The Art of War, passage 943

[Or, in the words of VIII. § 2, "do not encamp.]

The Art of War, passage 1050

[This is Ts’ao Kung’s interpretation. Chang Yu adopts it, saying: "We must quickly bring up our rear, so that head and tail may both reach the goal." That is, they must not be allowed to straggle up a long way apart.

The Art of War, passage 544

23. Rouse him, and learn the principle of his activity or inactivity.

The Art of War, passage 562

33. He who can modify his tactics in relation to his opponent and thereby succeed in winning, may be called a heaven-born captain.

The Art of War, passage 859

and fighting will be to your disadvantage.

The Art of War, passage 108

Now the capture of Ying was undoubtedly the greatest feat of arms in Ho Lu’s reign; it made a deep and lasting impression on all the surrounding states, and raised Wu to the short-lived zenith of her power.

The Art of War, passage 1182

18. No ruler should put troops into the field merely to gratify his own spleen; no general should fight a battle simply out of pique.

The Art of War, passage 787

and the soldiers fall into rank, it means that the critical moment has come.

The Art of War, passage 699

The natural result was that the fighting spirit of his soldiers was utterly quenched, and when the loyalists made an attack from windward with fireships, all striving with the utmost ardor to be first in the fray, Huan Hsuan’s forces were routed, had to burn all their baggage and fled for two days and nights without stopping. Chang Yu tells a somewhat similar story of Chao Ying-ch’i, a general of the Chin State who during a battle with the army of Ch’u in 597 B.C.

The Art of War, passage 748

[Defined as "natural pens or prisons" or "places surrounded by precipices on three sides—easy to get into, but hard to get out of."]

The Art of War, passage 265

14. By means of these seven considerations I can forecast victory or defeat.

The Art of War, passage 221

34. With Wu Yuan himself the case is just the reverse:—a spurious treatise on war has been fathered on him simply because he was a great general. Here we have an obvious inducement to forgery. Sun Wu, on the other hand, cannot have been widely known to fame in the 5th century.

The Art of War, passage 641

29. A clever general, therefore, avoids an army when its spirit is keen, but attacks it when it is sluggish and inclined to return. This is the art of studying moods.

The Art of War, passage 168

But the wielding of huge armies, the throwing down of fortified cities, the hauling of women and children into captivity, and the beheading of traitors—this is also work which is done by officials. The objects of the rack and of military weapons are essentially the same. There is no intrinsic difference between the punishment of flogging and cutting off heads in war.

The Art of War, passage 1242

None should be more liberally rewarded. In no other business should greater secrecy be preserved.

The Art of War, passage 450

[Tu Yu and Chang Yu understand this of the permutations of _ch’i_ and _cheng_. But at present Sun Tzŭ is not speaking of _cheng_ at all, unless, indeed, we suppose with Cheng Yu-hsien that a clause relating to it has fallen out of the text. Of course, as has already been pointed out, the two are so inextricably interwoven in all military operations, that they cannot really be considered apart. Here we simply have an expression, in figurative language, of the almost infinite resource of a great leader.]

The Art of War, passage 301

What he does say is something much more guarded, namely that, while speed may sometimes be injudicious, tardiness can never be anything but foolish—if only because it means impoverishment to the nation. In considering the point raised here by Sun Tzŭ, the classic example of Fabius Cunctator will inevitably occur to the mind.

The Art of War, passage 937

[Or perhaps, "form alliances with neighbouring states."]

The Art of War, passage 560

31. Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows; the soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing.

The Art of War, passage 423

[A "counsel of perfection" as Tu Mu truly observes. "Position" need not be confined to the actual ground occupied by the troops. It includes all the arrangements and preparations which a wise general will make to increase the safety of his army.]

The Art of War, passage 676

5. The general who does not understand these, may be well acquainted with the configuration of the country, yet he will not be able to turn his knowledge to practical account.

The Art of War, passage 130

1. TS’AO TS’AO or Ts’ao Kung, afterwards known as Wei Wu Ti [A.D. 155-220]. There is hardly any room for doubt that the earliest commentary on Sun Tzŭ actually came from the pen of this extraordinary man, whose biography in the _San Kuo Chih_ reads like a romance.

The Art of War, passage 468

[In order to make the translation intelligible, it is necessary to tone down the sharply paradoxical form of the original. Ts’ao Kung throws out a hint of the meaning in his brief note: "These things all serve to destroy formation and conceal one’s condition." But Tu Mu is the first to put it quite plainly: "If you wish to feign confusion in order to lure the enemy on, you must first have perfect discipline; if you wish to display timidity in order to entrap the enemy, you must have extreme courage; if you wish to parade your weakness in order to make the enemy over-confident, you must have exceeding strength."]

The Art of War, passage 795

33. If there is disturbance in the camp, the general’s authority is weak. If the banners and flags are shifted about, sedition is afoot. If the officers are angry, it means that the men are weary.

The Art of War, passage 1258

22. It is through the information brought by the converted spy that we are able to acquire and employ local and inward spies.

The Art of War, passage 1053

48. On open ground, I would keep a vigilant eye on my defences. On ground of intersecting highways, I would consolidate my alliances.

The Art of War, passage 312

11. On the other hand, the proximity of an army causes prices to go up; and high prices cause the people’s substance to be drained away.

The Art of War, passage 62

A hundred years and more after his time, Sun Pin lived. He was a descendant of Wu.] [13] In his treatment of deliberation and planning, the importance of rapidity in taking the field, [14] clearness of conception, and depth of design, Sun Tzŭ stands beyond the reach of carping criticism. My contemporaries, however, have failed to grasp the full meaning of his instructions, and while putting into practice the smaller details in which his work abounds, they have overlooked its essential purport.

The Art of War, passage 586

7. Thus, if you order your men to roll up their buff-coats, and make forced marches without halting day or night, covering double the usual distance at a stretch,

The Art of War, passage 142

Later scholars have misread Sun Tzŭ, distorting his words and trying to make them square with their own one-sided views. Thus, though commentators have not been lacking, only a few have proved equal to the task. My friend Sheng-yu has not fallen into this mistake.

The Art of War, passage 613

20. When you plunder a countryside, let the spoil be divided amongst your men;

The Art of War, passage 173

We have seen that the great Chu Hsi held Sun Tzŭ in high esteem. He also appeals to the authority of the Classics:—

The Art of War, passage 672

It was Turenne who directed attention to the importance of marches, countermarches and manœuvers. He said: "It is a great mistake to waste men in taking a town when the same expenditure of soldiers will gain a province." [1] ]

The Art of War, passage 1022

Much elated by the news, the latter set off at once at the head of 10,000 horsemen to bar Pan Ch’ao’s retreat in the west, while the King of Wen-su rode eastward with 8000 horse in order to intercept the King of Khotan. As soon as Pan Ch’ao knew that the two chieftains had gone, he called his divisions together, got them well in hand, and at cock-crow hurled them against the army of Yarkand, as it lay encamped.

The Art of War, passage 1260

23. It is owing to his information, again, that we can cause the doomed spy to carry false tidings to the enemy.

The Art of War, passage 835

2. Ground which can be freely traversed by both sides is called _accessible_.

The Art of War, passage 545

[Chang Yu tells us that by noting the joy or anger shown by the enemy on being thus disturbed, we shall be able to conclude whether his policy is to lie low or the reverse. He instances the action of Cho-ku Liang, who sent the scornful present of a woman’s head-dress to Ssu-ma I, in order to goad him out of his Fabian tactics.]

The Art of War, passage 211

20. See Chapter 11, § 28. Chuan Chu is the abbreviated form of his name.

The Art of War, passage 1111

62. This is called ability to accomplish a thing by sheer cunning.

The Art of War, passage 51

From this time onward, a number of famous soldiers arose, one after the other: Kao-fan, [7] who was employed by the Chin State; Wang-tzu, [8] in the service of Ch’i; and Sun Wu, in the service of Wu. These men developed and threw light upon the principles of war.

The Art of War, passage 252

10. By _Method and discipline_ are to be understood the marshalling of the army in its proper subdivisions, the gradations of rank among the officers, the maintenance of roads by which supplies may reach the army, and the control of military expenditure.

The Art of War, passage 1267

[Better known as I Yin, the famous general and statesman who took part in Ch’eng T’ang’s campaign against Chieh Kuei.]

The Art of War, passage 911

4. Ground the possession of which imports great advantage to either side, is contentious ground.

The Art of War, passage 750

[Defined as "low-lying places, so heavy with mud as to be impassable for chariots and horsemen."]

The Art of War, passage 618

[Chang Yu quotes Wei Liao Tzŭ as saying that we must not break camp until we have gained the resisting power of the enemy and the cleverness of the opposing general. Cf. the "seven comparisons" in I. § 13.]

The Art of War, passage 42

But the King replied: "Let our general cease drilling and return to camp. As for us, We have no wish to come down and inspect the troops."

The Art of War, passage 84

The former lived only a century after the alleged date of Sun Tzŭ, and his death is known to have taken place in 381 B.C. It was to him, according to Liu Hsiang, that Tseng Shen delivered the _Tso Chuan_, which had been entrusted to him by its author.

The Art of War, passage 806

[Because in such case discipline becomes relaxed, and unwonted severity is necessary to keep the men to their duty.]

The Art of War, passage 212

22. The nucleus of this work is probably genuine, though large additions have been made by later hands. Kuan chung died in 645 B.C.

The Art of War, passage 137

5. TU MU (803-852) is perhaps the best known as a poet—a bright star even in the glorious galaxy of the T’ang period. We learn from Ch’ao Kung-wu that although he had no practical experience of war, he was extremely fond of discussing the subject, and was moreover well read in the military history of the _Ch’un Ch’iu_ and _Chan Kuo_ eras. His notes, therefore, are well worth attention. They are very copious, and replete with historical parallels.