Part 34

(4) a delicacy of honour which is sensitive to shame;

This need not be taken to mean that a sense of honour is really a defect in a general. What Sun Tzŭ condemns is rather an exaggerated sensitiveness to slanderous reports, the thin-skinned man who is stung by opprobrium, however undeserved. Mei Yao-ch‘ên truly observes, though somewhat paradoxically: 徇名不顧 “The seeker after glory should be careless of public opinion.”

(5) over-solicitude for his men, which exposes him to worry and trouble.

Here again, Sun Tzŭ does not mean that the general is to be careless of the welfare of his troops. All he wishes to emphasise is the danger of sacrificing any important military advantage to the immediate comfort of his men. This is a shortsighted policy, because in the long run the troops will suffer more from the defeat, or, at best, the prolongation of the war, which will be the consequence. A mistaken feeling of pity will often induce a general to relieve a beleaguered city, or to reinforce a hard-pressed detachment, contrary to his military instincts. It is now generally admitted that our repeated efforts to relieve Ladysmith in the South African War were so many strategical blunders which defeated their own purpose. And in the end, relief came through the very man who started out with the distinct resolve no longer to subordinate the interests of the whole to sentiment in favour of a part. An old soldier of one of our generals who failed most conspicuously in this war, tried once, I remember, to defend him to me on the ground that he was always “so good to his men.” By this plea, had he but known it, he was only condemning him out of Sun Tzŭ’s mouth.

13. 凡此五者將之過也用兵之災也

These are the five besetting sins of a general, ruinous to the conduct of war.

14. 覆軍殺將必以五危不可不察也

When an army is overthrown and its leader slain, the cause will surely be found among these five dangerous faults. Let them be a subject of meditation.

IX. 行軍篇

THE ARMY ON THE MARCH.

The contents of this interesting chapter are better indicated in § 1 than by this heading.

1. 孫子曰凡處軍相敵絶山依谷

Sun Tzŭ said: We come now to the question of encamping the army, and observing signs of the enemy.

The discussion of 處軍, as Chang Yü points out, extends from here down to 伏姦之所藏處也 (§§ 1–17), and 相敵 from that point down to 必謹察之 (§§ 18–39). The rest of the chapter consists of a few desultory remarks, chiefly on the subject of discipline.

Pass quickly over mountains,

For this use of 絶, cf. infra. § 3. See also 荀子, ch. 1. fol. 2 (standard edition of 1876): 絶江河; Shih Chi, ch. 27 ad init.: 後六星絶漢.

and keep in the neighbourhood of valleys.

Tu Mu says that 依 here = 近. The idea is, not to linger among barren uplands, but to keep close to supplies of water and grass. Capt. Calthrop translates “camp in valleys,” heedless of the very next sentence. Cf. Wu Tzŭ, ch. 3: 無當天竈 “Abide not in natural ovens,” i.e. 大谷之口 “the openings of large valleys.” Chang Yü tells the following anecdote: “武都羗 Wu-tu Ch‘iang was a robber captain in the time of the Later Han, and 馬援 Ma Yüan was sent to exterminate his gang. Ch‘iang having found a refuge in the hills, Ma Yüan made no attempt to force a battle, but seized all the favourable positions commanding supplies of water and forage. Ch‘iang was soon in such a desperate plight for want of provisions that he was forced to make a total surrender. He did not know the advantage of keeping in the neighbourhood of valleys.”

2. 視生處高戰隆無登此處山之軍也

Camp in high places,

Not on high hills, but on knolls or hillocks elevated above the surrounding country.

facing the sun.

視生 = 面陽. Tu Mu takes this to mean “facing south,” and Ch‘ên Hao “facing east.” Cf. infra, §§ 11, 13.

Do not climb heights in order to fight.

隆 is here simply equivalent to 高. The T‘ung Tien and Yü Lan read 降.

So much for mountain warfare.

After 山, the T‘ung Tien and Yü Lan insert 谷.

3. 絶水必遠水