23
The General’s Righteousness

THE GENERAL MUST BE RIGHTEOUS. If he is not righteous then he will not be severe. If he is not severe then he will not be awesome. If he is not awesome then the troops will not die for him. Thus righteousness is the head of the army.

The general must be benevolent. If he is not benevolent then the army will not conquer. If the army does not conquer it will lack achievement. Thus benevolence is the belly of the army.

The general must have Virtue. If he lacks Virtue then he will not have any strength. If he lacks strength the advantages of the Three Armies will not be realized. Thus Virtue is the hands of the army.

The general cannot be without credibility. If he is not trusted then his orders will not be implemented. If his orders are not implemented, then the army will not be unified. If the army is not unified then it will not attain fame. Thus credibility is the feet of the army.

The general must know victory. If he does not know victory, the army will not be decisive. Thus decisiveness is the tail of the army.

COMMENTARY

This chapter and the succeeding ones concretely discuss the essential qualities characterizing effective commanders and detail commonly found faults and flaws that result in significant errors. Most of them also appear in the other early military writings because they all discuss the critical question of the commander’s qualifications. Commentators and contemporary historians tend to focus upon the differences between Sun-tzu’s and Sun Pin’s five essential characteristics, stressing that Sun-tzu emphasized courage, Sun Pin righteousness and Virtue. However, a careful reading of each thinker’s entire work will reveal that they essentially agreed, and that knowledge was considered foremost. This is to be expected since the battlefield environment invariably elicits certain qualities that, if absent, will result in obvious failures in command and control.

Many of the extant military books emphasize the necessity for personal leadership, admonishing the general to set an obvious example and visibly lead by sharing every hardship with his men rather than assuming a regal position to the rear in comfort and glory. However, by Sun Pin’s era when campaign armies clearly began to exceed a hundred thousand soldiers, generals had long since abandoned any personal participation in the actual fighting. The late Spring and Autumn period had already seen the slow evolution of professional commanders, while Wu Ch’i (who was active at the start of the Warring States period) was the last significant figure to combine both civil and martial abilities. Sun-tzu’s time obviously marked a turning point in the status and authority of “expert” generals who obviously sought (of necessity) to become visibly independent of the ruler once having been commissioned and assigned troops to command. Thus Sun-tzu emphasized the commander’s necessary independence, while the general’s character and virtues, including loyalty, became increasingly important to the political rulers of the day.