政舉 does not mean “when war is declared,” as Capt. Calthrop says, nor yet exactly, as Ts‘ao Kung paraphrases it, 謀定 “when your plans are fixed,” when you have mapped out your campaign. The phrase is not given in the _P‘ei Wên Yün Fu_. There being no causal connection discoverable between this and the preceding sentence, 是故 must perforce be left untranslated. block the frontier passes, 夷 is explained by Mei Yao-ch‘ên as 滅塞. destroy the official tallies, The _locus classicus_ for these tallies is _Chou Li_, XIV. fol. 40 (Imperial edition): 門關用符節貨賄用璽節道路用旌節. The generic term thus appears to be 節, 符 being the special kind used at city-gates and on the frontier. They were tablets of bamboo or wood, one half of which was issued as a permit or passport by the official in charge of a gate (司門 or 司關. Cf. the 封人 “border-warden” of _Lun Yü_ III. 24, who may have had similar duties.) When this half was returned to him, within a fixed period, he was authorised to open the gate and let the traveller through. and stop the passage of all emissaries. Either to or from the enemy’s country. 64. 厲於廊廟之上以誅其事 Be stern in the council-chamber, Show no weakness, and insist on your plans being ratified by the sovereign. 廊廟 indicates a hall or temple in the Palace. Cf. I. § 26. It is not clear if other officers would be present. Hardly anything can be made of 勵, the reading of the standard text, so I have adopted Tu Mu’s conjecture 厲, which appears in the _T‘u Shu_. so that you may control the situation. Ts‘ao Kung explains 誅 by 治, and Ho Shih by 責成. Another reading is 謀, and Mei Yao-ch‘ên, adopting this, understands the whole sentence to mean: Take the strictest precautions to ensure secrecy in your deliberations. Capt. Calthrop glides rather too smoothly over the rough places. His translation is: “conduct the business of the government with vigilance.” 65. 敵人開闔必亟入之 If the enemy leaves a door open, you must rush in. This looks a very simple sentence, yet Ts‘ao Kung is the only commentator who takes it as I have done. Mêng Shih, followed by Mei Yao-ch‘ên and Chang Yü, defines 開闔 as 間者 “spies,” and makes 入 an active verb: “If spies come from the enemy, we must quickly let them in.” But I cannot find that the words 開闔 have this meaning anywhere else. On the other hand, they may be taken as two verbs, 或開或闔, expressing the enemy’s indecision whether to advance or retreat, that being the best moment to attack him. [Cf. _Tao Tê Ching_, chap. X: 天門開闔能爲雌乎; also _Li Chi_, 曲禮, I. ii. 25.] It is not easy to choose between this and Ts‘ao Kung’s explanation; the fact that 敵人開戶 occurs shortly afterwards, in § 68, might be adduced in support of either. 必 must be understood in the sense of 宜 or 當. The only way to avoid this is to put 開闔 between commas and translate: “If we leave a door open, the enemy is sure to rush in.” 66. 先其所愛微與之期