Art of War (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) (32 page)

 

Chia Lin . . . tells us that these imply five obvious and generally advantageous lines of action, namely: “If a certain road is short, it must be followed; if an army is isolated, it must be attacked; if a town is in a parlous condition, it must be besieged; if a position can be stormed, it must be attempted; and if consistent with military operations, the ruler’s commands must be obeyed.” But there are circumstances which sometimes forbid a general to use these advantages.

For instance, “a certain road may be the shortest way for him, but if he knows that it abounds in natural obstacles, or that the enemy has laid an ambush on it, he will not follow that road. A hostile force may be open to attack, but if he knows that it is hard-pressed and likely to fight with desperation, he will refrain from striking,” and so on. . . . Hence we see the uselessness of knowing the one without the other—of having an eye for weaknesses in the enemy’s armour without being clever enough to recast one’s plans on the spur of the moment.

7. Hence in the wise leader’s plans, considerations of advantage and of disadvantage will be blended together.

 

“Whether in an advantageous position or a disadvantageous one,” says Ts’ao Kung, “the opposite state should be always present to your mind.”

8. If our expectation of advantage be tempered in this way, we may succeed in accomplishing the essential part of our schemes.

 

Tu Mu [says]: “If we wish to wrest an advantage from the enemy, we must not fix our minds on that alone, but allow for the possibility of the enemy also doing some harm to us, and let this enter as a factor into our calculations.”

9. If, on the other hand, in the midst of difficulties we are always ready to seize an advantage, we may extricate ourselves from misfortune.

 

A translator cannot emulate the conciseness of [the original Chinese, which reads, word for word] “to blend [thoughts of advantage] with disadvantage,” but the meaning is as given. Tu Mu says: “If I wish to extricate myself from a dangerous position, I must consider not only the enemy’s ability to injure me, but also my own ability to gain an advantage over the enemy. If in my counsels these two considerations are properly blended, I shall succeed in liberating myself . . . For instance, if I am surrounded by the enemy and only think of effecting an escape, the nervelessness of my policy will incite my adversary to pursue and crush me; it would be far better to encourage my men to deliver a bold counter-attack, and use the advantage thus gained to free myself from the enemy’s toils.”

10. Reduce the hostile chiefs by inflicting damage on them;

 

Chia Lin enumerates several ways of inflicting this injury . . . :—“Entice away the enemy’s best and wisest men, so that he may be left without counsellors. Introduce traitors into his country, that the government policy may be rendered futile. Foment intrigue and deceit, and thus sow dissension between the ruler and his ministers. By means of every artful contrivance, cause deterioration amongst his men and waste of his treasure. Corrupt his morals by insidious gifts leading him into excess. Disturb and unsettle his mind by presenting him with lovely women.” Chang Yü (after Wang Hsi) [says]: “Get the enemy . . . into a position where he must suffer injury, and he will submit of his own accord.”

make trouble for them, and keep them constantly engaged;

 

Literally [with reference to the latter phrase], “make servants of them.” Tu Yu says: “Prevent them from having any rest.”

hold out specious allurements, and make them rush to any given point.

 

Mêng Shih’s note . . . : “Cause them to forget
pien
(the reasons for acting otherwise than on their first impulse), and hasten in our direction.”