Chapter I: Part 1

Transcriber’s Note:

This is a complete unabridged transcription of Lionel Gile’s translation of The Art of War. See additional notes at the end of the book.

孫子兵法

Sun Tzŭ
on the
Art of War

THE OLDEST MILITARY TREATISE IN THE WORLD

Translated from the Chinese with introduction and critical notes

BY
LIONEL GILES, M.A.

Assistant in the Department of Oriental Printed Books and MSS.
in the British Museum

London
LUZAC & C^o.
1910

Printed by E. J. Bbill, Leyden (Holland).

To my brother
Captain Valentine Giles, R.G.
in the hope that
a work 2400 years old
may yet contain lessons worth consideration
by the soldier of to-day
this translation
is affectionately dedicated

CONTENTS

Page
Preface vii
Introduction
Sun Wu and his Book xi
The Text of Sun Tzŭ xxx
The Commentators xxxiv
Appreciations of Sun Tzŭ xlii
Apologies for War xliii
Bibliography l
Chap. I. Laying plans 1
„ II. Waging War 9
„ III. Attack by Stratagem 17
„ IV. Tactical Dispositions 26
„ V. Energy 33
„ VI. Weak Points and Strong 42
„ VII. Manœuvring 55
„ VIII. Variation of Tactics 71
„ IX. The Army on the March 80
„ X. Terrain 100
„ XI. The Nine Situations 114
„ XII. The Attack by Fire 150
„ XIII. The Use of Spies 160
Chinese Concordance 176
Index 192

PREFACE

The seventh volume of “Mémoires concernant l’histoire, les sciences, les arts, les mœurs, les usages, &c., des Chinois”[1] is devoted to the Art of War, and contains, amongst other treatises, “Les Treize Articles de Sun-tse,” translated from the Chinese by a Jesuit Father, Joseph Amiot. Père Amiot appears to have enjoyed no small reputation as a sinologue in his day, and the field of his labours was certainly extensive. But his so-called translation of Sun Tzŭ, if placed side by side with the original, is seen at once to be little better than an imposture. It contains a great deal that Sun Tzŭ did not write, and very little indeed of what he did. Here is a fair specimen, taken from the opening sentences of chapter 5:—

_De l’habileté dans le gouvernement des Troupes._ Sun-tse dit:
Ayez les noms de tous les Officiers tant généraux que subalternes;
inscrivez-les dans un catalogue à part, avec la note des talents &
de la capacité de chacun d’eux, afin de pouvoir les employer avec
avantage lorsque l’occasion en sera venue. Faites en sorte que
tous ceux que vous devez commander soient persuadés que votre
principale attention est de les préserver de tout dommage. Les
troupes que vous ferez avancer contre l’ennemi doivent être comme
des pierres que vous lanceriez contre des œufs. De vous à l’ennemi
il ne doit y avoir d’autre différence que celle du fort au foible,
du vuide au plein. Attaquez à découvert, mais soyez vainqueur en
secret. Voilà en peu de mots en quoi consiste l’habileté & toute
la perfection même du gouvernement des troupes.

Throughout the nineteenth century, which saw a wonderful development in the study of Chinese literature, no translator ventured to tackle Sun Tzŭ, although his work was known to be highly valued in China as by far the oldest and best compendium of military science. It was not until the year 1905 that the first English translation, by Capt. E. F. Calthrop, R.F.A., appeared at Tokyo under the title “Sonshi” (the Japanese form of Sun Tzŭ)[2]. Unfortunately, it was evident that the translator’s knowledge of Chinese was far too scanty to fit him to grapple with the manifold difficulties of Sun Tzŭ. He himself plainly acknowledges that without the aid of two Japanese gentlemen “the accompanying translation would have been impossible.” We can only wonder, then, that with their help it should have been so excessively bad. It is not merely a question of downright blunders, from which none can hope to be wholly exempt. Omissions were frequent; hard passages were wilfully distorted or slurred over. Such offences are less pardonable. They would not be tolerated in any edition of a Greek or Latin classic, and a similar standard of honesty ought to be insisted upon in translations from Chinese.

From blemishes of this nature, at least, I believe that the present translation is free. It was not undertaken out of any inflated estimate of my own powers; but I could not help feeling that Sun Tzŭ deserved a better fate than had befallen him, and I knew that, at any rate, I could hardly fail to improve on the work of my predecessors. Towards the end of 1908, a new and revised edition of Capt. Calthrop’s translation was published in London, this time, however, without any allusion to his Japanese collaborators. My first three chapters were then already in the printer’s hands, so that the criticisms of Capt. Calthrop therein contained must be understood as referring to his earlier edition. In the subsequent chapters I have of course transferred my attention to the second edition. This is on the whole an improvement on the other, though there still remains much that cannot pass muster. Some of the grosser blunders have been rectified and lacunae filled up, but on the other hand a certain number of new mistakes appear. The very first sentence of the introduction is startlingly inaccurate; and later on, while mention is made of “an army of Japanese commentators” on Sun Tzŭ (who are these, by the way?), not a word is vouchsafed about the Chinese commentators, who nevertheless, I venture to assert, form a much more numerous and infinitely more important “army.”

A few special features of the present volume may now be noticed. In the first place, the text has been cut up into numbered paragraphs, both in order to facilitate cross-reference and for the convenience of students generally. The division follows broadly that of Sun Hsing-yen’s edition; but I have sometimes found it desirable to join two or more of his paragraphs into one. In quoting from other works, Chinese writers seldom give more than the bare title by way of reference, and the task of research is apt to be seriously hampered in consequence. With a view to obviating this difficulty so far as Sun Tzŭ is concerned, I have also appended a complete concordance of Chinese characters, following in this the admirable example of Legge, though an alphabetical arrangement has been preferred to the distribution under radicals which he adopted. Another feature borrowed from “The Chinese Classics” is the printing of text, translation and notes on the same page; the notes, however, are inserted, according to the Chinese method, immediately after the passages to which they refer. From the mass of native commentary my aim has been to extract the cream only, adding the Chinese text here and there when it seemed to present points of literary interest. Though constituting in itself an important branch of Chinese literature, very little commentary of this kind has hitherto been made directly accessible by translation.[3]

I may say in conclusion that, owing to the printing off of my sheets as they were completed, the work has not had the benefit of a final revision. On a review of the whole, without modifying the substance of my criticisms, I might have been inclined in a few instances to temper their asperity. Having chosen to wield a bludgeon, however, I shall not cry out if in return I am visited with more than a rap over the knuckles. Indeed, I have been at some pains to put a sword into the hands of future opponents by scrupulously giving either text or reference for every passage translated. A scathing review, even from the pen of the Shanghai critic who despises “mere translations,” would not, I must confess, be altogether unwelcome. For, after all, the worst fate I shall have to dread is that which befell the ingenious paradoxes of George in _The Vicar of Wakefield_.

INTRODUCTION

Sun Wu and his Book.

Ssŭ-ma Ch‘ien gives the following biography of Sun Tzŭ:[4]—

孫子武 Sun Tzŭ Wu was a native of the Ch‘i State. His _Art of War_
brought him to the notice of 闔廬 Ho Lu,[5] King of 吳 Wu. Ho Lu said
to him: I have carefully perused your 13 chapters. May I submit your
theory of managing soldiers to a slight test?

Sun Tzŭ replied: You may.

Ho Lu asked: May the test be applied to women?

The answer was again in the affirmative, so arrangements were made
to bring 180 ladies out of the Palace. Sun Tzŭ divided them into
two companies, and placed one of the King’s favourite concubines
at the head of each. He then bade them all take spears in their
hands, and addressed them thus: I presume you know the difference
between front and back, right hand and left hand?

The girls replied: Yes.

Sun Tzŭ went on: When I say “Eyes front,” you must look straight
ahead. When I say “Left turn,” you must face towards your left
hand. When I say “Right turn,” you must face towards your right
hand. When I say “About turn,” you must face right round towards
the back.

Again the girls assented. The words of command having been thus
explained, he set up the halberds and battle-axes in order to
begin the drill. Then, to the sound of drums, he gave the order
“Right turn.” But the girls only burst out laughing. Sun Tzŭ said:
If words of command are not clear and distinct, if orders are not
thoroughly understood, then the general is to blame.

So he started drilling them again, and this time gave the order
“Left turn,” whereupon the girls once more burst into fits of
laughter. Sun Tzŭ said: If words of command are not clear and
distinct, if orders are not thoroughly understood, the general is
to blame. But if his orders _are_ clear, and the soldiers
nevertheless disobey, then it is the fault of their officers.

So saying, he ordered the leaders of the two companies to be
beheaded. Now the King of Wu was watching the scene from the top
of a raised pavilion; and when he saw that his favourite
concubines were about to be executed, he was greatly alarmed and
hurriedly sent down the following message: We are now quite
satisfied as to our general’s ability to handle troops. If We are
bereft of these two concubines, our meat and drink will lose their
savour. It is our wish that they shall not be beheaded.

Sun Tzŭ replied: Having once received His Majesty’s commission to
be general of his forces, there are certain commands of His
Majesty which, acting in that capacity, I am unable to accept.

Accordingly, he had the two leaders beheaded, and straightway
installed the pair next in order as leaders in their place. When
this had been done, the drum was sounded for the drill once more;
and the girls went through all the evolutions, turning to the
right or to the left, marching ahead or wheeling back, kneeling or
standing, with perfect accuracy and precision, not venturing to
utter a sound. Then Sun Tzŭ sent a messenger to the King saying:
Your soldiers, Sire, are now properly drilled and disciplined, and
ready for Your Majesty’s inspection. They can be put to any use
that their sovereign may desire; bid them go through fire and
water, and they will not disobey.

But the King replied: Let our general cease drilling and return to
camp. As for us, We have no wish to come down and inspect the
troops.

Thereupon Sun Tzŭ said: The King is only fond of words, and cannot
translate them into deeds.

After that, Ho Lu saw that Sun Tzŭ was one who knew how to handle
an army, and finally appointed him general. In the West, he
defeated the Ch‘u State and forced his way into Ying, the capital;
to the north, he put fear into the States of Ch‘i and Chin, and
spread his fame abroad amongst the feudal princes. And Sun Tzŭ
shared in the might of the King.

About Sun Tzŭ himself this is all that Ssŭ-ma Ch‘ien has to tell us in this chapter. But he proceeds to give a biography of his descendant, 孫臏 Sun Pin, born about a hundred years after his famous ancestor’s death, and also the outstanding military genius of his time. The historian speaks of him too as Sun Tzŭ, and in his preface we read: 孫子臏脚而論兵法 “Sun Tzŭ had his feet cut off and yet continued to discuss the art of war.”[6] It seems likely, then, that “Pin” was a nickname bestowed on him after his mutilation, unless indeed the story was invented in order to account for the name. The crowning incident of his career, the crushing defeat of his treacherous rival P‘ang Chüan, will be found briefly related on p. 40.

To return to the elder Sun Tzŭ. He is mentioned in two other passages of the _Shih Chi_:—

In the third year of his reign [512 B.C.] Ho Lu, King of Wu, took
the field with 子胥 Tzŭ-hsü [i.e. 伍員 Wu Yüan] and 伯嚭 Po P‘ei,
and attacked Ch‘u. He captured the town of 舒 Shu and slew the two
prince’s sons who had formerly been generals of Wu. He was then
meditating a descent on 郢 Ying [the capital]; but the general Sun
Wu said: “The army is exhausted.[7] It is not yet possible. We
must wait”....[8] [After further successful fighting,] in the
ninth year [506 B.C.], King Ho Lu of Wu addressed Wu Tzŭ-hsü and
Sun Wu, saying: “Formerly, you declared that it was not yet
possible for us to enter Ying. Is the time ripe now?” The two men
replied: “Ch‘u’s general, 子常 Tzŭ-ch‘ang,[9] is grasping and
covetous, and the princes of 唐 T‘ang and 蔡 Ts‘ai both have a
grudge against him. If Your Majesty has resolved to make a grand
attack, you must win over T‘ang and Ts‘ai, and then you may
succeed.” Ho Lu followed this advice, [beat Ch‘u in five pitched
battles and marched into Ying].[10]

This is the latest date at which anything is recorded of Sun Wu. He does not appear to have survived his patron, who died from the effects of a wound in 496.

In the chapter entitled 律書 (the earlier portion of which M. Chavannes believes to be a fragment of a treatise on Military Weapons), there occurs this passage:[11]

From this time onward, a number of famous soldiers arose, one after
the other: 咎犯 Kao-fan,[12] who was employed by the Chin State;
Wang-tzŭ,[13] in the service of Ch‘i; and Sun Wu, in the service of
Wu. These men developed and threw light upon the principles of war
(申明軍約).

It is obvious that Ssŭ-ma Ch‘ien at least had no doubt about the reality of Sun Wu as an historical personage; and with one exception, to be noticed presently, he is by far the most important authority on the period in question. It will not be necessary, therefore, to say much of such a work as the 吳越春秋 _Wu Yüeh Ch‘un Ch‘iu_, which is supposed to have been written by 趙曄 Chao Yeh of the 1st century A.D. The attribution is somewhat doubtful; but even if it were otherwise, his account would be of little value, based as it is on the _Shih Chi_ and expanded with romantic details. The story of Sun Tzŭ will be found, for what it is worth, in chapter 2. The only new points in it worth noting are: 1) Sun Tzŭ was first recommended to Ho Lu by Wu Tzŭ-hsü. 2) He is called a native of Wu.[14] 3) He had previously lived a retired life, and his contemporaries were unaware of his ability.[15]

The following passage occurs in 淮南子 Huai-nan Tzŭ: “When sovereign and ministers show perversity of mind, it is impossible even for a Sun Tzŭ to encounter the foe.”[16] Assuming that this work is genuine (and hitherto no doubt has been cast upon it), we have here the earliest direct reference to Sun Tzŭ, for Huai-nan Tzŭ died in 122 B.C., many years before the _Shih Chi_ was given to the world.

劉向 Liu Hsiang (B.C. 80–9) in his 新序 says: “The reason why Sun Wu at the head of 30,000 men beat Ch‘u with 200,000 is that the latter were undisciplined.”[17]

鄧名世 Têng Ming-shih in his 姓氏辨證書 (completed in 1134) informs us that the surname 孫 was bestowed on Sun Wu’s grandfather by 景公 Duke Ching of Ch‘i [547–490 B.C.]. Sun Wu’s father Sun 馮 P‘ing, rose to be a Minister of State in Ch‘i, and Sun Wu himself, whose style was 長卿 Ch‘ang-ch‘ing, fled to Wu on account of the rebellion which was being fomented by the kindred of 田鮑 T‘ien Pao. He had three sons, of whom the second, named 明 Ming, was the father of Sun Pin. According to this account, then, Pin was the grandson of Wu,[18] which, considering that Sun Pin’s victory over 魏 Wei was gained in 341 B.C., may be dismissed as chronologically impossible. Whence these data were obtained by Têng Ming-shih I do not know, but of course no reliance whatever can be placed in them.

An interesting document which has survived from the close of the Han period is the short preface written by the great 曹操 Ts‘ao Ts‘ao, or 魏武帝 Wei Wu Ti, for his edition of Sun Tzŭ. I shall give it in full:—

I have heard that the ancients used bows and arrows to their
advantage.[19] The _Lun Yü_ says: “There must be a sufficiency of
military strength.”[20] The _Shu Ching_ mentions “the army” among
the “eight objects of government.”[21] The _I Ching_ says: “師
‘army’ indicates firmness and justice; the experienced leader will
have good fortune.”[22] The _Shih Ching_ says: “The King rose
majestic in his wrath, and he marshalled his troops.”[23] The
Yellow Emperor, T‘ang the Completer and Wu Wang all used spears
and battle-axes in order to succour their generation. The _Ssŭ-ma
Fa_ says: “If one man slay another of set purpose, he himself may
rightfully be slain.”[24] He who relies solely on warlike measures
shall be exterminated; he who relies solely on peaceful measures
shall perish. Instances of this are Fu Ch‘ai[25] on the one hand
and Yen Wang on the other.[26] In military matters, the Sage’s
rule is normally to keep the peace, and to move his forces only
when occasion requires. He will not use armed force unless driven
to it by necessity.[27]

Many books have I read on the subject of war and fighting; but the
work composed by Sun Wu is the profoundest of them all. [Sun Tzŭ
was a native of the Ch‘i state, his personal name was Wu. He wrote
the _Art of War_ in 13 chapters for Ho Lü, King of Wu. Its
principles were tested on women, and he was subsequently made a
general. He led an army westwards, crushed the Ch‘u State and
entered Ying the capital. In the north, he kept Ch‘i and Chin in
awe. A hundred years and more after his time, Sun Pin lived. He
was a descendant of Wu].[28] In his treatment of deliberation and
planning, the importance of rapidity in taking the field,[29]
clearness of conception, and depth of design, Sun Tzŭ stands
beyond the reach of carping criticism. My contemporaries, however,
have failed to grasp the full meaning of his instructions, and
while putting into practice the smaller details in which his work
abounds, they have overlooked its essential purport. That is the
motive which has led me to outline a rough explanation of the
whole.[30]

One thing to be noticed in the above is the explicit statement that the 13 chapters were specially composed for King Ho Lu. This is supported by the internal evidence of I. § 15, in which it seems clear that some ruler is addressed.

In the bibliographical section of the _Han Shu_,[31] there is an entry which has given rise to much discussion: 吳孫子八十二篇圖九卷 “The works of Sun Tzŭ of Wu in 82 _p‘ien_ (or chapters), with diagrams in 9 _chüan_.” It is evident that this cannot be merely the 13 chapters known to Ssŭ-ma Ch‘ien, or those we possess to-day. Chang Shou-chieh in his 史記正義 refers to an edition of Sun Tzŭ’s 兵法 of which the “13 chapters” formed the first _chüan_, adding that there were two other _chüan_ besides.[32] This has brought forth a theory, that the bulk of these 82 chapters consisted of other writings of Sun Tzŭ—we should call them apocryphal—similar to the 問答 _Wên Ta_, of which a specimen dealing with the Nine Situations[33] is preserved in the 通典 _T‘ung Tien_, and another in Ho Shih’s commentary. It is suggested that before his interview with Ho Lu, Sun Tzŭ had only written the 13 chapters, but afterwards composed a sort of exegesis in the form of question and answer between himself and the King. 畢以珣 Pi I-hsün, author of the 孫子敘錄 _Sun Tzŭ Hsü Lu_, backs this up with a quotation from the _Wu Yüeh Ch‘un Ch‘iu_: “The King of Wu summoned Sun Tzŭ, and asked him questions about the art of war. Each time he set forth a chapter of his work, the King could not find words enough to praise him.”[34] As he points out, if the whole work was expounded on the same scale as in the above-mentioned fragments, the total number of chapters could not fail to be considerable.[35] Then the numerous other treatises attributed to Sun Tzŭ[36] might also be included. The fact that the _Han Chih_ mentions no work of Sun Tzŭ except the 82 _p‘ien_, whereas the Sui and T‘ang bibliographies give the titles of others in addition to the “13 chapters,” is good proof, Pi I-hsün thinks, that all of these were contained in the 82 _p‘ien_. Without pinning our faith to the accuracy of details supplied by the _Wu Yüeh Ch‘un Ch‘iu_, or admitting the genuineness of any of the treatises cited by Pi I-hsün, we may see in this theory a probable solution of the mystery. Between Ssŭ-ma Ch‘ien and Pan Ku there was plenty of time for a luxuriant crop of forgeries to have grown up under the magic name of Sun Tzŭ, and the 82 _p‘ien_ may very well represent a collected edition of these lumped together with the original work. It is also possible, though less likely, that some of them existed in the time of the earlier historian and were purposely ignored by him.[37]

Tu Mu, after Ts‘ao Kung the most important commentator on Sun Tzŭ, composed the preface to his edition[38] about the middle of the ninth century. After a somewhat lengthy defence of the military art,[39] he comes at last to Sun Tzŭ himself, and makes one or two very startling assertions:—“The writings of Sun Wu,” he says, “originally comprised several hundred thousand words, but Ts‘ao Ts‘ao, the Emperor Wu Wei, pruned away all redundancies and wrote out the essence of the whole, so as to form a single book in 13 chapters.”[40] He goes on to remark that Ts‘ao Ts‘ao’s commentary on Sun Tzŭ leaves a certain proportion of difficulties unexplained. This, in Tu Mu’s opinion, does not necessarily imply that he was unable to furnish a complete commentary.[41] According to the _Wei Chih_, Ts‘ao himself wrote a book on war in something over 100,000 words, known as the 新書. It appears to have been of such exceptional merit that he suspects Ts‘ao to have used for it the surplus material which he had found in Sun Tzŭ. He concludes, however, by saying: “The _Hsin Shu_ is now lost, so that the truth cannot be known for certain.”[42]

Tu Mu’s conjecture seems to be based on a passage in the 漢官解詁 “Wei Wu Ti strung together Sun Wu’s Art of War,”[43] which in turn may have resulted from a misunderstanding of the final words of Ts‘ao Kung’s preface: 故撰爲略解焉. This, as Sun Hsing-yen points out,[44] is only a modest way of saying that he made an explanatory paraphrase,[45] or in other words, wrote a commentary on it. On the whole, the theory has met with very little acceptance. Thus, the 四庫全書 says:[46] “The mention of the 13 chapters in the _Shih Chi_ shows that they were in existence before the _Han Chih_, and that later accretions are not to be considered part of the original work. Tu Mu’s assertion can certainly not be taken as proof.”[47]

There is every reason to suppose, then, that the 13 chapters existed in the time of Ssŭ-ma Ch‘ien practically as we have them now. That the work was then well known he tells us in so many words: “Sun Tzŭ’s 13 Chapters and Wu Ch‘i’s Art of War are the two books that people commonly refer to on the subject of military matters. Both of them are widely distributed, so I will not discuss them here.”[48] But as we go further back, serious difficulties begin to arise. The salient fact which has to be faced is that the _Tso Chuan_, the great contemporary record, makes no mention whatever of Sun Wu, either as a general or as a writer. It is natural, in view of this awkward circumstance, that many scholars should not only cast doubt on the story of Sun Wu as given in the _Shih Chi_, but even show themselves frankly sceptical as to the existence of the man at all. The most powerful presentment of this side of the case is to be found in the following disquisition by 葉水心 Yeh Shui-hsin:[49]—

It is stated in Ssŭ-ma Ch‘ien’s history that Sun Wu was a native
of the Ch‘i State, and employed by Wu; and that in the reign of Ho
Lü he crushed Ch‘u, entered Ying, and was a great general. But in
Tso’s Commentary no Sun Wu appears at all. It is true that Tso’s
Commentary need not contain absolutely everything that other
histories contain. But Tso has not omitted to mention vulgar
plebeians and hireling ruffians such as Ying K‘ao-shu,[50] Ts‘ao
Kuei,[51] Chu Chih-wu[52] and Chuan Shê-chu.[53] In the case of
Sun Wu, whose fame and achievements were so brilliant, the
omission is much more glaring. Again, details are given, in their
due order, about his contemporaries Wu Yüan and the Minister
P‘ei.[54] Is it credible that Sun Wu alone should have been passed
over?[55]

In point of literary style, Sun Tzŭ’s work belongs to the same
school as _Kuan Tzŭ_,[56] the _Liu T‘ao_,[57] and the _Yüeh Yü_,[58]
and may have been the production of some private scholar living
towards the end of the “Spring and Autumn” or the beginning of the
“Warring States” period.[59] The story that his precepts were
actually applied by the Wu State, is merely the outcome of big
talk on the part of his followers.[60]

From the flourishing period of the Chou dynasty[61] down to the
time of the “Spring and Autumn,” all military commanders were
statesmen as well, and the class of professional generals, for
conducting external campaigns, did not then exist. It was not
until the period of the “Six States”[62] that this custom changed.
Now although Wu was an uncivilised State, is it conceivable that
Tso should have left unrecorded the fact that Sun Wu was a great
general and yet held no civil office? What we are told, therefore,
about Jang-chü[63] and Sun Wu, is not authentic matter, but the
reckless fabrication of theorising pundits. The story of Ho Lü’s
experiment on the women, in particular, is utterly preposterous
and incredible.[64]

Yeh Shui-hsin represents Ssŭ-ma Ch‘ien as having said that Sun Wu crushed Ch‘u and entered Ying. This is not quite correct. No doubt the impression left on the reader’s mind is that he at least shared in these exploits; but the actual subject of the verbs 破, 入, 威 and 顯 is certainly 闔廬, as is shown by the next words: 孫子與有力焉.[65] The fact may or may not be significant; but it is nowhere explicitly stated in the _Shih Chi_ either that Sun Tzŭ was general on the occasion of the taking of Ying, or that he even went there at all. Moreover, as we know that Wu Yüan and Po P‘ei both took part in the expedition, and also that its success was largely due to the dash and enterprise of 夫槩 Fu Kai, Ho Lu’s younger brother, it is not easy to see how yet another general could have played a very prominent part in the same campaign.

陳振孫 Ch‘ên Chên-sun of the Sung dynasty has the note:[66]—

Military writers look upon Sun Wu as the father of their art. But
the fact that he does not appear in the _Tso Chuan_, although he
is said to have served under Ho Lü King of Wu, makes it uncertain
what period he really belonged to.[67]

He also says:—

The works of Sun Wu and Wu Ch‘i may be of genuine antiquity.[68]

It is noticeable that both Yeh Shui-hsin and Ch‘ên Chên-sun, while rejecting the personality of Sun Wu as he figures in Ssŭ-ma Ch‘ien’s history, are inclined to accept the date traditionally assigned to the work which passes under his name. The author of the _Hsü Lu_ fails to appreciate this distinction, and consequently his bitter attack on Ch‘ên Chên-sun really misses its mark. He makes one or two points, however, which certainly tell in favour of the high antiquity of our “13 chapters.” “Sun Tzŭ,” he says, “must have lived in the age of Ching Wang [519–476], because he is frequently plagiarised in subsequent works of the Chou, Ch‘in and Han dynasties.”[69] The two most shameless offenders in this respect are Wu Ch‘i and Huai-nan Tzŭ, both of them important historical personages in their day. The former lived only a century after the alleged date of Sun Tzŭ, and his death is known to have taken place in 381 B.C. It was to him, according to Liu Hsiang, that 曾申 Tsêng Shên delivered the _Tso Chuan_, which had been entrusted to him by its author.[70] Now the fact that quotations from the _Art of War_, acknowledged or otherwise, are to be found in so many authors of different epochs, establishes a very strong probability that there was some common source anterior to them all,—in other words, that Sun Tzŭ’s treatise was already in existence towards the end of the 5th century B.C. Further proof of Sun Tzŭ’s antiquity is furnished by the archaic or wholly obsolete meanings attaching to a number of the words he uses. A list of these, which might perhaps be extended, is given in the _Hsü Lu_; and though some of the interpretations are doubtful, the main argument is hardly affected thereby.[71] Again, it must not be forgotten that Yeh Shui-hsin, a scholar and critic of the first rank, deliberately pronounces the style of the 13 chapters to belong to the early part of the fifth century. Seeing that he is actually engaged in an attempt to disprove the existence of Sun Wu himself, we may be sure that he would not have hesitated to assign the work to a later date had he not honestly believed the contrary. And it is precisely on such a point that the judgment of an educated Chinaman will carry most weight. Other internal evidence is not far to seek. Thus, in XIII. § 1, there is an unmistakable allusion to the ancient system of land-tenure which had already passed away by the time of Mencius, who was anxious to see it revived in a modified form.[72] The only warfare Sun Tzŭ knows is that carried on between the various feudal princes (諸侯), in which armoured chariots play a large part. Their use seems to have entirely died out before the end of the Chou dynasty. He speaks as a man of Wu, a state which ceased to exist as early as 473 B.C. On this I shall touch presently.

But once refer the work to the 5th century or earlier, and the chances of its being other than a _bonâ fide_ production are sensibly diminished. The great age of forgeries did not come until long after. That it should have been forged in the period immediately following 473 is particularly unlikely, for no one, as a rule, hastens to identify himself with a lost cause. As for Yeh Shui-hsin’s theory, that the author was a literary recluse,[73] that seems to me quite untenable. If one thing is more apparent than another after reading the maxims of Sun Tzŭ, it is that their essence has been distilled from a large store of personal observation and experience. They reflect the mind not only of a born strategist, gifted with a rare faculty of generalisation, but also of a practical soldier closely acquainted with the military conditions of his time. To say nothing of the fact that these sayings have been accepted and endorsed by all the greatest captains of Chinese history, they offer a combination of freshness and sincerity, acuteness and common sense, which quite excludes the idea that they were artificially concocted in the study. If we admit, then, that the 13 chapters were the genuine production of a military man living towards the end of the “Ch‘un Ch‘iu” period, are we not bound, in spite of the silence of the _Tso Chuan_, to accept Ssŭ-ma Ch‘ien’s account in its entirety? In view of his high repute as a sober historian, must we not hesitate to assume that the records he drew upon for Sun Wu’s biography were false and untrustworthy? The answer, I fear, must be in the negative. There is still one grave, if not fatal, objection to the chronology involved in the story as told in the _Shih Chi_, which, so far as I am aware, nobody has yet pointed out. There are two passages in Sun Tzŭ in which he alludes to contemporary affairs. The first is in VI. § 21:—

Though according to my estimate the soldiers of Yüeh exceed our
own in number, that shall advantage them nothing in the matter of
victory. I say then that victory can be achieved.

The other is in XI. § 30:—

Asked if an army can be made to imitate the _shuai-jan_, I should
answer, Yes. For the men of Wu and the men of Yüeh are enemies;
yet if they are crossing a river in the same boat and are caught
by a storm, they will come to each other’s assistance just as the
left hand helps the right.

These two paragraphs are extremely valuable as evidence of the date of composition. They assign the work to the period of the struggle between Wu and Yüeh. So much has been observed by Pi I-hsün. But what has hitherto escaped notice is that they also seriously impair the credibility of Ssŭ-ma Ch‘ien’s narrative. As we have seen above, the first positive date given in connection with Sun Wu is 512 B.C. He is then spoken of as a general, acting as confidential adviser to Ho Lu, so that his alleged introduction to that monarch had already taken place, and of course the 13 chapters must have been written earlier still. But at that time, and for several years after, down to the capture of Ying in 506, 楚 Ch‘u, and not Yüeh, was the great hereditary enemy of Wu. The two states, Ch‘u and Wu, had been constantly at war for over half a century,[74] whereas the first war between Wu and Yüeh was waged only in 510,[75] and even then was no more than a short interlude sandwiched in the midst of the fierce struggle with Ch‘u. Now Ch‘u is not mentioned in the 13 chapters at all. The natural inference is that they were written at a time when Yüeh had become the prime antagonist of Wu, that is, after Ch‘u had suffered the great humiliation of 506. At this point, a table of dates may be found useful.

B.C.

514 Accession of Ho Lu.

512 Ho Lu attacks Ch‘u, but is dissuaded from entering 郢 Ying, the
capital. _Shih Chi_ mentions Sun Wu as general.

511 Another attack on Ch‘u.

510 Wu makes a successful attack on Yüeh. This is the first war
between the two states.

509 Ch‘u invades Wu, but is signally defeated at 豫章 Yü-chang.
or
508

506 Ho Lu attacks Ch‘u with the aid of T‘ang and Ts‘ai. Decisive
battle of 柏舉 Po-chü, and capture of Ying. Last mention
of Sun Wu in _Shih Chi_.

505 Yüeh makes a raid on Wu in the absence of its army. Wu is
beaten by Ch‘in and evacuates Ying.

504 Ho Lu sends 夫差 Fu Ch‘ai to attack Ch‘u.

497 勾踐 Kou Chien becomes King of Yüeh.

496 Wu attacks Yüeh, but is defeated by Kou Chien at 檇李 Tsui-li.
Ho Lu is killed.

494 Fu Ch‘ai defeats Kou Chien in the great battle of 夫椒 Fu-chiao,
and enters the capital of Yüeh.

485 Kou Chien renders homage to Wu. Death of Wu Tzŭ-hsü.
or
484

482 Kou Chien invades Wu in the absence of Fu Ch‘ai.

478 Further attacks by Yüeh on Wu.
to
476

475 Kou Chien lays siege to the capital of Wu.

473 Final defeat and extinction of Wu.

The sentence quoted above from VI. § 21 hardly strikes me as one that could have been written in the full flush of victory. It seems rather to imply that, for the moment at least, the tide had turned against Wu, and that she was getting the worst of the struggle. Hence we may conclude that our treatise was not in existence in 505, before which date Yüeh does not appear to have scored any notable success against Wu. Ho Lu died in 496, so that if the book was written for him, it must have been during the period 505–496, when there was a lull in the hostilities, Wu having presumably been exhausted by its supreme effort against Ch‘u. On the other hand, if we choose to disregard the tradition connecting Sun Wu’s name with Ho Lu, it might equally well have seen the light between 496 and 494, or possibly in the period 482–473, when Yüeh was once again becoming a very serious menace.[76] We may feel fairly certain that the author, whoever he may have been, was not a man of any great eminence in his own day. On this point the negative testimony of the _Tso Chuan_ far outweighs any shred of authority still attaching to the _Shih Chi_, if once its other facts are discredited. Sun Hsing-yen, however, makes a feeble attempt to explain the omission of his name from the great commentary. It was Wu Tzŭ-hsü, he says, who got all the credit of Sun Wu’s exploits, because the latter (being an alien) was not rewarded with an office in the State.[77]

How then did the Sun Tzŭ legend originate? It may be that the growing celebrity of the book imparted by degrees a kind of factitious renown to its author. It was felt to be only right and proper that one so well versed in the science of war should have solid achievements to his credit as well. Now the capture of Ying was undoubtedly the greatest feat of arms in Ho Lu’s reign; it made a deep and lasting impression on all the surrounding states, and raised Wu to the short-lived zenith of her power. Hence, what more natural, as time went on, than that the acknowledged master of strategy, Sun Wu, should be popularly identified with that campaign, at first perhaps only in the sense that his brain conceived and planned it; afterwards, that it was actually carried out by him in conjunction with Wu Yüan,[78] Po P‘ei and Fu Kai?

It is obvious that any attempt to reconstruct even the outline of Sun Tzŭ’s life must be based almost wholly on conjecture. With this necessary proviso, I should say that he probably entered the service of Wu about the time of Ho Lu’s accession, and gathered experience, though only in the capacity of a subordinate officer, during the intense military activity which marked the first half of that prince’s reign.[79] If he rose to be a general at all, he certainly was never on an equal footing with the three above mentioned. He was doubtless present at the investment and occupation of Ying, and witnessed Wu’s sudden collapse in the following year. Yüeh’s attack at this critical juncture, when her rival was embarrassed on every side, seems to have convinced him that this upstart kingdom was the great enemy against whom every effort would henceforth have to be directed. Sun Wu was thus a well-seasoned warrior when he sat down to write his famous book, which according to my reckoning must have appeared towards the end, rather than the beginning, of Ho Lu’s reign. The story of the women may possibly have grown out of some real incident occurring about the same time. As we hear no more of Sun Wu after this from any source, he is hardly likely to have survived his patron or to have taken part in the death-struggle with Yüeh, which began with the disaster at Tsui-li.

If these inferences are approximately correct, there is a certain irony in the fate which decreed that China’s most illustrious man of peace should be contemporary with her greatest writer on war.

The Text of Sun Tzŭ.

I have found it difficult to glean much about the history of Sun Tzŭ’s text. The quotations that occur in early authors go to show that the “13 chapters” of which Ssŭ-ma Ch‘ien speaks were essentially the same as those now extant. We have his word for it that they were widely circulated in his day, and can only regret that he refrained from discussing them on that account.[80] Sun Hsing-yen says in his preface:—

During the Ch‘in and Han dynasties Sun Tzŭ’s _Art of War_ was in
general use amongst military commanders, but they seem to have
treated it as a work of mysterious import, and were unwilling to
expound it for the benefit of posterity. Thus it came about that
Wei Wu was the first to write a commentary on it.[81]

As we have already seen, there is no reasonable ground to suppose that Ts‘ao Kung tampered with the text. But the text itself is often so obscure, and the number of editions which appeared from that time onward so great, especially during the T‘ang and Sung dynasties, that it would be surprising if numerous corruptions had not managed to creep in. Towards the middle of the Sung period, by which time all the chief commentaries on Sun Tzŭ were in existence, a certain 吉天保 Chi T‘ien-pao published a work in 15 _chüan_ entitled 十家孫子會注 “Sun Tzŭ with the collected commentaries of ten writers.”[82] There was another text, with variant readings put forward by Chu Fu of 大興 Ta-hsing,[83] which also had supporters among the scholars of that period; but in the Ming editions, Sun Hsing-yen tells us, these readings were for some reason or other no longer put into circulation.[84] Thus, until the end of the 18th century, the text in sole possession of the field was one derived from Chi T‘ien-pao’s edition, although no actual copy of that important work was known to have survived. That, therefore, is the text of Sun Tzŭ which appears in the War section of the great Imperial encyclopaedia printed in 1726, the 古今圖書集成 _Ku Chin T‘u Shu Chi Ch‘êng_. Another copy at my disposal of what is practically the same text, with slight variations, is that contained in the 周秦十一子 “Eleven philosophers of the Chou and Ch‘in dynasties” [1758]. And the Chinese printed in Capt. Calthrop’s first edition is evidently a similar version which has filtered through Japanese channels. So things remained until 孫星衍 Sun Hsing-yen [1752–1818], a distinguished antiquarian and classical scholar,[85] who claimed to be an actual descendant of Sun Wu,[86] accidentally discovered a copy of Chi T‘ien-pao’s long-lost work, when on a visit to the library of the 華陰 Hua-yin temple.[87] Appended to it was the 遺說 _I Shuo_ of 鄭友賢 Chêng Yu-hsien, mentioned in the _T‘ung Chih_, and also believed to have perished.[88] This is what Sun Hsing-yen designates as the 古本 or 原本 “original edition (or text)”—a rather misleading name, for it cannot by any means claim to set before us the text of Sun Tzŭ in its pristine purity. Chi T‘ien-pao was a careless compiler,[89] and appears to have been content to reproduce the somewhat debased version current in his day, without troubling to collate it with the earliest editions then available. Fortunately, two versions of Sun Tzŭ, even older than the newly discovered work, were still extant, one buried in the _T‘ung Tien_, Tu Yu’s great treatise on the Constitution, the other similarly enshrined in the _T‘ai P‘ing Yü Lan_ encyclopaedia. In both the complete text is to be found, though split up into fragments, intermixed with other matter, and scattered piecemeal over a number of different sections. Considering that the _Yü Lan_ takes us back to the year 983, and the _T‘ung Tien_ about 200 years further still, to the middle of the T‘ang dynasty, the value of these early transcripts of Sun Tzŭ can hardly be overestimated. Yet the idea of utilising them does not seem to have occurred to anyone until Sun Hsing-yen, acting under Government instructions, undertook a thorough recension of the text. This is his own account:—

Because of the numerous mistakes in the text of Sun Tzŭ which his
editors had handed down, the Government ordered that the ancient
edition [of Chi T‘ien-pao] should be used, and that the text
should be revised and corrected throughout. It happened that Wu
Nien-hu, the Governor Pi Kua, and Hsi, a graduate of the second
degree, had all devoted themselves to this study, probably
surpassing me therein. Accordingly, I have had the whole work cut
on blocks as a text-book for military men.[90]

The three individuals here referred to had evidently been occupied on the text of Sun Tzŭ prior to Sun Hsing-yen’s commission, but we are left in doubt as to the work they really accomplished. At any rate, the new edition, when ultimately produced, appeared in the names of Sun Hsing-yen and only one co-editor, 吳人驥 Wu Jên-chi. They took the “original text” as their basis, and by careful comparison with the older versions, as well as the extant commentaries and other sources of information such as the _I Shuo_, succeeded in restoring a very large number of doubtful passages, and turned out, on the whole, what must be accepted as the closest approximation we are ever likely to get to Sun Tzŭ’s original work. This is what will hereafter be denominated the “standard text.”

The copy which I have used belongs to a re-issue dated 1877. It is in 6 _pên_, forming part of a well-printed set of 23 early philosophical works in 83 _pên_.[91] It opens with a preface by Sun Hsing-yen (largely quoted in this introduction), vindicating the traditional view of Sun Tzŭ’s life and performances, and summing up in remarkably concise fashion the evidence in its favour. This is followed by Ts‘ao Kung’s preface to his edition, and the biography of Sun Tzŭ from the _Shih Chi_, both translated above. Then come, firstly, Chêng Yu-hsien’s _I Shuo_,[92] with author’s preface, and next, a short miscellany of historical and bibliographical information entitled 孫子敘錄 _Sun Tzŭ Hsü Lu_, compiled by 畢以珣 Pi I-hsün. As regards the body of the work, each separate sentence is followed by a note on the text, if required, and then by the various commentaries appertaining to it, arranged in chronological order. These we shall now proceed to discuss briefly, one by one.

The Commentators.

Sun Tzŭ can boast an exceptionally long and distinguished roll of commentators, which would do honour to any classic. 歐陽修 Ou-yang Hsiu remarks on this fact, though he wrote before the tale was complete, and rather ingeniously explains it by saying that the artifices of war, being inexhaustible, must therefore be susceptible of treatment in a great variety of ways.[93]

1. 曹操 Ts‘ao Ts‘ao or 曹公 Ts‘ao Kung, afterwards known as 魏武帝 Wei Wu Ti [A.D. 155–220]. There is hardly any room for doubt that the earliest commentary on Sun Tzŭ actually came from the pen of this extraordinary man, whose biography in the _San Kuo Chih_[94] reads like a romance. One of the greatest military geniuses that the world has seen, and Napoleonic in the scale of his operations, he was especially famed for the marvellous rapidity of his marches, which has found expression in the line 說曹操曹操就到 “Talk of Ts‘ao Ts‘ao, and Ts‘ao Ts‘ao will appear.” Ou-yang Hsiu says of him that he was a great captain who “measured his strength against Tung Cho, Lü Pu and the two Yüan, father and son, and vanquished them all; whereupon he divided the Empire of Han with Wu and Shu, and made himself king. It is recorded that whenever a council of war was held by Wei on the eve of a far-reaching campaign, he had all his calculations ready; those generals who made use of them did not lose one battle in ten; those who ran counter to them in any particular saw their armies incontinently beaten and put to flight.”[95] Ts‘ao Kung’s notes on Sun Tzŭ, models of austere brevity, are so thoroughly characteristic of the stern commander known to history, that it is hard indeed to conceive of them as the work of a mere _littérateur_. Sometimes, indeed, owing to extreme compression, they are scarcely intelligible and stand no less in need of a commentary than the text itself.[96] As we have seen, Ts‘ao Kung is the reputed author of the 新書, a book on war in 100,000 odd words, now lost, but mentioned in the 魏志.[97]

2. 孟氏 Mêng Shih. The commentary which has come down to us under this name is comparatively meagre, and nothing about the author is known. Even his personal name has not been recorded. Chi T‘ien-pao’s edition places him after Chia Lin, and 鼂公武 Ch‘ao Kung-wu also assigns him to the T‘ang dynasty,[98] but this is obviously a mistake, as his work is mentioned in the 隋書經籍志. In Sun Hsing-yen’s preface, he appears as Mêng Shih of the Liang dynasty [502–557]. Others would identify him with 孟康 Mêng K‘ang of the 3rd century. In the 宋史藝文志,[99] he is named last of the 五家 “Five Commentators,” the others being Wei Wu Ti, Tu Mu, Ch‘ên Hao and Chia Lin.

3. 李筌 Li Ch‘üan of the 8th century was a well-known writer on military tactics. His 太白陰經 has been in constant use down to the present day. The 通志 mentions 閫外春秋 (lives of famous generals from the Chou to the T‘ang dynasty) as written by him.[100] He is also generally supposed to be the real author of the popular Taoist tract, the 陰符經. According to Ch‘ao Kung-wu and the _T‘ien-i-ko_ catalogue,[101] he followed the 太乙遁甲 text of Sun Tzŭ, which differs considerably from those now extant. His notes are mostly short and to the point, and he frequently illustrates his remarks by anecdotes from Chinese history.

4. 杜佑 Tu Yu (died 812) did not publish a separate commentary on Sun Tzŭ, his notes being taken from the _T‘ung Tien_, the encyclopaedic treatise on the Constitution which was his life-work. They are largely repetitions of Ts‘ao Kung and Mêng Shih, besides which it is believed that he drew on the ancient commentaries of 王凌 Wang Ling and others. Owing to the peculiar arrangement of the _T‘ung Tien_, he has to explain each passage on its merits, apart from the context, and sometimes his own explanation does not agree with that of Ts‘ao Kung, whom he always quotes first. Though not strictly to be reckoned as one of the “Ten Commentators,” he was added to their number by Chi T‘ien-pao, being wrongly placed after his grandson Tu Mu.

5. 杜牧 Tu Mu (803–852) is perhaps best known as a poet—a bright star even in the glorious galaxy of the T‘ang period. We learn from Ch‘ao Kung-wu that although he had no practical experience of war, he was extremely fond of discussing the subject, and was moreover well read in the military history of the _Ch‘un Ch‘iu_ and _Chan Kuo_ eras.[102] His notes, therefore, are well worth attention. They are very copious, and replete with historical parallels. The gist of Sun Tzŭ’s work is thus summarised by him: “Practise benevolence and justice, but on the other hand make full use of artifice and measures of expediency.”[103] He further declared that all the military triumphs and disasters of the thousand years which had elapsed since Sun Wu’s death would, upon examination, be found to uphold and corroborate, in every particular, the maxims contained in his book.[104] Tu Mu’s somewhat spiteful charge against Ts‘ao Kung has already been considered elsewhere.

6. 陳皥 Ch‘ên Hao appears to have been a contemporary of Tu Mu. Ch‘ao Kung-wu says that he was impelled to write a new commentary on Sun Tzŭ because Ts‘ao Kung’s on the one hand was too obscure and subtle, and that of Tu Mu on the other too long-winded and diffuse.[105] Ou-yang Hsiu, writing in the middle of the 11th century, calls Ts‘ao Kung, Tu Mu and Ch‘ên Hao the three chief commentators on Sun Tzŭ (三家), and observes that Ch‘ên Hao is continually attacking Tu Mu’s shortcomings. His commentary, though not lacking in merit, must rank below those of his predecessors.