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Read Ebook: Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War: The Oldest Military Treatise in the World by Sunzi Active Th Century B C Giles Lionel Translator
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Ebook has 935 lines and 32515 words, and 19 pages
Wang Hsi thinks that this means, not using the same stratagem twice. He says: ????????????????.
he keeps the enemy without definite knowledge.
At the critical moment, the leader of an army acts like one who has climbed up a height and then kicks away the ladder behind him.
I must candidly confess that I do not understand the syntax of ????, though the meaning is fairly plain. The difficulty has evidently been felt, for Tu Mu tells us that one text omits ??. It is more likely, however, that a couple of characters have dropped out.
He carries his men deep into hostile territory before he shows his hand.
??? literally, "releases the spring" , that is, takes some decisive step which makes it impossible for the army to return--like ?? Hsiang Y?, who sunk his ships after crossing a river. Ch'?n Hao, followed by Chia Lin, understands the words less well as ???? "puts forth every artifice at his command." But ? in this derived sense occurs nowhere else in Sun Tz?.
He burns his boats and breaks his cooking-pots;
like a shepherd driving a flock of sheep, he drives his men this way and that, and none knows whither he is going.
To muster his host and bring it into danger:--this may be termed the business of the general.
The different measures suited to the nine varieties of ground;
Chang Y? says: ???????? "One must not be hide-bound in interpreting the rules for the nine varieties of ground.
the expediency of aggressive or defensive tactics;
and the fundamental laws of human nature: these are things that must most certainly be studied.
When invading hostile territory, the general principle is, that penetrating deeply brings cohesion; penetrating but a short way means dispersion.
When you leave your own country behind, and take your army across neighbouring territory,
Chang Y?'s paraphrase is ????.
you find yourself on critical ground.
When there are means of communication
on all four sides, the ground is one of intersecting highways.
From ?? down to the end of ? 45, we have some of the definitions of the early part of the chapter repeated in slightly different language. Capt. Calthrop omits these altogether.
When you penetrate deeply into a country, it is serious ground. When you penetrate but a little way, it is facile ground.
When you have the enemy's strongholds on your rear,
and narrow passes in front, it is hemmed-in ground. When there is no place of refuge at all, it is desperate ground.
Therefore, on dispersive ground, I would inspire my men with unity of purpose.
On facile ground, I would see that there is close connection between all parts of my army.
On contentious ground, I would hurry up my rear.
On open ground, I would keep a vigilant eye on my defences.
On ground of intersecting highways, I would consolidate my alliances.
On serious ground, I would try to ensure a continuous stream of supplies.
The commentators take this as referring to forage and plunder, not, as one might expect, to an unbroken communication with a home base. One text, indeed, gives the reading ???. Cf. ? 13. Capt. Calthrop's "be careful of supplies" fails to render the force of ?.
On difficult ground, I would keep pushing on along the road.
Capt. Calthrop's "do not linger" cannot be called a translation, but only a paraphrase of the paraphrase offered by Ts'ao Kung: ???? "Pass away from it in all haste."
On hemmed-in ground, I would block any way of retreat.
On desperate ground, I would proclaim to my soldiers the hopelessness of saving their lives.
For it is the soldier's disposition to offer an obstinate resistance when surrounded, to fight hard when he cannot help himself, and to obey promptly when he has fallen into danger.
We cannot enter into alliance with neighbouring princes until we are acquainted 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 advantages to account unless we make use of local guides.
To be ignorant of any one of the following four or five principles
does not befit a warlike prince.
??, "one who rules by force," was a term specially used for those princes who established their hegemony over other feudal states. The famous ?? of the 7th century B.C. were ??? Duke Huan of Ch'i, ??? Duke W?n of Chin, ??? Duke Hsiang of Sung, ??? Prince Chuang of Ch'u, ??? Duke Mu of Ch'in. Their reigns covered the period 685-591 B.C.
When a warlike prince attacks a powerful state, his generalship shows itself in preventing the concentration of the enemy's forces. He overawes his opponents,
and their allies are prevented from joining against him.
Mei Yao-ch'?n constructs one of the chains of reasoning that are so much affected 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 neighbouring states will be frightened; and if the neighbouring states are frightened, the enemy's allies will be prevented from joining her." The following gives a stronger meaning to ??: ????????????? "If the great state has once been defeated , then the lesser states will hold aloof and refrain from massing their forces." Ch'?n Hao and Chang Y? take the sentence in quite another way. The former 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 Y? puts his view thus: "If we recklessly attack a large state, our own people will be discontented and hang back. But if our display of military force is inferior by half to that of the enemy, the other chieftains will take fright and refuse to join us." According to this interpretation, ? would refer, not to the ??, but to the ?? himself.
Hence he does not strive
to ally himself with all and sundry,
??, as in ? 6, stands for ?? "the feudal princes," or the states ruled by them.
nor does he foster the power of other states. He carries out his own secret designs,
keeping his antagonists in awe.
The train of thought 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 enabling him to dispense with external 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 serious menace, is not a bad summary of the policy by which the famous Six Chancellors gradually paved the way for her final triumph under Shih Huang Ti. Chang Y?, following up his previous note, thinks that Sun Tz? is condemning this attitude of cold-blooded selfishness and haughty isolation. He again refers ? to the warlike prince, thus making it appear that in the end he is bound to succumb.
Bestow rewards without regard to rule,
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