Military Strategy Classics of Ancient China

by Shawn Conners

  Chapter 7 – Twelve Cultivations

  Military effectiveness lies in being firm in decisions. Beneficence lies in giving at the correct time. Adaptation lies in promptly responding to affairs. Warfare lies in controlling morale and fighting spirit. Attack lies in surprises. Defense lies in manipulating external appearance. Perfection lies in being detailed in planning. Not encountering difficulty lies in foresight and preparation. Caution lies in paying attention to details. Wisdom lies in controlling the ‘larger picture’. Eliminating harm lies in being decisive. Gaining the masses lies in deferring to other men.

  Regret arises from relying on what is doubtful. Evil lies in excessive executions. Prejudice comes from frequently following one’s own desires. Non-accomplishment arises from hating negative performance feedback. Extravagance lies in exhausting the people’s resources. Non-enlightenment lies in accepting advice which separates you from reality; being impractical stems from lightly initiating movements. Stubbornness and shallowness lie in staying away from the capable and Worthy. Misfortune lies in loving profits. Harm lies in drawing ruffians near. Demise lies in lacking preparation. Danger lies in lacking clear commands and orders.

  立威在于坚定不移，施惠在于恰合时宜，机变在于适应情况，作战在于激励士气，进攻在于出敌不意，防守在于隐蔽部署，不犯错误在于考虑周密，无困难在于予有准备，慎重在于能警惕小事，明智在于能统筹全局，消除祸患在于勇敢果断，能得人心在于礼贤下士，后悔在于决心犹豫，罪恶在于滥行杀戮，偏袒在于私心过重， 办事不顺在于讨厌听到批评自己的过错，用度不足在于耗尽民财，是非不明在于受人离间，不切事实在于轻举妄动，固执浅薄在于疏远贤人，祸患在于贪财好利，受害在于接近坏人，灭亡在于没有战备，危险在于号令不明。

  Chapter 8 – Military Discussions

  Verse 1

  In general, when employing the military, do not attack cities that have not committed transgressions or slay men who are innocent. Whoever kills people’s fathers and elder brothers; whoever profits himself by plundering the riches and goods of other men; whoever makes slaves of the sons and daughters of other men is, in all cases, a brigand. For this reason, the military provides the means to execute the brutal and chaotic, and to stop the unrighteous. Wherever the army is applied, we must try to retain the farmers in the fields, the merchants in their shops and the officials in their offices: for the use of the military is to punish the one man who started the atrocities. Thus, even without the forces bloodying their blades, all will give their allegiance.

  凡是用兵，不要进攻无过的国家，不要杀害无辜的人民。杀害人家的父兄，掠夺人家的财物，奴役人家的子女，这些都是强盗的行为。战争的目的是平定暴乱，制止不义行为。对于被讨伐的国家，要使农民不离开他们的土地，商人不离开他们的店铺，官吏不离开他们的机关，因为用兵的目的，只在于惩罚祸首一人，所以能不必经过流血战斗就可得到天下的拥护。

  Verse 2

  A state of 10,000 chariots concentrates on both agriculture and warfare. A state of 1,000 chariots focuses on being able to rescue and defend itself. A state of 100 chariots commits itself to be self-sufficient. For those engaged in agriculture and warfare, the ability to start battles depends on ability itself and not something external. Those who can rescue and defend themselves do not seek aid outside themselves, and those who can be self-sufficient do not seek material resources outside themselves. Now if one’s resources are neither sufficient to go forth to wage battle, nor adequate to remain within the borders and defend the state, one must correct the insufficiency with commerce markets. The development of fair trade is a good way to increase taxes, the source of military spending. A state of 10,000 chariots may not collect revenue suitable for states holding only 1,000 chariots. It must develop commerce, taxation and revenue like a state of 10,000 chariots.

  万乘之国实行农战结合，以足食足兵，千乘之国要能自救自守，百乘之国要能自给自足。农战结合，足食足兵的国家，战守之权操之在己而不仰仗他人；能自救自守的国家，就可不向外国乞求援助；能自给自足的国家，就可不向别邦乞求资财。[在国防经济上，]如果进不足以战胜敌人，退不足以进行固守的，就应该用发展集市贸易的办法来解决。发展集市贸易，是增加税收、供给军费的好办法。万乘之国虽然不像千乘之国那样求助于人，但必须像百乘之国那样，发展贸易，增加收入。

  Verse 3

  In general, executions provide the means to spotlight an army’s military grandeur. If by executing one man, the entire army will be shaken into action, kill him. If by killing one man, 10,000 men will rejoice, kill him. In executing, start with those of high authority; in rewarding, start with those of low positions. If someone should be killed, then even though he is honored and powerful, he must be executed, for this will show that punishment goes all the way to the top. When rewards extend down to the cowherds and stable boys, this is reward flowing down to the lowest. Now the ability to implement punishments reaching all the way to the top and rewards flowing down to the lowest is known as the general’s martial charisma. Thus rulers should value such generals.

  杀戮，是用来整肃军威的。杀一人能使全军震动的，就杀掉他。杀一人能使万人高兴的，就杀掉他。需要杀人时，应该以地位高的人作典型，实行奖赏时应该以地位低的人做榜样。应该杀的虽然官高势大，也一定要杀，这就是”刑上究”的原则；奖赏及于下属的牛童马倌，这就是”赏下流”的原则。能够做到”刑上究”，”赏下流”，这是将帅威武严肃的表现。所以君主应该尊重将帅的职权。

  Verse 4

  Now when the commanding general takes up the drum to direct an army that is going into battle, when the swords clash, if the general directs well, he will be rewarded for his achievements, and his fame will be established. If he does not direct well, he himself will die and the state will perish. For this reason survival and extinction, security and danger all lie in the ability of the general. How can one not value the general?

  将帅击鼓指挥军队，使其在危难情况下与敌决战，当两军短兵相接的时候，如果指挥得当，就会建立功名，如果指挥不当，就会身死亡。由此看来，国家的存亡安危，在于将帅的指挥是否得当，这怎能不使人重视将帅的作用呢？

  Verse 5

  Now taking up the drums and wielding the drumsticks, having the soldiers collide and the blades clash, so that the ruler achieves great success through military affairs, all these I do not find to be difficult. The ancients said, ‘Attacking without chariots with protective covering, defending without equipment such as the caltrops, this is what is meant by an army that does not excel at anything!’ Impoverished armies, lacking in equipment and supplies, stem from the state not having commerce. Commerce should be regulated by officers from the government. The government should buy items which are cheap in the market and sell those which are expensive in order to restrain the aristocrats and civilian people. People only eat one dou (roughly 2 pounds) of grain, and horses eat three dou of beans, so why is it that the people have a famished look and the horses an emaciated appearance? This is because the markets have goods to deliver but lack a controller. Now if you raise the best trained army but do not manage the markets, one would be unable to conduct warfare.

  击鼓指挥军队，与敌人进行格斗，君主要取得军事上的胜利，我以为并不是困难的事。古人说：”没有’蒙冲’去进攻，没有’渠答’去防守，这是装备不完善的军队”。军队由于营养不良，以致影响了视力，影响了听力，这是由于国家没有管好市场，以致供给缺乏的原故。市场，应对百货进行管理，用贱买贵卖的办法，以限制士民操纵物价。一般说，每人每天不过吃粮食一斗，每马每天不过吃饲料三斗，而弄得士卒 �
��饿，马匹瘦弱，这是为什么呢？这是由于市场虽有各种物品，而无人管理的原故。要知道统率天下的军队，而没有对百货进行有效的管理，那是不能顺利进行作战的。

  Verse 6

  To be able to retain men in service, straight from their mobilization to the time when their armor and helmets have become worm infested (death), they must be men whom we can employ gainfully. This is like a bird of prey pursuing a sparrow which flies into a man’s arm or enters someone’s dwelling. It is not that the sparrow is casting away its life, but that to the rear, there is something worse to fear.

  进行战争，能使军队坚持长期作战的，必然是由于军令严明，官兵不得不为我效力的原故。譬如凶猛的鸟追逐小雀，有时竟使小雀窜入人们的怀中，闯进人家的室内，这并不是它愿意舍生就死，而是怕后面的凶鸟追上来了。

  Verse 7

  When Tai Gong Wang was seventy, he butchered cows at Chao Ge and sold food in Meng Jin. He was more than seventy years old, but the ruler did not give an office to him and people all referred to him as a mad fellow. Then when he met King Wen of Zhou Dynasty he commanded a mass of 30,000, and with one battle, the country was settled. Without his wisdom and strategic planning, how could they have achieved this unification? Thus there is a saying, ‘If a good horse is whipped, a distant road can be traversed; if Worthies and men of rank unite together, the way to good governance will be illuminated.’

  太公望到了七十岁，还在朝歌宰牛为业，在盟津卖食品谋生。年过七十，还没有得到君主的任用，许多人都说他是放荡不拘的人。及至遇见了周文王，却能统帅三万之众，一战而平定天下。如果他没有高深的谋略，哪能得到这样的重用呢？所以常言说，良马得到鞭策就可以日行十里。贤士得到重用，就可使政治昌明。

  Verse 8

  When King Wu of Zhou attacked King Zhou of Shang, the army forded the Yellow River at Meng Chin. On the right was the king’s pennant, on the left the axe of punishment, together with 300 warriors committed to die and 30,000 fighting men. King Zhou’s formation deployed several hundred thousand men, with the infamous ministers, Fei Lian and E Lai personally leading against halberdiers and axe bearers. Their lines stretched across a hundred miles. King Wu did not exhaust the warriors or people, the soldiers did not bloody their blades, and they conquered the Shang Dynasty and executed King Zhou. There was nothing auspicious or abnormal; it was merely a case of perfecting oneself, or not perfecting oneself, in human affairs. Generals of the present generation investigate ‘singular days’ and ‘empty mornings’, divine about Xian Chi, interpret full and disastrous days, accord with the 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.

  武王伐纣，统帅军队在盟津渡河，他右手执白旄，左手执黄钺，指挥敢死之士三百人，士卒三万人同商军作战。这时商纣的军队有几十万，而又有飞廉恶来这些勇将，身先士卒，不避戟斧，阵势绵延百里不断。但武王并没有使士卒疲劳，也没有经过激烈的战斗，就打败了商军，诛灭了纣王。这不是由于什么吉凶灾祥预兆，而是由于人善与不善的必然结果。如今一般庸将，只知道考究时辰判定方位，求神问卜推测吉凶，以及观察星辰风云的变化来推断战争的胜败，想用这些方法来致胜立功， 我以为是很难做到的。

  Verse 9

  Now the commanding general should not be governed by timing and trends, not controlled by the terrain below, nor governed by men. Weapons are evil implements. War is contrary to Virtue. The post of the general is an office of life and death. Thus only when it cannot be avoided does one employ these things. In directing a war, the general should not be restricted by timings and trends, should not be limited by terrain, should not be restricted by the ruler at the rear and restricted by an enemy in the front. The unified army, acting as one man, should be like the wolf and tiger, like the wind and rain, like thunder and lightning, with military grandeur and mysteriousness. All under Heaven should be 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. Now if one has the sharpness of the famous sword Mo Yeh, the toughness of rhinoceros hide for armor, the large masses of the army, and using direct and indirect methods, then under Heaven, no one can withstand him in battle. Thus it is said that if you use the Worthy and employ the talented, even if the hour and day are not auspicious, your results will still yield the advantage. If you make the laws clear and are cautious about orders, without divining the tortoise shell or milfoil (superstitious practices) you will obtain propitious results. If you honor achievement and nurture effort, without praying, you will obtain good fortune. It is also said that ‘timing and trends are not as good as the advantage of terrain; the advantages of terrain are not as good as harmony among men.’ The sages of antiquity stressed human effort; that is all.

  做将帅的人，必须上不受天时的限制，下不受地形的限制，中不受人为的限制。武器，是杀人的凶器，战争，是暴力的行动，将帅，是掌握生杀的官吏，所以只在不得已的情况下才能使用它。指导战争，要做到上不受天时的影响，下不受地形的限制，后面不受君主的制约，前不受敌人的阻抗。万众一心的军队，行动起来就象虎狼般的勇猛，风雨般的急骤，雷电般的突然，声势浩大，行动莫测，使天下惊惧。胜利的军队象水一样，水看来是最柔弱的，但它所冲击的地方，山陵也会崩塌，这不是别的原因，而是由于水总是流向一个方向，不断冲刷的结果。现在用莫邪那样锋利的武器，犀牛皮制成的坚固铠甲，装备起来的大量军队，再加上奇正的灵活运用，天下就没有任何力量可以同他抗衡了。所以说，只要任用贤能，不须选择吉日良辰事情也会顺利；只要法令严明，不须求神问卜也会获得吉祥；只要奖励战功优厚抚恤，不须祈祷也会得福。又说，天时有利不如地形有利，地形有利不如人心和睦。古代的圣人，不过是重视人的作用罢了。

  Verse 10

  When Wu Qi engaged Qin in battle, wherever he encamped, he would not flatten the ground where he slept. He used young saplings to provide protective covering against the frost and dew. Why did he act like this? He did 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 does not want trouble, or want to trouble anyone. Anger the people, and yet require them to die, to exhaust their strength - from antiquity till today has never been heard of as having achieved success.

  吴起与秦军作战，就睡在不加平整的田埂上，只用树枝掩盖以遮蔽霜露。为什么这样呢？这是因为他不自视高人一等的原故。凡是要求人家为你效死，就不能要求人家对你必恭必敬；要求人家竭尽全力，就不能讲究那些繁文缛节。所以古时候穿戴盔甲的将士不行跪拜之礼，这是表示不愿因自己而增加别人的麻烦。给别人增添很多麻烦，而又要求人家为你效死尽力，是从古至今，没有听说过的。

  Verse 11

  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 his safety. When Wu Qi approached the time for battle, his attendants offered their swords. Wu Qi said: ‘The general takes sole control of orders given. When a decision needs to be made, he makes it. He controls the troops and directs th
eir blades. Such is the work of the general. Charging at the enemy, as a single soldier, that is not a general’s affair.’

  将帅奉命出征的时候，就忘掉自己的家庭，带领军队到达战场的时候，就忘掉自己的亲属，临阵指挥的时候，就忘掉自己的安危。从前吴起临战的时候，左右的人把宝剑呈送给他。吴起说：”将帅的主要职责是发号施令。在危难的情况下，做出决断，以指挥军队去作战，这才是将帅的职责，直接拿起兵器与敌人格斗，不是将帅的职责。

  Verse 12

  When the army has assumed formation, they should advance for a day and complete a total of three days’ distance. Beyond the three days’ distance, they should be like a dammed river that has been released. Observing the enemy in front, one should employ their strengths. If the enemy’s flags are white, we use white flags; if they are using red banners then we use red banners.

  三军整队行军，先行三十里，接着走三天，走九十里。九十里以后，就要象决开江河一样势不可挡地前进。与敌人接近时，应根据敌人特点来对付他，如果敌人使用白色标记，我也用白色标记来欺骗它，敌人用红色标记，我也用红色标记迷惑它。

  Verse 13

  When Wu Qi engaged Qin 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 Qi immediately ordered his decapitation. An army commander remonstrated with him, saying: ‘This is a skilled warrior. You cannot execute him.’ Wu Qi replied: ‘There is no question that he is a skilled warrior, but it is not what I ordered.’ He had him executed.