The Art of War Sun Tzu (most read books of all time txt) 📖

今世泥孔子之言以為兵書不足觀又泥趙括徒能讀父書之言以為成法不足用又見兵書有權謀有反間以為非聖人之法皆不知吾儒之學者吏之治事可習而能然古人猶有學製之懼兵凶戰危將不素習未可以人命為嘗試則十三篇之不可不觀也. ↩

Better known as Hsiang 羽 Yü (BC 233⁠–⁠202). ↩

The third among the 五伯 (or 霸) enumerated in note 658. For the incident referred to, see Tso Chuan, 僖公, XXII 4. ↩

See note 26. ↩

Shih Chi, ch. 47, f. 7 ro. ↩

Shih Chi, ch. 38, f. 8 vo. ↩

項梁教籍兵法籍略知其意不肯竟學卒以傾覆不知兵法之弊可勝言哉宋襄徐偃仁而敗兵者危機當用權謀孔子猶有要盟勿信微服過宋之時安得妄責孫子以言之不純哉. ↩

其時去古未遠三代遺規往往於此書見之. ↩

其最古者當以孫子吳子司馬法為本大抵生聚訓練之術權謀運用之宜而已. ↩

See note 769. Further details on Tʽai Kung will be found in the Shih Chi, ch. 32 ad init. Besides the tradition which makes him a former minister of Chou Hsin, two other accounts of him are there given, according to which he would appear to have been first raised from a humble private station by Wên Wang. ↩

其文義不類三代. ↩

其言多近於正與戰國權謀頗殊. ↩

See Han Shu, 張良傳, ch. 40. The work is there called 太公兵法. Hence it has been confused with the Liu Tʽao. The Tʽu Shu attributes both the Liu Tʽao and the San Lüeh to Tʽai Kung. ↩

其文不類秦漢間書漢光武帝詔雖嘗引之安知非反摭詔中所引二語以證實其書謂之北宋以前舊本則可矣. Another work said to have been written by Huang-shih Kung, and also included in the military section of the Imperial Catalogue, is the 素書 Su Shu in 1 chüan. A short ethical treatise of Taoist savour, having no reference whatever to war, it is pronounced a forgery from the hand of 張商英 Chang Shang-ying (d. 1121), who edited it with commentary. Correct Wylie’s “Notes,” new edition, p. 90, and Courant’s Catalogue des Livres Chinois, no. 5056. ↩

其書雖偽亦出於有學識謀略者之手也. We are told in the 讀書志 that the above six works, together with Sun Tzǔ, were those prescribed for military training in the 元豐 period (1078⁠–⁠85). See Yü Hai, ch. 140, f. 4 ro. ↩

Also written 握機經 and 幄機經 Wu Chi Ching. ↩

其言具有條理. ↩

This is the only possible meaning of 計, which M. Amiot and Capt. Calthrop wrongly translate Fondements de l’art militaire and “First principles” respectively. Tsʽao Kung says it refers to the deliberations in the temple selected by the general for his temporary use, or as we should say, in his tent. See the end of ch. I. (“Now the general⁠ ⁠…”) ↩

The old text of the Tʽung Tien has 故經之以五校之計, etc. Later editors have inserted 事 after 五, and 以 before 計. The former correction is perhaps superfluous, but the latter seems necessary in order to make sense, and is supported by the accepted reading later in chapter I (“Therefore, in your deliberations⁠ ⁠…”), where the same words recur. I am inclined to think, however, that the whole sentence from 校 to 情 is an interpolation and has no business here at all. If it be retained, Wang Hsi must be right in saying that 計 denotes the “seven considerations” listed afterwards (“Which of the two sovereigns⁠ ⁠…”). 情 are the circumstances or conditions likely to bring about victory or defeat. The antecedent of the first 之 is 兵者; of the second, 五. 校 contains the idea of “comparison with the enemy,” which cannot well be brought out here, but will appear later in the chapter (“Therefore, in your deliberations⁠ ⁠…”). Altogether, difficult though it is, the passage is not so hopelessly corrupt as to justify Capt. Calthrop in burking it entirely. ↩

It appears from what follows that Sun Tzǔ means by 道 a principle of harmony, not unlike the Tao of Lao Tzǔ in its moral aspect. One might be tempted to render it by “morale,” were it not considered as an attribute of the ruler in the first of the seven considerations. ↩

The original text omits 令民, inserts an 以 after each 可, and omits 民 after 而. Capt. Calthrop translates: “If the ruling authority be upright, the people are united”⁠—a very pretty sentiment, but wholly out of place in what purports to be a translation of Sun Tzǔ. ↩

The commentators, I think, make an unnecessary mystery of 陰陽. Thus Mêng Shih defines the words as 剛柔盈縮 “the hard and the soft, waxing and waning,” which does not help us much. Wang Hsi, however, may be right in saying that what is meant is 總天道 “the general economy of Heaven,” including the five elements, the four seasons, wind and clouds, and other phenomena. ↩

死生 (omitted by Capt. Calthrop) may have been included here because the safety of an army depends largely on its quickness to turn these geographical features to account. ↩

The five cardinal virtues of the Chinese are (1) 仁 humanity or benevolence; (2) 義 uprightness of mind; (3) 禮 self-respect, self-control, or “proper feeling;” (4) 智 wisdom; (5)