Page:Sun Tzu on The art of war.djvu/201

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145

  1. 夫衆陷於害然後能爲勝敗
  2. 故爲兵之事在於順詳敵之意
  3. 并敵一向千里殺將
  4. 此謂巧能成事者也

they were obliged to fight for their lives, but had allowed each man to follow his own discretion, there would have been a general débandade, and it would have been impossible to do anything with them.” The officers admitted the force of his argument, and said: “These are higher tactics than we should have been capable of.” [See Ch‘ien Han Shu, ch. 34, ff. 4, 5.]

59. For it is precisely when a force has fallen into harm’s way that it is capable of striking a blow for victory.

Danger has a bracing effect.

60. Success in warfare is gained by carefully accommodating ourselves to the enemy’s purpose.

Ts‘ao Kung says: 佯愚也 “Feign stupidity” — by an appearance of yielding and falling in with the enemy’s wishes. Chang Yü’s note makes the meaning clear: “If the enemy shows an inclination to advance, lure him on to do so; if he is anxious to retreat, delay on purpose that he may carry out his intention.” The object is to make him remiss and contemptuous before we deliver our attack.

61. By persistently hanging on the enemy’s flank,

I understand the first four words to mean “accompanying the enemy in one direction.” Ts‘ao Kung says: 幷兵向敵 “unite the soldiers and make for the enemy.” But such a violent displacement of characters is quite indefensible. Mei Yao-ch‘ên is the only commentator who seems to have grasped the meaning: 隨敵一向然後發伏 出奇. The T‘u Shu reads 并力.

we shall succeed in the long run

Literally, “after a thousand li.”

in killing the commander-in-chief.

Always a great point with the Chinese.

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

The T‘u Shu has 是謂巧於成事, and yet another reading,