AS THE title makes clear, “An Overview of the Military” is devoted to military affairs in a very broad sense. Its purpose is to instruct the ruler in all aspects of this subject, from tactics and strategy to the role of the military in state and society at large. Although it is highly derivative of earlier military literature of the Warring States, it is a unique synthesis of these materials that is in keeping with the broader perspective of the Huainanzi as a whole. In its treatment of the normatively correct principles guiding the monarch’s use of the military, the perspective of chapter 15 dovetails closely, and unsurprisingly, with the political interests of Liu An and his court of Huainan.
The Chapter Title
“Bing lüe” 
, translated here as “An Overview of the Military,” parallels the title of chapter 21, “Yao lüe” 
, “An Overview of the Essentials.” The basic meaning of bing is an “edged weapon.” Through a process of metonymy over the course of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, this character came to signify first the common foot soldier who carried a weapon into battle and then, when large infantry armies became the norm, the military and its affairs in the abstract.
Lüe can mean “to plan,” and so this chapter title is sometimes rendered “Military Strategies” or “Military Plans.”1 It can also, as in the case of this chapter and chapter 21, have the sense of “overview” or “general summation.” As we demonstrate, this chapter draws on and gives an overview of the large body of military writing that already existed in the early Han period. The same impulse to “survey the field” likely informed the similarly titled “Bing shu lüe” (An Overview of Military Writings), which Liu Xiang (ca. 77–ca. 6 B.C.E.) eventually included in his Qi lüe (Seven General Categories),2 the first known attempt to systematically classify the written legacy of the empire.
As the chapter summary in chapter 21 makes clear, “An Overview of the Military” not only discusses “the techniques of battle, victory, assault, and capture,” but also
is what [enables you] to
know that when you form for battle or deploy to fight contrary to the Way, it will not work;
know that when you assault and capture or fortify and defend contrary to Moral Potency, it will not be formidable. (21.2)
In other words, the chapter is not concerned exclusively with tactics and strategy but encompasses the larger cosmic patterns and ethical norms that constrain the use of military force. Moreover, when chapter 21 enumerates the chapter themes by demonstrating their organic integrity, it explains the segue from chapter 15 to chapter 16 as follows:
To know grand overviews but not know analogies and illustrations,
you would lack the means to clarify affairs by elaboration. (21.3)
This shows that the Huainanzi authors viewed chapter 15 as not simply a treatise on military affairs but also a well-crafted literary work exemplary of an “overview” as a generic form. Thus we render the title of chapter 15 as “An Overview of the Military.”
Summary and Key Themes
A number of words are used in chapter 15 (and elsewhere in the Huainanzi) in a technical sense derived from the military literature of the Warring States. One example of this is the distinction between the “extraordinary” and the “usual.”3 Earlier texts like the Wuzi, Weiliaozi, and Sunzi4 worked these terms into a theory of the tactical dialectic ruling the field of battle: the skilled commander must know the “usual” tactics to be applied in each situation, but he must always be ready to achieve surprise by producing an “extraordinary” tactical innovation (and correspondingly be prepared for the same from his opponent). Thus when the Huainanzi declares that “the mutual response of the extraordinary and the usual are like [the way that] water, fire, metal, and wood take turns being servant and master” (15.23), it is asserting a fundamental correlation between the dynamics of the battlefield and those of the basic energies of the cosmos. Most of these uses of technical vocabulary from the earlier literature are glossed in the notes or included in appendix A, but two terms merit special discussion here.
The first is quan 
. One of its original meanings is, as a verb, “to weigh” and, as a noun, the weight used in conjunction with a scale for measuring weight. From this root, other meanings, such as “authority,” were derived during the Warring States period. The image of the scales informs most usages of quan in Warring States military texts and generally refers to a capacity that enables a unit or its commander to achieve certain outcomes (“tip the scales”) on the field of battle. Chapter 15 identifies two types of quan that are operative in warfare: the superior knowledge of the commander and the superior training of the troops. We translate this concept as “heft.”
A term closely related to quan is shi 
.5 In both pre-Han military texts and the Huainanzi, shi denotes the total combat effectiveness (actual or potential) of a unit, deployment, or invested position. This measure is determined by both the intrinsic and extrinsic factors affecting the military formation in question at any given time. Thus, all things being equal, ten highly trained archers have more shi than do ten poorly trained ones, but if the former are placed in a valley and the latter are deployed on a hilltop, the differential in shi might be reversed. Because the calculation of shi combines intrinsic and extrinsic factors in this way, we distinguish it from quan by translating it as “force” in chapter 15.6 In keeping with its roots in the military literature of the Warring States, “force” is the cornerstone of the tactical and strategic philosophy of chapter 15. It is adduced as the single indispensable factor on which the final outcome of conflict depends, vastly more determinative than the relative moral qualities of matched combatants or the intercession of supernatural powers. (Note that shi appears in other chapters of the Huainanzi with other meanings and connotations and that a common translation of the term in other contexts is “positional advantage.”)
Many of the historical anecdotes recounted in the Huainanzi involved rivalries and conflicts among the major states of the Warring States period, whose approximate locations around 400 B.C.E. are shown. The state of Wu had been conquered by Yue in 473 B.C.E., and the once-powerful state of Jin had fragmented into the states of Hann, Wei, and Zhao in 403 B.C.E. The territory of the Yi peoples in southern Shandong was not recognized as a state by the Sinitic polities of the central plains. (Map by Sara Hodges, with data from the China Historical Geographic Information Service [CHGIS], version 4, Harvard Yenching Institute, Cambridge, Mass., January 2007)
As indicated earlier, the perspective of chapter 15 differs in several respects from that of the earlier military literature. First, “An Overview of the Military” treats military affairs in a manner that expresses the intrinsic interests and concerns of the Huainanzi ’s eponymous patron, Liu An. The chapter addresses how the military may be used efficiently and when and under what circumstances the military may be used legitimately. Borrowing a formula from Warring States and early Han political literature, “An Overview of the Military” establishes that military force may be legitimately applied only “to sustain those who [were] perishing, [and] revive those [lineages] that had been cut off.”7
These lines were used to evoke their original context. The “perishing” and “cut off” to which they refer are not people in general but the hereditary noble houses chartered by the Zhou kings to carry on ancestral cults and exercise local authority. This Zhou model was precisely the institutional structure on which Liu An’s position as “king of Huainan” was predicated. The larger import of “An Overview of the Military” is thus clear: that military power cannot be used to centralize routine power over the entire empire, that it can be applied only in a proper spirit of deference to the hereditary privileges of the noble houses that honeycombed the Han domain (such as that of Huainan).
This assertion is not a mere moral injunction. As “An Overview of the Military” asserts at several points, the normatively correct and practically efficacious uses of the military are ultimately one and the same. Any assault directed at other than a “kingdom without the Way” will result in either defeat or, through the cosmic processes described in chapter 6, calamity rebounding on the state and person of the victorious aggressor. In this respect, the Huainanzi agrees with the Jing fa (Constant Standard), the first of five texts appended to the Laozi B manuscript discovered at Mawangdui. That text declares that “if your achievement [that is, your conquest] is complete and you do not stop, your person will be endangered and suffer calamity.”8 The Huainanzi extends this principle to a further extreme. Chapter 15 closes with a detailed description of purifying rituals that must be performed by both the ruler and the commander of a victorious army in order to avoid calamity, even if they took care not to transgress cosmic limits.
Another theme of chapter 15 that distinguishes it from earlier military texts like the Sunzi centers on its discussion of the commander. Like the latter text, “An Overview of the Military” celebrates knowledge and skill as definitive capacities of the victorious commander. These qualities are not enough, however. Consistent with the perspective of the rest of the Huainanzi, chapter 15 asserts that knowledge and skill must be wedded to a potency that is rooted more deeply than rational thought. Only a commander who has come to embody the Way and its Potency through mystical self-cultivation will be completely unfathomable to his enemies and perfectly effective in responding to the constantly changing conditions of the battlefield:
[H]e sets his mind in the Field of Profound Mystery
and lodges his will in the Spring of the Nine Returns. (15.17)
Sources
“An Overview of the Military” is one of the most derivative chapters of a highly synthetic text, its structure drawing heavily from the classical military writings, especially the Sunzi bingfa,9 inherited by Han literati from the Warring States.10 For example, the lines
Thus,
a complete soldier is first victorious and only then seeks battle;
a defeated soldier gives battle first and only then seeks victory. (15.9)
are quoted almost verbatim from the Sunzi.11 And whereas chapter 15 declares,
[T]he force of one who is skilled at using arms is
like releasing amassed water from a thousand-ren [-high] dike,
like rolling round stones into a ten-thousand-zhang [-deep] gorge (15.18)
the Sunzi asserts, “One who is victorious [leads] the people into battle like releasing amassed water into a thousand-ren [-deep] gorge”12 and elsewhere states, “The force of one who is skilled at battle is like rolling round stones down a thousand ren [-high] mountain.”13
Warring States texts like the Sunzi developed a novel view of military affairs that contrasted with the aristocratic warrior ethos of the Bronze Age. Whereas the latter stressed personal courage, chivalric honor, and public displays of martial prowess, the new literature represented the military as a pragmatic implement of state power unrelated to qualities of valor, the use of which necessitated the application of skill, cunning, and deception. The aristocratic commander had been expected to be a martial hero, but the new Warring States commander was expected to be a sagacious and coldly calculating strategist.14 By the time of the Han Empire, this novel Warring States perspective on military affairs had become the hegemonic view and the basic template informing the state’s ongoing practices of military recruitment and organization. In echoing texts like the Sunzi, the Huainanzi is thus acknowledging the received and broadly accepted wisdom.
The Huainanzi’s discussion of military affairs is not, however, entirely constrained by the new “professionalism” of the Sunzi and its ilk. Chapter 15 presents a unique synthesis of ideas. Those regarding tactics, strategy, and the art of command correspond most closely to that of the Warring States military texts. But as suggested earlier, these ideas are framed in a larger discussion of the purposes and ethics of military power based on Confucian canonical texts, especially the Spring and Autumn Annals and its commentaries, and Daoist texts such as the silk manuscript texts appended to the Laozi B text discovered in Mawangdui Tomb 3.
The Chapter in the Context of the Huainanzi as a Whole
“An Overview of the Military” serves several purposes in the overall structure of the text. Inasmuch as the text claims to be a comprehensive compendium of all knowledge necessary to rule, it could not fail to include some discussion of military affairs. Chapter 15’s synthesis of Warring States military literature is thus partly an exercise in “due diligence” by the Huainanzi’s authors. In accordance with the text’s over-arching syncretic scheme, this perusal of military affairs logically comes in the late sections of the text. Elsewhere in its discussion of cosmogony and human history, the Huainanzi makes clear that warfare and weaponry were late, “devolutionary” developments in the evolution of both the cosmos and human society. They thus represent instruments of state power that are of lower efficacy and priority and are placed toward the back of the text, after more fundamental realms of concern like cosmology, personal cultivation, and even ritual. This late positioning of “An Overview of the Military” is somewhat misleading, however. Because military force and military organization are the organs of state power most closely associated with the routinization and centralization of political authority that threatened the very survival of the court of Huainan, chapter 15 provides a platform on which the authors and patron of the Huainanzi defended their own political priorities and interests.
Andrew Meyer
1. See, for example, Ames 1994, 70, “Summary of Military Strategies”; and Csikszentmihalyi 2004, 89, “Military Strategies.”
2. Han shu 30, 1701.
3. For a discussion of these terms in the history of the military literature, see Ralph D. Sawyer, Sun Tzu: The Art of War (Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1993), 147–50.
4. The Sunzi bingfa discusses the “extraordinary” and the “usual” in 5/4/11–16, and the Weiliaozi in 18/30/7–8. The Wuzi advises “executing the extraordinary” to achieve victory in 5/43/13.
5. Both quan and shi are discussed at length in Victor Mair, The Art of War: Sun Zi ’s Military Methods (New York: Columbia University Press, 2007), and Soldierly Methods: Vade Mecum for an Iconoclastic Translation of Sun Zi bingfa, Sino-Platonic Papers, no. 178 (Philadelphia: Department of Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania, 2008).
6. Shi is a concept that ultimately migrated into the political literature of the Warring States, where it denoted the forms of power or advantage that accrued to civil officials by virtue of their position or circumstances. The Huainanzi also uses this term with this meaning in other chapters, and in those places we have opted for translations better suited to the particular context.
7. The phrase “sustain those that are perishing, [and] revive those [lineages] that had been cut off” 
appears in many Warring States texts, including the Guanzi, Xunzi, and Lüshi chunqiu. It originally denoted the definitive virtuous merit of a hegemon, a leader who used military power to moral rather than coercive ends. By the Han period, this phrase had become associated with the Confucian exegetical tradition of the Spring and Autumn Annals and is used in the Chunqiu Guliang zhuan, Duke Xi, year 17, to describe the merit of Duke Huan of Qi.
8. Mawangdui Hanmu boshu zhengli xiaozu, Mawangdui Hanmu boshu (Beijing: Wenwu, 1980), 45.
9. For a complete translation of all the extant military texts of the early period, see Ralph D. Sawyer, The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China, Including The Art of War (Boulder, Colo.: Westview Press, 1993).
10. Many English translations of the Sunzi bingfa are available for review and comparison with chap. 15 of the Huainanzi. Among the best are Sawyer, Sun Tzu; Roger Ames, Sun-tzu: The Art of Warfare (New York: Ballantine Books, 1993); Samuel B. Griffith, Sun Tzu: Art of War (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1963); and Mair, Art of War.
11. BSSZ A4/3/24. The only difference in the text of the Sunzi bingfa is that it refers to the “victorious soldier” rather than the “complete soldier.”
12. BSSZ A4/4/6.
13. BSSZ A5/4/28.
14. Mark Edward Lewis, Sanctioned Violence in Early China (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1990), 15–136.
In antiquity, those who used the military did not value expanding territory or covet the possession of gold and jade. They sought to sustain those who [were] perishing, revive those [lineages] that had been cut off,1 pacify the chaos of the world, and eliminate harm to the myriad people.
All beasts that have blood and qi,
are equipped with teeth and horns.2
They have claws in front and paws behind.
Those with horns gore;
those with teeth bite;
those with poison sting;
those with hooves kick.
When they are happy, they play with one another;
when they are angry they injure one another;
this is their Heaven[-born] nature.
Humans have instincts for clothing and food, yet [material] things are lacking.
Thus they settle together in various locations. If the division is not equal, if demands are not fulfilled, they fight. When they fight, the strong threaten the weak and the brave attack the cowardly.
People do not have strong muscles and bones or sharp claws and teeth, thus
they cut leather to make armor;
they forge iron to make blades.
Greedy and cruel people brutalize and rob the world. The myriad people are shaken; they cannot rest in tranquillity with what they possess. The sage rises up vehemently, punishing the strong and the violent [and] pacifying the chaotic age. He suppresses danger and eliminates disorder.
He makes the sullied pure;
he makes the imperiled calm.
Thus people are not cut off in mid[life].
The origins of the military are distant!
The Yellow Emperor once warred with Yan Di;3
Zhuan Xu once fought with Gong Gong.4
The Yellow Emperor warred in the wilds of Zhuolu;5
Yao warred on the banks of the River Dan;6
Shun attacked the Youmiao;7
Qi attacked the Youhu.8
Since the time of the Five Thearchs, [no one] has been able to ban [the military], much less in a declining age! [15/142/21–29]
The military sees to it that the violent are curtailed and the disorderly [are] punished.
Yan Di created a conflagration, thus the Yellow Emperor captured him;
Gong Gong created a flood, thus Zhuan Xu executed him.
If one teaches them the Way, guides them with Potency but they do not listen, then one displays martial might to them. If one displays martial might to them but they do not obey, one controls them with weapons and armor. Thus the sage’s use of the military is like combing hair or weeding seedlings; those he eliminates are few, [and] those he benefits are many.
There is no harm greater than killing innocent people to support an unrighteous king;
there is no calamity more profound than to exhaust the wealth of the world to satisfy one person’s desires.
If [King] Jie of Xia and [King] Djou of Yin had met with calamity as soon as they harmed the people, they would not have reached [the point of] creating the “roasting beam.”9
If [Duke] Li of Jin and [King] Kang of Song had [met with] the death of their persons and the destruction of their states as soon as they committed one act of unrighteousness, they would not have reached the point of invading and conquering or unleashing tyranny.
These four rulers all committed small transgressions and were not punished, thus they arrived at unsettling the world, harming the common people [and] extending the calamity of the realm by giving free rein to a single man’s deviance. This is what the standard of Heaven will not accept. A ruler is established in order to curtail the violent and punish the disorderly. Now if one commands the strength of the myriad people yet conversely commits cruelty and robbery, this is like a tiger sprouting wings. How can it not be eliminated? [15/143/1–8]
One who raises fish in a pond must fend off otters;
one who raises birds and animals must likewise fend off wolves.
How much more so the one who governs people!
Thus the military of a hegemon or king
is given forethought according to standards,
is planned for according to strategy,
is applied according to Rightness.
It is not used to destroy those that survive
[but] to sustain [those that] are perishing.
When he hears that the ruler of an enemy state is being cruel to his people, he raises the military and descends on [the enemy’s] borders.
He blames the enemy for his lack of Rightness;
he criticizes him for his excessive actions.
When the military reaches the suburbs [of the enemy capital], he commands the army, saying:
“Do not cut down trees;
do not disturb graves;
do not scorch the five grains;
do not burn property;
do not take the people as slaves;
do not steal the six domestic animals.”
Then he issues a pronouncement and effects an edict, saying, “The ruler of X kingdom has scorned Heaven and insulted the ghosts.
He has imprisoned the innocent;
he has wrongfully executed the blameless.
This is what is punished by Heaven,
what is hated by the people.
The coming of the military is to cast aside the unrighteous and to restore the virtuous. Anyone who opposes the Way of Heaven and leads those who rob the people will be killed and his clan exterminated.
Anyone who leads his family to obey will be given an income for his household;
anyone who leads his village to obey will be rewarded with [control of] his village;
anyone who leads his town to obey will be given his town as a fief.
Anyone who leads his district to obey will be made marquis of his district.”
His conquest of the kingdom does not touch the people; he [only] discards their ruler and changes their government.
He reveres their excellent scholars and gives prominence to the worthy and the good;
he uplifts their orphans and widows and shows compassion to their poor and desperate.
He releases those [unjustly] imprisoned;
he rewards those who have merit.
The common people open their doors and await him; they cook rice and supply him; only fearing that he will not come.
This was how Tang and Wu became kings
and how [Duke] Huan of Qi and [Duke] Wen of Jin became hegemons.
Thus when the ruler is without the Way, the people yearn for the military [just] as they hope for rain during a drought or plead for water when they are thirsty. Who among them will lift a weapon to meet the military? Thus to conclude without battle is the ultimate of the righteous military. [15/143/10–21]
In regard to the military of later ages, although rulers may be without the Way, none do not dig moats, build battlements, and defend [them]. Those who attack do not do so to curtail violence or eliminate harm; they want to invade the land and expand their territory. For this reason, the bodies pile up and the blood flows; they face one another all day, yet the achievement of a hegemon does not appear in the age. It is because they act selfishly.
One who wars for territory cannot become a king;
one who wars for himself cannot establish his merit.
One who takes up a task on behalf of others will be aided by the multitude;
one who takes up a task on his own behalf will be discarded by the multitude.
One who is aided by the multitude must [become] strong even if he is weak;
one who is discarded by the multitude must perish even if he is great. [15/143/23–26]
The military is
weak if it loses the Way;
strong if it obtains the Way.
The commander is
inept if he loses the Way;
skillful if he obtains the Way.
What is called the Way
embodies the circle and is modeled on the square,
shoulders the yin and embraces the yang,
is soft on the left and hard on the right,
treads in the obscure and carries illumination.
It alters and transforms without constancy; it obtains the source of the One and thereby responds limitlessly. This is called spirit illumination.
The circle is Heaven;
the square is earth.
Heaven is circular and without terminus, thus one cannot view its form;
the earth is square and without boundaries, thus one cannot see its gateway.
Heaven transforms and nurtures yet is without form;
Earth generates and rears and yet is without measure.
Vague, hazy, who knows their capacity?
All things have that which defeats them;10 only the Way is invincible.11 It is invincible because it has no constant shape or force. It cycles ceaselessly, like the motion of the sun and moon.
Just as summer and autumn alternate,
just as the sun and the moon have day and night,
it reaches an end and begins again;
it illuminates and becomes dark again.
None can attain its pattern. [15/144/1–7]
It controls form yet is formless;
thus its merit can be complete.
It objectifies things yet is no object;
thus it triumphs and does not submit. [15/144/9]
Form/punishment12 is the ultimate of the military. Arriving at being without form/punishment may be called the ultimate of the ultimate. For this reason, the great military does no injury; it communicates with the ghosts and spirits. It does not brandish the five weapons, [yet] none in the world dares oppose it. It sets up its drums [but] does not open its arsenal, and none of the Lords of the Land do not freeze in terror. Thus
one who wars from the temple becomes emperor;13
one who [effects] spirit transformation becomes king.
What is called “warring from the temple” is modeling [oneself] on the Way of Heaven.
Spirit transformation is modeling [oneself] on the four seasons.
He cultivates governance within his borders and those afar long for his Potency;
he achieves victory without battle, and the Lords of the Land submit to his might.
It is because internally his government is ordered. [15/144/9–12]
In antiquity those who obtained the Way
in stillness modeled [themselves] on Heaven and Earth,
in motion complied with the sun and moon.
In delight and anger they corresponded to the four seasons;
in calling and answering they were comparable to the thunder and lightning.
Their voice and breath did not oppose the eight winds;
their contracting and extending did not exceed the five standards.14
Below to those [creatures] that have armor and scales;
above to those that have fur and feathers;
all were ordered from first to last. Among the myriad creatures and the hundred clans, from beginning to end, none was without its proper place.
For this reason, [the Way]
enters what is small without being pressed,
lodges in what is vast without being exposed.
It seeps into metal and stone;
it washes over grasses and trees.
[From] something that expands to fill the limits of the six coordinates to the end of a single hair, nothing does not cleave to it. The penetration of the Way suffuses what is [most] subtle. There is nowhere it does not reside; this is why it triumphs over the powerful and the many. [15/144/14–18]
In archery, if the calibration of the sights is not correct, the target will not be hit.
With the thoroughbred, if [even] one tally goes unused, a thousand li will not be reached.15
Being defeated in battle does not happen on the day the drums give the order [to advance]; one’s daily conduct has been without discipline for a long time. Thus in the military that has obtained the Way,
the chocks are not removed from the chariot [wheels];
the mounts are not saddled;
the drums raise no dust;
the banners are not unfurled;
the armor is not removed from its casings;16
the blades do not taste blood;
the court does not change its location;
the merchants do not leave the market;
the farmers do not leave the fields.
When [the ruler] issues a righteous summons and charges them,
large kingdoms pay court;
small cities submit.
He follows people’s desires and marshals the people’s strength by eliminating cruelty and dispelling thievery.
Thus,
those who value the same [thing] will die for one another;
those who share the same feelings complete one another;
those who have the same desires will find one another;
those who hate the same thing will assist one another.
If one moves in compliance with the Way, the world will [respond as] an echo.
If one plans in compliance with the people, the world will be one’s weapon.
When hunters are pursuing game, the chariots race and the men run, each exhausting his strength. There is no threat of punishment, yet they scold one another for stumbling and urge one another on because they [all] will share in the benefit.
When those in the same boat are crossing a river and meet suddenly with wind and waves, the sons of the hundred clans all quickly grab the oars and row the vessel,17 as if they were the right and left hands [of a single person]. They do not contend with one another because they share the same distress.
Thus the enlightened king’s use of the military is to eliminate injury to the world, and he shares its benefits with the people. The people work as sons do for their fathers, as younger brothers for their elder brothers. The impact of [the king’s] might is like a mountain collapsing or a dike bursting, what enemy would dare to oppose him?
Thus, he who excels at using the military uses [the people] for their own sakes.
If you use [people] for their own sakes, then none in the world may not be used.
If you use [people] for your own sake, what you achieve will be scanty. [15/144/20–29]
The military has three foundations:
In ordering the kingdom, regulate within the borders.
In effecting Humaneness and Rightness, spread Moral Potency and Benevolence.
In establishing correct laws, block deviant paths.18
[When]
the collected ministers are intimately close,
the common people are harmonious,
superiors and inferiors are of a single mind,
ruler and minister unite their efforts.
The Lords of the Land submit to your might and the four directions cherish your Moral Potency;
you cultivate governance in the temple hall and extend control beyond one thousand li;
you fold your hands, issue commands, and the world responds as an echo.
This is the highest use of the military.
[When]
the territory is broad and the people numerous;
the ruler is worthy and the commanders loyal;
the kingdom is rich and the military strong;
covenants and prohibitions are trustworthy;
pronouncements and orders are clear.
The two armies oppose each other;
the bells and drums face each other;
yet the enemy flees before the soldiers meet or blades clash. This is the middling use of the military.
[When]
you understand what suits the terrain,
practice the beneficial [use of] narrow and obstructed [positions],
discern the alterations of the extraordinary and the usual,19
investigate the rules for marching and formation, dispersion and concentration;
bind the drumsticks [to your forearms] and roll the drums.
White blades meet;
flying arrows are exchanged;
you wade through blood and tread through guts;
you cart the dead away and support the wounded;
the blood flows for a thousand li;
exposed corpses fill the field;
thus victory is decided. This is the lowest use of the military.
Now everyone in the world
knows to work at studying its branches,
and none knows to resolve to cultivate its root.
This is to discard the root and plant the limbs. [15/145/1–8]
Those things that assist the military in victory are many; those that ensure victory are few.
If armor is sturdy and weapons sharp,
chariots are solid and horses excellent,
rations and equipment sufficient,
officers and men numerous,
these are the great foundations of the army, yet victory is not [found] here. If one is clear about
the movements of the stars, planets, sun, and moon;
the rules of recision and accretion20 and the occult arts;21
the advantages of the rear, front, left, and right;
these are aids to warfare, yet completeness is not [found] here.
That by which the excellent commander is ensured victory is his constant possession of a knowledge without origin, a Way that is not a Way. It is difficult to share with the multitude. [15/145/10–13]
Meticulously recruiting [personnel],
being timely in movement and rest,
distinguishing officers and enlisted men,
maintaining weapons and armor,
ordering marching squadrons,
organizing platoons and companies,
clarifying drum and banner [signals],
these are the office of the adjutant.22
Distinguishing army camps,
scouring the terrain thoroughly,
choosing the location of the army,
these are the office of the master of horse.
Knowing [which terrain] is obstructed or passable to the front or the rear;
on encountering the enemy knowing what is difficult or easy;
issuing reprimands so that there is no negligence or idleness;
this is the office of the commandant.
[Ensuring that] movement along the route is swift,
that transport of the baggage is orderly,
that the size [of the camp] is standard,
that the positioning of the army is concentrated,
that the wells and stoves are dug [properly],
these are the office of the master of works.
Collecting and storing [materials] in the rear,
leaving nothing behind when camp is moved,
that there are no poorly packed carts,
that there is no missing baggage,
these are the office of the quartermaster.
These five officers are to the commander as the arms, legs, hands, and feet are to the body. He must choose men, assess their talents, [and] make sure that [each] officer can shoulder his responsibilities [and each] man is capable of his task.
He instructs them with regulations;
he applies them with orders;
using them the way that
tigers and leopards use their claws and teeth;
flying birds use their wings.
None is not employed. However, they all are implements that assist victory; they are not that by which victory is ensured. [15/145/13–19]
The victory or defeat of the military has its basis in governance.
If governance overcomes the people, subordinates will follow their superiors, and the military will be strong.
If the people overcome [their] government, subordinates will rebel against their superiors, and the military will be weak.
Thus,
if Moral Potency and Rightness are sufficient to encompass the people of the world,
if tasks and works are sufficient to meet the urgency of the world,
if selection and promotion are sufficient to win the minds of the worthies and scholars,
if plans and designs suffice to comprehend the heft of strength and weakness,
this is the root of certain victory. [15/145/19–21]
Vast territory and numerous people do not suffice to make one strong;
sturdy armor and sharp weapons do not suffice to make one victorious;
high walls and deep moats do not suffice to make one secure;
strict orders and complex punishments do not suffice to make one mighty.
One who practices the governance of survival, though [his kingdom] is small, will certainly survive.
One who practices the governance of extinction, though [his kingdom] is large, will certainly perish.
In antiquity, the territory of the Kingdom of Chu23
on the south was ringed by the Yuan and Xiang [rivers],
on the north was circled by the Ying and Si [rivers],
on the west was contained by [the states of] Ba and Shu,
on the east, was wrapped by [the states of] Tan and Pi.
[It had] the Ying and Ru [rivers] as ditches;
the Yangzi and Han [rivers] as moats.
Fenced in by the Deng Forest,
screened by a defensive wall.
The mountains [were] so high they scraped the clouds;
the valleys so deep there were no shadows.
The terrain [was] advantageous, the conditions favorable;
the soldiers and people courageous and daring.
They had shark’s leather and rhinoceros [hide] to make armor and helmets;
they had long halberds and short spears together to make up the vanguard.
They had repeating crossbows to bring up the rear,
massed chariots to guard the flanks.
At the quick they were like bolts and arrows,24
concentrated they were like thunder and lightning,
dispersed they were like the wind and rain.
However,
their soldiers fell at Chuisha;25
their multitudes were broken at Boju.26
The might of Chu spanned the earth and encompassed the masses; their portion was half the world. Yet King Huai27 feared Lord Mengchang to the north, [so] he abandoned the defense of his ancestral altars and became a hostage of mighty Qin.
His soldiers defeated and his territory pared away, he died without returning home.
The Second Emperor [of Qin]28 had the force of the Son of Heaven and the wealth of the world.
Nowhere that human footprints reached
or that was traversed by boat and oar
was not his prefecture or district.
Yet,
he was ensnared in the desires of the ears and eyes;
he practiced every possible variety of license and wickedness.
He paid no heed to the people’s hunger, cold, poverty, and distress. He raised a chariot force of ten thousand chariots and built the A-fang palace; he
dispatched conscripted villagers for garrison duty
and collected taxes of more than half [of income].
Those among the common people who were conscripted or executed, who died gripping the crossbar of a wagon or at the head of the road, numbered countless myriads every day.
The world
was feverish as if scorching hot,
bent as if bitterly belabored.
Superior and inferior were not at peace with each other;
officials and commoners were not in harmony.
Chen Sheng,29 a conscript soldier, arose in Daze. He bared his right arm and raised it, proclaiming himself “Great Chu,” and the empire responded like an echo. At that time, he did not have
strong armor or sharp weapons,
powerful bows or hard spears.
They cut date trees to make spears;
they ground awls and chisels to make swords.
They sharpened bamboo
and shouldered hoes
to meet keen halberds and strong crossbows, [yet] no city they attacked or land they invaded did not surrender to them. They roiled and shook, overran and rolled up an area of several thousand square li throughout the world. [Chen Sheng’s] force and station were supremely lowly, and his weapons and equipment were of no advantage, yet one man sang out and the empire harmonized with him. This was because resentment had accumulated among the people. [15/145/23–15/146/12]
When King Wu attacked Djou, he faced east and welcomed the year.30
When he reached the Si River, there was a flood;
when he reached Gongtou, [a mountain] collapsed.31
A comet appeared and presented its tail to the men of Yin. During the battle;
ten suns rioted above;
wind and rain struck below.32
Yet,
in front there were no rewards for braving danger;
at the rear there were no punishments for flight.
Clean blades were never fully drawn and the empire submitted. For this reason,
he who is good at defending cannot be overcome,
and he who is good at battle cannot be attacked.
He understands the Way of restricting entries and opening blockages. He takes advantage of the force of the moment, accords with the desires of the people, and seizes the world. [15/146/14–17]
Thus,
one who is good at governing accumulates Moral Potency;
one who is good at using the military stores anger.
When Moral Potency accumulates, the people may be employed;
when anger is stored, our awesomeness may be established.
Thus,
when our culture has been applied shallowly, what is brought to submission by heft will be meager.
If our Potency functions broadly, what is controlled by our awesomeness will be expansive.
When what is controlled by our awesomeness is broad, we are strong and the enemy is weak.
Therefore, one who is good at using the military first weakens the enemy and only after does battle. In this way the expense is not even half, and the effect is naturally doubled.
The territory of Tang was seventy li square, and he became king. This was because he cultivated his Moral Potency.
Earl Zhi had a thousand li of land and perished. This was because he was exclusively martial.
Thus, [the ruler of]
a thousand-chariot state that practices civility and Potency will become king;
a ten-thousand chariot state that is fond of using the military will perish.
Thus,
a complete soldier is first victorious and only then seeks battle;
a defeated soldier gives battle first and only then seeks victory.
If Potency is equal, the many will defeat the few.
If strength is matched, the intelligent will defeat the stupid.
If intelligence is the same, then the one with numbers will capture the one without. In all use of the military, one must first fight from the temple.
Whose ruler is more worthy?
Whose commander is more able?
Whose people are more obedient?
Whose state is better ordered?
Who has prepared more stores?
Whose troops are better trained?
Whose armor and weapons are better?
Whose equipment is more efficient?
In this way, one moves counters in the upper hall of the temple and decides victory more than a thousand li away. [15/146/19–26]
What has form and outline will be seen and praised by the world;
what has chapter and verse will be transmitted and studied by the ages.
These all are [examples] of forms overcoming one another. The one who is skilled at form does not use them as a model. What ennobles the Way is its formlessness. Having no form, it thus
cannot be controlled or coerced;
cannot be measured or ruled;
cannot be tricked or deceived;
cannot be schemed against or planned for.
People will make plans for one whose wisdom is apparent;
they will attack one whose form is apparent;
they will ambush one whose numbers are apparent;
they will defend against one whose weapons are apparent.
Those who
move and initiate, circulate and turn,
straighten and bend, contract and extend
may be tricked and deceived; none is skilled. The movement of the skilled
is as apparent as that of a spirit and yet proceeds like that of a ghost,
is as brilliant as the stars and yet operates in obscurity.
Advancing and retreating, contracting and extending, none sees its form or outline.
It alights like the halcyon and rises like the qilin,
flies like the phoenix and leaps like the dragon.
It emerges like a gale;
it speeds like lightning.
it beats death with life;
it overcomes decline with virility;
it defeats torpor with speed;
it controls hunger with fullness. [It is]
like water eradicating fire,
like heat melting snow.
Where can one go where it does not follow?
Where can one move where it does not reach?
Within, empty and spiritlike;
without, barren of will;
it moves in the formless;
it emerges where it is not expected;
it leaves tumultuously;
it returns unexpectedly.
None knows its destination.
Sudden as thunder and lightning,
swift as wind and rain,
as if bursting from the earth,
as if falling from the sky,
none can respond to or defend against it.
Fast as bolts and arrows, how can it be matched?
Now dark, now bright, who can know its beginning and end?
Before one has seen its launching, it invariably has already arrived. [15/147/1–11]
Thus the one skilled in arms, on seeing the deficiency of the enemy,
takes advantage of it and does not rest,
pursues it and does not let it go,
presses it and does not [let it] get away.
He
strikes while [the enemy] is in doubt,
overruns him while he hesitates.
[He is like]
swift thunder that does not give [the enemy] time to cover his ears,
fast lightning that leaves [the enemy] no leisure to cover his eyes.
The one skilled in arms
is like the sound to the echo,
is like the gong to the drum.
If a mote gets into [the enemy’s] eye, he does not allow him to wipe it away;
if [the enemy] exhales, he does not allow him to inhale.
At this time,
he does not look up to see Heaven;
he does not look down to view
Earth; his hand does not lift his spear;
his weapon is not fully drawn.
He strikes [the enemy] like thunder;
he hits him like the wind;
he scorches him like fire;
he overcomes him like a wave.
The enemy
does not know where to stay while at rest,
does not know what to do while in motion.
Thus when the drums sound and the flags wave, none facing him do not give up or collapse. Who in the world dares to display might or maintain discipline when facing him? Therefore, one who anticipates others is victorious; one who awaits others is defeated; one who is led by others dies. [15/147/11–16]
[One]
whose soldiers are still stands firm,
who is concentrated and united is mighty,
whose duties are apportioned is brave,
whose mind is in doubt flees,
whose strength is divided is weak.
Thus, if you can divide his soldiers and cause his mind to doubt, [having] a small fraction [of his strength] will be more than enough. If you cannot divide his soldiers and cause his mind to doubt, [having] many times [his strength] will not suffice.
Djou’s soldiers numbered one million and had one million minds;
King Wu’s soldiers numbered three thousand and all were concentrated and united.
Thus,
one thousand men of the same mind yield the strength of a thousand men;
ten thousand men with different minds do not have the usefulness of one man.
When commander and soldiers, officials and people, all move and rest as if one body, you may respond to the enemy and join battle. Thus,
[when] you set off after plans are firm,
move after duties are apportioned,
the commander has no doubtful designs;
the soldiers have no separate mind;
in motion there is no lax demeanor;
in speech there are no empty words;
in tasks there is no tentativeness;
[then you] will surely respond to the enemy quickly;
[you] will surely initiate actions swiftly.
Thus,
the commander takes the people as his body,
and the people take the commander as their mind.
When the mind is sincere, the limbs and body will be close and cleave [to it];
when the mind is doubtful, the limbs and body will rebel and flee.
If the mind is not concentrated and unified, the body will not be disciplined in action;
if the commander is not sincere and sure, the soldiers will not be brave and daring.
Thus the soldiers of a good commander
are like the fangs of the tiger,
like the horn of the rhinoceros,
like the wings of a bird,
like the feet of a millipede.
They can advance;
they can withdraw;
they can bite;
they can butt.
They are strong without defeating one another;
they are numerous without harming one another;
one mind moves them.
Thus,
when the people earnestly follow orders, though they are few, there is nothing to fear;
when the people do not follow orders, though they are many, they act as few.
Thus,
when inferiors are not close to superiors. [the commander’s] mind is of no use;
when the soldiers do not fear the commander, his formations will not do battle.
Among defenses there are those that are sure to hold;
among attacks there are those that are sure to triumph
before weapons cross or edges meet the crux of survival and destruction has invariably formed. [15/147/18–28]
The military has three [types of] force and two [forms of] heft.33
There is the force of qi;
there is the force of terrain;
there is the force of circumstance.
When the commander is full of courage and scorns the enemy;
when soldiers are daring and take joy in battle;
when amid the three armies and within the myriad hosts,
their will leaps to the sky;
their qi is like the whirlwind;
their sound is like thunder.
Their sincerity amasses and their [essence]34 overflows, so that their might falls on the enemy. These are called “the force of qi.”
Mountain trails and marshy passes,
great mountains and famous obstructions,
“dragon coils,” “umbrella peaks,”
“sheep intestine paths,” “fish trap gates”:35
when one person holds the defile, one thousand men do not dare pass. These are called “the force of terrain.”
Relying on their being
belabored and fatigued, negligent and disordered,
hungry and thirsty, frozen or scorched,
pushing them where they are unsteady,
squeezing them where they are spread thin,
these are called “the force of circumstance.”
Skillfully using spies,
carefully laying plans,
establishing ambushes,
concealing their form,
emerging where he does not expect, [thus] giving the enemy’s soldiers no suitable defense: these are called “the heft of knowledge.”
[When]
the formations of soldiers are correct,
the front rank is elite,
they advance and retreat together;
the units and squads [maintain] tight [formation];
the front and the rear do not restrain each other;
the left and the right do not interfere with each other.
[When] the blows received are few,
the enemy wounded are many:
these are called “the heft of training.”
[When]
advantage and force are surely formed,
officers and soldiers are concentrated and excellent,
the able are chosen and the talented employed;
each office finds its [right] person.
[When]
plans are set and strategies decided,
death and life are clear.
[When] taking and releasing attain their [proper] time [and] none are not aroused and alert, then
before the assault [employs] the battering ram or siege ladder, the city is taken;
before in battle weapons cross or edges meet, the enemy is broken.
This is to be enlightened about the arts of certain victory.
Thus,
if arms are not sure to be victorious, one does not rashly cross blades;
if the assault is not sure to take [its object], one does not rashly launch [it].
Only after victory is certain does one give battle;
only after the scales36 have weighed does one move.
Thus,
the masses form up and do not vainly scatter;
the soldiers set out and do not fruitlessly return. [15/148/1–11]
On moving, only one who is devoid of a single movement scrapes the sky and shakes the earth.
Lifting Mount Tai,
blocking the Four Seas,
moving and shifting ghosts and spirits,
alarming and startling birds and beasts,
[when] one is like this,
in the countryside there are none who study arms;
throughout the kingdom there are no defended cities.
Meet agitation with stillness,
match chaos with order,
be without form and control what has form,
be without purpose and respond to alterations,
though this will not yet make you able to gain victory over the enemy, it will allow the enemy no path to victory.
When the enemy moves before me, then from this I see his form.
When he is agitated and I am still, then with this I can obstruct his strength.
When his form is seen, then victory may be fashioned.
When his strength is obstructed, [my] might may be established.
View his purposes and transform in accord with them,
observe his deviancy and straightness and thereby control his fate,
feed him what he desires and thereby stop up his contentment.
If he has a fissure,
quickly rush into the crack.
Compass his alterations and bind him,
plumb his rhythms and unbalance37 him.
If the enemy returns to stillness, produce something unexpected for him;
if he does not respond, unilaterally extinguish his [sense of] security.
If I move and he responds, I can see his purposes;
if he holds back, push him to move him;
if he has accumulated something, there must be something that he lacks.
If his best troops turn left, trap his right flank;
if the enemy breaks and runs, his rear may definitely be moved.
[When] the enemy is pressed and does not move, this is called “lingering.”
Strike him like thunder;
cut him like grass or trees;
burn him like fire or lightning.
You must hurry fast
[so that] his men have no time to run,
his carts have no time to roll,
his weapons are like wooden plants,
his crossbows are like sheep horns.
Though his men are numerous, [your] force is such that he dare not strike. [15/148/11–21]
Of all things that have an image, there is not [one] that cannot be defeated;
of all things that have form, there is none for which there is no response.
This is why the sage lodges in Nothingness and lets his mind roam in Emptiness.
Wind and rain can be blocked and screened,
but cold and heat cannot be shut out;
it is because they have no form. What can suffuse the essentially subtle,
pierce metal and stone,
reach the farthest distance,
rise above the Nine Heavens,
[and] coil below the Yellow Springs
is only the Formless.
One who is skilled at using arms
should attack [the enemy’s] disorder
[but] should not assault his order.
Do not attack well-dressed ranks;
do not assault upright flags.
If his demeanor cannot yet be seen, match him with equal numbers. If he has the form of death, follow and control him. If the enemy holds [superior] numbers, stay hidden while moving. If you meet fullness with deficiency, you surely will be captured by him.
If tigers and leopards did not move, they would not enter the pit.
If deer and elk did not move, they would not be taken by nets.
If flying birds did not move, they would not be caught in snares.
If fish and turtles did not move, they would not be grabbed by lips and beaks.
Among things there is none that is not controlled by its motion. For this reason, the sage values stillness.
He is still and thus can respond to agitation;
he follows and thus can respond to one who leads;
he is artful and can thus defeat one who is coarse;
he is broad-reaching and can thus capture one who is deficient. [15/148/21–15/149/5]
Thus, for the good commander’s use of soldiers,
he merges their minds;
he unites their strength;
the brave cannot advance alone;
the cowardly cannot retreat alone.
At rest like hills and mountains,
unleashed like the wind and rain,
what they hit surely breaks; nothing is not destroyed or drenched. They move as a single body; none can respond to or defend against [them].
The five fingers tapping in turn are not as good as the whole hand rolled into a fist;
ten thousand men advancing in turn are not as good as one hundred men arriving together.
Tigers and leopards have better speed;
bears and grizzlies have more strength;
yet people eat their meat and make mats of their hides because they are not able to communicate their knowledge and unite their strength.38
The force of water overcomes fire, [but] if the Zhanghua Tower39 caught fire, if one sought to save it by dousing it with ladles and spoons, though one emptied a well and drained a pond, it would be no use. [But] if one picked up pots, urns, bowls, and basins and drenched it, [the fire’s] being extinguished would only be a matter of time.
Now humans with respect to [other] humans do not have the advantage of water over fire, and if they wish to match the many with the few, they will clearly not achieve their aim. One of the military traditions has a saying: “The few can match the many.” This refers to what one commands, not with which one gives battle. Some command many but use only a few, thus their force is not on a par [with their numbers]. One who commands a few but uses many [of them] increases his functional strength. If people employ their talents to the fullest and completely use their strength, it has never been heard of from antiquity to the current day that the few have defeated the many. [15/149/7–15]
There is no spirit nobler than Heaven;
there is no force more versatile than Earth;
there is no motion more swift than time;
there is no resource more advantageous than people.
These four are the pillars and trunks of the military, yet they must rely on the Way to operate because [the Way] can unite their functions.
The advantage of terrain overcomes Heaven and time;
clever tactics overcome the advantage of terrain;
force overcomes people.
Thus,
one who relies on Heaven can be led astray;
one who relies on Earth can be trapped;
one who relies on time can be pressured;
one who relies on people can be fooled.
Humaneness, courage, trustworthiness, and incorruptibility are the most excellent qualities among people. However,
the brave can be lured;
the humane can be robbed;
the trustworthy are easily cheated;
the incorruptible are easily schemed against.
If the commander of a host has even one of these [flaws], he will be taken captive.
Seen from this perspective, it also is clear that victory in arms is produced by the Pattern of the Way, not by the worthiness of human character.
Thus, deer and elk can be seized by snares;
fish and turtle can be taken by nets;
geese and swans can be collected with the dart and line.
Only to the Formless may nothing be done. For this reason, the sage
lodges in the Sourceless, so his feelings cannot be grasped and observed;
moves in the Formless, so his formations cannot be attained and traced.
He has no model and no protocol;
he does what is appropriate [for what] arrives;
he has no name and no shape;
he fashions [a new] image for [each] alteration.
How deep!
How distant!
Through winter and summer,
through spring and fall,
above reaching the highest branch,
below fathoming the deepest depth,
altering and transforming,
never hesitating or halting,
he sets his mind in the Field of Profound Mystery
and lodges his will in the Spring of the Nine Returns.40
Though one has acute eyes, who can detect his feelings? [15/149/15–24]
What soldiers discuss secretly is the Way of Heaven;
what they chart and draw is the terrain;
what they speak of openly is human affairs;
what decides victory for them is heft and force.
Thus the superior commander’s use of soldiers:
Above reaches the Way of Heaven,
below reaches the benefit of the terrain;
between [these], he reaches the minds of the people. He then moves them at the fulcral moment and launches them [replete] with force. This is why he never has broken armies or defeated soldiers.
Coming to the mediocre commander:
Above he does not understand the Way of Heaven;
below he does not understand the benefit of the terrain;
he exclusively uses people and force. Though he will not be perfectly [successful], his balance will mostly be victories.
About the inferior commander’s use of soldiers:
He is broadly informed yet is himself disordered;
he has much knowledge yet doubts himself;
at rest he is afraid;
setting forth he hesitates.
For this reason, when he moves he becomes another’s captive. [15/149/26–30]
Now let two people cross blades. If their skill or clumsiness is no different, the braver warrior will certainly win. Why is this? It is because of the sincerity of his actions. If you use a great ax on logs and firewood, you need not wait for a beneficial time or a good day to chop it. If you put the ax on top of the logs and firewood without the aid of human effort, though you accord with the “far-flight” asterism41 and have hold of recision and accretion,42 you will not chop it because there is no force.
Thus,
when water is agitated, it dries up;
when an arrow is agitated, it flies far.
The end of an arrow made of Qiwei bamboo43 and capped with silver and tin could not on its own pierce even a vest of thin silk or a shield of rotten leaves. If you lend it the strength of sinew and bone, the force of bow or crossbow, then it will pierce rhino[-hide] armor and pass through a leather shield!
The speed of the wind can reach the point of blowing away roofs or breaking trees, [but] if an empty carriage reaches a great thoroughfare from atop a high hill, a person has pushed it.44 For this reason, the force of one who is skilled at using arms is
like releasing amassed water from a thousand-ren [-high] dike,
like rolling round stones into a ten-thousand-zhang [-deep] gorge.45
When the world sees that my soldiers will certainly be effective, then who will dare offer me battle? Thus one hundred men who are sure to die are worth more than ten thousand men who are sure to flee; how much more is the multitude of the three armies who will enter fire and water without turning tail! Even if I challenged the entire world to cross blades, who would dare step up first? [15/150/1–9]
[These are] what are called the “divisions of Heaven”:
The Bluegreen Dragon to the left, the White Tiger to the right,
the Vermilion Bird in front, the Dark Warrior behind.46
What is called the “advantages of Earth”?
Life behind and death in front,
valleys on the left and hills on the right.
What is called “human affairs”?
Rewards being trustworthy and punishments sure,
movement and stillness being timely,
withdrawal and emplacement being swift.
These are what the ages have passed down as models and signs, [and] they are venerable.47 But they are not that by which one survives. [True] models and signs are those that alter and transform in accordance with the times. Thus,
One stands in the shade of the upper hall and knows the progress of the sun and moon;
one sees the ice at the bottom of the jar and knows the cold and hot [seasons] of the world.
That by which things give form to one another is subtle; only the sage fathoms its utmost. Thus,
though the drum is not among the five tones, it is the master of the five tones;
though water is not among the five flavors, it blends the five flavors;
though the commander is not among the five officers, he controls the five officers.
[The drum] can harmonize the five tones because it is not among the five tones;
[water] can blend the five flavors because it is not among the five flavors;
[the commander] can order the affairs of the five officers because he [himself] cannot be surveyed or measured.
For this reason, the mind of the commander is
warm like the spring, hot like the summer,
cool like the fall, cold like the winter.
He
accords with conditions and transforms with them,
follows the seasons and shifts with them. [15/150/11–19]
A shadow cannot be crooked if the thing [itself] is straight;
an echo cannot be a high note if the sound [itself] is a low note.
Observe what he sends and respond to each with what defeats it. For this reason,
hold up Rightness and move, promote order and set forth;
conceal your nodal points, and discard your injuries;
rely on your strengths, and complete your objective.
Make him
know your coming out but not know your going in;
know your withdrawing but not know your amassing.
Be at first like a fox or a raccoon dog,
then he will advance at ease.
On meeting, be like a rhino or a tiger,
then the enemy will take flight.
When a soaring bird strikes, it pulls in its head;
when a ferocious beast attacks, it conceals its claws.
The tiger and leopard do not let their fangs show;
biting dogs do not show their teeth.
Thus the Way of using arms is to
show them softness and meet them with hardness,
show them weakness and ride them with strength,
make [as if] contracting and respond to them by expanding.
When the commander wants to go west, he shows them east.
At first he stands aloof, yet after he engages,
in front he is dark yet behind he is bright.
Like ghosts, leaving no tracks;
like water, bearing no scars.
Thus
where he tends toward is not where he arrives;
what he reveals is not what he plans.
Taking, giving, moving, resting, none can recognize him. Like the stroke of thunder, one cannot prepare for him. He does not repeat [any tactic] he uses, so he can always be victorious. He communicates with the Mysterious Brilliance; none knows his portals. This is known as the Supremely Spiritlike. [15/150/21–28]
What makes the military strong is being set on death.
What makes the people set on death is Rightness.
What makes Rightness able to be practiced is awesomeness.
For this reason,
gather them with civility;
order them with martiality.
This is called “sure attainment.” When awesomeness and Rightness are practiced together, this is known as “supreme strength.”
What people take joy in is life,
and what they hate is death.
Even so,
at high walls and deep moats,
when arrows and stones fall like rain;
on flat plains and broad marshes,
where naked blades cross and meet,
soldiers will compete to advance and engage [the enemy]. It is not that they scorn death and take joy in injury; it is because rewards are trustworthy and punishments are clear. [15/151/1–4]
For this reason,
if superiors view inferiors as sons,
inferiors will view superiors as fathers.
If superiors view inferiors as younger brothers.
inferiors will view superiors as older brothers.
If superiors view inferiors as sons, they will surely be king over the Four Seas;
if inferiors view superiors as fathers, they will surely rectify the world.
If superiors are intimate with inferiors as with younger brothers, then [the inferiors] will not [find it] difficult to die for [their superiors].
If inferiors see their superiors as older brothers, then [the superiors] will not [find it] difficult to perish [for their inferiors].
For this reason, one cannot fight with opponents who are [as close as] fathers, sons, older brothers, and younger brothers because of the goodwill accumulated over previous generations.
Thus,
if the four horses were not in harmony, [even] Zaofu would not be able to travel far;
if bow and arrow were not in harmony, [even] Yi would not be able to always hit the mark;
if ruler and minister were of separate minds, [even] Sunzi48 would not be able to face the enemy.
Thus,
within, [the ruler] cultivates his governance in accumulating Potency;
without, he stops up resentment [by causing people to] submit to his awesomeness. [15/151/6–10]
Investigate the [soldiers’] labor and ease so as to be aware of their fullness and hunger, so when the day of battle arrives, they will view death as a homecoming. The commander must share the troops’ sweetness and bitterness, matching their hunger and cold. Thus he can win their [loyalty unto] death, even to the last man.
Thus in antiquity, skillful commanders were sure to personally take the lead.
In the heat, they did not spread a canopy;
in the cold, they did not don furs,
so as to equal [the soldiers’] heat and cold.
In narrow defiles they would not ride;
going uphill they would always dismount,49
so as to match [the soldiers’] fatigue and ease.
When the army’s food was cooked, only then did they dare eat;
when the army’s well had been bored, only then did they dare drink,
so as to share [the soldiers’] hunger and thirst.
When battle was joined, they would stand where the arrows and stones were arriving, so as to partake of [the soldiers’] safety and danger.
Thus the good commander’s use of soldiers constantly
struck accumulated resentment with accumulated Potency,
struck accumulated hatred with accumulated love.
Why would he not triumph? [15/151/10–15]
What the ruler asks of the people is twofold:
He asks the people to labor for him;
he wants the people to die for him.
What the people hope of the ruler is threefold:
That if they are hungry, he will feed them;
that if they are fatigued, he will rest them;
that if they have merit, he will be able to reward them.
If the people fulfill their two duties and the ruler disappoints their three hopes, though the kingdom is large and the people numerous, the military will be weak.
The embittered must attain what they take joy in;
the belabored must attain what they find profit in.
The merit of “cutting heads” must be fully [remunerated];
service unto death must be posthumously rewarded.
If in these four, one keeps faith with the people, even if the ruler
shoots at birds in the clouds, angles for fish in the deep abyss,
plucks the qin and se, listens to bells and pipes,
plays liubo or tosses “high pots,”50
the military will still be strong;
orders will still be carried out.
For this reason, if superiors are worthy of reverence, inferiors may be used; if one’s Potency is worthy of admiration, one’s awesomeness may be established. [15/151/17–22]
The commander must have three guides, four ethics, five conducts, and ten disciplines.
What are called the three guides
above understand the Way of Heaven,
below study the shape of the terrain,
among them investigate the feelings of the people.
What are called the four ethics? [They are]
to benefit the kingdom without favoring the military,
to serve the ruler without thought for yourself,
to face difficulty without fearing death, and
to decide doubts without avoiding punishment.
What are called the five conducts? [They are]
to be soft but unable to be rolled up;
to be hard but unable to be snapped;
to be humane but unable to be insulted;
to be faithful but unable to be cheated; and
to be brave but unable to be overcome.
What are called the ten disciplines?
Your spirit is pure and cannot be sullied;
your plans are far-reaching and cannot be anticipated;
your training is firm and cannot be moved;
your awareness is lucid and cannot be blocked;
you are not greedy51 for wealth;
you are not corrupted by things;
you are not taken in by disputation;
you are not moved by [occult] arts;
you cannot be pleased;
you cannot be angered.
This is called the perfect model. Obscure! Mysterious! Who understands his feelings? [The ideal commander’s]
initiatives surely accord with the heft;52
his words surely correspond to the measure;
his actions surely comply with the seasons; .
his resolutions surely hit the [correct] pattern.
he comprehends the activation of motion and stillness;
he is enlightened to the rhythm of opening and closing;
he has investigated the benefit and harm of removing and deploying, so that [they are] as if merging two halves of a tally.
He is swift like a cocked crossbow;
his force is like that of a released arrow,
Now a dragon, now a snake;
his movements have no constant shape.
None sees his middle;
none know his end.
When he attacks, there is no defense;
when he defends, he cannot be attacked. [15/151/24–15/152/2]
It has been said that one who is skilled at the use of arms must first cultivate it in himself [and] only afterward seek it in other people. He must first make himself invincible and only then seek out victory.
To [look for] self-cultivation from others and beg victory from the enemy, not yet being able to order oneself and yet attacking another’s disorder; these are like
extinguishing fire with [more] fire,
responding to a flood with [more] water.
What can it accomplish?
Now if a potter were to be transformed into clay, he could not fashion plates and pots.
If a weaver girl were to be transformed into silk, she could not weave patterned cloth.
Like [things] do not suffice to control one another, thus only [something] different can be extraordinary. If two sparrows are fighting with each other, the arrival of a falcon or a hawk will break them apart because they are of a different sort.
Thus stillness is extraordinary to agitation, [and] order is extraordinary to chaos;
fullness is extraordinary to hunger, [and] ease is extraordinary to labor.
The mutual response of the extraordinary and the usual are like [the way that] water, fire, metal, and wood take turns being servant and master.
The one who is skilled at the use of arms maintains the five lethal [conducts] in responding, so he can complete his victory. The one who is clumsy abides in the five fatal [failings] and overreaches, so when he moves he becomes another’s captive.53 [15/152/4–9]
The military values plans being unfathomable and formations being concealed.
Emerge where one is not expected, so [the enemy] cannot prepare a defense.
If plans are seen, they will fail;
if formations are seen, they will be controlled.
Thus one who is skilled at using arms,
above hides them in Heaven,
below hides them in Earth,
between hides them among people.
One who hides them in Heaven can control anything. What is called “hiding them in Heaven”? It is to alter in accordance with
great cold, profound heat,
swift wind, violent rain,
heavy fog, or dark night.
What is called “hiding it in Earth”? It is being able to conceal one’s formations amid
mountains, hills,
forests, and valleys.
What is called “hiding it among people”?
Blocking their view in front,
facing them in the rear.
While producing an unexpected [maneuver] or moving a formation,
breaking forth like thunder,
rushing like the wind and rain.
Furling the great banners, silencing the loud drums so that one’s coming and going has no traces; none knows their beginning or end. [15/152/11–15]
When front and rear are correctly aligned, the four corners are as if bound together;
when coming and going, disengaging and continuing do not interfere with one another;
when light [troops] are at the wings and crack [soldiers] are at the flanks, some forward and some at the rear;
when in parting and merging, dispersing and concentrating, companies and squads are not broken up;
this is to be skilled at deploying moving formations.
When one is clear as to freak occurrences and anomalies, yin and yang, recision and accretion, the Five Phases, the observance of qi, astrology,54 and spirit supplication,55 this is to be skillful at the Way of Heaven.
When one establishes plans, places ambushes,
uses fire and water,56 produces anomalies.
When one has the army shout and drum so as to confuse [the enemy’s] ears and drags bundled sticks to kick up dust and confuse [the enemy’s] eyes; all these are being skilled at deception and dissimulation.
When the chun57 sounds resolutely,
when one’s will is firm58 and not easily frightened,
when one cannot be lured by force or advantage,
when one cannot be shaken by death or defeat,
these are to be skilled at bolstering strength.
When one is agile and quick to strike,
when one is brave and scorns the enemy,
when one is swift as [a horse at] the gallop,
these are to be skilled at using speed and creating surprise.
When one assesses the shape of the terrain,
when one lodges at rest camps,
when one fixes walls and fortifications,
when one is careful of depressions59 and salt marshes,
when one occupies the high ground,
when one avoids exposed positions,
these are to be skilled at using the shape of the terrain.
When one relies on [the enemy’s] hunger, thirst, cold and heat,
when one belabors his fatigue and aggravates his disorder,
when one deepens his fear and hampers his steps,
when one hits him with elite troops,
when one strikes him at night,
these are to be skilled at according with the seasons and responding to alterations.
When one uses chariots on easy [terrain],
when one uses mounted horsemen on obstructed [terrain],
when one uses more bowmen while crossing water,
when one uses more crossbowmen in a narrow pass,
when one uses more flags by day,
when one uses more fires by night,
when one uses more drums at dusk,
these are to be skilled in logistics.
One cannot lack even one of these eight, even though they are not what is most valuable to the military. [15/152/17–26]
The commander must see singularly and know singularly.
Seeing singularly is to see what is not seen.
Knowing singularly is to know what is not known.
To see what others do not is called “enlightenment.”
To know what others do not is called “spiritlike.”
The spiritlike and enlightened is one who triumphs in advance. He who triumphs in advance
cannot be attacked when he defends,
cannot be defeated in battle,
cannot be defended against when he attacks.
This is because of emptiness and fullness.
When there is a gap between superiors and inferiors, when the commander and officials do not cooperate, when what one upholds is not straight, when the minds of the soldiers accumulate insubordination, this is called “emptiness.”
When the ruler is enlightened and the commander competent, when superiors and inferiors are of the same mind, when [the soldiers’] qi and intentions both are aroused, this is called “fullness.”
It is like throwing water at fire:
What it lands on squarely will collapse;
what it hits sparsely will be moved.
Hard and soft do not interpenetrate,
victory and defeat60 are alien to each other.
This speaks of emptiness and fullness.
Being skilled at battle does not reside in the few;
being skilled at defense does not reside in the small;
victory resides in attaining awesomeness;
defeat resides in losing qi. [15/152/27–15/153/4]
The full should fight, the empty should run;
the thriving should be strong, the declining should flee.
The territory of King Fuchai of Wu was two thousand li square, and he had seventy thousand armored warriors.
To the south he fought with Yue and routed them at Kuaiji.
To the north he fought with Qi and broke them at Ailing.
To the west he met the Duke of Jin and captured him at Huangchi.61
This is to use the people’s qi when it is full. Afterward
he became arrogant and gave free rein to his desires;
he scorned admonition and took delight in slander;
he was violent and followed erroneous [advice];
he could not be spoken to honestly.
The great officials were resentful;
the people were insubordinate.
The king of Yue and three thousand elite troops captured [Fuchai] at Gansui.62 This was taking advantage of his emptiness.
That qi has empty and full [phases] is like the darkness following the light. Thus,
a victorious military is not always full;
a defeated military is not always empty.
He who is skilled can fill his people’s qi while awaiting others’ emptiness.
He who is incapable empties his people’s qi while awaiting others’ fullness.
Thus the qi of emptiness and fullness are what is most valued by the military. [15/153/6–11]
Whenever the kingdom has difficulty, from the palace the ruler summons the commander, charging him: “The fate of the altars of the soil and grain are on your person. The kingdom faces a crisis, I wish you to take command and respond to it.”
When the commander has accepted his mandate, [the ruler] orders the Supplicator and Great Diviner to fast, sequestered for three days. Going to the Great Temple, they consult the Magic Tortoise to divine a lucky day for receiving the drums and flags.
The ruler enters the temple portal, faces west, and stands. The commander enters the temple portal, rushes to the foot of the platform, faces north, and stands.
The sovereign personally grasps the yue ax. Holding it by the head, he offers the commander its handle, saying, “From here up to Heaven is controlled by [you,] the commander.” [The ruler] again grasps the fu ax. Holding it by the head, he offers the commander its handle, saying, “From here down to the Abyss is controlled by [you,] the commander.”63
When the commander has accepted the fu and yue axes, he replies,
“[Just as] the kingdom cannot be governed from without,
the army cannot be ruled from within.64
[Just as] one cannot serve the ruler with two minds,
one cannot respond to the enemy with a doubtful will.
Since [I,] your minister, have received control from you, I exclusively [wield] the authority of the drums, flags, and fu and yue axes. I ask nothing in return. I [only] hope that Your Highness likewise will not hand down one word of command to me.
If Your Highness does not agree, I dare not take command.
If Your Highness agrees, I will take my leave and set out.”
[The commander] then trims his fingernails,65 dons funeral garb, and exits through the “ill-augured” portal.66 He mounts the commander’s chariot and arrays the banners and axes, tied as if not [yet] victorious. On meeting the enemy and committing to battle,
he pays no heed to certain death;
he does not have two minds.
For this reason,
he has no Heaven above;
he has no Earth below;
he has no enemy in front;
he has no ruler behind;
he does not seek fame in advancing;
he does not avoid punishment in retreating;
he [seeks] only to protect the people;
his benefit is united with that of the ruler.
This is the treasure of the kingdom, the Way of the superior commander.
If he is like this,
the clever will plan for him;
the brave will fight for him;
their qi will scrape the azure clouds;
they will be swift as galloping [steeds].
Thus before weapons have clashed, the enemy is terrified.
If the battle is victorious and the enemy flees, [the commander] thoroughly dispenses rewards for merit. He reassigns his officers, increasing their rank and emolument. He sets aside land and apportions it, making sure it is outside the feudal mound.67 Last, he judges punishments within the army.
Turning back, he returns to the kingdom, lowering his banners and storing the fu and yue axes. He makes his final report to the ruler, saying, “I have no further control over the army.” He then dons coarse silk and enters seclusion.
[The commander goes] to ask pardon of the ruler. The ruler says, “Spare him.”
[The commander] withdraws and dons fasting garb. For a great victory, he remains secluded for three years; for a middling victory, two years; for a lesser victory, one year.
That against which the military was used was surely a kingdom without the Way.
Thus
one can triumph in battle without retribution,
take territory without returning it;
the people will not suffer illness;
the commander will not die early;
the five grains will flourish;
the winds and rains will be seasonable;
the battle is won without;
good fortune is born within.
Thus one’s reputation will be made, and afterward there will be no further harm. [15/153/13–29]
Translated by Andrew Meyer
1. The phrase “sustain those that are perishing, [and] revive those [lineages] that had been cut off” (cun wang ji jue 
) is used in the Chunqiu Guliang zhuan, Duke Xi, year 17, to describe the merit of Duke Huan of Qi.
2. A similar description of animals is found in 19.5. See also 1.7.
3. The primeval conflict between the Yellow Emperor and Yan Di is mentioned in Lüshi chuhqiu 7.2. For Yan Di, the god of the south, fire, and the planet Mars, see 3.6.
4. For the battle between Zhuan Xu and Gong Gong, see 3.1.
5. This refers to the ancient battle between the Yellow Emperor and Chi You. See Zhuangzi 29.
6. Lüshi chunqiu 20.4 records a campaign by Yao against the Southern Man on the River Dan.
7. Shun’s campaign against the Youmiao (Miao) is recorded in the “Shun dian” chapter of the Documents.
8. Qi’s campaign against the Youhu is recorded in the “Gan shi” chapter of the Documents.
9. A cruel punishment famously associated with King Djou, it is also mentioned in 2.14, 10.89, 11.1, 12.35, and 21.4.
10. Following Wang Shumin’s proposed emendation. See Lau, HNZ, 144n.3.
11. Following Wang Shumin’s proposed emendation. See Lau, HNZ, 144n.4.
12. This is a deliberate pun. The character translated (xing 
) means both “form” (
) and “punishment,” and both meanings are being invoked here. The latter sense is that punishing wrongdoing is the ultimate end of the military, but the ultimate fulfillment of this end is achieved when punishments are no longer necessary. The former sense is that “form” (the formation of the army in battle, the form of plans and operations) is the ultimate arbiter of success for the military, but achieving a state of “formlessness” (or accessing the power of the Formless) is the ultimate embodiment of martial skill.
13. “Warring from the temple” 
alludes to the first chapter of the Sunzi bingfa, which discusses the calculations made in the ancestral temple before battle has been joined. The basic notion here is that victory is achieved in the careful preparation before the battle, not in heroics on the field of battle itself. See 15.9.
14. Compare the “five positions” (wu wei 
) in 5.13.
15. “Thoroughbred” (ji 
) is literally a horse capable of traversing a thousand li in a single day. The point here is that despite its remarkable talents, the thoroughbred cannot complete the journey unless its rider is equipped beforehand with all the official tallies that will afford passage through government gate stations along the way.
16. Following Zhang Shuangdi 1997, 2:1558n.22.
17. Following Yang Shuda’s reading. See Zhang Shuangdi 1997, 2:1559n.26.
18. In accordance with William Boltz’s (private communication) identification of the rhyme scheme, preserving sui 
, instead of Lau’s (HNZ 15/145/1) suggested emendation to dao 
.
19. Qi 
and zheng 
are used here in a special technical sense established by military texts like the Sunzi bingfa. “Extraordinary” and “usual” refer to the commander’s selective and timely use of surprise tactics that break with conventional military doctrine. Both terms are discussed at length in Victor Mair, The Art of War: Sun Zi’s Military Methods (New York: Columbia University Press, 2007), and Soldierly Methods: Vade Mecum for an Iconoclastic Translation of Sun Zi bingfa, Sino-Platonic Papers, no. 178 (Philadelphia: Department of Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania, 2008).
20. Here xingde 
is not used in the conventional sense of “punishment and beneficence” but refers to the recision and accretion of yin and yang as seen in various cosmic cycles, especially the cycle of lengthening and shortening days throughout the solar year. See 3.16 and 3.17. Accretion and recision are mentioned in the context of military astrology in 3.33 and 3.39, where the directional movements of counter-Jupiter (taiyin) are linked to victory or defeat. See Major 1993, 122–26, 132–33.
21. The phrase qi gai zhi shu 
is somewhat obscure. We follow the commentaries compiled in Zhang Shuangdi 1997, 2:1564n.12, in rendering it as “occult arts.” Xu Shen glosses it as “the strange and secret essentials of yin and yang, extraordinary arts.”
22. This reading rejects Lau’s (HNZ 15/145/13) proposed interpolation of da to read the title as dawei (
), or “defender-in-chief” (a court office). All five offices listed here are army ranks, not court offices.
23. Ancient Chu spanned western Hubei and southwestern Henan Province. The geographical frontiers listed in this passage fall within or border on that general region.
24. There seems to be one part of the parallelism missing here. “Concentrated” and “dispersed” (in the following two lines) are in parallel, so immediately after this line there should be a phrase parallel with “at the quick.”
25. Chu was defeated by the combined armies of Qin, Han, Wei, and Qi at Chuisha in 301 B.C.E. The event is recorded in Xunzi 15 and Zhanguoce 179.
26. Chu was defeated by the combined armies of Cai and Wu at Boju in 506 B.C.E. See Zuozhuan, Duke Ding, year 4.
27. King Huai of Chu 
reigned from 328 to 299 B.C.E.
28. The Second Emperor 
, or Hu Hai 
, was the son and heir of the First Emperor of Qin. He reigned from 210 B.C.E. until his death by suicide in 207 B.C.E.
29. Chen Sheng (d. 208 B.C.E.) was a minor Qin official who initiated the uprising that brought down the Qin dynasty. He is commemorated with his own “Hereditary House” in Shiji 48.
30. A ritual performed to mark the beginning of spring. It is presumably noted here to demonstrate that the following events occurred out of season. What follows are a sequence of bad auguries for the endeavor of King Wu, despite which he prevails because of his superior Moral Potency.
31. Following Wang Shumin’s emendation. See Lau, HNZ, 146n.13.
32. Following Wang Shumin’s emendation. See Lau, HNZ, 146n.14.
33. The word translated here as “heft,” quan, is a very richly multivalent term used in a technical military sense. Quan literally refers to the weight of a scale, and in different philosophical contexts it can mean “authority” or “expediency.” In military texts and here in Huainanzi 15, it means the forms of advance training or preparation that can “tip the scales” on the field of battle, ergo “heft.” See app. A.
34. Following Wang Niansun’s emendation. See Lau, HNZ, 148n.2.
35. All four of these phrases seem to be set literary terms for types of terrain.
36. Following commentators’ reading of ling as quan. See Lau, HNZ, 148nn.1, 10.
37. Accepting Lau’s (HNZ, 148n.11) proposed emendation.
38. A similar point about the advantage that humans have over animals is made in 19.5.
39. A fabled tower erected by King Ling of Chu (r. 540–529 B.C.E.).
40. The provenance of this metaphor is obscure. Gao You notes that “nine returns” denotes a spring that is “supremely deep.” Apparently, both this sobriquet and that of the preceding line signify the Way.
41. For the “far-flight” asterism, see Major 1993, 218. Far-flight, at the tip of the “handle” of the Northern Dipper constellation, acts as a moving pointer that indicates the directions associated with the twelve months. See 5.1–12.
42. For this usage of xingde, see n. 20.
43. The phrase qiwei junlu 
is obscure. Junlu clearly refers to a type of thin but durable bamboo that is well suited to making arrows. Xu Shen glosses qiwei as the name of a region from which (presumably very excellent) bamboo is harvested, but other commentators offer divergent readings. See Zhang Shuangdi 1997, 2:1602nn.14, 37.
44. Accepting Sun Yirang’s proposed emendation. See Lau, HNZ, 150n.5. The carriage in question is a two-wheel rig, which is why the force of the wind would not make it simply roll down the hill.
45. One ren is eight Chinese feet, and one zhang is ten Chinese feet.
46. These are constellations marking the four cardinal directions; the orientation implied here is a ruler’s-eye view, facing south.
47. Accepting Lau’s (HNZ, 150n.6) emendation.
48. Sunzi 
(also known as Sun Wu 
) was a native of Qi and general of the state of Wu during the Spring and Autumn period. He is the putative author of the Sunzi bingfa.
49. Accepting Wang Shumin’s emendation. See Lau, HNZ, 15n.9A. The reference is probably to dismounting from a chariot, not from riding astride.
50. Liubo was a board game, played for gambling stakes and used as a form of divination. For an anecdote involving a chesslike game, possibly liubo, see 18.27. “Tossing pots” was also a popular game.
51. Following the reading in Zhang Shuangdi 1997, 2:1613, of tan 
in place of shi 
.
52. Accepting Lau’s (HNZ, 151n.12) emendation of the character quan: 
, not 
.
53. This appears to refer to the “five conducts” (and the implicitly corresponding “five failings”) listed earlier in this section as aspects of the ideal commander.
54. These all are cosmological categories and forms of divination used to forecast battlefield conditions. Observing qi is a form of military prognostication by means of which one ascertains victory or defeat by surveying the qi emanating from the enemy army. It is described in Mozi 68.
55. That is, rituals, and prayers, used to solicit the aid of the spirit world.
56. The character jian 
is a superfluous intrusion into the text. See Lau, HNZ, 152n.2.
57. A chun 
is a kind of bell with a bulbous top, played by being struck with a stick or mallet. The word yue 
in this sentence is used as an onomatopoetic representation of the sound of a bell; thus we translate yue freely as a verb, “sounds.”
58. Reading zhi 
as “will.” See Zhang Shuangdi 1997, 2:1620n.8.
59. Reading yan 
as having a water radical on the left: 
. See Sun Yirang’s proposed emendation in Lau, HNZ, 152n.4.
60. Following Yang Shuda’s proposed emendation. See Lau, HNZ, 153n.3.
61. The battle at Kuaiji occurred in 494 B.C.E., that at Ailing in 489 B.C.E., and that at Huangchi in 482 B.C.E.
62. Fuchai’s final defeat at the hands of Yue occurred in 473 B.C.E.
63. The yue 
and fu 
axes are military regalia of the ruler. The conferring of these symbols on the commander represents the transfer of sovereign authority to him for the duration of the campaign.
64. Here “within” is used with the meaning of “within the king’s court.”
65. Following Yang Shuda (although retaining the original order of the text). See Lau, HNZ, 153n.5.
66. These all are rituals demonstrating the commander’s resolve to die. The “ill-augured” portal is the north portal.
67. In other words, the commander makes sure that all lands dispensed as rewards fall outside the sacred ground used for the ancestral cult of the defeated sovereign, so that sacrifices to the ancestors of the defeated line may be continued.