by An Liu
10. Many English translations of the Sunzi bingfa are available for review and comparison with chap. 15 of the Huainanzi. Among the best are Sawyer, Sun Tzu; Roger Ames, Sun-tzu: The Art of Warfare (New York: Ballantine Books, 1993); Samuel B. Griffith, Sun Tzu: Art of War (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1963); and Mair, Art of War.
11. BSSZ A4/3/24. The only difference in the text of the Sunzi bingfa is that it refers to the “victorious soldier” rather than the “complete soldier.”
12. BSSZ A4/4/6.
13. BSSZ A5/4/28.
14. Mark Edward Lewis, Sanctioned Violence in Early China (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 15–136.
Fifteen
15.1
In antiquity, those who used the military did not value expanding territory or covet the possession of gold and jade. They sought to sustain those who [were] perishing, revive those [lineages] that had been cut off,1 pacify the chaos of the world, and eliminate harm to the myriad people.
All beasts that have blood and qi,
are equipped with teeth and horns.2
They have claws in front and paws behind.
Those with horns gore;
those with teeth bite;
those with poison sting;
those with hooves kick.
When they are happy, they play with one another;
when they are angry they injure one another;
this is their Heaven[-born] nature.
Humans have instincts for clothing and food, yet [material] things are lacking.
Thus they settle together in various locations. If the division is not equal, if demands are not fulfilled, they fight. When they fight, the strong threaten the weak and the brave attack the cowardly.
People do not have strong muscles and bones or sharp claws and teeth, thus
they cut leather to make armor;
they forge iron to make blades.
Greedy and cruel people brutalize and rob the world. The myriad people are shaken; they cannot rest in tranquillity with what they possess. The sage rises up vehemently, punishing the strong and the violent [and] pacifying the chaotic age. He suppresses danger and eliminates disorder.
He makes the sullied pure;
he makes the imperiled calm.
Thus people are not cut off in mid[life].
The origins of the military are distant!
The Yellow Emperor once warred with Yan Di;3
Zhuan Xu once fought with Gong Gong.4
The Yellow Emperor warred in the wilds of Zhuolu;5
Yao warred on the banks of the River Dan;6
Shun attacked the Youmiao;7
Qi attacked the Youhu.8
Since the time of the Five Thearchs, [no one] has been able to ban [the military], much less in a declining age! [15/142/21–29]
15.2
The military sees to it that the violent are curtailed and the disorderly [are] punished.
Yan Di created a conflagration, thus the Yellow Emperor captured him;
Gong Gong created a flood, thus Zhuan Xu executed him.
If one teaches them the Way, guides them with Potency but they do not listen, then one displays martial might to them. If one displays martial might to them but they do not obey, one controls them with weapons and armor. Thus the sage’s use of the military is like combing hair or weeding seedlings; those he eliminates are few, [and] those he benefits are many.
There is no harm greater than killing innocent people to support an unrighteous king;
there is no calamity more profound than to exhaust the wealth of the world to satisfy one person’s desires.
If [King] Jie of Xia and [King] Djou of Yin had met with calamity as soon as they harmed the people, they would not have reached [the point of] creating the “roasting beam.”9
If [Duke] Li of Jin and [King] Kang of Song had [met with] the death of their persons and the destruction of their states as soon as they committed one act of unrighteousness, they would not have reached the point of invading and conquering or unleashing tyranny.
These four rulers all committed small transgressions and were not punished, thus they arrived at unsettling the world, harming the common people [and] extending the calamity of the realm by giving free rein to a single man’s deviance. This is what the standard of Heaven will not accept. A ruler is established in order to curtail the violent and punish the disorderly. Now if one commands the strength of the myriad people yet conversely commits cruelty and robbery, this is like a tiger sprouting wings. How can it not be eliminated? [15/143/1–8]
One who raises fish in a pond must fend off otters;
one who raises birds and animals must likewise fend off wolves.
How much more so the one who governs people!
Thus the military of a hegemon or king
is given forethought according to standards,
is planned for according to strategy,
is applied according to Rightness.
It is not used to destroy those that survive
[but] to sustain [those that] are perishing.
When he hears that the ruler of an enemy state is being cruel to his people, he raises the military and descends on [the enemy’s] borders.
He blames the enemy for his lack of Rightness;
he criticizes him for his excessive actions.
When the military reaches the suburbs [of the enemy capital], he commands the army, saying:
“Do not cut down trees;
do not disturb graves;
do not scorch the five grains;
do not burn property;
do not take the people as slaves;
do not steal the six domestic animals.”
Then he issues a pronouncement and effects an edict, saying, “The ruler of X kingdom has scorned Heaven and insulted the ghosts.
He has imprisoned the innocent;
he has wrongfully executed the blameless.
This is what is punished by Heaven,
what is hated by the people.
The coming of the military is to cast aside the unrighteous and to restore the virtuous. Anyone who opposes the Way of Heaven and leads those who rob the people will be killed and his clan exterminated.
Anyone who leads his family to obey will be given an income for his household;
anyone who leads his village to obey will be rewarded with [control of] his village;
anyone who leads his town to obey will be given his town as a fief.
Anyone who leads his district to obey will be made marquis of his district.”
His conquest of the kingdom does not touch the people; he [only] discards their ruler and changes their government.
He reveres their excellent scholars and gives prominence to the worthy and the good;
he uplifts their orphans and widows and shows compassion to their poor and desperate.
He releases those [unjustly] imprisoned;
he rewards those who have merit.
The common people open their doors and await him; they cook rice and supply him; only fearing that he will not come.
This was how Tang and Wu became kings
and how [Duke] Huan of Qi and [Duke] Wen of Jin became hegemons.
Thus when the ruler is without the Way, the people yearn for the military [just] as they hope for rain during a drought or plead for water when they are thirsty. Who among them will lift a weapon to meet the military? Thus to conclude without battle is the ultimate of the righteous military. [15/143/10–21]
15.3
In regard to the military of later ages, although rulers may be without the Way, none do not dig moats, build battlements, and defend [them]. Those who attack do not do so to curtail violence or eliminate harm; they want to invade the land and expand their territory. For this reason, the bodies pile up and the blood flows; they face one another all day, yet the achievement of a hegemon does not appear in the age. It is because they act selfishly.
One who wars for territory cannot become a king;
one who wars for himself cannot establish his merit.
One who takes up a task on behalf of others will be aided by the multitude;
one who takes up a task on his own behalf will be discarded by the multitude.
One who is aided by the multitude must [become] strong even if he is weak;
one who is discarded by the multitude must perish even if he is great. [15/143/23–26]
The military is
weak if it loses the Way;
strong if it obtains the Way.
The commander is
inept if he loses the Way;
skillful if he obtains the Way.
What is called the Way
embodies the circle and is modeled on the square,
shoulders the yin and embraces the yang,
is soft on the left and hard on the right,
treads in the obscure and carries illumination.
It alters and transforms without constancy; it obtains the source of the One and thereby responds limitlessly. This is called spirit illumination.
The circle is Heaven;
the square is earth.
Heaven is circular and without terminus, thus one cannot view its form;
the earth is square and without boundaries, thus one cannot see its gateway.
Heaven transforms and nurtures yet is without form;
Earth generates and rears and yet is without measure.
Vague, hazy, who knows their capacity?
All things have that which defeats them;10 only the Way is invincible.11 It is invincible because it has no constant shape or force. It cycles ceaselessly, like the motion of the sun and moon.
Just as summer and autumn alternate,
just as the sun and the moon have day and night,
it reaches an end and begins again;
it illuminates and becomes dark again.
None can attain its pattern. [15/144/1–7]
It controls form yet is formless;
thus its merit can be complete.
It objectifies things yet is no object;
thus it triumphs and does not submit. [15/144/9]
15.4
Form/punishment12 is the ultimate of the military. Arriving at being without form/punishment may be called the ultimate of the ultimate. For this reason, the great military does no injury; it communicates with the ghosts and spirits. It does not brandish the five weapons, [yet] none in the world dares oppose it. It sets up its drums [but] does not open its arsenal, and none of the Lords of the Land do not freeze in terror. Thus
one who wars from the temple becomes emperor;13
one who [effects] spirit transformation becomes king.
What is called “warring from the temple” is modeling [oneself] on the Way of Heaven.
Spirit transformation is modeling [oneself] on the four seasons.
He cultivates governance within his borders and those afar long for his Potency;
he achieves victory without battle, and the Lords of the Land submit to his might.
It is because internally his government is ordered. [15/144/9–12]
In antiquity those who obtained the Way
in stillness modeled [themselves] on Heaven and Earth,
in motion complied with the sun and moon.
In delight and anger they corresponded to the four seasons;
in calling and answering they were comparable to the thunder and lightning.
Their voice and breath did not oppose the eight winds;
their contracting and extending did not exceed the five standards.14
Below to those [creatures] that have armor and scales;
above to those that have fur and feathers;
all were ordered from first to last. Among the myriad creatures and the hundred clans, from beginning to end, none was without its proper place.
For this reason, [the Way]
enters what is small without being pressed,
lodges in what is vast without being exposed.
It seeps into metal and stone;
it washes over grasses and trees.
[From] something that expands to fill the limits of the six coordinates to the end of a single hair, nothing does not cleave to it. The penetration of the Way suffuses what is [most] subtle. There is nowhere it does not reside; this is why it triumphs over the powerful and the many. [15/144/14–18]
15.5
In archery, if the calibration of the sights is not correct, the target will not be hit.
With the thoroughbred, if [even] one tally goes unused, a thousand li will not be reached.15
Being defeated in battle does not happen on the day the drums give the order [to advance]; one’s daily conduct has been without discipline for a long time. Thus in the military that has obtained the Way,
the chocks are not removed from the chariot [wheels];
the mounts are not saddled;
the drums raise no dust;
the banners are not unfurled;
the armor is not removed from its casings;16
the blades do not taste blood;
the court does not change its location;
the merchants do not leave the market;
the farmers do not leave the fields.
When [the ruler] issues a righteous summons and charges them,
large kingdoms pay court;
small cities submit.
He follows people’s desires and marshals the people’s strength by eliminating cruelty and dispelling thievery.
Thus,
those who value the same [thing] will die for one another;
those who share the same feelings complete one another;
those who have the same desires will find one another;
those who hate the same thing will assist one another.
If one moves in compliance with the Way, the world will [respond as] an echo.
If one plans in compliance with the people, the world will be one’s weapon.
When hunters are pursuing game, the chariots race and the men run, each exhausting his strength. There is no threat of punishment, yet they scold one another for stumbling and urge one another on because they [all] will share in the benefit.
When those in the same boat are crossing a river and meet suddenly with wind and waves, the sons of the hundred clans all quickly grab the oars and row the vessel,17 as if they were the right and left hands [of a single person]. They do not contend with one another because they share the same distress.
Thus the enlightened king’s use of the military is to eliminate injury to the world, and he shares its benefits with the people. The people work as sons do for their fathers, as younger brothers for their elder brothers. The impact of [the king’s] might is like a mountain collapsing or a dike bursting, what enemy would dare to oppose him?
Thus, he who excels at using the military uses [the people] for their own sakes.
If you use [people] for their own sakes, then none in the world may not be used.
If you use [people] for your own sake, what you achieve will be scanty. [15/144/20–29]
15.6
The military has three foundations:
In ordering the kingdom, regulate within the borders.
In effecting Humaneness and Rightness, spread Moral Potency and Benevolence.
In establishing correct laws, block deviant paths.18
[When]
the collected ministers are intimately close,
the common people are harmonious,
superiors and inferiors are of a single mind,
ruler and minister unite their efforts.
The Lords of the Land submit to your might and the four directions cherish your Moral Potency;
you cultivate governance in the temple hall and extend control beyond one thousand li;
you fold your hands, issue commands, and the world responds as an echo.
This is the highest use of the military.
[When]
the territory is broad
and the people numerous;
the ruler is worthy and the commanders loyal;
the kingdom is rich and the military strong;
covenants and prohibitions are trustworthy;
pronouncements and orders are clear.
The two armies oppose each other;
the bells and drums face each other;
yet the enemy flees before the soldiers meet or blades clash. This is the middling use of the military.
[When]
you understand what suits the terrain,
practice the beneficial [use of] narrow and obstructed [positions],
discern the alterations of the extraordinary and the usual,19
investigate the rules for marching and formation, dispersion and concentration;
bind the drumsticks [to your forearms] and roll the drums.
White blades meet;
flying arrows are exchanged;
you wade through blood and tread through guts;
you cart the dead away and support the wounded;
the blood flows for a thousand li;
exposed corpses fill the field;
thus victory is decided. This is the lowest use of the military.
Now everyone in the world
knows to work at studying its branches,
and none knows to resolve to cultivate its root.
This is to discard the root and plant the limbs. [15/145/1–8]
Those things that assist the military in victory are many; those that ensure victory are few.
If armor is sturdy and weapons sharp,
chariots are solid and horses excellent,
rations and equipment sufficient,
officers and men numerous,
these are the great foundations of the army, yet victory is not [found] here. If one is clear about
the movements of the stars, planets, sun, and moon;
the rules of recision and accretion20 and the occult arts;21
the advantages of the rear, front, left, and right;
these are aids to warfare, yet completeness is not [found] here.
That by which the excellent commander is ensured victory is his constant possession of a knowledge without origin, a Way that is not a Way. It is difficult to share with the multitude. [15/145/10–13]
15.7
Meticulously recruiting [personnel],