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

煙火 is explained by Tsʽao Kung as 燒具 “appliances for making fire.” Tu Mu suggests 艾蒿荻葦薪芻膏油之屬 “dry vegetable matter, reeds, brushwood, straw, grease, oil, etc.” Here we have the material cause. Chang Yü says: 貯火之器燃火之物 “vessels for hoarding fire, stuff for lighting fires.” ↩

A fire must not be begun 妄 “recklessly” or 偶然 “at haphazard.” ↩

These are, respectively, the 7th, 14th, 27th, and 28th of the 二十八宮 Twenty-eight Stellar Mansions, corresponding roughly to Sagittarius, Pegasus, Crater and Corvus. The original text, followed by the Tʽu Shu, has 月 in place of 宿; the present reading rests on the authority of the Tʽung Tien and Yü Lan. Tu Mu says: 宿; the present reading rests on the authority of the Tʽung Tien and Yü Lan. Tu Mu says: 宿者月之所宿也. For 箕壁, both Tʽung Tien and Yü Lan give the more precise location 戊箕東壁. Mei Yao-chʽên tells us that by 箕 is meant the tail of the 龍 Dragon; by 壁, the eastern part of that constellation; by 翼 and 軫, the tail of the 鶉 Quail. ↩

此四宿者 is elliptical for 月在此四宿之日. 蕭繹 Hsiao I (afterwards fourth Emperor of the Liang dynasty, AD 552⁠–⁠555) is quoted by Tu Yu as saying that the days 丙丁 of spring, 戊已 of summer, 壬癸 of autumn, and 甲乙 of winter bring fierce gales of wind and rain. ↩

I take 五 as qualifying 變, not 火, and therefore think that Chang Yü is wrong in referring 五火 to the five methods of attack set forth at the beginning of the chapter. What follows has certainly nothing to do with these. ↩

The Yü Lan incorrectly reads 軍 for 早. ↩

The original text omits 而其. The prime object of attacking with fire is to throw the enemy into confusion. If this effect is not produced, it means that the enemy is ready to receive us. Hence the necessity for caution. ↩

Tsʽao Kung says: 見可而進知難而退 “If you see a possible way, advance; but if you find the difficulties too great, retire.” ↩

Tu Mu says that the previous paragraphs had reference to the fire breaking out (either accidentally, we may suppose, or by the agency of incendiaries) inside the enemy’s camp. “But,” he continues, 若敵居荒澤草穢或營柵可焚之地卽須及時發火不必更待內發作然後應之恐敵人自燒野草我起火無益 “if the enemy is settled in a waste place littered with quantities of grass, or if he has pitched his camp in a position which can be burnt out, we must carry our fire against him at any seasonable opportunity, and not wait on in hopes of an outbreak occurring within, for fear our opponents should themselves burn up the surrounding vegetation, and thus render our own attempts fruitless.” The famous 李陵 Li Ling once baffled the 單于 leader of the Hsiung-nu in this way. The latter, taking advantage of a favourable wind, tried to set fire to the Chinese general’s camp, but found that every scrap of combustible vegetation in the neighbourhood had already been burnt down. On the other hand, 波才 Po-tsʽai, a general of the 黃巾賊 Yellow Turban rebels, was badly defeated in 184 AD through his neglect of this simple precaution. “At the head of a large army he was beseiging 長社 Chʽang-shê, which was held by 皇甫嵩 Huang-fu Sung. The garrison was very small, and general feeling of nervousness pervaded the ranks; so Huang-fu Sung called his officers together and said: ‘In war, there are various indirect methods of attack, and numbers do not count for everything. [The commentator here quotes Sun Tzǔ, chapter V “In all fighting⁠ ⁠…”, “Indirect tactics, efficiently applied⁠ ⁠…”, and “In battle, there are not more than two methods of attack⁠ ⁠…”] Now the rebels have pitched their camp in the midst of thick grass (依草結營), which will easily burn when the wind blows. If we set fire to it at night, they will be thrown into a panic, and we can make a sortie and attack them on all sides at once, thus emulating the achievement of Tʽien Tan.’ [See note 475] That same evening, a strong breeze sprang up; so Huang-fu Sung instructed his soldiers to bind reels together into torches and mount guard on the city walls, after which he sent out a band of daring men, who stealthily made their way through the lines and started the fire with loud shouts and yells. Simultaneously, a glare of light shot up from the city walls, and Huang-fu Sung, sounding his drums, led a rapid charge, which threw the rebels into confusion and put them to headlong flight.” (Hou Han Shu, ch. 71, f. 2 ro) ↩

Chang Yü, following Tu Yu, says: 燒之必退退而逆擊之必死戰則不便也 “When you make a fire, the enemy will retreat away from it;