The T'ai-tsung said: "What do you mean by `the outside is square and the inside circular?"'
Li Ching said: "The square is given birth from the pace,93 the circle is given birth from the odd. The square provides the means to keep the paces straight, the circle the means to continue their turning. For this reason the number of paces is settled by the Earth, while the demarcation of the circular responds to Heaven. When the paces are settled and the circle complete, then the army's changes will not be disordered. The Eight Formations can become the Six Flowers. This is Chu-ko Liang's old method."
The T'ai-tsung said: "By drawing the square one can evaluate the paces; by setting the circle one can evaluate the weapons. From the paces one can instruct them in `foot' techniques; with the weapons one can instruct them in hand techniques. This is advantageous to training the hands and feet and certainly seems correct."
Li Ching said: "Wu Ch'i states: `Although on desperate ground, they cannot be separated; even if in retreat they will not scatter.'94 This is the method of paces. Instructing the soldiers is like placing chessmen on a board. If there were no lines to demark the paths, how could one use the chess pieces? Suntzu said: `Terrain gives birth to measurement; measurement produces the estimation [of forces]. Estimation [of forces] gives rise to calculating [the numbers of men]. Calculating [the numbers of men] gives rise to weighing [strength]. Weighing [strength] gives birth to victory. Thus the victorious army is like a ton compared with an ounce, while the defeated army is like an ounce weighed against a ton!95 It all commences with measuring out the square and circle."
The T'ai-tsung said: "Sun-tzu's words are profound indeed! If one does not determine the terrain as near or distant, the shape of the land as wide or narrow, how can he regulate the constraints?"96
Li Ching said: "The ordinary general is rarely able to know what constraints are. `The strategic configuration of power [shih] of those that excel in warfare is sharply focused, their constraints are precise. Their strategic power is like a fully drawn crossbow, their constraints like the release of the trigger.'97 I have practiced these methods. Thus the standing infantry platoons are ten paces apart from each other, the holding platoons [of chariots] twenty paces from the main army [of infantry]. Between each platoon one combat platoon is emplaced. When advancing forward, fifty paces is one measure.9S At the first blowing of the horn all the platoons disperse and assume their positions, not exceeding ten paces apart. At the fourth blowing they position their spears and squat down. Thereupon the drum is beaten, three strikes to three shouts,99 and they advance thirty to fifty paces [each time] in order to control the changes of the enemy. The cavalry comes forth from the rear, also advancing fifty paces at a time. The front is orthodox, the rear unorthodox.10° Observe the enemy's response, then beat the drum again, with the front [changing to be] unorthodox and the rear orthodox. Again entice the enemy to come forth, discover his fissures, and attack his vacuities. The Six Flowers Formation is generally like this."
The T'ai-tsung said: "Duke Ts'ao's Hsin shu states: `When you deploy your formation opposite the enemy, you must first establish the pennants, drawing the troops into formation according to the pennants. When one brigade comes under attack, any other brigade that does not advance to rescue them will be beheaded.'101 What tactic is this?"
Li Ching said: "Approaching the enemy and then establishing the pennants is incorrect. This is a method applicable only when you are training men in the tactics of warfare. The ancients who excelled at warfare taught the orthodox, they did not teach the unorthodox. They drove the masses just as if driving a herd of sheep. The masses advanced with them, withdrew with them, but they did not know where they were going.102 Duke Ts'ao was arrogant and loved being victorious. Contemporary generals have all followed the Hsin shu without anyone daring to attack its shortcomings. Moreover, if you set up pennants when about to engage the enemy, is it not too late?
"I secretly observed the music and dance you created called `Destroying the Formations.' At the front they put out four pennants, to the rear deployed eight flags. Left and right circled about, marching and racing to the gongs and drums, each in accord with its constraints.'" This then is the Eight Formations Diagram, the system of four heads and eight tails. The people only see the flourishing of the music and dance; how can they know that military actions are like this?"
The T'ai-tsung said: "In antiquity, when Emperor Kao of the Han settled the realm, he wrote a song that went `Where can I get fierce warriors to guard the four quarters?' Probably, military strategy can be transmitted as ideas but cannot be handed down as words. I created the Destruction of the Formations, but only you understand its form and substance. Will later generations realize I did not carelessly concoct it?"
The T'ai-tsung asked: "Are the five flags in their different colors for the five directions for orthodox [forces]?104 Are the pennants and banners for penetrating the enemy for unorthodox [forces]? Dispersing and reforming are changes; how does one realize the appropriate number of platoons?"
Li Ching said: "I have examined and employ the methods of old. In general, when three platoons combine, their flags lean toward each other but are not crossed.105 When five platoons are combined, then the flags of two of them are crossed. When ten platoons are combined, then the flags of five of them are crossed. When the horn is blown, then the five crossed flags are separated, and the combined unit will again disperse to form ten [platoons]. When two crossed flags are separated, the single unit will again disperse to form five [platoons]. When the two flags leaning toward each other, but uncrossed, are separated, the single unit will again disperse to form three [platoons].
"When the soldiers are dispersed, uniting them is unorthodox; when they are united, dispersing them is unorthodox. Give the orders three times, explain them five times. Have them disperse three times, have them reform three times. Then have them reform the orthodox configuration, after which the `four heads and eight tails' can be taught to them. This is what is appropriate to the [training] method for the platoons."
The T'ai-tsung lauded his discussion.
The T'ai-tsung said: "Duke Ts'ao had fighting cavalry, attack cavalry, and roving cavalry. What elements of our contemporary cavalry and army are comparable to these?"
Li Ching said: "According to the Hsin shu: `Fighting cavalry occupy the front, attack cavalry occupy the middle, and roving cavalry occupy the rear.' If so, then each of them was established with a name and designation, so they were divided into three types. Generally speaking, eight cavalrymen were equivalent to twenty-four infantrymen accompanying chariots. Twenty-four cavalrymen were equivalent to seventy-two infantrymen accompanying chariots. This was the ancient system.
"The infantrymen accompanying the chariots were normally taught orthodox methods; cavalrymen were taught unorthodox ones. According to Duke Ts'ao, the cavalry in the front, rear, and middle are divided into three covering106 forces, but he did not speak about the two wings, so he was only discussing one aspect of the tactics. Later generations have not understood the intent of the three covering forces, so [they assume] fighting cavalry must be placed in front of the attack cavalry; how then is the roving cavalry employed? I am quite familiar with these tactics. If you turn the formation about, then the roving cavalry occupy the fore, the fighting cavalry the rear, and the attack cavalry respond to the changes of the moment to split off. These are all Duke Ts'ao's methods."
The T'ai-tsung laughed and said: "How many people have been deluded by Ts'ao Ts'ao?s107
The T'ai-tsung said: "Chariots, infantrymen, and cavalry-these three have one method. Does their employment lie with man?"
Li Ching said: "According to the Yu-11 formation recorded in the Spring and Autumn Annals: `First the battalions [of chariots], afterward the squads of five [in the gaps].' Then in this case they had chariots and infantrymen but no cavalry. When it refers to the left and right [flanks] resisting, it is speaking about resisting and defending, that is all! They did not employ any unorthodox strat
egy to attain victory.
"When HsUn Wu of Chin attacked the Ti [barbarian tribes], he abandoned the chariot and had [their personnel] form rows las infantrymen].108 In this case numerous cavalry would have been advantageous. He only concentrated on employing unorthodox forces to gain the victory, and was simply not concerned with resisting and defending.
"I have weighed their methods: In general,109 one cavalryman is equivalent to three infantrymen; chariots and infantrymen are similarly matched. When intermixed they are [governed] by a single method; their employment lies with men. How can the enemy know where my chariots will really go forth? Where my cavalry will really come from? Where the infantrymen will follow up [the attack]? `Hidden in the greatest depths of Earth, moving from the greatest heights of Heaven,' 1° his knowledge is spirit-like!' This saying only refers to you, your Majesty. How can I be capable of such knowledge?"
The T'ai-tsung said: "T'ai Kung's book states: `On an area of terrain six hundred paces square or sixty paces square, set out the pennants for the twelve constellations of the zodiac.'111 What sort of tactic is this?"
Li Ching said: "Demark a perimeter of one thousand two hundred paces, total, in a square. Each section [within it] will occupy a square of [one] hundred... paces on edge. Every five paces horizontally, station a man, every four paces vertically, station a man. Now two thousand five hundred men will be distributed over five occupied areas with four empty ones [remaining]. This is what is meant by a `formation containing a formation.' When King Wu attacked King Chou, each Tiger Guard commanded three thousand men.113 Each formation had six thousand men, altogether a mass of thirty thousand. This was the T'ai Kung's method for delineating the terrain [see Figure 2]."
The T'ai-tsung said: "How do you delineate the terrain for your Six Flower Formation?"
Li Ching said: "Large-scale maneuvers are as follows. On an area twelve hundred paces square there are six formations deployed, each occupying an area with four hundred paces [on edge]. Overall it is divided into two boxes, east and west, with an open area in the middle, one thousand two hundred paces long, for training in warfare [see Figure 3]. I once taught thirty thousand men, with each formation consisting of five thousand. One encamped; five [practiced] the square, round, curved, straight, and angular dispositions. Each formation went through all five changes, for a total of twenty-five, before we stopped."114
The T'ai-tsung said: "What are the Five Phase formations?"
Li Ching said: "They originally established this name from the colors of the five quarters, but in reality they are all derived from the shape of the terrain-the square, round, curved, straight, and angular. In general, if the army does not constantly practice these five during peacetime, how can they approach the enemy? `Deception is the Way [Tao] of warfare,'115 so they resorted to naming them the Five Phases. They described them according to the ideas of the School of Techniques and Numbers about the patterns of mutual production and conquest.116 But in actuality the army's form is like water which controls its flow in accord with the terrain.117 This is the main point."
The T'ai-tsung said: "Li Chi spoke about male and female, square and circular tactics for ambush. Did they exist in antiquity or not?"
Li Ching said: "The male and female methods come out of the popular tradition. In actuality they refer to yin and yang, that is all. According to Fan Li's book:118 `If you are last then use yin tactics, if you are first then use yang tactics.119 When you have exhausted the enemy's yang measures, then expand your yin to the full and seize them.' This then is the subtle mysteriousness of yin and yang according to the strategists.
"Fan Li also said: `Establish the right as the female, increase the left to be male. At dawn and dusk accord with the Tao of Heaven.' Thus left and right, dawn and dusk are different according to the time. They lie in the changes of the unorthodox and orthodox. Left and right are the yin and yang in man, dawn and dusk are the yin and yang of Heaven. The unorthodox and orthodox are the mutual changes of yin and yang in Heaven and man. If one wished to grasp them and not change, then yin and yang would both deteriorate. How can one preserve only the shape of the male and female? Thus when you display an appearance to an enemy, show the unorthodox, not our orthodox. When you conquer, employ the orthodox to attack the enemy, not our unorthodox. This is what is meant by the `orthodox and unorthodox changing into each other.'
Figure 2 T'ai Kung's training array. Each sub-array (shaded areas within main array) consists of 20 men per row, 5 paces apart, and 25 men per file, 4 paces apart.
Figure 3 Li Ching's Six Flowers formation. Six formations (shaded areas) are deployed, each numbering 5,000 men. Center area is employed for drilling.
"An `army in ambush' does not only mean forces lying in ambush in the mountains, valleys, grass, and trees, for hiding them away is the means to [effect an] ambush. Our orthodox should be like the mountain, our unorthodox like thunder. Even though the enemy is directly opposite our front, no one can fathom where our unorthodox and orthodox forces are. At this point what shape do I have?"
The T'ai-tsung said: "The four animal formations also have the notes shang, yu, wei, and chiao to symbolize them. What is the reason for this?"
Li Ching said: "It is the Way [Tao] of deceit."
The T'ai-tsung said: "Can they be dispensed with?"
Li Ching said: "By preserving them one is able to dispense with them. If you dispense with them and do not employ them, deceitfulness will [grow] ever greater."
The T'ai-tsung said: "What do you mean?"
Li Ching said: "They obscured the names of the four formations I by appending] those of the four animals together with the designations of Heaven, Earth, wind, and clouds, and moreover added the notes and associated phases of shang and metal, yu and water, wei and fire, chiao and wood."" This was the cleverness of the ancient military strategists. If you preserve them, deceitfulness will not increase further. If you abandon them, how can the greedy and stupid be employed?"
The T'ai-tsung said: "My lord should preserve this in secrecy, not let it be leaked outside."
The T'ai-tsung said: "Severe punishments and imposing laws make men fear me and not fear the enemy.''-' I am very confused about this. In antiquity the Han Emperor Kuang Wu opposed Wang Mang's mass of a million with his solitary force, but he did not use punishments and laws to approach [the people]. So how did [his victory] come about?"
Li Ching said: "An army's victory or defeat is a question of the situation and a myriad factors, and cannot be decided by one element alone. In the case of Ch'en Sheng and Kuang Wu defeating the Ch'in army, could they have had more severe punishments and laws than the Ch'in? Emperor Kuang Wu's rise was probably due to his according with the people's hatred for Wang Mang. Moreover, Wang Hsun and Wang I did not understand military strategy and merely boasted of their army's masses. Thus in this way they defeated themselves.'22
"According to Sun-tzu: `If you impose punishments on the troops before they have become [emotionally] attached, they will not be submissive. If you do not impose punishments after the troops have become [emotionally] attached, they cannot be used.' 123 This means that normally, a general should first bind the soldiers' affection to him, and only thereafter employ severe punishments. If their affection has not yet been developed, few would be able to conquer and be successful solely by employing severe laws."
The T'ai-tsung said: "In the Shang shu it says: `When awesomeness exceeds love, affairs will be successful. When love exceeds awesomeness, there will be no achievement."24 What does this mean?"
Li Ching said: "Love should be established first, and awesomeness afterward-it cannot be opposite this. If awesomeness is applied first and love supplements it afterward, it will be of no advantage to the prosecution of affairs. The Shang shu was extremely careful about the end, but this is not the way plans should be made in the beginning. Thus Sun-tzu's method cannot be eliminated for ten thousand generations."
The T'ai-tsung said: "When you pacified Hsiao Hsien, our generals wanted to
appropriate the households of the traitorous officials in order to reward their own officers and troops. Only you did not concur because K'uai T'ung had not been executed by Han Kao-tsu. The regions of the Chiang and Han rivers all submitted to you.12' From this I recall the ancients had a saying: `The civil is able to attract and attach the masses, the martial is able to overawe the enemy.' Does this not refer to you, my lord?"
Li Ching said: "When Emperor Kuang Wu of the Han pacified the Red Eyebrows,12' he entered the rebel encampment for a tour of inspection. The rebels said: `King Hsiao [Emperor Kuang Wu] extends his own pure heart in sympathy unto others.' This was probably due to [the king] having previously evaluated their motives and emotions as basically not being evil. Did he not have foresight?
"When I rectified the T'u-chueh, commanding the combined troops of both Han and barbarians, even though we went outside the pass a thousand li, I never killed a single Yang Kan nor beheaded a Chung Chia.127 This, too, was [a case of] extending my innate compassionate sincerity and preserving the common good, that is all! What your Majesty has heard is excessive, putting me into an unrivaled position. If it is a question of combining both the civil and martial, how would I presume to have [such ability]?"
The T'ai-tsung said: "Formerly, when T'ang Chien was an emissary to the T'u-chueh, you availed yourself lof the situation] to attack and defeat them. People say you used T'ang Chien as an `expendable spy.i128 Up until now I have had doubts about this. What about it?"
Li Ching bowed twice and said: "T'ang Chien and I equally served your Majesty. I anticipated that T'ang Chien's proposals would certainly not be able [to persuade them] to quietly submit. Therefore, I took the opportunity to follow up with our army and attack them. In order to eliminate a great danger I did not concern myself with a minor righteousness. Although people refer to T'ang Chien as an expendable spy, it was not my intention.
The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China Page 42
