The Art of War by Sun Tzu (elon musk reading list TXT) 📕

the enemy: ‘What I dread most is that the men of Yen may dig up the ancestral tombs outside the town, and by inflicting this indignity on our forefathers cause us to become fainthearted.’ Forthwith the besiegers dug up all the graves and burned the corpses lying in them. And the inhabitants of Chi-mo, witnessing the outrage from the city-walls, wept passionately and were all impatient to go out and fight, their fury being increased tenfold. Tʽien Tan knew then that his soldiers were ready for any enterprise. But instead of a sword, he himself took a mattock in his hands, and ordered others to be distributed amongst his best warriors, while the ranks were filled up with their wives and concubines. He then served out all the remaining rations and bade his men eat their fill. The regular soldiers were told to keep out of sight, and the walls were manned with the old and weaker men and with women. This done, envoys were despatched to the enemy’s camp to arrange terms of surrender, whereupon the Yen army began shouting for joy. Tʽien Tan also collected 20,000 ounces of silver from the people, and got the wealthy citizens of Chi-mo to send it to the Yen general with the prayer that, when the town capitulated, he would not allow their homes to be plundered or their women to be maltreated. Chʽi Chieh, in high good humour, granted their prayer; but his army now became increasingly slack and careless. Meanwhile, Tʽien Tan got together a thousand oxen, decked them with pieces of red silk, painted their bodies, dragon-like, with coloured stripes, and fastened sharp blades on their horns and well-greased rushes on their tails. When night came on, he lighted the ends of the rushes, and drove the oxen through a number of holes which he had pierced in the walls, backing them up with a force of 5000 picked warriors. The animals, maddened with pain, dashed furiously into the enemy’s camp where they caused the utmost confusion and dismay; for their tails acted as torches, showing up the hideous pattern on their bodies, and the weapons on their horns killed or wounded any with whom they came into contact. In the meantime, the band of 5000 had crept up with gags in their mouths, and now threw themselves on the enemy. At the same moment a frightful din arose in the city itself, all those that remained behind making as much noise as possible by banging drums and hammering on bronze vessels, until heaven and earth were convulsed by the uproar. Terror-stricken, the Yen army fled in disorder, hotly pursued by the men of Chʽi, who succeeded in slaying their general Chʽi Chieh⁠ ⁠… The result of the battle was the ultimate recovery of some seventy cities which had belonged to the Chʽi State.” ↩

I follow the original text here, also adopted by the Tʽu Shu. The standard text reads 辭詭而强進驅者退也 on the strength of Tsʽao Kung’s commentary 詭詐也, which shows that his text included the word 詭. Strong as this ground is, I do not think it can counterbalance the obvious superiority of the other reading in point of sense. 詭 not only provides no antithesis to 卑, but makes the whole passage absurd; for if the language of the enemy is calculated to deceive, it cannot be known as deceitful at the time, and can therefore afford no “sign.” Moreover, the extra word in 强進驅者 (an awkward locution, by the way) spoils the parallelism with 益備者. ↩

The same, according to Tu Yu, as the 馳車 of chapter II (“In the operations of war⁠ ⁠…”). ↩

The Tʽung Tien omits 出. ↩

Tu Yu defines 約 as 要約, and Li Chʽüan as 質盟之約 “a treaty confirmed by oaths and hostages.” Wang Hsi and Chang Yü, on the other hand, simply say 無故 “without reason,” “on a frivolous pretext,” as though 約 bore the rather unusual sense of “important.” Capt. Calthrop has “without consultation,” which is too loose. ↩

Every man hastening to his proper place under his own regimental banner. ↩

I follow the Tʽu Shu in omitting 車 after 兵. Tu Mu quotes the Chou Li, ch. XXIX fol. 31: 車驟徒趨及表乃止. ↩

What Chia Lin calls 晷刻之期, as opposed to 尋常之期. ↩

Capt. Calthrop is hardly right in translating: “An advance, followed by sudden retirement.” It is rather a case of feigned confusion. As Tu Mu says: 偽為雜亂不整之狀. ↩

仗 is here probably not a synonym for 倚, but = 兵 “a weapon.” The original text has 杖而立者, which has been corrected from the Tʽung Tien and Yü Lan. ↩

As Tu Mu remarks: 覩一人三軍可知也 “One may know the condition of a whole army from the behaviour of a single man.” The 先 may mean either that they drink before drawing water for the army or before they return to camp. Chang Yü takes the latter view. The Tʽung Tien has the faulty reading 汲役先飲者, and the Yü Lan worse still, 汲設飲者. ↩

Not necessarily