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8.
To see victory only when it is within the ken of the common herd is
not the acme of excellence.
[As
Ts`ao Kung remarks, "the thing is to see the plant before it has
germinated," to foresee the event before the action has begun.
Li Ch`uan alludes to the story of Han Hsin who, when about to
attack the vastly superior army of Chao, which was strongly entrenched in
the city of Ch`eng-an, said to his officers:
"Gentlemen, we are going to annihilate the enemy, and shall
meet again at dinner." The officers hardly took his words seriously,
and gave a very dubious assent. But
Han Hsin had already worked out in his mind the details of a clever
stratagem, whereby, as he foresaw, he was able to capture the city and
inflict a crushing defeat on his adversary."]
9.
Neither is it the acme of excellence if you fight and conquer and the
whole Empire says, "Well done!"
[True
excellence being, as Tu Mu says: "To
plan secretly, to move surreptitiously, to foil the enemy's intentions and
balk his schemes, so that at last the day may be won without shedding a
drop of blood." Sun Tzu reserves his approbation for things that "the
world's coarse thumb, And
finger fail to plumb."]
10.
To lift an autumn hair is no sign of great strength;
["Autumn"
hair" is explained as the fur of a hare, which is finest in autumn,
when it begins to grow afresh. The
phrase is a very common one in Chinese writers.]
to
see the sun and moon is no sign of sharp sight; to hear the noise of thunder
is no sign of a quick ear.
[Ho
Shih gives as real instances of strength, sharp sight and quick hearing:
Wu Huo, who could lift a tripod weighing 250 stone; Li Chu, who at
a distance of a hundred paces could see objects no bigger than a mustard
seed; and Shih K`uang, a blind musician who could hear the footsteps of a
mosquito.]
11.
What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins,
but excels in winning with ease.
[The
last half is literally "one who, conquering, excels in easy
conquering." Mei Yao-ch`en says:
"He who only sees the obvious, wins his battles with
difficulty; he who looks below the surface of things, wins with
ease."]
12.
Hence his victories bring him neither reputation for wisdom nor
credit for courage.
[Tu
Mu explains this very well: "Inasmuch
as his victories are gained over circumstances that have not come to
light, the world as large knows nothing of them, and he wins no reputation
for wisdom; inasmuch as the hostile state submits before there has been
any bloodshed, he receives no credit for courage."]
13.
He wins his battles by making no mistakes.
[Ch`en
Hao says: "He plans no superfluous marches, he devises no futile
attacks." The connection of ideas is thus explained by Chang Yu:
"One who seeks to conquer by sheer strength, clever though he
may be at winning pitched battles, is also liable on occasion to be
vanquished; whereas he who can look into the future and discern conditions
that are not yet manifest, will never make a blunder and therefore
invariably win."]
Making
no mistakes is what establishes the certainty of victory, for it means
conquering an enemy that is already defeated.
14.
Hence the skillful fighter puts himself into a position which makes
defeat impossible, and does not miss the moment for defeating the enemy.
[A
"counsel of perfection" as Tu Mu truly observes.
"Position" need not be confined to the actual ground occupied by
the troops. It includes all the arrangements and preparations which a
wise general will make to increase the safety of his army.]
15.
Thus it is that in war the victorious strategist only seeks battle
after the victory has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first
fights and afterwards looks for victory.
[Ho
Shih thus expounds the paradox: "In
warfare, first lay plans which will ensure victory, and then lead your
army to battle; if you will not begin with stratagem but rely on brute
strength alone, victory will no longer be assured."]
16.
The consummate leader cultivates the moral law, and strictly adheres
to method and discipline; thus it is in his power to control success.
17.
In respect of military method, we have, firstly, Measurement;
secondly, Estimation of quantity; thirdly, Calculation; fourthly, Balancing
of chances; fifthly, Victory.
18.
Measurement owes its existence to Earth; Estimation of quantity to
Measurement; Calculation to Estimation of quantity; Balancing of chances to
Calculation; and Victory to Balancing of chances.
[It
is not easy to distinguish the four terms very clearly in the Chinese.
The first seems to be surveying and measurement of the ground,
which enable us to form an estimate of the enemy's strength, and to make
calculations based on the data thus obtained; we are thus led to a general
weighing-up, or comparison of the enemy's chances with our own; if the
latter turn the scale, then victory ensues.
The chief difficulty lies in third term, which in the Chinese some
commentators take as a calculation of NUMBERS, thereby making it nearly
synonymous with the second term. Perhaps the second term should be thought of as a
consideration of the enemy's general position or condition, while the
third term is the estimate of his numerical strength. On the other hand,
Tu Mu says: "The question of relative strength having been settled,
we can bring the varied resources of cunning into play." Ho Shih
seconds this interpretation, but weakens it.
However, it points to the third term as being a calculation of
numbers.]
19.
A victorious army opposed to a routed one, is as a pound's weight
placed in the scale against a single grain.
[Literally,
"a victorious army is like an I (20 oz.) weighed against a SHU (1/24
oz.); a routed army is a SHU weighed against an I." The point is
simply the enormous advantage which a disciplined force, flushed with
victory, has over one demoralized by defeat." Legge, in his note on
Mencius, I. 2. ix. 2, makes
the I to be 24 Chinese ounces, and corrects Chu Hsi's statement that it
equaled 20 oz. only. But Li
Ch`uan of the T`ang dynasty here gives the same figure as Chu Hsi.]
20.
The onrush of a conquering force is like the bursting of pent-up
waters into a chasm a thousand fathoms deep.
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