The Art of War, passage 840

4. Ground which can be abandoned but is hard to re-occupy is called _entangling_.

The Art of War, passage 974

In vain did the Ch’u general try to force a battle: day after day Wang Chien kept inside his walls and would not come out, but devoted his whole time and energy to winning the affection and confidence of his men. He took care that they should be well fed, sharing his own meals with them, provided facilities for bathing, and employed every method of judicious indulgence to weld them into a loyal and homogenous body.

The Art of War, passage 1231

The spies will thereupon be put to death." As an example of doomed spies, Ho Shih mentions the prisoners released by Pan Ch’ao in his campaign against Yarkand. (See p. 132.) He also refers to T’ang Chien, who in 630 A.D. was sent by T’ai Tsung to lull the Turkish Kahn Chieh-li into fancied security, until Li Ching was able to deliver a crushing blow against him.

The Art of War, passage 32

Sun Tzŭ Wu was a native of the Ch’i State. His _Art of War_ brought him to the notice of Ho Lu, [2] King of Wu. Ho Lu said to him:

The Art of War, passage 19

Throughout the nineteenth century, which saw a wonderful development in the study of Chinese literature, no translator ventured to tackle Sun Tzŭ, although his work was known to be highly valued in China as by far the oldest and best compendium of military science. It was not until the year 1905 that the first English translation, by Capt. E.F. Calthrop. R.F.A., appeared at Tokyo under the title “Sonshi”(the Japanese form of Sun Tzŭ).

The Art of War, passage 375

16. But when the army is restless and distrustful, trouble is sure to come from the other feudal princes. This is simply bringing anarchy into the army, and flinging victory away.

The Art of War, passage 1138

Then, taking the king’s sons as hostage, he returned to make his report to Tou Ku." _Hou Han Shu_, ch. 47, ff. 1, 2.] ]

The Art of War, passage 1217

In this way you will be able to find out the state of affairs in the enemy’s country, ascertain the plans that are being formed against you, and moreover disturb the harmony and create a breach between the sovereign and his ministers." The necessity for extreme caution, however, in dealing with "inward spies," appears from an historical incident related by Ho Shih: "Lo Shang, Governor of I-Chou, sent his general Wei Po to attack the rebel Li Hsiung of Shu in his stronghold at P’i.

The Art of War, passage 987

[The superstitious, "bound in to saucy doubts and fears," degenerate into cowards and "die many times before their deaths." Tu Mu quotes Huang Shih-kung: "‘Spells and incantations should be strictly forbidden, and no officer allowed to inquire by divination into the fortunes of an army, for fear the soldiers’ minds should be seriously perturbed.’ The meaning is," he continues, "that if all doubts and scruples are discarded, your men will never falter in their resolution until they die."]

The Art of War, passage 1082

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."]

The Art of War, passage 889

25. Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look on them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death.

The Art of War, passage 99

At this point, a table of dates may be found useful.

The Art of War, passage 654

[This does not mean that the enemy is to be allowed to escape. The object, as Tu Mu puts it, is "to make him believe that there is a road to safety, and thus prevent his fighting with the courage of despair." Tu Mu adds pleasantly: "After that, you may crush him."]

The Art of War, passage 1251

19. If a secret piece of news is divulged by a spy before the time is ripe, he must be put to death together with the man to whom the secret was told.

The Art of War, passage 194

_T’ung Tien_ (circa 800 A.D.), ch. 148-162. _T’ai P’ing Yu Lan_ (983), ch. 270-359. _Wen Hsien Tung K’ao_ (13th cent.), ch. 221. _Yu Hai_ (13th cent.), ch. 140, 141. _San Ts’ai T’u Hui_ (16th cent). _Kuang Po Wu Chih_ (1607), ch. 31, 32. _Ch’ien Ch’io Lei Shu_ (1632), ch. 75. _Yuan Chien Lei Han_ (1710), ch. 206-229. _Ku Chin T’u Shu Chi Ch’eng_ (1726), section XXX, esp. ch. 81-90. _Hsu Wen Hsien T’ung K’ao_ (1784), ch. 121-134. _Huang Ch’ao Ching Shih Wen Pien_ (1826), ch. 76, 77.

The Art of War, passage 103

The sentence quoted above from VI. § 21 hardly strikes me as one that could have been written in the full flush of victory. It seems rather to imply that, for the moment at least, the tide had turned against Wu, and that she was getting the worst of the struggle. Hence we may conclude that our treatise was not in existence in 505, before which date Yüeh does not appear to have scored any notable success against Wu.

The Art of War, passage 557

29. Military tactics are like unto water; for water in its natural course runs away from high places and hastens downwards.

The Art of War, passage 746

15. Country in which there are precipitous cliffs with torrents running between, deep natural hollows,

The Art of War, passage 1209

7. Hence the use of spies, of whom there are five classes: (1) Local spies; (2) inward spies; (3) converted spies; (4) doomed spies; (5) surviving spies.

The Art of War, passage 846

it will be advisable not to stir forth, but rather to retreat, thus enticing the enemy in his turn; then, when part of his army has come out, we may deliver our attack with advantage.

The Art of War, passage 1030

38. At the critical moment, the leader of an army acts like one who has climbed up a height and then kicks away the ladder behind him. He carries his men deep into hostile territory before he shows his hand.

The Art of War, passage 28

Though constituting in itself an important branch of Chinese literature, very little commentary of this kind has hitherto been made directly accessible by translation.

The Art of War, passage 869

17. When the higher officers are angry and insubordinate, and on meeting the enemy give battle on their own account from a feeling of resentment, before the commander-in-chief can tell whether or no he is in a position to fight, the result is _ruin_.

The Art of War, passage 932

[But rather let all your energies be bent on occupying the advantageous position first. So Ts’ao Kung. Li Ch’uan and others, however, suppose the meaning to be that the enemy has already forestalled us, sot that it would be sheer madness to attack. In the _Sun Tzŭ Hsu Lu_, when the King of Wu inquires what should be done in this case, Sun Tzŭ replies: "The rule with regard to contentious ground is that those in possession have the advantage over the other side.

The Art of War, passage 492

[Chang Yu attempts to explain the sequence of chapters as follows: "Chapter IV, on Tactical Dispositions, treated of the offensive and the defensive; chapter V, on Energy, dealt with direct and indirect methods. The good general acquaints himself first with the theory of attack and defence, and then turns his attention to direct and indirect methods. He studies the art of varying and combining these two methods before proceeding to the subject of weak and strong points. For the use of direct or indirect methods arises out of attack and defence, and the perception of weak and strong points depends again on the above methods. Hence the present chapter comes immediately after the chapter on Energy."]

The Art of War, passage 742

and camp on hard ground, the army will be free from disease of every kind,

The Art of War, passage 294

the expenditure at home and at the front, including entertainment of guests, small items such as glue and paint, and sums spent on chariots and armour, will reach the total of a thousand ounces of silver per day. Such is the cost of raising an army of 100,000 men.

The Art of War, passage 181

Hsiang Liang used to instruct his nephew Chi [71] in the art of war. Chi got a rough idea of the art in its general bearings, but would not pursue his studies to their proper outcome, the consequence being that he was finally defeated and overthrown. He did not realize that the tricks and artifices of war are beyond verbal computation. Duke Hsiang of Sung and King Yen of Hsu were brought to destruction by their misplaced humanity. The treacherous and underhand nature of war necessitates the use of guile and stratagem suited to the occasion. There is a case on record of Confucius himself having violated an extorted oath, [72] and also of his having left the Sung State in disguise. [73] Can we then recklessly arraign Sun Tzŭ for disregarding truth and honesty?

The Art of War, passage 1180

17. Move not unless you see an advantage; use not your troops unless there is something to be gained; fight not unless the position is critical.

The Art of War, passage 986

26. Prohibit the taking of omens, and do away with superstitious doubts. Then, until death itself comes, no calamity need be feared.

The Art of War, passage 1192

There will be commotion at home and abroad, and men will drop down exhausted on the highways.

The Art of War, passage 475

19. Thus one who is skilful at keeping the enemy on the move maintains deceitful appearances, according to which the enemy will act.

The Art of War, passage 1227

His father was much disquieted by this overweening conceit, and the flippancy with which he spoke of such a serious thing as war, and solemnly declared that if ever Kua was appointed general, he would bring ruin on the armies of Chao. This was the man who, in spite of earnest protests from his own mother and the veteran statesman Lin Hsiang-ju, was now sent to succeed Lien P’o. Needless to say, he proved no match for the redoubtable Po Ch’i and the great military power of Ch’in.

The Art of War, passage 567

[Cf. V. § 6. The purport of the passage is simply to illustrate the want of fixity in war by the changes constantly taking place in Nature. The comparison is not very happy, however, because the regularity of the phenomena which Sun Tzŭ mentions is by no means paralleled in war.]

The Art of War, passage 24

Some of the grosser blunders have been rectified and lacunae filled up, but on the other hand a certain number of new mistakes appear. The very first sentence of the introduction is startlingly inaccurate; and later on, while mention is made of “an army of Japanese commentators” on Sun Tzŭ (who are these, by the way?), not a word is vouchsafed about the Chinese commentators, who nevertheless, I venture to assert, form a much more numerous and infinitely more important “army.”

The Art of War, passage 866

[Tu Mu cites the unhappy case of T’ien Pu [_Hsin T’ang Shu_, ch. 148], who was sent to Wei in 821 A.D. with orders to lead an army against 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.]

The Art of War, passage 842

6. When the position is such that neither side will gain by making the first move, it is called _temporising_ ground.

The Art of War, passage 83

He makes one of two points, however, which certainly tell in favour of the high antiquity of our "13 chapters." "Sun Tzŭ," he says, "must have lived in the age of Ching Wang [519-476], because he is frequently plagiarized in subsequent works of the Chou, Ch’in and Han dynasties." The two most shameless offenders in this respect are Wu Ch’i and Huai-nan Tzŭ, both of them important historical personages in their day.

The Art of War, passage 891

The soldier’s mother, hearing this, began wailing and lamenting. Somebody asked her, saying: ‘Why do you cry? Your son is only a common soldier, and yet the commander-in-chief himself has sucked the poison from his sore.’ The woman replied, ‘Many years ago, Lord Wu performed a similar service for my husband, who never left him afterwards, and finally met his death at the hands of the enemy.

The Art of War, passage 549

[The piquancy of the paradox evaporates in translation. Concealment is perhaps not so much actual invisibility (see _supra_ § 9) as "showing no sign" of what you mean to do, of the plans that are formed in your brain.]

The Art of War, passage 308

9. Bring war material with you from home, but forage on the enemy. Thus the army will have food enough for its needs.

The Art of War, passage 569

1. Sun Tzŭ said: In war, the general receives his commands from the sovereign.

The Art of War, passage 21

Omissions were frequent; hard passages were wilfully distorted or slurred over. Such offences are less pardonable. They would not be tolerated in any edition of a Greek or Latin classic, and a similar standard of honesty ought to be insisted upon in translations from Chinese.

The Art of War, passage 323

18. This is called, using the conquered foe to augment one’s own strength.

The Art of War, passage 46

To return to the elder Sun Tzŭ. He is mentioned in two other passages of the _Shih Chi:_—

The Art of War, passage 1005

yet if they are crossing a river in the same boat and are caught by a storm, they will come to each other’s assistance just as the left hand helps the right.

The Art of War, passage 335

the next in order is to attack the enemy’s army in the field;

The Art of War, passage 690

[Literally, "make servants of them." Tu Yu says "prevent them from having any rest."]

The Art of War, passage 710

14. When an army is overthrown and its leader slain, the cause will surely be found among these five dangerous faults. Let them be a subject of meditation.

The Art of War, passage 714

[Not on high hills, but on knolls or hillocks elevated above the surrounding country.]