Part 24

Capt. Calthrop omits 以吾度之, and his translation of the remainder is flabby and inaccurate. As Sun Tzŭ was in the service of the 吳 Wu State, it has been proposed to read 吳 instead of 吾—a wholly unnecessary tampering with the text. Yüeh coincided roughly with the present province of Chehkiang. Li Ch‘üan very strangely takes 越 not as the proper name, but in the sense of 過 “to surpass.” No other commentator follows him. 勝敗 belongs to the class of expressions like 遠近 “distance,” 大小 “magnitude,” etc., to which the Chinese have to resort in order to express abstract ideas of degree. The T‘u Shu, however, omits 敗.

I say then that victory can be achieved.

Alas for these brave words! The long feud between the two states ended in 473 B.C. with the total defeat of Wu by 勾踐 Kou Chien and its incorporation in Yüeh. This was doubtless long after Sun Tzŭ’s death. With his present assertion compare IV. § 4: 勝可知而不可爲 (which is the obviously mistaken reading of the Yü Lan here). Chang Yü is the only one to point out the seeming discrepancy, which he thus goes on to explain: “In the chapter on Tactical Dispositions it is said, ‘One may know how to conquer without being able to do it,’ whereas here we have the statement that ‘victory can be achieved.’ The explanation is, that in the former chapter, where the offensive and defensive are under discussion, it is said that if the enemy is fully prepared, one cannot make certain of beating him. But the present passage refers particularly to the soldiers of Yüeh who, according to Sun Tzŭ’s calculations, will be kept in ignorance of the time and place of the impending struggle. That is why he says here that victory can be achieved.”

22. 敵雖衆可使無鬥故策之而知得失之計

Though the enemy be stronger in numbers, we may prevent him from fighting.

Capt. Calthrop quite unwarrantably translates: “If the enemy be many in number, prevent him,” etc.

Scheme so as to discover his plans and the likelihood of their success.

This is the first of four similarly constructed sentences, all of which present decided difficulties. Chang Yü explains 知得失之計 as 知其計之得失. This is perhaps the best way of taking the words, though Chia Lin, referring 計 to ourselves and not the enemy, offers the alternative of 我得彼失之計皆先知也 “Know beforehand all plans conducive to our success and to the enemy’s failure.”

23. 作之而知動靜之理形之而知死生之地

Rouse him, and learn the principle of his activity or inactivity.

Instead of 作, the T‘ung Tien, Yü Lan, and also Li Ch‘üan’s text have 候, which the latter explains as “the observation of omens,” and Chia Lin simply as “watching and waiting.” 作 is defined by Tu Mu as 激作, and Chang Yü tells us that by noting the joy or anger shown by the enemy on being thus disturbed, we shall be able to conclude whether his policy is to lie low or the reverse. He instances the action of Chu-ko Liang, who sent the scornful present of a woman’s head-dress to Ssŭ-ma I, in order to goad him out of his Fabian tactics.

Force him to reveal himself, so as to find out his vulnerable spots.

Two commentators, Li Ch‘üan and Chang Yü, take 形之 in the sense of 示之 “put on specious appearances.” The former says: “You may either deceive the enemy by a show of weakness—striking your colours and silencing your drums; or by a show of strength—making a hollow display of camp-fires and regimental banners.” And the latter quotes V. 19, where 形之 certainly seems to bear this sense. On the other hand, I would point to § 13 of this chapter, where 形 must with equal certainty be active. It is hard to choose between the two interpretations, but the context here agrees better, I think, with the one that I have adopted. Another difficulty arises over 死生之地, which most of the commentators, thinking no doubt of the 死地 in XI. § 1, refer to the actual ground on which the enemy is encamped. The notes of Chia Lin and Mei Yao-ch‘ên, however, seem to favour my view. The same phrase has a somewhat different meaning in I. § 2.

24. 角之而知有餘不足之處

Carefully compare the opposing army with your own,

Tu Yu is right, I think, in attributing this force to 角; Ts‘ao Kung defines it simply as 量. Capt. Calthrop surpasses himself with the staggering translation “Flap the wings”! Can the Latin cornu (in its figurative sense) have been at the back of his mind?

so that you may know where strength is superabundant and where it is deficient.

Cf. IV. § 6.

25. 故形兵之極至於無形無形則深閒不能窺知者不能謀

In making tactical dispositions, the highest pitch you can attain is to conceal them;

The piquancy of the paradox evaporates in translation. 無形 is perhaps not so much actual invisibility (see supra, § 9) as “showing no sign” of what you mean to do, of the plans that are formed in your brain.

conceal your dispositions, and you will be safe from the prying of the subtlest spies, from the machinations of the wisest brains.

深閒 is expanded by Tu Mu into 雖有閒者深來窺我. [For 閒, see XIII, note on heading.] He explains 知者 in like fashion: 雖有智能之士亦不能謀我也 “though the enemy may have clever and capable officers, they will not be able to lay any plans against us.”

26. 因形而錯勝於衆衆不能知

How victory may be produced for them out of the enemy’s own tactics—that is what the multitude cannot comprehend.

All the commentators except Li Ch‘üan make 形 refer to the enemy. So Ts‘ao Kung: 因敵形而立勝. 錯 is defined as 置. The T‘u Shu has 措, with the same meaning. See IV. § 13. The Yü Lan reads 作, evidently a gloss.

27. 人皆知我所以勝之形而莫知吾所以制勝之形

All men can see the tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.