time to select his own ground, quotes VI. ss. 1, where Sun Tzu
warns us against coming exhausted to the attack. His own idea of
the situation is rather vaguely expressed: "If there is a
favorable position lying in front of you, detach a picked body of
troops to occupy it, then if the enemy, relying on their numbers,
come up to make a fight for it, you may fall quickly on their
rear with your main body, and victory will be assured." It was
thus, he adds, that Chao She beat the army of Ch`in. (See p.
57.)]
48. On open ground, I would keep a vigilant eye on my
defenses. On ground of intersecting highways, I would
consolidate my alliances.
49. On serious ground, I would try to ensure a continuous
stream of supplies.
[The commentators take this as referring to forage and
plunder, not, as one might expect, to an unbroken communication
with a home base.]
On difficult ground, I would keep pushing on along the road.
50. On hemmed-in ground, I would block any way of retreat.
[Meng Shih says: "To make it seem that I meant to defend
the position, whereas my real intention is to burst suddenly
through the enemy's lines." Mei Yao-ch`en says: "in order to
make my soldiers fight with desperation." Wang Hsi says,
"fearing lest my men be tempted to run away." Tu Mu points out
that this is the converse of VII. ss. 36, where it is the enemy
who is surrounded. In 532 A.D., Kao Huan, afterwards Emperor and
canonized as Shen-wu, was surrounded by a great army under Erh-
chu Chao and others. His own force was comparatively small,
consisting only of 2000 horse and something under 30,000 foot.
The lines of investment had not been drawn very closely together,
gaps being left at certain points. But Kao Huan, instead of
trying to escape, actually made a shift to block all the
remaining outlets himself by driving into them a number of oxen
and donkeys roped together. As soon as his officers and men saw
that there was nothing for it but to conquer or die, their
spirits rose to an extraordinary pitch of exaltation, and they
charged with such desperate ferocity that the opposing ranks
broke and crumbled under their onslaught.]
On desperate ground, I would proclaim to my soldiers the
hopelessness of saving their lives.
Tu Yu says: "Burn your baggage and impedimenta, throw away
your stores and provisions, choke up the wells, destroy your
cooking-stoves, and make it plain to your men that they cannot
survive, but must fight to the death." Mei Yao-ch`en says: "The
only chance of life lies in giving up all hope of it." This
concludes what Sun Tzu has to say about "grounds" and the
"variations" corresponding to them. Reviewing the passages which
bear on this important subject, we cannot fail to be struck by
the desultory and unmethodical fashion in which it is treated.
Sun Tzu begins abruptly in VIII. ss. 2 to enumerate "variations"
before touching on "grounds" at all, but only mentions five,
namely nos. 7, 5, 8 and 9 of the subsequent list, and one that is
not included in it. A few varieties of ground are dealt with in
the earlier portion of chap. IX, and then chap. X sets forth six
new grounds, with six variations of plan to match. None of these
is mentioned again, though the first is hardly to be
distinguished from ground no. 4 in the next chapter. At last, in
chap. XI, we come to the Nine Grounds par excellence, immediately
followed by the variations. This takes us down to ss. 14. In
SS. 43-45, fresh definitions are provided for nos. 5, 6, 2, 8 and
9 (in the order given), as well as for the tenth ground noticed
in chap. VIII; and finally, the nine variations are enumerated
once more from beginning to end, all, with the exception of 5, 6
and 7, being different from those previously given. Though it is
impossible to account for the present state of Sun Tzu's text, a
few suggestive facts maybe brought into prominence: (1) Chap.
VIII, according to the title, should deal with nine variations,
whereas only five appear. (2) It is an abnormally short chapter.
(3) Chap. XI is entitled The Nine Grounds. Several of these are
defined twice over, besides which there are two distinct lists of
the corresponding variations. (4) The length of the chapter is
disproportionate, being double that of any other except IX. I do
not propose to draw any inferences from these facts, beyond the
general conclusion that Sun Tzu's work cannot have come down to
us in the shape in which it left his hands: chap. VIII is
obviously defective and probably out of place, while XI seems to
contain matter that has either been added by a later hand or
ought to appear elsewhere.]
51. For it is the soldier's disposition to offer an
obstinate resistance when surrounded, to fight hard when he
cannot help himself, and to obey promptly when he has fallen into
danger.
[Chang Yu alludes to the conduct of Pan Ch`ao's devoted
followers in 73 A.D. The story runs thus in the HOU HAN SHU, ch.
47: "When Pan Ch`ao arrived at Shan-shan, Kuang, the King of the
country, received him at first with great politeness and respect;
but shortly afterwards his behavior underwent a sudden change,
and he became remiss and negligent. Pan Ch`ao spoke about this
to the officers of his suite: 'Have you noticed,' he said, 'that
Kuang's polite intentions are on the wane? This must signify
that envoys have come from the Northern barbarians, and that
consequently he is in a state of indecision, not knowing with
which side to throw in his lot. That surely is the reason. The
truly wise man, we are told, can perceive things before they have
come to pass; how much more, then, those that are already
manifest!' Thereupon he called one of the natives who had been
assigned to his service, and set a trap for him, saying: 'Where
are those envoys from the Hsiung-nu who arrived some day ago?'
The man was so taken aback that between surprise and fear he
presently blurted out the whole truth. Pan Ch`ao, keeping his
informant carefully under lock and key, then summoned a general
gathering of his officers, thirty-six in all, and began drinking
with them. When the wine had mounted into their heads a little,
he tried to rouse their spirit still further by addressing them
thus: 'Gentlemen, here we are in the heart of an isolated
region, anxious to achieve riches and honor by some great
exploit. Now it happens that an ambassador from the Hsiung-no
arrived in this kingdom only a few days ago, and the result is
that the respectful courtesy extended towards us by our royal
host has disappeared. Should this envoy prevail upon him to
seize our party and hand us over to the Hsiung-no, our bones will
become food for the wolves of the desert. What are we to do?'
With one accord, the officers replied: 'Standing as we do in
peril of our lives, we will follow our commander through life and
death.' For the sequel of this adventure, see chap. XII. ss. 1,
note.]
52. We cannot enter into alliance with neighboring princes
until we are acquainted with their designs. We are not fit to
lead an army on the march unless we are familiar with the face of
the country--its mountains and forests, its pitfalls and
precipices, its marshes and swamps. We shall be unable to turn
natural advantages to account unless we make use of local guides.
[These three sentences are repeated from VII. SS. 12-14 --
in order to emphasize their importance, the commentators seem to
think. I prefer to regard them as interpolated here in order to
form an antecedent to the following words. With regard to local
guides, Sun Tzu might have added that there is always the risk of
going wrong, either through their treachery or some
misunderstanding such as Livy records (XXII. 13): Hannibal, we
are told, ordered a guide to lead him into the neighborhood of
Casinum, where there was an important pass to be occupied; but
his Carthaginian accent, unsuited to the pronunciation of Latin
names, caused the guide to understand Casilinum instead of
Casinum, and turning from his proper route, he took the army in
that direction, the mistake not being discovered until they had
almost arrived.]
53. To be ignored of any one of the following four or five
principles does not befit a warlike prince.
54. When a warlike prince attacks a powerful state, his
generalship shows itself in preventing the concentration of the
enemy's forces. He overawes his opponents, and their allies are
prevented from joining against him.
[Mei Tao-ch`en constructs one of the chains of reasoning
that are so much affected by the Chinese: "In attacking a
powerful state, if you can divide her forces, you will have a
superiority in strength; if you have a superiority in strength,
you will overawe the enemy; if you overawe the enemy, the
neighboring states will be frightened; and if the neighboring
states are frightened, the enemy's allies will be prevented from
joining her." The following gives a stronger meaning: "If the
great state has once been defeated (before she has had time to
summon her allies), then the lesser states will hold aloof and
refrain from massing their forces." Ch`en Hao and Chang Yu take
the sentence in quite another way. The former says: "Powerful
though a prince may be, if he attacks a large state, he will be
unable to raise enough troops, and must rely to some extent on
external aid; if he dispenses with this, and with overweening
confidence in his own strength, simply tries to intimidate the
enemy, he will surely be defeated." Chang Yu puts his view thus:
"If we recklessly attack a large state, our own people will be
discontented and hang back. But if (as will then be the case)
our display of military force is inferior by half to that of the
enemy, the other chieftains will take fright and refuse to join
us."]
55. Hence he does not strive to ally himself with all and
sundry, nor does he foster the power of other states. He carries
out his own secret designs, keeping his antagonists in awe.
[The train of thought, as said by Li Ch`uan, appears to be
this: Secure against a combination of his enemies, "he can
afford to reject entangling alliances and simply pursue his own
secret designs, his prestige enable him to dispense with external
friendships."]
Thus he is able to capture their cities and overthrow their
kingdoms.
[This paragraph, though written many years before the Ch`in
State became a serious menace, is not a bad summary of the policy
by which the famous Six Chancellors gradually paved the way for
her final triumph under Shih Huang Ti. Chang Yu, following up
his previous note, thinks that Sun Tzu is condemning this
attitude of cold-blooded selfishness and haughty isolation.]
56. Bestow rewards without regard to rule,
[Wu Tzu (ch. 3) less wisely says: "Let advance be richly
rewarded and retreat be heavily punished."]
issue orders
[Literally, "hang" or post up."]
without regard to previous arrangements;
["In order to prevent treachery," says Wang Hsi. The
general meaning is made clear by Ts`ao Kung's quotation from the
SSU-MA FA: "Give instructions only on sighting the enemy; give
rewards when you see deserving deeds." Ts`ao Kung's paraphrase:
"The final instructions you give to your army should not
correspond with those that have been previously posted up."
Chang Yu simplifies this into "your arrangements should not be
divulged beforehand." And Chia Lin says: "there should be no
fixity in your rules and arrangements." Not only is there danger
in letting your plans be known, but war often necessitates the
entire reversal of them at the last moment.]
and you will be able to handle a whole army as though you had to
do with but a single man.
[Cf. supra, ss. 34.]
57. Confront your soldiers with the deed itself; never let
them know your design.
[Literally, "do not tell them words;" i.e. do not give your
reasons for any order. Lord Mansfield once told a junior
colleague to "give no reasons" for his decisions, and the maxim
is even more applicable to a general than to a judge.]
When the outlook is bright, bring it before their eyes; but tell
them nothing when the situation is gloomy.
58. Place your army in deadly peril, and it will survive;
plunge it into desperate straits, and it will come off in safety.
[These words of Sun Tzu were once quoted by Han Hsin in
explanation of the tactics he employed in one of his most
brilliant battles, already alluded to on p. 28. In 204 B.C., he
was sent against the army of Chao, and halted ten miles from the
mouth of the Ching-hsing pass, where the enemy had mustered in
full force. Here, at midnight, he detached a body of 2000 light
cavalry, every man of which was furnished with a red flag. Their
instructions were to make their way through narrow defiles and
keep a secret watch on the enemy. "When the men of Chao see me
in full flight," Han Hsin said, "they will abandon their
fortifications and give chase. This must be the sign for you to
rush in, pluck down the Chao standards and set up the red banners
of Han in their stead." Turning then to his other officers, he
remarked: "Our adversary holds a strong position, and is not
likely to come out and attack us until he sees the standard and
drums of the commander-in-chief, for fear I should turn back and
escape through the mountains." So saying, he first of all sent
out a division consisting of 10,000 men, and ordered them to form
in line of battle with their backs to the River Ti. Seeing this
