. Those who were called skillful leaders of old knew how to drive a wedge betw
een the enemy's front and rear;
[More literally, "cause the front and rear to lose touch with each other."]
to prevent co-operation between his large and small divisions; to hinder the goo
d troops from rescuing the bad, the officers from rallying their men. 16. When t
he enemy's men were united, they managed to keep them in disorder. 17. When it w
as to their advantage, they made a forward move; when otherwise, they stopped st
ill.
[Mei Yao-ch`en connects this with the foregoing: "Having succeeded in thus dislo
cating the enemy, they would push forward in order to secure any advantage to be
gained; if there was no advantage to be gained, they would remain where they we
re."]
18. If asked how to cope with a great host of the enemy in orderly array and on
the point of marching to the attack, I should say: "Begin by seizing something w
hich your opponent holds dear; then he will be amenable to your will."
[Opinions differ as to what Sun Tzu had in mind. Ts`ao Kung thinks it is "some s
trategical advantage on which the enemy is depending." Tu Mu says: "The three th
ings which an enemy is anxious to do, and on the accomplishment of which his suc
cess depends, are: (1) to capture our favorable positions; (2) to ravage our cul
tivated land; (3) to guard his own communications." Our object then must be to t
hwart his plans in these three directions and thus render him helpless. [Cf. III
. ss. 3.] By boldly seizing the initiative in this way, you at once throw the ot
her side on the defensive.]
19. Rapidity is the essence of war:
[According to Tu Mu, "this is a summary of leading principles in warfare," and h
e adds: "These are the profoundest truths of military science, and the chief bus
iness of the general." The following anecdotes, told by Ho Shih, shows the impor
tance attached to speed by two of China's greatest generals. In 227 A.D., Meng T
a, governor of Hsin-ch`eng under the Wei Emperor Wen Ti, was meditating defectio
n to the House of Shu, and had entered into correspondence with Chu-ko Liang, Pr
ime Minister of that State. The Wei general Ssu-ma I was then military governor
of Wan, and getting wind of Meng Ta's treachery, he at once set off with an army
to anticipate his revolt, having previously cajoled him by a specious message o
f friendly import. Ssu-ma's officers came to him and said: "If Meng Ta has leagu
ed himself with Wu and Shu, the matter should be thoroughly investigated before
we make a move." Ssu-ma I replied: "Meng Ta is an unprincipled man, and we ought
to go and punish him at once, while he is still wavering and before he has thro
wn off the mask." Then, by a series of forced marches, be brought his army under
the walls of Hsin-ch`eng with in a space of eight days. Now Meng Ta had previou
sly said in a letter to Chu-ko Liang: "Wan is 1200 LI from here. When the news o
f my revolt reaches Ssu-ma I, he will at once inform his imperial master, but it
will be a whole month before any steps can be taken, and by that time my city w
ill be well fortified. Besides, Ssu-ma I is sure not to come himself, and the ge
nerals that will be sent against us are not worth troubling about." The next let
ter, however, was filled with consternation: "Though only eight days have passed
since I threw off my allegiance, an army is already at the city-gates. What mir
aculous rapidity is this!" A fortnight later, Hsin- ch`eng had fallen and Meng T
a had lost his head. [See CHIN SHU, ch. 1, f. 3.] In 621 A.D., Li Ching was sent
from K`uei-chou in Ssu-ch`uan to reduce the successful rebel Hsiao Hsien, who h
ad set up as Emperor at the modern Ching-chou Fu in Hupeh. It was autumn, and th
e Yangtsze being then in flood, Hsiao Hsien never dreamt that his adversary woul
d venture to come down through the gorges, and consequently made no preparations
. But Li Ching embarked his army without loss of time, and was just about to sta
rt when the other generals implored him to postpone his departure until the rive
r was in a less dangerous state for navigation. Li Ching replied: "To the soldie
r, overwhelming speed is of paramount importance, and he must never miss opportu
nities. Now is the time to strike, before Hsiao Hsien even knows that we have go
t an army together. If we seize the present moment when the river is in flood, w
e shall appear before his capital with startling suddenness, like the thunder wh
ich is heard before you have time to stop your ears against it. [See VII. ss. 19
, note.] This is the great principle in war. Even if he gets to know of our appr
oach, he will have to levy his soldiers in such a hurry that they will not be fi
t to oppose us. Thus the full fruits of victory will be ours." All came about as
he predicted, and Hsiao Hsien was obliged to surrender, nobly stipulating that
his people should be spared and he alone suffer the penalty of death.]
take advantage of the enemy's unreadiness, make your way by unexpected routes, a
nd attack unguarded spots. 20. The following are the principles to be observed b
y an invading force: The further you penetrate into a country, the greater will
be the solidarity of your troops, and thus the defenders will not prevail agains
t you. 21. Make forays in fertile country in order to supply your army with food
.
[Cf. supra, ss. 13. Li Ch`uan does not venture on a note here.]
22. Carefully study the well-being of your men,
[For "well-being", Wang Hsi means, "Pet them, humor them, give them plenty of fo
od and drink, and look after them generally."]
and do not overtax them. Concentrate your energy and hoard your strength.
[Ch`en recalls the line of action adopted in 224 B.C. by the famous general Wang
Chien, whose military genius largely contributed to the success of the First Em
peror. He had invaded the Ch`u State, where a universal levy was made to oppose
him. But, being doubtful of the temper of his troops, he declined all invitation
s to fight and remained strictly on the defensive. In vain did the Ch`u general
try to force a battle: day after day Wang Chien kept inside his walls and would
not come out, but devoted his whole time and energy to winning the affection and
confidence of his men. He took care that they should be well fed, sharing his o
wn meals with them, provided facilities for bathing, and employed every method o
f judicious indulgence to weld them into a loyal and homogenous body. After some
time had elapsed, he told off certain persons to find out how the men were amus
ing themselves. The answer was, that they were contending with one another in pu
tting the weight and long-jumping. When Wang Chien heard that they were engaged
in these athletic pursuits, he knew that their spirits had been strung up to the
required pitch and that they were now ready for fighting. By this time the Ch`u
army, after repeating their challenge again and again, had marched away eastwar
ds in disgust. The Ch`in general immediately broke up his camp and followed them
, and in the battle that ensued they were routed with great slaughter. Shortly a
fterwards, the whole of Ch`u was conquered by Ch`in, and the king Fu-ch`u led in
to captivity.]
Keep your army continually on the move,
[In order that the enemy may never know exactly where you are. It has struck me,
however, that the true reading might be "link your army together."]
and devise unfathomable plans. 23. Throw your soldiers into positions whence the
re is no escape, and they will prefer death to flight. If they will face death,
there is nothing they may not achieve.
[Chang Yu quotes his favorite Wei Liao Tzu (ch. 3): "If one man were to run amok
with a sword in the market-place, and everybody else tried to get our of his wa
y, I should not allow that this man alone had courage and that all the rest were
contemptible cowards. The truth is, that a desperado and a man who sets some va
lue on his life do not meet on even terms."]
Officers and men alike will put forth their uttermost strength.
[Chang Yu says: "If they are in an awkward place together, they will surely exer
t their united strength to get out of it."]
24. Soldiers when in desperate straits lose the sense of fear. If there is no pl
ace of refuge, they will stand firm. If they are in hostile country, they will s
how a stubborn front. If there is no help for it, they will fight hard. 25. Thus
, without waiting to be marshaled, the soldiers will be constantly on the qui vi
ve; without waiting to be asked, they will do your will;
[Literally, "without asking, you will get."]
without restrictions, they will be faithful; without giving orders, they can be
trusted. 26. Prohibit the taking of omens, and do away with superstitious doubts
. Then, until death itself comes, no calamity need be feared.
[The superstitious, "bound in to saucy doubts and fears," degenerate into coward
s and "die many times before their deaths." Tu Mu quotes Huang Shih-kung: "'Spel
ls and incantations should be strictly forbidden, and no officer allowed to inqu
ire by divination into the fortunes of an army, for fear the soldiers' minds sho
uld be seriously perturbed.' The meaning is," he continues, "that if all doubts
and scruples are discarded, your men will never falter in their resolution until
they die."]
27. If our soldiers are not overburdened with money, it is not because they have
a distaste for riches; if their lives are not unduly long, it is not because th
ey are disinclined to longevity.
[Chang Yu has the best note on this passage: "Wealth and long life are things fo
r which all men have a natural inclination. Hence, if they burn or fling away va
luables, and sacrifice their own lives, it is not that they dislike them, but si
mply that they have no choice." Sun Tzu is slyly insinuating that, as soldiers a
re but human, it is for the general to see that temptations to shirk fighting an
d grow rich are not thrown in their way.]
28. On the day they are ordered out to battle, your soldiers may weep,
[The word in the Chinese is "snivel." This is taken to indicate more genuine gri
ef than tears alone.]
those sitting up bedewing their garments, and those lying down letting the tears
run down their cheeks.
[Not because they are afraid, but because, as Ts`ao Kung says, "all have embrace
d the firm resolution to do or die." We may remember that the heroes of the Ilia
d were equally childlike in showing their emotion. Chang Yu alludes to the mourn
ful parting at the I River between Ching K`o and his friends, when the former wa
s sent to attempt the life of the King of Ch`in (afterwards First Emperor) in 22
7 B.C. The tears of all flowed down like rain as he bade them farewell and utter
ed the following lines: "The shrill blast is blowing, Chilly the burn; Your cham
pion is going--Not to return." [1] ]
But let them once be brought to bay, and they will display the courage of a Chu
or a Kuei.
[Chu was the personal name of Chuan Chu, a native of the Wu State and contempora
ry with Sun Tzu himself, who was employed by Kung-tzu Kuang, better known as Ho
Lu Wang, to assassinate his sovereign Wang Liao with a dagger which he secreted
in the belly of a fish served up at a banquet. He succeeded in his attempt, but
was immediately hacked to pieced by the king's bodyguard. This was in 515 B.C. T
he other hero referred to, Ts`ao Kuei (or Ts`ao Mo), performed the exploit which
has made his name famous 166 years earlier, in 681 B.C. Lu had been thrice defe
ated by Ch`i, and was just about to conclude a treaty surrendering a large slice
of territory, when Ts`ao Kuei suddenly seized Huan Kung, the Duke of Ch`i, as h
e stood on the altar steps and held a dagger against his chest. None of the duke
's retainers dared to move a muscle, and Ts`ao Kuei proceeded to demand full res
titution, declaring the Lu was being unjustly treated because she was a smaller
and a weaker state. Huan Kung, in peril of his life, was obliged to consent, whe
reupon Ts`ao Kuei flung away his dagger and quietly resumed his place amid the t
errified assemblage without having so much as changed color. As was to be expect
ed, the Duke wanted afterwards to repudiate the bargain, but his wise old counse
lor Kuan Chung pointed out to him the impolicy of breaking his word, and the ups
hot was that this bold stroke regained for Lu the whole of what she had lost in
three pitched battles.]
29. The skillful tactician may be likened to the SHUAI-JAN. Now the SHUAI-JAN is
a snake that is found in the Ch`ang mountains.
["Shuai-jan" means "suddenly" or "rapidly," and the snake in question was doubtl
ess so called owing to the rapidity of its movements. Through this passage, the
term in the Chinese has now come to be used in the sense of "military maneuvers.
"]
Strike at its head, and you will be attacked by its tail; strike at its tail, an
d you will be attacked by its head; strike at its middle, and you will be attack
ed by head and tail both. 30. Asked if an army can be made to imitate the SHUAI-
JAN,
[That is, as Mei Yao-ch`en says, "Is it possible to make the front and rear of a
n army each swiftly responsive to attack on the other, just as though they were
part of a single living body?"]
I should answer, Yes. For the men of Wu and the men of Yueh are enemies;
[Cf. VI. ss. 21.]
yet if they are crossing a river in the same boat and are caught by a storm, the
y will come to each other's assistance just as the left hand helps the right.
[The meaning is: If two enemies will help each other in a time of common peril,
how much more should two parts of the same army, bound together as they are by e
very tie of interest and fellow-feeling. Yet it is notorious that many a campaig
n has been ruined through lack of cooperation, especially in the case of allied
armies.]
31. Hence it is not enough to put one's trust in the tethering of horses, and th
e burying of chariot wheels in the ground
[These quaint devices to prevent one's army from running away recall the Athenia
n hero Sophanes, who carried the anchor with him at the battle of Plataea, by me
ans of which he fastened himself firmly to one spot. [See Herodotus, IX. 74.] It
is not enough, says Sun Tzu, to render flight impossible by such mechanical mea
ns. You will not succeed unless your men have tenacity and unity of purpose, and
, above all, a spirit of sympathetic cooperation. This is the lesson which can b
e learned from the SHUAI-JAN.]
32. The principle on which to manage an army is to set up one standard of courag
e which all must reach.
[Literally, "level the courage [of all] as though [it were that of] one." If the
ideal army is to form a single organic whole, then it follows that the resoluti
on and spirit of its component parts must be of the same quality, or at any rate
must not fall below a certain standard. Wellington's seemingly ungrateful descr
iption of his army at Waterloo as "the worst he had ever commanded" meant no mor
e than that it was deficient in this important particular--unity of spirit and c
ourage. Had he not foreseen the Belgian defections and carefully kept those troo
ps in the background, he would almost certainly have lost the day.]
33. How to make the best of both strong and weak--that is a question involving t
he proper use of ground.
[Mei Yao-ch`en's paraphrase is: "The way to eliminate the differences of strong
and weak and to make both serviceable is to utilize accidental features of the g
round." Less reliable troops, if posted in strong positions, will hold out as lo
ng as better troops on more exposed terrain. The advantage of position neutraliz
es the inferiority in stamina and courage. Col. Henderson says: "With all respec
t to the text books, and to the ordinary tactical teaching, I am inclined to thi
nk that the study of ground is often overlooked, and that by no means sufficient
importance is attached to the selection of positions... and to the immense adva
ntages that are to be derived, whether you are defending or attacking, from the
proper utilization of natural features." [2] ]
34. Thus the skillful general conducts his army just as though he were leading a
single man, willy-nilly, by the hand.
[Tu Mu says: "The simile has reference to the ease with which he does it."]
35. It is the business of a general to be quiet and thus ensure secrecy; upright
and just, and thus maintain order. 36. He must be able to mystify his officers
and men by false reports and appearances,
[Literally, "to deceive their eyes and ears."]
and thus keep them in total ignorance.
[Ts`ao Kung gives us one of his excellent apophthegms: "The troops must not be a
llowed to share your schemes in the beginning; they may only rejoice with you ov
er their happy outcome." "To mystify, mislead, and surprise the enemy," is one o
f the first principles in war, as had been frequently pointed out. But how about
the other process--the mystification of one's own men? Those who may think that
Sun Tzu is over-emphatic on this point would do well to read Col. Henderson's r
emarks on Stonewall Jackson's Valley campaign: "The infinite pains," he says, "w
ith which Jackson sought to conceal, even from his most trusted staff officers,
his movements, his intentions, and his thoughts, a commander less thorough would
have pronounced useless"--etc. etc. [3] In the year 88 A.D., as we read in ch.
47 of the HOU HAN SHU, "Pan Ch`ao took the field with 25,000 men from Khotan and
other Central Asian states with the object of crushing Yarkand. The King of Kut
cha replied by dispatching his chief commander to succor the place with an army
drawn from the kingdoms of Wen-su, Ku-mo, and Wei-t`ou, totaling 50,000 men. Pan
Ch`ao summoned his officers and also the King of Khotan to a council of war, an
d said: 'Our forces are now outnumbered and unable to make head against the enem
y. The best plan, then, is for us to separate and disperse, each in a different
direction. The King of Khotan will march away by the easterly route, and I will
then return myself towards the west. Let us wait until the evening drum has soun
ded and then start.' Pan Ch`ao now secretly released the prisoners whom he had t
aken alive, and the King of Kutcha was thus informed of his plans. Much elated b
y the news, the latter set off at once at the head of 10,000 horsemen to bar Pan
Ch`ao's retreat in the west, while the King of Wen-su rode eastward with 8000 h
orse in order to intercept the King of Khotan. As soon as Pan Ch`ao knew that th
e two chieftains had gone, he called his divisions together, got them well in ha
nd, and at cock-crow hurled them against the army of Yarkand, as it lay encamped
. The barbarians, panic-stricken, fled in confusion, and were closely pursued by
Pan Ch`ao. Over 5000 heads were brought back as trophies, besides immense spoil
s in the shape of horses and cattle and valuables of every description. Yarkand
then capitulating, Kutcha and the other kingdoms drew off their respective force
s. From that time forward, Pan Ch`ao's prestige completely overawed the countrie
s of the west." In this case, we see that the Chinese general not only kept his
own officers in ignorance of his real plans, but actually took the bold step of
dividing his army in order to deceive the enemy.]
37. By altering his arrangements and changing his plans,
[Wang Hsi thinks that this means not using the same stratagem twice.]
he keeps the enemy without definite knowledge.
[Chang Yu, in a quotation from another work, says: "The axiom, that war is based
on deception, does not apply only to deception of the enemy. You must deceive e
ven your own soldiers. Make them follow you, but without letting them know why."
]
By shifting his camp and taking circuitous routes, he prevents the enemy from an
ticipating his purpose. 38. At the critical moment, the leader of an army acts l
ike one who has climbed up a height and then kicks away the ladder behind him. H
e carries his men deep into hostile territory before he shows his hand.
[Literally, "releases the spring" (see V. ss. 15), that is, takes some decisive
step which makes it impossible for the army to return--like Hsiang Yu, who sunk
his ships after crossing a river. Ch`en Hao, followed by Chia Lin, understands t
he words less well as "puts forth every artifice at his command."]
39. He burns his boats and breaks his cooking-pots; like a shepherd driving a fl
ock of sheep, he drives his men this way and that, and nothing knows whither he
is going.
[Tu Mu says: "The army is only cognizant of orders to advance or retreat; it is
ignorant of the ulterior ends of attacking and conquering."]
40. To muster his host and bring it into danger:--this may be termed the busines
s of the general.
[Sun Tzu means that after mobilization there should be no delay in aiming a blow
at the enemy's heart. Note how he returns again and again to this point. Among
the warring states of ancient China, desertion was no doubt a much more present
fear and serious evil than it is in the armies of today.]
41. The different measures suited to the nine varieties of ground;
[Chang Yu says: "One must not be hide-bound in interpreting the rules for the ni
ne varieties of ground.]
the expediency of aggressive or defensive tactics; and the fundamental laws of h
uman nature: these are things that must most certainly be studied. 42. When inva
ding hostile territory, the general principle is, that penetrating deeply brings
cohesion; penetrating but a short way means dispersion.
[Cf. supra, ss. 20.]
43. When you leave your own country behind, and take your army across neighborho
od territory, you find yourself on critical ground.
[This "ground" is curiously mentioned in VIII. ss. 2, but it does not figure amo
ng the Nine Situations or the Six Calamities in chap. X. One's first impulse wou
ld be to translate it distant ground," but this, if we can trust the commentator
s, is precisely what is not meant here. Mei Yao-ch`en says it is "a position not
far enough advanced to be called 'facile,' and not near enough to home to be 'd
ispersive,' but something between the two." Wang Hsi says: "It is ground separat
ed from home by an interjacent state, whose territory we have had to cross in or
der to reach it. Hence, it is incumbent on us to settle our business there quick
ly." He adds that this position is of rare occurrence, which is the reason why i
t is not included among the Nine Situations.]
When there are means of communication on all four sides, the ground is one of in
tersecting highways. 44. When you penetrate deeply into a country, it is serious
ground. When you penetrate but a little way, it is facile ground. 45. When you
have the enemy's strongholds on your rear, and narrow passes in front, it is hem
med-in ground. When there is no place of refuge at all, it is desperate ground.
46. Therefore, on dispersive ground, I would inspire my men with unity of purpos
e.
[This end, according to Tu Mu, is best attained by remaining on the defensive, a
nd avoiding battle. Cf. supra, ss. 11.]
On facile ground, I would see that there is close connection between all parts o
f my army.
[As Tu Mu says, the object is to guard against two possible contingencies: "(1)
the desertion of our own troops; (2) a sudden attack on the part of the enemy."
Cf. VII. ss. 17. Mei Yao-ch`en says: "On the march, the regiments should be in c
lose touch; in an encampment, there should be continuity between the fortificati
ons."]
47. On contentious ground, I would hurry up my rear.
[This is Ts`ao Kung's interpretation. Chang Yu adopts it, saying: "We must quick
ly bring up our rear, so that head and tail may both reach the goal." That is, t
hey must not be allowed to straggle up a long way apart. Mei Yao-ch`en offers an
other equally plausible explanation: "Supposing the enemy has not yet reached th
e coveted position, and we are behind him, we should advance with all speed in o
rder to dispute its possession." Ch`en Hao, on the other hand, assuming that the
enemy has had time to select his own ground, quotes VI. ss. 1, where Sun Tzu wa
rns us against coming exhausted to the attack. His own idea of the situation is
rather vaguely expressed: "If there is a favorable position lying in front of yo
u, detach a picked body of troops to occupy it, then if the enemy, relying on th
eir numbers, come up to make a fight for it, you may fall quickly on their rear
with your main body, and victory will be assured." It was thus, he adds, that Ch
ao She beat the army of Ch`in. (See p. 57.)]
48. On open ground, I would keep a vigilant eye on my defenses. On ground of int
ersecting highways, I would consolidate my alliances. 49. On serious ground, I w
ould try to ensure a continuous stream of supplies.
[The commentators take this as referring to forage and plunder, not, as one migh
t expect, to an unbroken communication with a home base.]
On difficult ground, I would keep pushing on along the road. 50. On hemmed-in gr
ound, I would block any way of retreat.
[Meng Shih says: "To make it seem that I meant to defend the position, whereas m
y real intention is to burst suddenly through the enemy's lines." Mei Yao-ch`en
says: "in order to make my soldiers fight with desperation." Wang Hsi says, "fea
ring lest my men be tempted to run away." Tu Mu points out that this is the conv
erse of VII. ss. 36, where it is the enemy who is surrounded. In 532 A.D., Kao H
uan, afterwards Emperor and canonized as Shen-wu, was surrounded by a great army
under Erh- chu Chao and others. His own force was comparatively small, consisti
ng only of 2000 horse and something under 30,000 foot. The lines of investment h
ad not been drawn very closely together, gaps being left at certain points. But
Kao Huan, instead of trying to escape, actually made a shift to block all the re
maining outlets himself by driving into them a number of oxen and donkeys roped
together. As soon as his officers and men saw that there was nothing for it but
to conquer or die, their spirits rose to an extraordinary pitch of exaltation, a
nd they charged with such desperate ferocity that the opposing ranks broke and c
rumbled under their onslaught.]
On desperate ground, I would proclaim to my soldiers the hopelessness of saving
their lives.
Tu Yu says: "Burn your baggage and impedimenta, throw away your stores and provi
sions, choke up the wells, destroy your cooking-stoves, and make it plain to you
r men that they cannot survive, but must fight to the death." Mei Yao-ch`en says
: "The only chance of life lies in giving up all hope of it." This concludes wha
t Sun Tzu has to say about "grounds" and the "variations" corresponding to them.
Reviewing the passages which bear on this important subject, we cannot fail to
be struck by the desultory and unmethodical fashion in which it is treated. Sun
Tzu begins abruptly in VIII. ss. 2 to enumerate "variations" before touching on
"grounds" at all, but only mentions five, namely nos. 7, 5, 8 and 9 of the subse
quent list, and one that is not included in it. A few varieties of ground are de
alt with in the earlier portion of chap. IX, and then chap. X sets forth six new
grounds, with six variations of plan to match. None of these is mentioned again
, though the first is hardly to be distinguished from ground no. 4 in the next c
hapter. At last, in chap. XI, we come to the Nine Grounds par excellence, immedi
ately followed by the variations. This takes us down to ss. 14. In SS. 43-45, fr
esh definitions are provided for nos. 5, 6, 2, 8 and 9 (in the order given), as
well as for the tenth ground noticed in chap. VIII; and finally, the nine variat
ions are enumerated once more from beginning to end, all, with the exception of
5, 6 and 7, being different from those previously given. Though it is impossible
to account for the present state of Sun Tzu's text, a few suggestive facts mayb
e brought into prominence: (1) Chap. VIII, according to the title, should deal w
ith nine variations, whereas only five appear. (2) It is an abnormally short cha
pter. (3) Chap. XI is entitled The Nine Grounds. Several of these are defined tw
ice over, besides which there are two distinct lists of the corresponding variat
ions. (4) The length of the chapter is disproportionate, being double that of an
y other except IX. I do not propose to draw any inferences from these facts, bey
ond the general conclusion that Sun Tzu's work cannot have come down to us in th
e shape in which it left his hands: chap. VIII is obviously defective and probab
ly out of place, while XI seems to contain matter that has either been added by
a later hand or ought to appear elsewhere.]
51. For it is the soldier's disposition to offer an obstinate resistance when su
rrounded, to fight hard when he cannot help himself, and to obey promptly when h
e has fallen into danger.
[Chang Yu alludes to the conduct of Pan Ch`ao's devoted followers in 73 A.D. The
story runs thus in the HOU HAN SHU, ch. 47: "When Pan Ch`ao arrived at Shan-sha
n, Kuang, the King of the country, received him at first with great politeness a
nd respect; but shortly afterwards his behavior underwent a sudden change, and h
e became remiss and negligent. Pan Ch`ao spoke about this to the officers of his
suite: 'Have you noticed,' he said, 'that Kuang's polite intentions are on the
wane? This must signify that envoys have come from the Northern barbarians, and
that consequently he is in a state of indecision, not knowing with which side to
throw in his lot. That surely is the reason. The truly wise man, we are told, c
an perceive things before they have come to pass; how much more, then, those tha
t are already manifest!' Thereupon he called one of the natives who had been ass
igned to his service, and set a trap for him, saying: 'Where are those envoys fr
om the Hsiung-nu who arrived some day ago?' The man was so taken aback that betw
een surprise and fear he presently blurted out the whole truth. Pan Ch`ao, keepi
ng his informant carefully under lock and key, then summoned a general gathering
of his officers, thirty-six in all, and began drinking with them. When the wine
had mounted into their heads a little, he tried to rouse their spirit still fur
ther by addressing them thus: 'Gentlemen, here we are in the heart of an isolate
d region, anxious to achieve riches and honor by some great exploit. Now it happ
ens that an ambassador from the Hsiung-no arrived in this kingdom only a few day
s ago, and the result is that the respectful courtesy extended towards us by our
royal host has disappeared. Should this envoy prevail upon him to seize our par
ty and hand us over to the Hsiung-no, our bones will become food for the wolves
of the desert. What are we to do?' With one accord, the officers replied: 'Stand
ing as we do in peril of our lives, we will follow our commander through life an
d death.' For the sequel of this adventure, see chap. XII. ss. 1, note.]
52. We cannot enter into alliance with neighboring princes until we are acquaint
ed with their designs. We are not fit to lead an army on the march unless we are
familiar with the face of the country--its mountains and forests, its pitfalls
and precipices, its marshes and swamps. We shall be unable to turn natural advan
tages to account unless we make use of local guides.
[These three sentences are repeated from VII. SS. 12-14 -- in order to emphasize
their importance, the commentators seem to think. I prefer to regard them as in
terpolated here in order to form an antecedent to the following words. With rega
rd to local guides, Sun Tzu might have added that there is always the risk of go
ing wrong, either through their treachery or some misunderstanding such as Livy
records (XXII. 13): Hannibal, we are told, ordered a guide to lead him into the
neighborhood of Casinum, where there was an important pass to be occupied; but h
is Carthaginian accent, unsuited to the pronunciation of Latin names, caused the
guide to understand Casilinum instead of Casinum, and turning from his proper r
oute, he took the army in that direction, the mistake not being discovered until
they had almost arrived.]
53. To be ignored of any one of the following four or five principles does not b
efit a warlike prince. 54. When a warlike prince attacks a powerful state, his g
eneralship shows itself in preventing the concentration of the enemy's forces. H
e overawes his opponents, and their allies are prevented from joining against hi
m.
[Mei Tao-ch`en constructs one of the chains of reasoning that are so much affect
ed by the Chinese: "In attacking a powerful state, if you can divide her forces,
you will have a superiority in strength; if you have a superiority in strength,
you will overawe the enemy; if you overawe the enemy, the neighboring states wi
ll be frightened; and if the neighboring states are frightened, the enemy's alli
es will be prevented from joining her." The following gives a stronger meaning:
"If the great state has once been defeated (before she has had time to summon he
r allies), then the lesser states will hold aloof and refrain from massing their
forces." Ch`en Hao and Chang Yu take the sentence in quite another way. The for
mer says: "Powerful though a prince may be, if he attacks a large state, he will
be unable to raise enough troops, and must rely to some extent on external aid;
if he dispenses with this, and with overweening confidence in his own strength,
simply tries to intimidate the enemy, he will surely be defeated." Chang Yu put
s his view thus: "If we recklessly attack a large state, our own people will be
discontented and hang back. But if (as will then be the case) our display of mil
itary force is inferior by half to that of the enemy, the other chieftains will
take fright and refuse to join us."]
55. Hence he does not strive to ally himself with all and sundry, nor does he fo
ster the power of other states. He carries out his own secret designs, keeping h
is antagonists in awe.
[The train of thought, as said by Li Ch`uan, appears to be this: Secure against
a combination of his enemies, "he can afford to reject entangling alliances and
simply pursue his own secret designs, his prestige enable him to dispense with e
xternal friendships."]
Thus he is able to capture their cities and overthrow their kingdoms.
[This paragraph, though written many years before the Ch`in State became a serio
us menace, is not a bad summary of the policy by which the famous Six Chancellor
s gradually paved the way for her final triumph under Shih Huang Ti. Chang Yu, f
ollowing up his previous note, thinks that Sun Tzu is condemning this attitude o
f cold-blooded selfishness and haughty isolation.]
56. Bestow rewards without regard to rule,
[Wu Tzu (ch. 3) less wisely says: "Let advance be richly rewarded and retreat be
heavily punished."]
issue orders
[Literally, "hang" or post up."]
without regard to previous arrangements;
["In order to prevent treachery," says Wang Hsi. The general meaning is made cle
ar by Ts`ao Kung's quotation from the SSU-MA FA: "Give instructions only on sigh
ting the enemy; give rewards when you see deserving deeds." Ts`ao Kung's paraphr
ase: "The final instructions you give to your army should not correspond with th
ose that have been previously posted up." Chang Yu simplifies this into "your ar
rangements should not be divulged beforehand." And Chia Lin says: "there should
be no fixity in your rules and arrangements." Not only is there danger in lettin
g your plans be known, but war often necessitates the entire reversal of them at
the last moment.]
and you will be able to handle a whole army as though you had to do with but a s
ingle man.
[Cf. supra, ss. 34.]
57. Confront your soldiers with the deed itself; never let them know your design
.
[Literally, "do not tell them words;" i.e. do not give your reasons for any orde
r. Lord Mansfield once told a junior colleague to "give no reasons" for his deci
sions, and the maxim is even more applicable to a general than to a judge.]
When the outlook is bright, bring it before their eyes; but tell them nothing wh
en the situation is gloomy. 58. Place your army in deadly peril, and it will sur
vive; plunge it into desperate straits, and it will come off in safety.
[These words of Sun Tzu were once quoted by Han Hsin in explanation of the tacti
cs he employed in one of his most brilliant battles, already alluded to on p. 28
. In 204 B.C., he was sent against the army of Chao, and halted ten miles from t
he mouth of the Ching-hsing pass, where the enemy had mustered in full force. He
re, at midnight, he detached a body of 2000 light cavalry, every man of which wa
s furnished with a red flag. Their instructions were to make their way through n
arrow defiles and keep a secret watch on the enemy. "When the men of Chao see me
in full flight," Han Hsin said, "they will abandon their fortifications and giv
e chase. This must be the sign for you to rush in, pluck down the Chao standards
and set up the red banners of Han in their stead." Turning then to his other of
ficers, he remarked: "Our adversary holds a strong position, and is not likely t
o come out and attack us until he sees the standard and drums of the commander-i
n-chief, for fear I should turn back and escape through the mountains." So sayin
g, he first of all sent out a division consisting of 10,000 men, and ordered the
m to form in line of battle with their backs to the River Ti. Seeing this maneuv
er, the whole army of Chao broke into loud laughter. By this time it was broad d
aylight, and Han Hsin, displaying the generalissimo's flag, marched out of the p
ass with drums beating, and was immediately engaged by the enemy. A great battle
followed, lasting for some time; until at length Han Hsin and his colleague Cha
ng Ni, leaving drums and banner on the field, fled to the division on the river
bank, where another fierce battle was raging. The enemy rushed out to pursue the
m and to secure the trophies, thus denuding their ramparts of men; but the two g
enerals succeeded in joining the other army, which was fighting with the utmost
desperation. The time had now come for the 2000 horsemen to play their part. As
soon as they saw the men of Chao following up their advantage, they galloped beh
ind the deserted walls, tore up the enemy's flags and replaced them by those of
Han. When the Chao army looked back from the pursuit, the sight of these red fla
gs struck them with terror. Convinced that the Hans had got in and overpowered t
heir king, they broke up in wild disorder, every effort of their leader to stay
the panic being in vain. Then the Han army fell on them from both sides and comp
leted the rout, killing a number and capturing the rest, amongst whom was King Y
a himself.... After the battle, some of Han Hsin's officers came to him and said
: "In the ART OF WAR we are told to have a hill or tumulus on the right rear, an
d a river or marsh on the left front. [This appears to be a blend of Sun Tzu and
T`ai Kung. See IX ss. 9, and note.] You, on the contrary, ordered us to draw up
our troops with the river at our back. Under these conditions, how did you mana
ge to gain the victory?" The general replied: "I fear you gentlemen have not stu
died the Art of War with sufficient care. Is it not written there: 'Plunge your
army into desperate straits and it will come off in safety; place it in deadly p
eril and it will survive'? Had I taken the usual course, I should never have bee
n able to bring my colleague round. What says the Military Classic--'Swoop down
on the market-place and drive the men off to fight.' [This passage does not occu
r in the present text of Sun Tzu.] If I had not placed my troops in a position w
here they were obliged to fight for their lives, but had allowed each man to fol
low his own discretion, there would have been a general debandade, and it would
have been impossible to do anything with them." The officers admitted the force
of his argument, and said: "These are higher tactics than we should have been ca
pable of." [See CH`IEN HAN SHU, ch. 34, ff. 4, 5.] ]
59. For it is precisely when a force has fallen into harm's way that is capable
of striking a blow for victory.
[Danger has a bracing effect.]
60. Success in warfare is gained by carefully accommodating ourselves to the ene
my's purpose.
[Ts`ao Kung says: "Feign stupidity"--by an appearance of yielding and falling in
with the enemy's wishes. Chang Yu's note makes the meaning clear: "If the enemy
shows an inclination to advance, lure him on to do so; if he is anxious to retr
eat, delay on purpose that he may carry out his intention." The object is to mak
e him remiss and contemptuous before we deliver our attack.]
61. By persistently hanging on the enemy's flank,
[I understand the first four words to mean "accompanying the enemy in one direct
ion." Ts`ao Kung says: "unite the soldiers and make for the enemy." But such a v
iolent displacement of characters is quite indefensible.]
we shall succeed in the long run
[Literally, "after a thousand LI."]
in killing the commander-in-chief.
[Always a great point with the Chinese.]
62. This is called ability to accomplish a thing by sheer cunning. 63. On the da
y that you take up your command, block the frontier passes, destroy the official
tallies,
[These were tablets of bamboo or wood, one half of which was issued as a permit
or passport by the official in charge of a gate. Cf. the "border-warden" of LUN
YU III. 24, who may have had similar duties. When this half was returned to him,
within a fixed period, he was authorized to open the gate and let the traveler
through.]
and stop the passage of all emissaries.
[Either to or from the enemy's country.]
64. Be stern in the council-chamber,
[Show no weakness, and insist on your plans being ratified by the sovereign.]
so that you may control the situation.
[Mei Yao-ch`en understands the whole sentence to mean: Take the strictest precau
tions to ensure secrecy in your deliberations.]
65. If the enemy leaves a door open, you must rush in. 66. Forestall your oppone
nt by seizing what he holds dear,
[Cf. supra, ss. 18.]
and subtly contrive to time his arrival on the ground.
[Ch`en Hao`s explanation: "If I manage to seize a favorable position, but the en
emy does not appear on the scene, the advantage thus obtained cannot be turned t
o any practical account. He who intends therefore, to occupy a position of impor
tance to the enemy, must begin by making an artful appointment, so to speak, wit
h his antagonist, and cajole him into going there as well." Mei Yao-ch`en explai
ns that this "artful appointment" is to be made through the medium of the enemy'
s own spies, who will carry back just the amount of information that we choose t
o give them. Then, having cunningly disclosed our intentions, "we must manage, t
hough starting after the enemy, to arrive before him (VII. ss. 4). We must start
after him in order to ensure his marching thither; we must arrive before him in
order to capture the place without trouble. Taken thus, the present passage len
ds some support to Mei Yao-ch`en's interpretation of ss. 47.]
67. Walk in the path defined by rule,
[Chia Lin says: "Victory is the only thing that matters, and this cannot be achi
eved by adhering to conventional canons." It is unfortunate that this variant re
sts on very slight authority, for the sense yielded is certainly much more satis
factory. Napoleon, as we know, according to the veterans of the old school whom
he defeated, won his battles by violating every accepted canon of warfare.]
and accommodate yourself to the enemy until you can fight a decisive battle.
[Tu Mu says: "Conform to the enemy's tactics until a favorable opportunity offer
s; then come forth and engage in a battle that shall prove decisive."]
68. At first, then, exhibit the coyness of a maiden, until the enemy gives you a
n opening; afterwards emulate the rapidity of a running hare, and it will be too
late for the enemy to oppose you.
[As the hare is noted for its extreme timidity, the comparison hardly appears fe
licitous. But of course Sun Tzu was thinking only of its speed. The words have b
een taken to mean: You must flee from the enemy as quickly as an escaping hare;
but this is rightly rejected by Tu Mu.]
[1] Giles' Biographical Dictionary, no. 399.
[2] "The Science of War," p. 333.
[3] "Stonewall Jackson," vol. I, p. 421.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
XII. THE ATTACK BY FIRE
[Rather more than half the chapter (SS. 1-13) is devoted to the subject of fire,
after which the author branches off into other topics.]
1. Sun Tzu said: There are five ways of attacking with fire. The first is to bur
n soldiers in their camp;
[So Tu Mu. Li Ch`uan says: "Set fire to the camp, and kill the soldiers" (when t
hey try to escape from the flames). Pan Ch`ao, sent on a diplomatic mission to t
he King of Shan-shan [see XI. ss. 51, note], found himself placed in extreme per
il by the unexpected arrival of an envoy from the Hsiung-nu [the mortal enemies
of the Chinese]. In consultation with his officers, he exclaimed: "Never venture
, never win! [1] The only course open to us now is to make an assault by fire on
the barbarians under cover of night, when they will not be able to discern our
numbers. Profiting by their panic, we shall exterminate them completely; this wi
ll cool the King's courage and cover us with glory, besides ensuring the success
of our mission.' the officers all replied that it would be necessary to discuss
the matter first with the Intendant. Pan Ch`ao then fell into a passion: 'It is
today,' he cried, 'that our fortunes must be decided! The Intendant is only a h
umdrum civilian, who on hearing of our project will certainly be afraid, and eve
rything will be brought to light. An inglorious death is no worthy fate for vali
ant warriors.' All then agreed to do as he wished. Accordingly, as soon as night
came on, he and his little band quickly made their way to the barbarian camp. A
strong gale was blowing at the time. Pan Ch`ao ordered ten of the party to take
drums and hide behind the enemy's barracks, it being arranged that when they sa
w flames shoot up, they should begin drumming and yelling with all their might.
The rest of his men, armed with bows and crossbows, he posted in ambuscade at th
e gate of the camp. He then set fire to the place from the windward side, whereu
pon a deafening noise of drums and shouting arose on the front and rear of the H
siung-nu, who rushed out pell-mell in frantic disorder. Pan Ch`ao slew three of
them with his own hand, while his companions cut off the heads of the envoy and
thirty of his suite. The remainder, more than a hundred in all, perished in the
flames. On the following day, Pan Ch`ao, divining his thoughts, said with uplift
ed hand: 'Although you did not go with us last night, I should not think, Sir, o
f taking sole credit for our exploit.' This satisfied Kuo Hsun, and Pan Ch`ao, h
aving sent for Kuang, King of Shan-shan, showed him the head of the barbarian en
voy. The whole kingdom was seized with fear and trembling, which Pan Ch`ao took
steps to allay by issuing a public proclamation. Then, taking the king's sons as
hostage, he returned to make his report to Tou Ku." HOU HAN SHU, ch. 47, ff. 1,
2.] ]
the second is to burn stores;
[Tu Mu says: "Provisions, fuel and fodder." In order to subdue the rebellious po
pulation of Kiangnan, Kao Keng recommended Wen Ti of the Sui dynasty to make per
iodical raids and burn their stores of grain, a policy which in the long run pro
ved entirely successful.]
the third is to burn baggage trains;
[An example given is the destruction of Yuan Shao`s wagons and impedimenta by Ts
`ao Ts`ao in 200 A.D.]
the fourth is to burn arsenals and magazines;
[Tu Mu says that the things contained in "arsenals" and "magazines" are the same
. He specifies weapons and other implements, bullion and clothing. Cf. VII. ss.
11.]
the fifth is to hurl dropping fire amongst the enemy.
[Tu Yu says in the T`UNG TIEN: "To drop fire into the enemy's camp. The method b
y which this may be done is to set the tips of arrows alight by dipping them int
o a brazier, and then shoot them from powerful crossbows into the enemy's lines.
"]
2. In order to carry out an attack, we must have means available.
[T`sao Kung thinks that "traitors in the enemy's camp" are referred to. But Ch`e
n Hao is more likely to be right in saying: "We must have favorable circumstance
s in general, not merely traitors to help us." Chia Lin says: "We must avail our
selves of wind and dry weather."]
the material for raising fire should always be kept in readiness.
[Tu Mu suggests as material for making fire: "dry vegetable matter, reeds, brush
wood, straw, grease, oil, etc." Here we have the material cause. Chang Yu says:
"vessels for hoarding fire, stuff for lighting fires."]
3. There is a proper season for making attacks with fire, and special days for s
tarting a conflagration. 4. The proper season is when the weather is very dry; t
he special days are those when the moon is in the constellations of the Sieve, t
he Wall, the Wing or the Cross-bar;
[These are, respectively, the 7th, 14th, 27th, and 28th of the Twenty-eight Stel
lar Mansions, corresponding roughly to Sagittarius, Pegasus, Crater and Corvus.]
for these four are all days of rising wind. 5. In attacking with fire, one shoul
d be prepared to meet five possible developments: 6. (1) When fire breaks out in
side to enemy's camp, respond at once with an attack from without. 7. (2) If the
re is an outbreak of fire, but the enemy's soldiers remain quiet, bide your time
and do not attack.
[The prime object of attacking with fire is to throw the enemy into confusion. I
f this effect is not produced, it means that the enemy is ready to receive us. H
ence the necessity for caution.]
8. (3) When the force of the flames has reached its height, follow it up with an
attack, if that is practicable; if not, stay where you are.
[Ts`ao Kung says: "If you see a possible way, advance; but if you find the diffi
culties too great, retire."]
9. (4) If it is possible to make an assault with fire from without, do not wait
for it to break out within, but deliver your attack at a favorable moment.
[Tu Mu says that the previous paragraphs had reference to the fire breaking out
(either accidentally, we may suppose, or by the agency of incendiaries) inside t
he enemy's camp. "But," he continues, "if the enemy is settled in a waste place
littered with quantities of grass, or if he has pitched his camp in a position w
hich can be burnt out, we must carry our fire against him at any seasonable oppo
rtunity, and not await on in hopes of an outbreak occurring within, for fear our
opponents should themselves burn up the surrounding vegetation, and thus render
our own attempts fruitless." The famous Li Ling once baffled the leader of the
Hsiung-nu in this way. The latter, taking advantage of a favorable wind, tried t
o set fire to the Chinese general's camp, but found that every scrap of combusti
ble vegetation in the neighborhood had already been burnt down. On the other han
d, Po-ts`ai, a general of the Yellow Turban rebels, was badly defeated in 184 A.
D. through his neglect of this simple precaution. "At the head of a large army h
e was besieging Ch`ang-she, which was held by Huang-fu Sung. The garrison was ve
ry small, and a general feeling of nervousness pervaded the ranks; so Huang-fu S
ung called his officers together and said: "In war, there are various indirect m
ethods of attack, and numbers do not count for everything. [The commentator here
quotes Sun Tzu, V. SS. 5, 6 and 10.] Now the rebels have pitched their camp in
the midst of thick grass which will easily burn when the wind blows. If we set f
ire to it at night, they will be thrown into a panic, and we can make a sortie a
nd attack them on all sides at once, thus emulating the achievement of T`ien Tan
.' [See p. 90.] That same evening, a strong breeze sprang up; so Huang-fu Sung i
nstructed his soldiers to bind reeds together into torches and mount guard on th
e city walls, after which he sent out a band of daring men, who stealthily made
their way through the lines and started the fire with loud shouts and yells. Sim
ultaneously, a glare of light shot up from the city walls, and Huang-fu Sung, so
unding his drums, led a rapid charge, which threw the rebels into confusion and
put them to headlong flight." [HOU HAN SHU, ch. 71.] ]
10. (5) When you start a fire, be to windward of it. Do not attack from the leew
ard.
[Chang Yu, following Tu Yu, says: "When you make a fire, the enemy will retreat
away from it; if you oppose his retreat and attack him then, he will fight despe
rately, which will not conduce to your success." A rather more obvious explanati
on is given by Tu Mu: "If the wind is in the east, begin burning to the east of
the enemy, and follow up the attack yourself from that side. If you start the fi
re on the east side, and then attack from the west, you will suffer in the same
way as your enemy."]
11. A wind that rises in the daytime lasts long, but a night breeze soon falls.
[Cf. Lao Tzu's saying: "A violent wind does not last the space of a morning." (T
AO TE CHING, chap. 23.) Mei Yao-ch`en and Wang Hsi say: "A day breeze dies down
at nightfall, and a night breeze at daybreak. This is what happens as a general
rule." The phenomenon observed may be correct enough, but how this sense is to b
e obtained is not apparent.]
12. In every army, the five developments connected with fire must be known, the
movements of the stars calculated, and a watch kept for the proper days.
[Tu Mu says: "We must make calculations as to the paths of the stars, and watch
for the days on which wind will rise, before making our attack with fire." Chang
Yu seems to interpret the text differently: "We must not only know how to assai
l our opponents with fire, but also be on our guard against similar attacks from
them."]
13. Hence those who use fire as an aid to the attack show intelligence; those wh
o use water as an aid to the attack gain an accession of strength. 14. By means
of water, an enemy may be intercepted, but not robbed of all his belongings.
[Ts`ao Kung's note is: "We can merely obstruct the enemy's road or divide his ar
my, but not sweep away all his accumulated stores." Water can do useful service,
but it lacks the terrible destructive power of fire. This is the reason, Chang
Yu concludes, why the former is dismissed in a couple of sentences, whereas the
attack by fire is discussed in detail. Wu Tzu (ch. 4) speaks thus of the two ele
ments: "If an army is encamped on low-lying marshy ground, from which the water
cannot run off, and where the rainfall is heavy, it may be submerged by a flood.
If an army is encamped in wild marsh lands thickly overgrown with weeds and bra
mbles, and visited by frequent gales, it may be exterminated by fire."]
15. Unhappy is the fate of one who tries to win his battles and succeed in his a
ttacks without cultivating the spirit of enterprise; for the result is waste of
time and general stagnation.
[This is one of the most perplexing passages in Sun Tzu. Ts`ao Kung says: "Rewar
ds for good service should not be deferred a single day." And Tu Mu: "If you do
not take opportunity to advance and reward the deserving, your subordinates will
not carry out your commands, and disaster will ensue." For several reasons, how
ever, and in spite of the formidable array of scholars on the other side, I pref
er the interpretation suggested by Mei Yao-ch`en alone, whose words I will quote
: "Those who want to make sure of succeeding in their battles and assaults must
seize the favorable moments when they come and not shrink on occasion from heroi
c measures: that is to say, they must resort to such means of attack of fire, wa
ter and the like. What they must not do, and what will prove fatal, is to sit st
ill and simply hold to the advantages they have got."]
16. Hence the saying: The enlightened ruler lays his plans well ahead; the good
general cultivates his resources.
[Tu Mu quotes the following from the SAN LUEH, ch. 2: "The warlike prince contro
ls his soldiers by his authority, kits them together by good faith, and by rewar
ds makes them serviceable. If faith decays, there will be disruption; if rewards
are deficient, commands will not be respected."]
17. Move not unless you see an advantage; use not your troops unless there is so
mething to be gained; fight not unless the position is critical.
[Sun Tzu may at times appear to be over-cautious, but he never goes so far in th
at direction as the remarkable passage in the TAO TE CHING, ch. 69. "I dare not
take the initiative, but prefer to act on the defensive; I dare not advance an i
nch, but prefer to retreat a foot."]
18. No ruler should put troops into the field merely to gratify his own spleen;
no general should fight a battle simply out of pique. 19. If it is to your advan
tage, make a forward move; if not, stay where you are.
[This is repeated from XI. ss. 17. Here I feel convinced that it is an interpola
tion, for it is evident that ss. 20 ought to follow immediately on ss. 18.]
20. Anger may in time change to gladness; vexation may be succeeded by content.
21. But a kingdom that has once been destroyed can never come again into being;
[The Wu State was destined to be a melancholy example of this saying.]
nor can the dead ever be brought back to life. 22. Hence the enlightened ruler i
s heedful, and the good general full of caution. This is the way to keep a count
ry at peace and an army intact.
[1] "Unless you enter the tiger's lair, you cannot get hold of the tiger's cubs.
"
-----------------------------------------------------------------
XIII. THE USE OF SPIES
1. Sun Tzu said: Raising a host of a hundred thousand men and marching them grea
t distances entails heavy loss on the people and a drain on the resources of the
State. The daily expenditure will amount to a thousand ounces of silver.
[Cf. II. ss. ss. 1, 13, 14.]
There will be commotion at home and abroad, and men will drop down exhausted on
the highways.
[Cf. TAO TE CHING, ch. 30: "Where troops have been quartered, brambles and thorn
s spring up. Chang Yu has the note: "We may be reminded of the saying: 'On serio
us ground, gather in plunder.' Why then should carriage and transportation cause
exhaustion on the highways?--The answer is, that not victuals alone, but all so
rts of munitions of war have to be conveyed to the army. Besides, the injunction
to 'forage on the enemy' only means that when an army is deeply engaged in host
ile territory, scarcity of food must be provided against. Hence, without being s
olely dependent on the enemy for corn, we must forage in order that there may be
an uninterrupted flow of supplies. Then, again, there are places like salt dese
rts where provisions being unobtainable, supplies from home cannot be dispensed
with."]
As many as seven hundred thousand families will be impeded in their labor.
[Mei Yao-ch`en says: "Men will be lacking at the plough- tail." The allusion is
to the system of dividing land into nine parts, each consisting of about 15 acre
s, the plot in the center being cultivated on behalf of the State by the tenants
of the other eight. It was here also, so Tu Mu tells us, that their cottages we
re built and a well sunk, to be used by all in common. [See II. ss. 12, note.] I
n time of war, one of the families had to serve in the army, while the other sev
en contributed to its support. Thus, by a levy of 100,000 men (reckoning one abl
e- bodied soldier to each family) the husbandry of 700,000 families would be aff
ected.]
2. Hostile armies may face each other for years, striving for the victory which
is decided in a single day. This being so, to remain in ignorance of the enemy's
condition simply because one grudges the outlay of a hundred ounces of silver i
n honors and emoluments,
["For spies" is of course the meaning, though it would spoil the effect of this
curiously elaborate exordium if spies were actually mentioned at this point.]
is the height of inhumanity.
[Sun Tzu's agreement is certainly ingenious. He begins by adverting to the frigh
tful misery and vast expenditure of blood and treasure which war always brings i
n its train. Now, unless you are kept informed of the enemy's condition, and are
ready to strike at the right moment, a war may drag on for years. The only way
to get this information is to employ spies, and it is impossible to obtain trust
worthy spies unless they are properly paid for their services. But it is surely
false economy to grudge a comparatively trifling amount for this purpose, when e
very day that the war lasts eats up an incalculably greater sum. This grievous b
urden falls on the shoulders of the poor, and hence Sun Tzu concludes that to ne
glect the use of spies is nothing less than a crime against humanity.]
3. One who acts thus is no leader of men, no present help to his sovereign, no m
aster of victory.
[This idea, that the true object of war is peace, has its root in the national t
emperament of the Chinese. Even so far back as 597 B.C., these memorable words w
ere uttered by Prince Chuang of the Ch`u State: "The [Chinese] character for 'pr
owess' is made up of [the characters for] 'to stay' and 'a spear' (cessation of
hostilities). Military prowess is seen in the repression of cruelty, the calling
in of weapons, the preservation of the appointment of Heaven, the firm establis
hment of merit, the bestowal of happiness on the people, putting harmony between
the princes, the diffusion of wealth."]
4. Thus, what enables the wise sovereign and the good general to strike and conq
uer, and achieve things beyond the reach of ordinary men, is FOREKNOWLEDGE.
[That is, knowledge of the enemy's dispositions, and what he means to do.]
5. Now this foreknowledge cannot be elicited from spirits; it cannot be obtained
inductively from experience,
[Tu Mu's note is: "[knowledge of the enemy] cannot be gained by reasoning from o
ther analogous cases."]
nor by any deductive calculation.
[Li Ch`uan says: "Quantities like length, breadth, distance and magnitude, are s
usceptible of exact mathematical determination; human actions cannot be so calcu
lated."]
6. Knowledge of the enemy's dispositions can only be obtained from other men.
[Mei Yao-ch`en has rather an interesting note: "Knowledge of the spirit-world is
to be obtained by divination; information in natural science may be sought by i
nductive reasoning; the laws of the universe can be verified by mathematical cal
culation: but the dispositions of an enemy are ascertainable through spies and s
pies alone."]
7. Hence the use of spies, of whom there are five classes: (1) Local spies; (2)
inward spies; (3) converted spies; (4) doomed spies; (5) surviving spies. 8. Whe
n these five kinds of spy are all at work, none can discover the secret system.
This is called "divine manipulation of the threads." It is the sovereign's most
precious faculty.
[Cromwell, one of the greatest and most practical of all cavalry leaders, had of
ficers styled 'scout masters,' whose business it was to collect all possible inf
ormation regarding the enemy, through scouts and spies, etc., and much of his su
ccess in war was traceable to the previous knowledge of the enemy's moves thus g
ained." [1] ]
9. Having LOCAL SPIES means employing the services of the inhabitants of a distr
ict.
[Tu Mu says: "In the enemy's country, win people over by kind treatment, and use
them as spies."]
10. Having INWARD SPIES, making use of officials of the enemy.
[Tu Mu enumerates the following classes as likely to do good service in this res
pect: "Worthy men who have been degraded from office, criminals who have undergo
ne punishment; also, favorite concubines who are greedy for gold, men who are ag
grieved at being in subordinate positions, or who have been passed over in the d
istribution of posts, others who are anxious that their side should be defeated
in order that they may have a chance of displaying their ability and talents, fi
ckle turncoats who always want to have a foot in each boat. Officials of these s
everal kinds," he continues, "should be secretly approached and bound to one's i
nterests by means of rich presents. In this way you will be able to find out the
state of affairs in the enemy's country, ascertain the plans that are being for
med against you, and moreover disturb the harmony and create a breach between th
e sovereign and his ministers." The necessity for extreme caution, however, in d
ealing with "inward spies," appears from an historical incident related by Ho Sh
ih: "Lo Shang, Governor of I-Chou, sent his general Wei Po to attack the rebel L
i Hsiung of Shu in his stronghold at P`i. After each side had experienced a numb
er of victories and defeats, Li Hsiung had recourse to the services of a certain
P`o-t`ai, a native of Wu-tu. He began to have him whipped until the blood came,
and then sent him off to Lo Shang, whom he was to delude by offering to coopera
te with him from inside the city, and to give a fire signal at the right moment
for making a general assault. Lo Shang, confiding in these promises, march out a
ll his best troops, and placed Wei Po and others at their head with orders to at
tack at P`o-t`ai's bidding. Meanwhile, Li Hsiung's general, Li Hsiang, had prepa
red an ambuscade on their line of march; and P`o-t`ai, having reared long scalin
g-ladders against the city walls, now lighted the beacon-fire. Wei Po's men race
d up on seeing the signal and began climbing the ladders as fast as they could,
while others were drawn up by ropes lowered from above. More than a hundred of L
o Shang's soldiers entered the city in this way, every one of whom was forthwith
beheaded. Li Hsiung then charged with all his forces, both inside and outside t
he city, and routed the enemy completely." [This happened in 303 A.D. I do not k
now where Ho Shih got the story from. It is not given in the biography of Li Hsi
ung or that of his father Li T`e, CHIN SHU, ch. 120, 121.]
11. Having CONVERTED SPIES, getting hold of the enemy's spies and using them for
our own purposes.
[By means of heavy bribes and liberal promises detaching them from the enemy's s
ervice, and inducing them to carry back false information as well as to spy in t
urn on their own countrymen. On the other hand, Hsiao Shih-hsien says that we pr
etend not to have detected him, but contrive to let him carry away a false impre
ssion of what is going on. Several of the commentators accept this as an alterna
tive definition; but that it is not what Sun Tzu meant is conclusively proved by
his subsequent remarks about treating the converted spy generously (ss. 21 sqq.
). Ho Shih notes three occasions on which converted spies were used with conspic
uous success: (1) by T`ien Tan in his defense of Chi-mo (see supra, p. 90); (2)
by Chao She on his march to O-yu (see p. 57); and by the wily Fan Chu in 260 B.C
., when Lien P`o was conducting a defensive campaign against Ch`in. The King of
Chao strongly disapproved of Lien P`o's cautious and dilatory methods, which had
been unable to avert a series of minor disasters, and therefore lent a ready ea
r to the reports of his spies, who had secretly gone over to the enemy and were
already in Fan Chu's pay. They said: "The only thing which causes Ch`in anxiety
is lest Chao Kua should be made general. Lien P`o they consider an easy opponent
, who is sure to be vanquished in the long run." Now this Chao Kua was a sun of
the famous Chao She. From his boyhood, he had been wholly engrossed in the study
of war and military matters, until at last he came to believe that there was no
commander in the whole Empire who could stand against him. His father was much
disquieted by this overweening conceit, and the flippancy with which he spoke of
such a serious thing as war, and solemnly declared that if ever Kua was appoint
ed general, he would bring ruin on the armies of Chao. This was the man who, in
spite of earnest protests from his own mother and the veteran statesman Lin Hsia
ng-ju, was now sent to succeed Lien P`o. Needless to say, he proved no match for
the redoubtable Po Ch`i and the great military power of Ch`in. He fell into a t
rap by which his army was divided into two and his communications cut; and after
a desperate resistance lasting 46 days, during which the famished soldiers devo
ured one another, he was himself killed by an arrow, and his whole force, amount
ing, it is said, to 400,000 men, ruthlessly put to the sword.]
12. Having DOOMED SPIES, doing certain things openly for purposes of deception,
and allowing our spies to know of them and report them to the enemy.
[Tu Yu gives the best exposition of the meaning: "We ostentatiously do thing cal
culated to deceive our own spies, who must be led to believe that they have been
unwittingly disclosed. Then, when these spies are captured in the enemy's lines
, they will make an entirely false report, and the enemy will take measures acco
rdingly, only to find that we do something quite different. The spies will there
upon be put to death." As an example of doomed spies, Ho Shih mentions the priso
ners released by Pan Ch`ao in his campaign against Yarkand. (See p. 132.) He als
o refers to T`ang Chien, who in 630 A.D. was sent by T`ai Tsung to lull the Turk
ish Kahn Chieh-li into fancied security, until Li Ching was able to deliver a cr
ushing blow against him. Chang Yu says that the Turks revenged themselves by kil
ling T`ang Chien, but this is a mistake, for we read in both the old and the New
T`ang History (ch. 58, fol. 2 and ch. 89, fol. 8 respectively) that he escaped
and lived on until 656. Li I-chi played a somewhat similar part in 203 B.C., whe
n sent by the King of Han to open peaceful negotiations with Ch`i. He has certai
nly more claim to be described a "doomed spy", for the king of Ch`i, being subse
quently attacked without warning by Han Hsin, and infuriated by what he consider
ed the treachery of Li I-chi, ordered the unfortunate envoy to be boiled alive.]
13. SURVIVING SPIES, finally, are those who bring back news from the enemy's cam
p.
[This is the ordinary class of spies, properly so called, forming a regular part
of the army. Tu Mu says: "Your surviving spy must be a man of keen intellect, t
hough in outward appearance a fool; of shabby exterior, but with a will of iron.
He must be active, robust, endowed with physical strength and courage; thorough
ly accustomed to all sorts of dirty work, able to endure hunger and cold, and to
put up with shame and ignominy." Ho Shih tells the following story of Ta`hsi Wu
of the Sui dynasty: "When he was governor of Eastern Ch`in, Shen-wu of Ch`i mad
e a hostile movement upon Sha-yuan. The Emperor T`ai Tsu [? Kao Tsu] sent Ta-hsi
Wu to spy upon the enemy. He was accompanied by two other men. All three were o
n horseback and wore the enemy's uniform. When it was dark, they dismounted a fe
w hundred feet away from the enemy's camp and stealthily crept up to listen, unt
il they succeeded in catching the passwords used in the army. Then they got on t
heir horses again and boldly passed through the camp under the guise of night-wa
tchmen; and more than once, happening to come across a soldier who was committin
g some breach of discipline, they actually stopped to give the culprit a sound c
udgeling! Thus they managed to return with the fullest possible information abou
t the enemy's dispositions, and received warm commendation from the Emperor, who
in consequence of their report was able to inflict a severe defeat on his adver
sary."]
14. Hence it is that which none in the whole army are more intimate relations to
be maintained than with spies.
[Tu Mu and Mei Yao-ch`en point out that the spy is privileged to enter even the
general's private sleeping-tent.]
None should be more liberally rewarded. In no other business should greater secr
ecy be preserved.
[Tu Mu gives a graphic touch: all communication with spies should be carried "mo
uth-to-ear." The following remarks on spies may be quoted from Turenne, who made
perhaps larger use of them than any previous commander: "Spies are attached to
those who give them most, he who pays them ill is never served. They should neve
r be known to anybody; nor should they know one another. When they propose anyth
ing very material, secure their persons, or have in your possession their wives
and children as hostages for their fidelity. Never communicate anything to them
but what is absolutely necessary that they should know. [2] ]
15. Spies cannot be usefully employed without a certain intuitive sagacity.
[Mei Yao-ch`en says: "In order to use them, one must know fact from falsehood, a
nd be able to discriminate between honesty and double-dealing." Wang Hsi in a di
fferent interpretation thinks more along the lines of "intuitive perception" and
"practical intelligence." Tu Mu strangely refers these attributes to the spies
themselves: "Before using spies we must assure ourselves as to their integrity o
f character and the extent of their experience and skill." But he continues: "A
brazen face and a crafty disposition are more dangerous than mountains or rivers
; it takes a man of genius to penetrate such." So that we are left in some doubt
as to his real opinion on the passage."]
16. They cannot be properly managed without benevolence and straightforwardness.
[Chang Yu says: "When you have attracted them by substantial offers, you must tr
eat them with absolute sincerity; then they will work for you with all their mig
ht."]
17. Without subtle ingenuity of mind, one cannot make certain of the truth of th
eir reports.
[Mei Yao-ch`en says: "Be on your guard against the possibility of spies going ov
er to the service of the enemy."]
18. Be subtle! be subtle! and use your spies for every kind of business.
[Cf. VI. ss. 9.]
19. If a secret piece of news is divulged by a spy before the time is ripe, he m
ust be put to death together with the man to whom the secret was told.
[Word for word, the translation here is: "If spy matters are heard before [our p
lans] are carried out," etc. Sun Tzu's main point in this passage is: Whereas yo
u kill the spy himself "as a punishment for letting out the secret," the object
of killing the other man is only, as Ch`en Hao puts it, "to stop his mouth" and
prevent news leaking any further. If it had already been repeated to others, thi
s object would not be gained. Either way, Sun Tzu lays himself open to the charg
e of inhumanity, though Tu Mu tries to defend him by saying that the man deserve
s to be put to death, for the spy would certainly not have told the secret unles
s the other had been at pains to worm it out of him."]
20. Whether the object be to crush an army, to storm a city, or to assassinate a
n individual, it is always necessary to begin by finding out the names of the at
tendants, the aides-de- camp,
[Literally "visitors", is equivalent, as Tu Yu says, to "those whose duty it is
to keep the general supplied with information," which naturally necessitates fre
quent interviews with him.]
and door-keepers and sentries of the general in command. Our spies must be commi
ssioned to ascertain these.
[As the first step, no doubt towards finding out if any of these important funct
ionaries can be won over by bribery.]
21. The enemy's spies who have come to spy on us must be sought out, tempted wit
h bribes, led away and comfortably housed. Thus they will become converted spies
and available for our service. 22. It is through the information brought by the
converted spy that we are able to acquire and employ local and inward spies.
[Tu Yu says: "through conversion of the enemy's spies we learn the enemy's condi
tion." And Chang Yu says: "We must tempt the converted spy into our service, bec
ause it is he that knows which of the local inhabitants are greedy of gain, and
which of the officials are open to corruption."]
23. It is owing to his information, again, that we can cause the doomed spy to c
arry false tidings to the enemy.
[Chang Yu says, "because the converted spy knows how the enemy can best be decei
ved."]
24. Lastly, it is by his information that the surviving spy can be used on appoi
nted occasions. 25. The end and aim of spying in all its five varieties is knowl
edge of the enemy; and this knowledge can only be derived, in the first instance
, from the converted spy.
[As explained in ss. 22-24. He not only brings information himself, but makes it
possible to use the other kinds of spy to advantage.]
Hence it is essential that the converted spy be treated with the utmost liberali
ty. 26. Of old, the rise of the Yin dynasty
[Sun Tzu means the Shang dynasty, founded in 1766 B.C. Its name was changed to Y
in by P`an Keng in 1401.
was due to I Chih
[Better known as I Yin, the famous general and statesman who took part in Ch`eng
T`ang's campaign against Chieh Kuei.]
who had served under the Hsia. Likewise, the rise of the Chou dynasty was due to
Lu Ya
[Lu Shang rose to high office under the tyrant Chou Hsin, whom he afterwards hel
ped to overthrow. Popularly known as T`ai Kung, a title bestowed on him by Wen W
ang, he is said to have composed a treatise on war, erroneously identified with
the LIU T`AO.]
who had served under the Yin.
[There is less precision in the Chinese than I have thought it well to introduce
into my translation, and the commentaries on the passage are by no means explic
it. But, having regard to the context, we can hardly doubt that Sun Tzu is holdi
ng up I Chih and Lu Ya as illustrious examples of the converted spy, or somethin
g closely analogous. His suggestion is, that the Hsia and Yin dynasties were ups
et owing to the intimate knowledge of their weaknesses and shortcoming which the
se former ministers were able to impart to the other side. Mei Yao-ch`en appears
to resent any such aspersion on these historic names: "I Yin and Lu Ya," he say
s, "were not rebels against the Government. Hsia could not employ the former, he
nce Yin employed him. Yin could not employ the latter, hence Hou employed him. T
heir great achievements were all for the good of the people." Ho Shih is also in
dignant: "How should two divinely inspired men such as I and Lu have acted as co
mmon spies? Sun Tzu's mention of them simply means that the proper use of the fi
ve classes of spies is a matter which requires men of the highest mental caliber
like I and Lu, whose wisdom and capacity qualified them for the task. The above
words only emphasize this point." Ho Shih believes then that the two heroes are
mentioned on account of their supposed skill in the use of spies. But this is v
ery weak.]
27. Hence it is only the enlightened ruler and the wise general who will use the
highest intelligence of the army for purposes of spying and thereby they achiev
e great results.
[Tu Mu closes with a note of warning: "Just as water, which carries a boat from
bank to bank, may also be the means of sinking it, so reliance on spies, while p
roduction of great results, is oft-times the cause of utter destruction."]
Spies are a most important element in water, because on them depends an army's a
bility to move.
[Chia Lin says that an army without spies is like a man with ears or eyes.]
[1] "Aids to Scouting," p. 2.
[2] "Marshal Turenne," p. 311.
***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ART OF WAR ***
******* This file should be named 132.txt or 132.zip *******
This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: http://www.gu
tenberg.org/dirs/1/3/132
Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will be renamed
.
Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one owns a Un
ited States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and
distribute it in the United States without permission and without paying copyrig
ht royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this
license, apply to copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is
a registered trademark, and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unles
s you receive specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of t
his eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nea
rly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do practicall
y ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is subject to the trademark
license, especially commercial redistribution.
*** START: FULL LICENSE ***
THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE
THIS WORK
To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free distribution o
f electronic works, by using or distributing this work (or any other work associ
ated in any way with the phrase "Project Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with a
ll the terms of the Full Project Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file
or online at http://www.gutenberg.org/license).
Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm electron
ic works
1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work,
you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to and accept all the terms o
f this license and intellectual property (trademark/copyright) agreement. If you
do not agree to abide by all the terms of this agreement, you must cease using
and return or destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in you
r possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project G
utenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the terms of thi
s agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or entity to whom you paid
the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.
1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be used on or as
sociated in any way with an electronic work by people who agree to be bound by t
he terms of this agreement. There are a few things that you can do with most Pro
ject Gutenberg-tm electronic works even without complying with the full terms of
this agreement. See paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do w
ith Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreem
ent and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work
s. See paragraph 1.E below.
1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" or PGLA
F), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project Gutenberg-tm elect
ronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the collection are in the public
domain in the United States. If an individual work is in the public domain in t
he United States and you are located in the United States, we do not claim a rig
ht to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating
derivative works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenbe
rg are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project Gutenberg-t
m mission of promoting free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project
Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping t
he Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily comply wit
h the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the same format with its a
ttached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with
others. This particular work is one of the few copyrighted individual works incl
uded with the permission of the copyright holder. Information on the copyright o
wner for this particular work and the terms of use imposed by the copyright hold
er on this work are set forth at the beginning of this work.
1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern what you
can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in a constant state
of change. If you are outside the United States, check the laws of your country
in addition to the terms of this agreement before downloading, copying, displayi
ng, performing, distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or
any other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations con
cerning the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United State
s.
1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:
1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate access t
o, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently whenever any co
py of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the phrase "Project Gutenbe
rg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is acce
ssed, displayed, performed, viewed, copied or distributed:
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restr
ictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms o
f the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenb
erg.org
1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived from the
public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is posted with perm
ission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyon
e in the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are redistribu
ting or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associate
d with or appearing on the work, you must comply either with the requirements of
paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and
the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted with the
permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution must comply with b
oth paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional terms imposed by the copyr
ight holder. Additional terms will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License
for all works posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the b
eginning of this work.
1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm License t
erms from this work, or any files containing a part of this work or any other wo
rk associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.
1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this electronic
work, or any part of this electronic work, without prominently displaying the s
entence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with active links or immediate access to th
e full terms of the Project Gutenberg-tm License.
1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, compressed, ma
rked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any word processing or hy
pertext form. However, if you provide access to or distribute copies of a Projec
t Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format
used in the official version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web si
te (www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the u
ser, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy
upon request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other form.
Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm License as speci
fied in paragraph 1.E.1.
1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, performing, copyi
ng or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works unless you comply with paragra
ph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.
1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing access to or d
istributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided that
- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from the use of P
roject Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method you already use to calcula
te your applicable taxes. The fee is owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-
tm trademark, but he has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid wit
hin 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are legally required to
prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked a
s such and sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the addr
ess specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenber
g Literary Archive Foundation."
- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies you in writ
ing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he does not agree to the ter
ms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm License. You must require such a user to ret
urn or destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discon
tinue all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm works.
- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any money pa
id for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the electronic work is disco
vered and reported to you within 90 days of receipt of the work.
- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free distribution of Pro
ject Gutenberg-tm works.
1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm electron
ic work or group of works on different terms than are set forth in this agreemen
t, you must obtain permission in writing from both the Project Gutenberg Literar
y Archive Foundation and Michael Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm tra
demark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.
1.F.
1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable effort to
identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread public domain works
in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may
contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or corrup
t data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual property infring
ement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a computer virus, or compute
r codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment.
1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right of Replac
ement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project Gutenberg Literary Ar
chive Foundation, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other
party distributing a Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement,
disclaim all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, BREA
CH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU
AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS A
GREEMENT WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL,
PUNITIVE OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUC
H DAMAGE.
1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a defect in this
electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can receive a refund of the
money (if any) you paid for it by sending a written explanation to the person y
ou received the work from. If you received the work on a physical medium, you mu
st return the medium with your written explanation. The person or entity that pr
ovided you with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in li
eu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity pr
oviding it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to receive the wor
k electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy is also defective, you
may demand a refund in writing without further opportunities to fix the problem.
1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth in paragr
aph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS,' WITH NO OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY
KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIB
ILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.
1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied warranties or the
exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. If any disclaimer or limit
ation set forth in this agreement violates the law of the state applicable to th
is agreement, the agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer
or limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforce
ability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisio
ns.
1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the trademark
owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone providing copies of Proj
ect Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance with this agreement, and any vol
unteers associated with the production, promotion and distribution of Project Gu
tenberg-tm electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, in
cluding legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following
which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenber
g-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any Projec
t Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.
Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm
Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of electronic work
s in formats readable by the widest variety of computers including obsolete, old
, middle-aged and new computers. It exists because of the efforts of hundreds of
volunteers and donations from people in all walks of life.
Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the assistance they
need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's goals and ensuring that the
Project Gutenberg-tm collection will remain freely available for generations to
come. In 2001, the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to
provide a secure and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future gener
ations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation an
d how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundati
on web page at http://www.pglaf.org.
Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit 501(c)(3) educ
ational corporation organized under the laws of the state of Mississippi and gra
nted tax exempt status by the Internal Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or
federal tax identification number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted
at http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by U.S. fede
ral laws and your state's laws.
The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. Fairbanks, AK,
99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous loca
tions. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT
84116, (801) 596-1887, email [email protected]. Email contact links and up to
date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
page at http://pglaf.org
For additional contact information: Dr. Gregory B. Newby Chief Executive and Dir
ector [email protected]
Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation
Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide spread public
support and donations to carry out its mission of increasing the number of publi
c domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed in machine readable f
orm accessible by the widest array of equipment including outdated equipment. Ma
ny small donations ($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax
exempt status with the IRS.
The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating charities and
charitable donations in all 50 states of the United States. Compliance requireme
nts are not uniform and it takes a considerable effort, much paperwork and many
fees to meet and keep up with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in
locations where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEN
D DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular state visit
http://pglaf.org
While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we have not m
et the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition against accepting un
solicited donations from donors in such states who approach us with offers to do
nate.
International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make any statemen
ts concerning tax treatment of donations received from outside the United States
. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.
Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation methods and ad
dresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other ways including including ch
ecks, online payments and credit card donations. To donate, please visit: http:/
/pglaf.org/donate
Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works.
Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm concept
of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared with anyone. For th
irty years, he produced and distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a
loose network of volunteer support.
Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed editions, all
of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. unless a copyright notice i
s included. Thus, we do not necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any parti
cular paper edition.
Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's eBook number,
often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII, compressed (zipped), HTM
L and others.
Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks replace the old file and take over the old file
name and etext number. The replaced older file is renamed. VERSIONS based on sep
arate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving new filenames and etext number
s.
Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:
http://www.gutenberg.org
This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, including how to
make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, how to help
produce our new eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter to hear ab
out new eBooks.
EBooks posted prior to November 2003, with eBook numbers BELOW #10000, are filed
in directories based on their release date. If you want to download any of thes
e eBooks directly, rather than using the regular search system you may utilize t
he following addresses and just download by the etext year.
http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext06
(Or /etext 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90)
EBooks posted since November 2003, with etext numbers OVER #10000, are filed in
a different way. The year of a release date is no longer part of the directory p
ath. The path is based on the etext number (which is identical to the filename).
The path to the file is made up of single digits corresponding to all but the l
ast digit in the filename. For example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found
at:
http://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234
or filename 24689 would be found at: http://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689
An alternative method of locating eBooks: http://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL
*** END: FULL LICENSE ***