Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War: The Oldest Military Treatise in the WorldSunzi, active 6th century B.C.
Philosophy
Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War: The Oldest Military Treatise in the World
Sunzi, active 6th century B.C.
Military art and science -- Early works to 1800; War -- Early works to 1800
Capt. Calthrop omits 至任. Out of the foregoing six 地形, it will
be noticed that nos. 3 and 6 have really no reference to the
configuration of the country, and that only 4 and 5 can be said to
convey any definite geographical idea.
14. 故兵有走者有弛者有陷者有崩者有亂者有北者凡此六者非天之災將之過也
Now an army is exposed to six several calamities, not arising from
natural causes,
The _T‘u Shu_ reads 天地之災.
but from faults for which the general is responsible. These are: (1)
Flight; (2) insubordination; (3) collapse; (4) ruin; (5)
disorganisation; (6) rout.
I take exception to Capt. Calthrop’s rendering of 陷 and 崩 as
“distress” and “disorganisation,” respectively.
15. 夫勢均以一擊十曰走
Other conditions being equal, if one force is hurled against another
ten times its size, the result will be the _flight_ of the former.
Cf. III. § 10. The general’s fault here is that of 不料力 “not
calculating the enemy’s strength.” It is obvious that 勢 cannot
have the same force as in § 12, where it was equivalent to 兵力. I
should not be inclined, however, to limit it, with Chang Yü, to
將之智勇兵之利銳 “the wisdom and valour of the general and the
sharpness of the weapons.” As Li Ch‘üan very justly remarks,
若得形便之地用奇伏之計則可矣 “Given a decided advantage in position,
or the help of some stratagem such as a flank attack or an
ambuscade, it would be quite possible [to fight in the ratio of
one to ten].”
16. 卒强吏弱曰弛吏强卒弱曰陷
When the common soldiers are too strong and their officers too weak,
the result is _insubordination_.
弛 “laxity”—the metaphor being taken from an unstrung bow. Capt.
Calthrop’s “relaxation” is not good, on account of its ambiguity.
Tu Mu cites the unhappy case of 田布 T‘ien Pu [_Hsin T‘ang Shu_,
ch. 148], who was sent to 魏 Wei in 821 A.D. with orders to lead an
army against 王廷湊 Wang T‘ing-ts‘ou. But the whole time he was in
command, his soldiers treated him with the utmost contempt, and
openly flouted his authority by riding about the camp on donkeys,
several thousands at a time. T‘ien Pu was powerless to put a stop
to this conduct, and when, after some months had passed, he made an
attempt to engage the enemy, his troops turned tail and dispersed
in every direction. After that, the unfortunate man committed
suicide by cutting his throat.
When the officers are too strong and the common soldiers too weak, the
result is _collapse_.
Ts‘ao Kung says: 吏强欲進卒弱輒陷 “The officers are energetic and
want to press on, the common soldiers are feeble and suddenly
collapse.” Note that 弱 is to be taken literally of physical
weakness, whereas in the former clause it is figurative. Li Ch‘üan
makes 陷 equivalent to 敗, and Tu Mu explains it as 陷沒於死地
“stumbling into a death-trap.”
17. 大吏怒而不服遇敵懟而自戰將不知其能曰崩
When the higher officers
大吏, according to Ts‘ao Kung, are the 小將 “generals of inferior
rank.” But Li Ch‘üan, Ch‘ên Hao and Wang Hsi take the term as
simply convertible with 將 or 大將.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account