The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China

by Ralph D Sawyer

  "Generals of the present generation investigate `singular days' and `empty mornings,' divine about Hsien-ch'ih,95 interpret full and disastrous days, accord with tortoise shell augury, look for the auspicious and baleful, and observe the changes of the planets, constellations, and winds-wanting to thereby gain victory and establish their success. I view this as very difficult!

  "Now the commanding general is not governed by Heaven above, controlled by Earth below, nor governed by men in the middle. Thus weapons are evil implements. Conflict is a contrary virtue. The post of general is an office of death. Thus only when it cannot be avoided does one employ them.96 There is no Heaven above, no Earth below, no ruler to the rear, and no enemy in the front. The [unified] army of one man is like the wolf and tiger, like the wind and rain, like thunder and lightning. Shaking and mysterious, All under Heaven are terrified by it.

  "The army that would be victorious is like water. Now water is the softest and weakest of things, but whatever it collides with-such as hills and mounds-will be collapsed by it for no other reason than its nature is concentrated and its attack is totally committed.97 Now if one has the sharpness of the famous sword Mo Yeh, the toughness of rhinoceros hide [for armor], the masses of the Three Armies, and orthodox and unorthodox methods, then under All Heaven no one can withstand him in battle.

  "Thus it is said that if you raise the Worthy and employ the talented, even if the hour and day [are not auspicious], your affairs will still be advantageous. If you make the laws clear and are cautious about orders, without divining with the tortoise shell or milfoil you will obtain propitious results. If you honor achievement and nurture effort, without praying you will obtain good fortune. It is also said that `the seasons of Heaven are not as good as the advantages of Earth; the advantages of Earth are not as good as harmony among men.' The Sages of antiquity stressed human effort, that is all.

  "When Wu Ch'i engaged Ch'in in battle, wherever he encamped the army did not flatten the paths between the fields. Young saplings provided protective covering against the frost and dew. Why did he act like this? Because he did not place himself higher than other men. If you want men to die, you do not require them to perform [perfunctory acts of] respect. If you want men to exhaust their strength, you do not hold them responsible for performing the rites. Thus, in antiquity an officer wearing a helmet and armor did not bow, showing people that he is not troubled by anything.98 To annoy people yet require them to die, to exhaust their strength, from antiquity until today has never been heard of.

  "When the commanding general receives his mandate, he forgets his family. When he commands the army and they encamp in the field, he forgets those close to him. When he takes up the drumsticks and drums [the advance], he forgets himself.

  "When Wu Ch'i approached the time for battle, his attendants offered their swords. Wu Ch'i said: `The general takes sole control of the flags and drums, and that is all. Approaching hardship he decides what is doubtful, controls the troops, and directs their blades. Such is the work of the general. Bearing a single sword, that is not a general's affair.'

  "When the Three Armies have assumed formation, they should advance for a day and [on the next day] make a forced march to complete a total of three days' distance.99 Beyond three days' distance they should be like unblocking the source of a river.100 Observing the enemy in front, one should employ their strength. If the enemy is white, then whiten them; if they are red, then redden them.'01

  "When Wu Ch'i engaged Ch'in in battle, before the armies clashed one man-unable to overcome his courage-went forth to slay two of the enemy and return with their heads. Wu Ch'i immediately ordered his decapitation. An army commander remonstrated with him, saying: `This is a skilled warrior. You cannot execute him.' Wu Ch'i said: `There is no question that he is a skilled warrior. But it is not what I ordered.' He had him executed."102

  "In general, a general is an officer of the law, the ruler of the ten thousand things. It cannot be the personal domain of one man. When it is not the personal domain of one man, the ten thousand things will all come [of themselves] and be governed there, the ten thousand things will all come and be commanded there.

  "The perfected man [chun-tzu] does not stop criminals more than five paces away. Even though they may shoot at him with barbed arrows, he does not pursue them. He excels at discovering the nature of a criminal's offense. Without relying on thorn branches, he can obtain a complete understanding of the offender's situation.104

  "If you flog a person's back, brand his ribs, or compress his fingers in order to question him about the nature of his offense, even a state hero could not withstand this cruelty and would falsely implicate himself.105

  "There is a saying in our age: `One who has thousands of pieces of gold will not die; one who has hundreds of pieces of gold will not suffer corporeal punishment.' If you listen to my techniques and try them in practice, then even a person with the wisdom of Yao or Shun will not be able to affect a word [of the charge against him], nor one with ten thousand pieces of gold be able to use the smallest silver piece [to escape punishment].

  "At present those in prison awaiting judgment number no less than several tens in the smallest gaols, no less than several hundred in the middle-sized jails, and no less than several thousand in the largest prisons. Ten men entangle one hundred men in their affairs; one hundred men drag in one thousand; and one thousand trap ten thousand. Those that have become entangled are parents and brothers; next relatives by marriage; and next those who are acquaintances and old friends. For this reason the farmers all leave their occupations in the fields, the merchants depart from their stores, and the officials leave their posts.106 These good people have all been dragged in because of the nature of our criminal proceedings. The Art of War says: `When an army of ten thousand goes forth, its daily expense is a thousand pieces of gold.i107 Now when there are ten thousand good people thus entangled and imprisoned, yet the ruler is unable to investigate the situation-I take it to be dangerous!"

  "Bureaucratic offices are the means to control affairs and [are] the foundation of administration. Regulations which divide the people into four groups according to their occupations are the parameters of administration.'" Honor, rank, riches, and salaries must be appropriately determined for they are the embodiment of nobility and humbleness. Treating the good well and punishing the evil, rectifying the laws for organizing the people, and collecting taxes and impositions are implements for governing the people.109 Making land distributions equitable and restraining taxes and other impositions on the people provide measure to what is levied and bestowed. Regulating the artisans and [ordering] the preparation of implements for use is the contribution of the master artisans.10 Dividing the territory and occupying the strategic points is the work of eliminating oddities and stopping licentiousness. Preserving the laws, investigating affairs, and making decisions are the roles of subordinates. Illuminating the laws and examining their application are functions of the ruler. Illuminating the duties of the bureaucrats, setting responsibilities as light or heavy-these fall under the authority [ch'i an] of the ministers and ruler.I I I

  "Making rewards and bestowals clear, being strict in executing and punishing are methods for stopping evil. Being cautious about opening and closing and preserving the single Tao are the essentials of government.12 When [information] from below reaches to high and [the concerns of] high penetrate to below, this is the most sensitive of perceptions. By knowing the extent of the state's resources, you can plan to use the surplus.13 Knowing the weakness of others is [the way] to embody strength; knowing the movements of others is [the way] to determine quietness.1' Offices are divided into the civil and the martial, and only the ruler exercises power over both.

  "The ceremonial vessels are all regulated for the Son of Heaven's convocation. When itinerant persuaders and spies have no means [to gain entrance], this is the technique for rectifying discussions. The feudal lords have their rites for honoring the Son of Heaven, and rulers and their peo
ple-generation after generation-continue to acknowledge the king's mandate [to rule]. If someone changes or creates new rites, alters what is normal, or contravenes the king's illustrious Virtue, then in accord with the li [rites] the king can attack them.' 15

  "Officials with no affairs to administer, a ruler without rank or rewards [that need to be] bestowed, a populace without criminal cases or lawsuits, a state without traders or merchants' 6-how perfected the king's rule! What I have so clearly proposed should be well heeded by your Majesty."

  "In general, what is the Way to govern men? I say that without the five grains"' you have nothing to fill their stomachs, without silk and hemp nothing to cover their form. Thus to fill their stomachs there are grains, and to cover their form there is thread. Husbands work at weeding and plowing, wives at weaving. If the people do not have secondary occupations, then there will be goods accumulated in the storehouses. The men should not engrave nor make decorative carving; the women should not embroider nor do decorative stitching.

  "[Carved] wooden vessels emit secretions, [engraved] metal utensils smell offensive. The Sage drinks from an earthen [vessel] and eats from an earthen [vessel]. Thus when clay is formed to make utensils there is no waste under Heaven. Today [people think] the nature of metal and wood is not cold for they embroider their clothes (with them]. The original nature of horses and oxen is to eat grass and drink water, but they give them beans and grains. This is governing which has lost its foundation, and it would be appropriate to establish regulations to control it.

  "If in the spring and summer the men go out to the southern fields, and in the fall and winter the women work at weaving cloth, the people will not be impoverished. Today, when their short, coarse clothing does not even cover their bodies nor the dregs of wine and husks of grain fill their stomachs, [the foundation] of government has been lost.

  "In antiquity the land was not [classified] as fertile or barren, the people were not [classified] as diligent or lazy. How could the ancients have attained this, how could we have lost it now? The men do not finish plowing their fields, the women daily break their shuttles, so how could they not be hungry and cold? Probably, the administration of the ancients was fully effected, while that of today stops [before thorough implementation].

  "Now what I term `governing well' means causing the people not to have any selfish interests. If the people do not have selfish interests, then All under Heaven will be one family. In the absence of private plowing and weaving, they will suffer the cold together, they will experience hunger together. Then even if they have ten sons they will not have [the expense of] even an extra bowl of rice, while if they have one son their expenses will not be reduced by even one bowl. Thus where would there be any clamoring and drunken indulgence to ruin the good people?

  "When the people stimulate each other to frivolity and extravagance, the misfortunes of the desiring mind and of the competition to seize [things] arise. Perversity begins with one fellow, and then the people seek to selfishly accumulate some extra food and have some stored wealth. If the people then commit a single offense and you arrest them and impose corporeal punishments to control them, how is one acting as the ruler of the people? Those that excel at governing take hold of the regulations, causing the people not to have any selfish interests. When those below do not dare to be selfish, there will not be any who commit evil.

  "Return to the foundation, accord with principle, have all issue forth from one Tao, and then the desiring mind will be eliminated. Competition will be stopped, the jails will be empty, the fields full, and the grains plentiful. You will settle the people and embrace the distant. Then outside your borders there will not be any difficulty under Heaven, while within the state there will be neither violence nor turbulence. This is the perfection of administration.

  "The azure sky-no one knows its extremity! Of the ancient emperors and Sage kings, who should be your model? Ages that have passed cannot be regained, future ages cannot be awaited. Seek them in yourself.

  "There are four qualities for one referred to as the Son of Heaven: 'Spiritual enlightenment,' `display of brilliance,"" `vast discourse,' 119 and `being without enemies.' These are the aspects of the Son of Heaven.

  "Wild animals are not used for sacrificial offerings, miscellaneous studies do not make a scholar of attainment. Today people say: `The hundred li of the sea cannot quench one man's [uncontrolled] thirst; a spring three feet deep can slake the thirst of the Three Armies.' I say: `Desire is born from lack of measure, perversity is born from lacking prohibitions.' The highest ruler transforms in spiritlike fashion, the next relies on things, the lowest relies on not taking the people away from their seasonal work nor seizing the people's wealth. Now prohibitions must be completed through the martial, rewards must be completed through the civil."

  "The Art of War120 states: `One thousand men provide the means to exercise the tactical balance of power [ch'uan], ten thousand men constitute martial prowess. If you apply the force of tactical power to the enemy first, he will not be able to commit in strength. If you apply martial prowess first, the enemy will not be able to engage you with his full awesomeness.' Thus the army values being first. If it is victorious in this, then it will conquer the enemy. If it is not victorious in this, then it will not conquer them.

  "Now when we go, they come; when we come, they go. These mutually produce victory and defeat. The pattern of battle is thus.

  "Now essential sincerity lies in spiritual enlightenment. The tactical balance of power [ch'uan] lies in the extremities of the Tao. If you have something, pretend not to have it; if you lack something, appear to have it.121 Then how can the enemy trust the appearance?

  "The reason the Former Kings are still heard about is that they entrusted the upright with responsibility and eliminated the deceitful. They always preserved their benevolent and congenial hearts but were decisive, without delaying, in effecting punishments. One who understands the Tao of Warfare will invariably first plan against the defeats which arise from not knowing where to stop. Why must one always advance to be successful? If you advance too lightly and seek to engage the enemy in battle, should they-on the contrary-plan to stop your going forth, the enemy will control the victory. Thus the Art of War says: `If they seek us, pursue them; when you see them, attack. When the aggressors dare not oppose us, press the attack, and they will inevitably lose their tactical power.'122

  "Those from whom [the initiative] has been taken have no ch'i; those who are afraid are unable to mount a defense; those who have suffered defeat have no men.123 They are all cases of an army lacking the Tao [of the military]. When you decide to go forth and have no doubts, then follow your plan. When you rob the enemy [of his plans] and still no one confronts you, press the attack home. If you can see clearly and occupy the high ground, then overawe them [into submission]. This is the pinnacle of the Tao of the military.

  "Those who are unguarded in their discussion can be clandestinely listened to. Those who come forth to insult and taunt [your forces] without proper discipline can be destroyed. Those whose attack is like water rushing forth, like lightning striking can throw their army into chaos.124 You must settle those [of your troops who are] in crisis, eliminate their worries, and decide matters through wisdom. Be superior to the enemy through discussions in the court; be more majestic and severe than they through discussions on bestowing the mandate [of command]; and arouse their fighting spirit through discussions of crossing the enemy's borders.125 Then the enemy state can be forced to submit without fighting."

  "If a general commanding one thousand men or more retreats from battle, surrenders his defenses, or abandons his terrain and deserts his troops, he is termed a `state brigand.' He should be executed, his family exterminated, his name expunged from the registers, his ancestral graves broken open, his bones exposed in the marketplace, and his male and female children pressed into government servitude. If the commander of one hundred or more men retreats from battle, surrenders his defenses, or abandons
his terrain and deserts his troops, he is termed an `army brigand.' He should be executed, his family exterminated, and his male and female children pressed into government servitude.

  "If you cause the people to fear heavy punishments within the state, then outside the state they will regard the enemy lightly. Thus the Former Kings made the regulations and measures clear before making their awesomeness and punishments heavy. When punishments are heavy, then they will fear them within the state. When they fear them within the state, then they will be stalwart outside it."

  "Within the army the regulations for organization should be as follows: Five men comprise a squad of five, with all the members being mutually responsible for each other. Ten men comprise a double squad of ten, with all the members being mutually responsible for each other. Fifty men compose a platoon, with all the members being mutually responsible for each other. One hundred men comprise a company, with all the members being mutually responsible for each other.

  "If a member of the squad of five violates an order or commits an offense, should the others report it their punishment will be remitted. If they know about it but do not report it, then the entire squad will be punished. If a member of the double squad of ten violates an order or commits an offense, should the others report it their punishment will be remitted. If they know about it but do not report it, then the entire double squad will be punished. If a member of a platoon violates an order or commits an offense, should the others report it their punishment will be remitted. If they know about it but do not report it, then the entire platoon will be punished. If a member of a company violates an order or commits an offense, should the others report it their punishment will be remitted. If they know about it but do not expose him, the entire company will be punished.