It is not easy to distinguish the four terms 度量數稱 very clearly. The first seems to be surveying and measurement of the ground, which enable us to 量 form an estimate of the enemy’s strength, and to 數 make calculations based on the data thus obtained; we are thus led to 稱 a general weighing-up, or comparison of the enemy’s chances with our own; if the latter turn the scale, then 勝 victory ensues. The chief difficulty lies in 數, which some commentators take as a calculation of _numbers_, thereby making it nearly synonymous with 量. Perhaps 量 is rather a consideration of the enemy’s general position or condition (情 or 形勢), while 數 is the estimate of his numerical strength. On the other hand, Tu Mu defines 數 as 機數, and adds: 强弱已定然後能用機變數也 “the question of relative strength having been settled, we can bring the varied resources of cunning into play.” Ho Shih seconds this interpretation, which is weakened, however, by the fact that 稱 is given as logically consequent on 數; this certainly points to the latter being a calculation of numbers. Of Capt. Calthrop’s version the less said the better. 19. 故勝兵若以鎰稱銖敗兵若以銖稱鎰 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 鎰 _i_ (20 oz.) weighed against a 銖 _shu_ (1⁄24 oz.); a routed army as a _shu_ weighed against an _i_.” The point is simply the enormous advantage which a disciplined force, flushed with victory, has over one demoralised by defeat. Legge, in his note on Mencius, I. 2. ix. 2, makes the 鎰 to be 24 Chinese ounces, and corrects Chu Hsi’s statement that it equalled 20 oz. only. But Li Ch‘üan of the T‘ang dynasty here gives the same figure as Chu Hsi. 20. 勝者之戰民也若決積水於千仞之谿者形也 The onrush of a conquering force is like the bursting of pent-up waters into a chasm a thousand fathoms deep. So much for tactical dispositions. The construction here is slightly awkward and elliptical, but the general sense is plain. The _T‘u Shu_ omits 民也. A 仞 = 8 尺 or Chinese feet. V. 埶篇 ENERGY. 埶 here is said to be an older form of 勢; Sun Tzŭ, however, would seem to have used the former in the sense of “power,” and the latter only in the sense of “circumstances.” The fuller title 兵勢 is found in the _T‘u Shu_ and the modern text. Wang Hsi expands it into 積勢之變 “the application, in various ways, of accumulated power;” and Chang Yü says: 兵勢以成然後任勢以取勝 “When the soldiers’ energy has reached its height, it may be used to secure victory.” 1. 孫子曰凡治衆如治寡分數是也 Sun Tzŭ said: The control of a large force is the same in principle as the control of a few men: it is merely a question of dividing up their numbers.