by An Liu
being timely in movement and rest,
distinguishing officers and enlisted men,
maintaining weapons and armor,
ordering marching squadrons,
organizing platoons and companies,
clarifying drum and banner [signals],
these are the office of the adjutant.22
Distinguishing army camps,
scouring the terrain thoroughly,
choosing the location of the army,
these are the office of the master of horse.
Knowing [which terrain] is obstructed or passable to the front or the rear;
on encountering the enemy knowing what is difficult or easy;
issuing reprimands so that there is no negligence or idleness;
this is the office of the commandant.
[Ensuring that] movement along the route is swift,
that transport of the baggage is orderly,
that the size [of the camp] is standard,
that the positioning of the army is concentrated,
that the wells and stoves are dug [properly],
these are the office of the master of works.
Collecting and storing [materials] in the rear,
leaving nothing behind when camp is moved,
that there are no poorly packed carts,
that there is no missing baggage,
these are the office of the quartermaster.
These five officers are to the commander as the arms, legs, hands, and feet are to the body. He must choose men, assess their talents, [and] make sure that [each] officer can shoulder his responsibilities [and each] man is capable of his task.
He instructs them with regulations;
he applies them with orders;
using them the way that
tigers and leopards use their claws and teeth;
flying birds use their wings.
None is not employed. However, they all are implements that assist victory; they are not that by which victory is ensured. [15/145/13–19]
15.8
The victory or defeat of the military has its basis in governance.
If governance overcomes the people, subordinates will follow their superiors, and the military will be strong.
If the people overcome [their] government, subordinates will rebel against their superiors, and the military will be weak.
Thus,
if Moral Potency and Rightness are sufficient to encompass the people of the world,
if tasks and works are sufficient to meet the urgency of the world,
if selection and promotion are sufficient to win the minds of the worthies and scholars,
if plans and designs suffice to comprehend the heft of strength and weakness,
this is the root of certain victory. [15/145/19–21]
Vast territory and numerous people do not suffice to make one strong;
sturdy armor and sharp weapons do not suffice to make one victorious;
high walls and deep moats do not suffice to make one secure;
strict orders and complex punishments do not suffice to make one mighty.
One who practices the governance of survival, though [his kingdom] is small, will certainly survive.
One who practices the governance of extinction, though [his kingdom] is large, will certainly perish.
In antiquity, the territory of the Kingdom of Chu23
on the south was ringed by the Yuan and Xiang [rivers],
on the north was circled by the Ying and Si [rivers],
on the west was contained by [the states of] Ba and Shu,
on the east, was wrapped by [the states of] Tan and Pi.
[It had] the Ying and Ru [rivers] as ditches;
the Yangzi and Han [rivers] as moats.
Fenced in by the Deng Forest,
screened by a defensive wall.
The mountains [were] so high they scraped the clouds;
the valleys so deep there were no shadows.
The terrain [was] advantageous, the conditions favorable;
the soldiers and people courageous and daring.
They had shark’s leather and rhinoceros [hide] to make armor and helmets;
they had long halberds and short spears together to make up the vanguard.
They had repeating crossbows to bring up the rear,
massed chariots to guard the flanks.
At the quick they were like bolts and arrows,24
concentrated they were like thunder and lightning,
dispersed they were like the wind and rain.
However,
their soldiers fell at Chuisha;25
their multitudes were broken at Boju.26
The might of Chu spanned the earth and encompassed the masses; their portion was half the world. Yet King Huai27 feared Lord Mengchang to the north, [so] he abandoned the defense of his ancestral altars and became a hostage of mighty Qin.
His soldiers defeated and his territory pared away, he died without returning home.
The Second Emperor [of Qin]28 had the force of the Son of Heaven and the wealth of the world.
Nowhere that human footprints reached
or that was traversed by boat and oar
was not his prefecture or district.
Yet,
he was ensnared in the desires of the ears and eyes;
he practiced every possible variety of license and wickedness.
He paid no heed to the people’s hunger, cold, poverty, and distress. He raised a chariot force of ten thousand chariots and built the A-fang palace; he
dispatched conscripted villagers for garrison duty
and collected taxes of more than half [of income].
Those among the common people who were conscripted or executed, who died gripping the crossbar of a wagon or at the head of the road, numbered countless myriads every day.
The world
was feverish as if scorching hot,
bent as if bitterly belabored.
Superior and inferior were not at peace with each other;
officials and commoners were not in harmony.
Chen Sheng,29 a conscript soldier, arose in Daze. He bared his right arm and raised it, proclaiming himself “Great Chu,” and the empire responded like an echo. At that time, he did not have
strong armor or sharp weapons,
powerful bows or hard spears.
They cut date trees to make spears;
they ground awls and chisels to make swords.
They sharpened bamboo
and shouldered hoes
to meet keen halberds and strong crossbows, [yet] no city they attacked or land they invaded did not surrender to them. They roiled and shook, overran and rolled up an area of several thousand square li throughout the world. [Chen Sheng’s] force and station were supremely lowly, and his weapons and equipment were of no advantage, yet one man sang out and the empire harmonized with him. This was because resentment had accumulated among the people. [15/145/23–15/146/12]
When King Wu attacked Djou, he faced east and welcomed the year.30
When he reached the Si River, there was a flood;
when he reached Gongtou, [a mountain] collapsed.31
A comet appeared and presented its tail to the men of Yin. During the battle;
ten suns rioted above;
wind and rain struck below.32
Yet,
in front there were no rewards for braving danger;
at the rear there were no punishments for flight.
Clean blades were never fully drawn and the empire submitted. For this reason,
he who is good at defending cannot be overcome,
and he who is good at battle cannot be attacked.
He understands the Way of restricting entries and opening blockages. He takes advantage of the force of the moment, accords with the desires of the people, and seizes the world. [15/146/14–17]
15.9
Thus,
one who is good at governing a
ccumulates Moral Potency;
one who is good at using the military stores anger.
When Moral Potency accumulates, the people may be employed;
when anger is stored, our awesomeness may be established.
Thus,
when our culture has been applied shallowly, what is brought to submission by heft will be meager.
If our Potency functions broadly, what is controlled by our awesomeness will be expansive.
When what is controlled by our awesomeness is broad, we are strong and the enemy is weak.
Therefore, one who is good at using the military first weakens the enemy and only after does battle. In this way the expense is not even half, and the effect is naturally doubled.
The territory of Tang was seventy li square, and he became king. This was because he cultivated his Moral Potency.
Earl Zhi had a thousand li of land and perished. This was because he was exclusively martial.
Thus, [the ruler of]
a thousand-chariot state that practices civility and Potency will become king;
a ten-thousand chariot state that is fond of using the military will perish.
Thus,
a complete soldier is first victorious and only then seeks battle;
a defeated soldier gives battle first and only then seeks victory.
If Potency is equal, the many will defeat the few.
If strength is matched, the intelligent will defeat the stupid.
If intelligence is the same, then the one with numbers will capture the one without. In all use of the military, one must first fight from the temple.
Whose ruler is more worthy?
Whose commander is more able?
Whose people are more obedient?
Whose state is better ordered?
Who has prepared more stores?
Whose troops are better trained?
Whose armor and weapons are better?
Whose equipment is more efficient?
In this way, one moves counters in the upper hall of the temple and decides victory more than a thousand li away. [15/146/19–26]
15.10
What has form and outline will be seen and praised by the world;
what has chapter and verse will be transmitted and studied by the ages.
These all are [examples] of forms overcoming one another. The one who is skilled at form does not use them as a model. What ennobles the Way is its formlessness. Having no form, it thus
cannot be controlled or coerced;
cannot be measured or ruled;
cannot be tricked or deceived;
cannot be schemed against or planned for.
People will make plans for one whose wisdom is apparent;
they will attack one whose form is apparent;
they will ambush one whose numbers are apparent;
they will defend against one whose weapons are apparent.
Those who
move and initiate, circulate and turn,
straighten and bend, contract and extend
may be tricked and deceived; none is skilled. The movement of the skilled
is as apparent as that of a spirit and yet proceeds like that of a ghost,
is as brilliant as the stars and yet operates in obscurity.
Advancing and retreating, contracting and extending, none sees its form or outline.
It alights like the halcyon and rises like the qilin,
flies like the phoenix and leaps like the dragon.
It emerges like a gale;
it speeds like lightning.
it beats death with life;
it overcomes decline with virility;
it defeats torpor with speed;
it controls hunger with fullness. [It is]
like water eradicating fire,
like heat melting snow.
Where can one go where it does not follow?
Where can one move where it does not reach?
Within, empty and spiritlike;
without, barren of will;
it moves in the formless;
it emerges where it is not expected;
it leaves tumultuously;
it returns unexpectedly.
None knows its destination.
Sudden as thunder and lightning,
swift as wind and rain,
as if bursting from the earth,
as if falling from the sky,
none can respond to or defend against it.
Fast as bolts and arrows, how can it be matched?
Now dark, now bright, who can know its beginning and end?
Before one has seen its launching, it invariably has already arrived. [15/147/1–11]
15.11
Thus the one skilled in arms, on seeing the deficiency of the enemy,
takes advantage of it and does not rest,
pursues it and does not let it go,
presses it and does not [let it] get away.
He
strikes while [the enemy] is in doubt,
overruns him while he hesitates.
[He is like]
swift thunder that does not give [the enemy] time to cover his ears,
fast lightning that leaves [the enemy] no leisure to cover his eyes.
The one skilled in arms
is like the sound to the echo,
is like the gong to the drum.
If a mote gets into [the enemy’s] eye, he does not allow him to wipe it away;
if [the enemy] exhales, he does not allow him to inhale.
At this time,
he does not look up to see Heaven;
he does not look down to view
Earth; his hand does not lift his spear;
his weapon is not fully drawn.
He strikes [the enemy] like thunder;
he hits him like the wind;
he scorches him like fire;
he overcomes him like a wave.
The enemy
does not know where to stay while at rest,
does not know what to do while in motion.
Thus when the drums sound and the flags wave, none facing him do not give up or collapse. Who in the world dares to display might or maintain discipline when facing him? Therefore, one who anticipates others is victorious; one who awaits others is defeated; one who is led by others dies. [15/147/11–16]
15.12
[One]
whose soldiers are still stands firm,
who is concentrated and united is mighty,
whose duties are apportioned is brave,
whose mind is in doubt flees,
whose strength is divided is weak.
Thus, if you can divide his soldiers and cause his mind to doubt, [having] a small fraction [of his strength] will be more than enough. If you cannot divide his soldiers and cause his mind to doubt, [having] many times [his strength] will not suffice.
Djou’s soldiers numbered one million and had one million minds;
King Wu’s soldiers numbered three thousand and all were concentrated and united.
Thus,
one thousand men of the same mind yield the strength of a thousand men;
ten thousand men with different minds do not have the usefulness of one man.
When commander and soldiers, officials and people, all move and rest as if one body, you may respond to the enemy and join battle. Thus,
[when] you set off after plans are firm,
move after duties are apportioned,
the commander has no doubtful designs;
the soldiers have no separate mind;
in motion there is no lax demeanor;
in speech there are no empty words;
in tasks there is no tentativeness;
[then you] will surely respond to the enemy quickly;
[you] will surely initiate actions swiftly.
Thus,
the commander takes the people as his body,
and the people take the commander as their mind.
Whe
n the mind is sincere, the limbs and body will be close and cleave [to it];
when the mind is doubtful, the limbs and body will rebel and flee.
If the mind is not concentrated and unified, the body will not be disciplined in action;
if the commander is not sincere and sure, the soldiers will not be brave and daring.
Thus the soldiers of a good commander
are like the fangs of the tiger,
like the horn of the rhinoceros,
like the wings of a bird,
like the feet of a millipede.
They can advance;
they can withdraw;
they can bite;
they can butt.
They are strong without defeating one another;
they are numerous without harming one another;
one mind moves them.
Thus,
when the people earnestly follow orders, though they are few, there is nothing to fear;
when the people do not follow orders, though they are many, they act as few.
Thus,
when inferiors are not close to superiors. [the commander’s] mind is of no use;
when the soldiers do not fear the commander, his formations will not do battle.
Among defenses there are those that are sure to hold;
among attacks there are those that are sure to triumph
before weapons cross or edges meet the crux of survival and destruction has invariably formed. [15/147/18–28]
15.13
The military has three [types of] force and two [forms of] heft.33
There is the force of qi;
there is the force of terrain;
there is the force of circumstance.
When the commander is full of courage and scorns the enemy;
when soldiers are daring and take joy in battle;
when amid the three armies and within the myriad hosts,
their will leaps to the sky;
their qi is like the whirlwind;
their sound is like thunder.
Their sincerity amasses and their [essence]34 overflows, so that their might falls on the enemy. These are called “the force of qi.”
Mountain trails and marshy passes,
great mountains and famous obstructions,
“dragon coils,” “umbrella peaks,”
“sheep intestine paths,” “fish trap gates”:35
when one person holds the defile, one thousand men do not dare pass. These are called “the force of terrain.”
Relying on their being
belabored and fatigued, negligent and disordered,
hungry and thirsty, frozen or scorched,
pushing them where they are unsteady,