The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China

by Ralph D Sawyer

  Sun-tzu initiated the idea of "swiftness rather than duration," and the Three Strategies continues to emphasize speed and decisiveness throughout: "Battle should be like the blowing wind. Attacks should be like a flowing river." Doubting, questioning decisions, consulting spirits or using divination, or anything else that might undermine the army's commitment and retard its actions should never be permitted.

  In antiquity as today, the image of authority frequently constituted the real and frequently the only basis of power and means of controlling men. Wei, which is perhaps best translated as "awesomeness," is a term commonly employed to describe the aura of the authoritative figure. According to Confucius, wei is the image, the impact of the man of righteousness when he dons his armor. It is the ultimate power of a general or the remoteness of a ruler wielding the might of a trembling empire.

  Virtually all of the Legalists and military thinkers sought consciously to develop this awesomeness because of its critical role in governing men and causing the enemy to shiver and quake. Without it the general would be reduced to impotence because he would lose the allegiance of his men and his orders would be ignored or insulted.

  The timeless foundation of administrative and actual power is the personal, unquestioned control of the twin handles of rewards and punishments. Although the theory and implications of the rigorous, severe, systematic imposition of rewards and punishments tend to be most closely identified with the Legalist school, every military thinker probably acknowledged their vital importance. When their credibility remains undoubted, the majesty, the awesomeness of the commander is established: "The army takes rewards as its form and punishment as its substance. When rewards and punishments are clear the general's majesty is effected."

  The second element in the general's and ruler's awesomeness is his expert use of orders and commands. Orders must never be issued lightly, nor should they be rescinded; otherwise they lose their power and impact. His continued fearsomeness depends on the acceptance and execution of his orders; and this execution depends on the fear, respect, and willing allegiance of the men. Clearly, the most extensive efforts must be taken to preserve this interrelationship because once a crevice such as doubt appears, the collapse of authority is imminent.

  An early passage in the "Superior Strategy" expands on the following quotation from a presumably ancient military text: "The soft can control the hard, the weak can control the strong." Perhaps the author intends to startle the reader because, by citing an obviously Taoist paradigm, he strikingly denies conventional military wisdom which holds that strength and hardness provide the keys to victory. Lao-tzu's recognition of the soft being able to conquer the hard-conceptualized in several of his verses20-leads him to believe that one should assume a passive, low posture to avoid becoming brittle, strong, and exposed. Huang Shih-kung has expanded these insights to apply them rigorously in the military sphere. However, rather than accepting the power of softness or weakness alone, he equally advocates the employment of the hard and strong-each as appropriate to the moment and conditions. Such conscious employment, in Huang Shih-kung's view, ac cords with the Tao (Way) of Heaven and is necessary if one is to be effective under the harsh conditions of real statecraft.

  A somewhat later passage again cites the Military Pronouncements to substantiate Huang Shih-kung's view that appropriate implementation of all these four-softness, hardness, weakness, and strength-is required. Tending to one extreme or another will result in an unstable situation, and the state will perish. Accordingly, Virtue-which is identified as softness21- should be practiced, but the state should also have a strong military and prepare for righteous warfare. Some of the commentators, such as Liu Yin in the Ming dynasty, also point out the possibilities of deceit and trickerywhereby softness is feigned and hardness employed and the reverse.22 However, there is no expansion of this theme in the Three Strategies, and the analysts who cite these passages as incontrovertible evidence that the work was produced by a member of the Huang-Lao school (rather than an eclectic strategist) may be overstating the case. Taoist thought has a long association with military thinking-extending back as far as Sun-tzu-and the incorporation of such observations does not automatically prove this contention.

  The commander in chief'sl method focuses on winning the minds of the valiant, rewarding and providing salaries to the meritorious, and having his will penetrate to the masses. Thus if he has the same likes as the masses, there is nothing he will not accomplish. If he has the same dislikes as the masses, there is nothing he will not overturn. Governing the state and giving security to one's family [is a question of] gaining the people. Losing the state and destroying one's family [is a question of] losing the people. All living beings2 want to realize their ambitions.

  The Military Pronouncements3 states: "The soft can control the hard, the weak can control the strong."4 The soft is Virtue. The hard is a brigand.' The weak is what the people will help, the strong is what resentment will attack. The soft has situations in which it is established; the hard has situations in which it is applied; the weak has situations in which it is employed; and the strong has situations in which it is augmented. Combine these four and control them appropriately.

  When neither the beginning nor end has yet become visible, no one is able to know them. Heaven and Earth are spiritual and enlightened, with the myriad things they change and transform. His changes and movements should not be constant. He should change and transform in response to the enemy. He does not precede affairs;' when the enemy moves he immediately follows up. Thus he is able to formulate inexhaustible strategies and methods of control, sustain and complete the awesomeness of Heaven, bring tranquility and order to [the extremes of] the eight directions, and gather and settle the Nine Barbarians. Such a strategist is a teacher for an emperor or a true king.

  Thus I say everyone covets strength, but rare are those capable of preserving the subtle. If someone can preserve the subtle he can protect his life. The Sage preserves it in order to respond to the slightest change in affairs. If he releases it then it will extend throughout the Four Seas. If he rolls it up it will not fill a cup. He dwells in it, but without a house. He guards it, but without city walls. He stores it away in his breast, and enemy states submit.

  The Military Pronouncements states: "If one can be soft and hard, his state will be increasingly glorious! If one can be weak and strong, his state will be increasingly illustrious! If purely soft and purely weak, his state will inevitably decline. If purely hard and purely strong, his state will inevitably be destroyed."

  Now the Way [Tao] to govern the state is to rely on Worthies and the people. If you trust the Worthy as if they were your belly and heart, and employ the people as if they were your four limbs, then all your plans will be accomplished. If your measures follow on each other as naturally as the four limbs, or the way the joints of the bones cooperate with each other, this is the Tao of Heaven, the natural. There is no gap in such skill.

  The essence of the army and state lies in investigating the mind of the people and putting into effect the hundred duties of government.

  Bring peace to those who are in danger. Give happiness to those who are afraid. Return those who rebel. Be indulgent to those who have grievances. Investigate [the complaints of] those who have legal suits. Raise up the lowly. Repress the strong. Destroy the enemy. Enrich the greedy. Use those that have desires. Conceal the fearful. Attract strategists. Investigate slanderers. Reproach the insulting.' Eliminate the rebellious. Stifle those who act willfully. Diminish the arrogant. Summon those who turn their allegiance toward you. Give life to those who submit. Release those who surrender.

  If you gain a strategic position, defend it. If you get a dangerous defile, block it. If you take difficult terrain, then establish encampments [to hold it]. If you secure a city, then cut if off [to enfeoff the generals]. If you seize territory, then divide it up [as a reward for the officers]. If you obtain riches, then distribute them [among your troops].

  When
the enemy moves observe him; when he approaches prepare for him. If the enemy is strong, be deferential [to make him arrogant]. If the enemy is well rested, then leave him.' If the enemy is insulting, then wait [for his ch'i to decline]. If the enemy is explosive, then soothe him. If the enemy is rebellious, then treat him with righteousness. If the enemy is sincere, then lead him [to abandon his perverse ruler].

  Accord [with the enemy's actions]9 to initiate measures and repress him. Rely on the strategic configuration of power [shih] to destroy him. Spread false words and cause him to make errors.10 Set out your net to catch them."

  When you gain something, do not keep it [for yourself]. If you occupy a territory, do not set up permanent defenses. If you seize [a city], do not [keep it for yourself] for long. If you establish [a new ruler], do not take the state altars. Thus while you perform the actions yourself, those who gain by it are the officers. How does one know where the real profit lies? They become feudal lords, you become the emperor. Have the cities prepare to defend themselves, have the officers manage their appropriate positions.

  Through the ages rulers managed to venerate their ancestors with the proper ceremonies, but few were able to treat the people as they should have been treated. Those who venerate their ancestors foster proper familial connections, but those who treat the people as they should be treated become rulers. To treat the people as they should be treated means concentrating on agriculture and sericulture and not disturbing the people during their vital seasonal occupations. It means keeping taxes and impositions to a minimum, not exhausting their wealth. If you impose few labor services, if you do not cause the people to be overly labored, then the state will be prosperous and the families will enjoy pleasure. Only thereafter should you select officers to control and supervise them.

  Now what are termed "officers" are men of character and valor. Thus it is said, "Draw in their men of character and valor and the enemy's state will be impoverished." These valiant men are the trunk of a state. The common people are its root. If you have the trunk and secure the root, the measures of government will be implemented without resentment.

  Now the essence of employing the army lies in respecting the forms of propriety [li] and making salaries generous. When the proper forms of propriety are followed, wise officers will be attracted. When salaries are generous, righteous officers will regard death lightly. Thus if when granting salaries to the Worthy you do not begrudge the expense and when rewarding the able are not dilatory, then the strength of your subordinates will be united while your enemy's state will be reduced [as the capable abandon him].

  The Way to employ men is to honor them with rank and supply them generously with material goods, for then the officers will come of their own accord. Welcome them according to the forms of propriety [Ii], stimulate them with righteousness, and then the officers will die [for the state].

  Now those who command the army must share tastes and attitudes with the officers and men and confront both safety and danger with them,12 for then the enemy can be attacked. Thus the army will attain full victory, and the enemy will be completely destroyed. In antiquity, when outstanding generals commanded armies, there was once a case where the commander was presented with a cask of sweet wine. The general had it poured into the river and shared the drinking of the wine with the officers and men as it flowed downstream. Now a cask of wine is unable to flavor a river of water, but the officers of the Three Armies were all motivated to fight to the death because the flavor and taste reached them personally.13

  The Military Pronouncements states: "When the army's wells have not yet been completed, the general does not mention thirst. When the encampment has not yet been secured, the general does not speak about fatigue. When the army's cookstoves have not yet been lit, the general does not speak about hunger. In the winter he does not wear a fur robe; in the summer he does not use a fan; and in the rain he does not set up an umbrella."" This is termed the proper form of behavior for a general.

  He is with them in safety, he is united with them in danger. Thus his troops can be combined but cannot be forced apart. They can be employed but cannot be tired out. With his beneficence he ceaselessly gathers them together, with his plans he constantly unites them. Thus it is said that when you cultivate beneficence tirelessly, with one you can take ten thousand.

  The Military Pronouncements states: "The basis of the general's awesomeness is his commands and orders. The basis of complete victory in battle is military administration. The reason officers treat battle lightly is the employment of commands." Thus the general never rescinds an order. Rewards and punishments must be as certain as Heaven and Earth, for then the general can employ the men. When the officers and soldiers follow orders, the army can cross the border.

  Now the one who unifies the army and wields its strategic power [shih] is the general. The ones that bring about conquest and defeat the enemy are the masses. Thus a disordered general cannot be employed to preserve an army, while a rebellious mass cannot be used to attack an enemy. If this sort of general attacks a city it cannot be taken, while if this type of army lays siege to a town it will not fall. If both are unsuccessful then the officers' strength will be exhausted. If it is exhausted then the general will be alone and the masses will be rebellious. If they try to hold defensive positions they will not be secure, while if they engage in battle they will turn and run. They are referred to as an "old army."

  When the troops are "old," then the general's awesomeness will not be effective. When the general lacks awesomeness, then the officers and troops will disdain punishment. When they disdain punishment, the army will lose its organization into squads of five. When the army loses its squads of five, the officers and soldiers will abandon their positions and run off. When they flee, the enemy will take advantage of the situation. When the enemy seizes the opportunity to profit from this situation, the army will inevitably perish.

  The Military Pronouncements states: "The exemplary general, in his command of the army, governs men as he would want to be treated himself. Spreading his kindness and extending his beneficence, the strength of his officers is daily renewed. In battle they are like the wind arising; their attack is like the release of a pent-up river."15 Thus our army can be seen but not with stood, can be submitted to but not be conquered. If you lead the men in person, your soldiers will become the most valiant under Heaven.

  The Military Pronouncements states: "The army employs rewards as its external form and punishments as its internal substance." When rewards and punishments are clear, then the general's awesomeness is effected. When the proper officials are obtained, then the officers and troops are obedient. When those entrusted [with responsibility] are Worthies, enemy states will be fearful.

  The Military Pronouncements states: "Where the Worthy go they have no enemies before them." Thus officers can be deferred to, but they cannot be arrogant.16 The general can be pleased but cannot be troubled. Plans can be complex, but they cannot be doubted. When the officers are arrogant, their subordinates will not be submissive. When the general is troubled, his subordinates and troops will not trust each other. When plans are doubted, the enemy will be roused to confidence. If one proceeds to mount an attack under these conditions, chaos will result.

  Now the general is the fate of the state. If he is able to manage the army and attain victory, the state will be secure and settled.

  The Military Pronouncements states: "The general should be able to be pure; able to be quiet; able to be tranquil; able to be controlled; able to accept criticism; able to judge disputes; able to attract and employ men; able to select and accept advice; able to know the customs of states; able to map mountains and rivers; able to discern defiles and difficulty; and able to control military authority [ch'uan]."

  Thus it is said that the wisdom of the benevolent and Worthy, the thoughts and plans of the Sages and illuminated, the words of the wood carriers, the discussions in court, and the affairs of ascension and decline-all of these are what the
general should hear about.

  If the general can think of his officers as if thirsty, his plans will be followed. But if the general stifles advice, the valiant will depart. If plans are not followed, the strategists will rebel. If good and evil are treated alike, the meritorious officers will grow weary. If the general relies solely on himself, his subordinates will shirk all responsibility. If he brags, his assistants will have few attainments. If he believes slander, he will lose the hearts of the people. If he is greedy, treachery will be unchecked. If he is preoccupied with women, then the officers and troops will become licentious. If the general has a single one of these faults, the masses will not submit. If he is marked by two of them, the army will lack order; if by three of them, his subordinates will abandon him; if by four, the disaster will extend to the entire state!

  The Military Pronouncements states: "For the general's plans one wants secrecy. For the officers and masses one wants unity. For attacking the enemy one wants swiftness." When the general's plans are secret, treacherous impulses are thwarted. When the officers and masses are unified, then the heart of the army is united. When the attack on the enemy is swift, they will not have time to prepare. When the army has these three, their plans cannot be snatched away.

  If the general's plans leak out, the army will not be able to effect the strategic disposition of power [shih]. If external agents spy out internal affairs, the disaster that will befall the army cannot be controlled. If wealthy is brought into the encampment, a myriad evildoers will assemble. If the general is marked by these three, the army will inevitably be defeated.