Part 51

Throw your soldiers into positions whence there is no escape, and they will prefer death to flight.

Cf. Nicias’ speech to the Athenians: Τό τε ξύμπαν γνῶτε, ὦ ἄνδρες στρατιῶται, ἀναγκαῖόν τε ὂν ὑμῖν ἀνδράσιν ἀγαθοῖς γίγνεσθαι ὡς μὴ ὄντος χωρίου ἐγγὺς ὅποι ἂν μαλακισθέντες σωθείητε, etc. [Thuc. VII. 77. vii.]

If they will face death, there is nothing they may not achieve.

死 by itself constitutes the protasis, and 焉 is the interrogative = 安. Capt. Calthrop makes the protasis end with 得: “If there be no alternative but death.” But I do not see how this is to be got out of the Chinese. Chang Yü gives a clear paraphrase: 士卒死戰安不得志, and quotes his favourite Wei Liao Tzŭ (ch. 3): 一夫仗劔擊於市萬人無不避之者 臣謂非一人之獨勇萬人皆不肖也何則必死與必生固不侔也 “If one man were to run amok with a sword in the market-place, and everybody else tried to get out of his way, I should not allow that this man alone had courage and that all the rest were contemptible cowards. The truth is, that a desperado and a man who sets some value on his life do not meet on even terms.”

Officers and men alike will put forth their uttermost strength.

士人 appears to stand for the more usual 士卒. Chang Yü says: 同在 難地安得不共竭其力 “If they are in an awkward place together, they will surely exert their united strength to get out of it.”

24. 兵士甚陷則不懼無所往則固深入則拘不得已則鬥

Soldiers when in desperate straits lose the sense of fear. If there is no place of refuge, they will stand firm. If they are in the heart of a hostile country, they will show a stubborn front.

Capt. Calthrop weakly says: “there is unity,” as though the text were 則專, as in § 20. But 拘 introduces quite a new idea—that of tenacity—which Ts‘ao Kung tries to explain by the word 縛 “to bind fast.”

If there is no help for it, they will fight hard.

25. 是故其兵不修而戒不求而得不約而親不令而信

Thus, without waiting to be marshalled, the soldiers will be constantly on the qui vive;

Tu Mu says: 不待修整而自戒懼. Capt. Calthrop wrongly translates 不修 “without warnings.”

without waiting to be asked, they will do your will;

Literally, “without asking, you will get.” Chang Yü’s paraphrase is: 不求索而得情意.

without restrictions, they will be faithful;

Chang Yü says: 不約束而親上.

without giving orders, they can be trusted.

This last clause is very similar in sense to the one preceding, except that 親 indicates the soldiers’ attachment to their leader, and 信 the leader’s attitude towards them. I rather doubt if 信 can mean “they will have confidence in their leader,” as the commentary seems to indicate. That way, the sense is not nearly so good. On the other hand, it is just possible that here, as in VIII. § 8 and infra, § 55, 信 may = 申: “without orders, they will carry out [their leader’s plans].” The whole of this paragraph, of course, has reference to “desperate ground.”

26. 禁祥去疑至死無所災

Prohibit the taking of omens, and do away with superstitious doubts.

祥 is amplified by Ts‘ao Kung into 妖祥之言, and 疑 into 疑惑之計. Cf. the Ssŭ-ma Fa, ch. 3: 滅厲祥.

Then, until death itself comes, no calamity need be feared.

The superstitious, “bound in to saucy doubts and fears,” degenerate into cowards and “die many times before their deaths.” Tu Mu quotes Huang-shih Kung: 禁巫祝不得爲吏士卜問軍之吉凶恐亂軍士之心 “‘Spells and incantations should be strictly forbidden, and no officer allowed to inquire by divination into the fortunes of an army, for fear the soldier’s minds should be seriously perturbed.’ The meaning is,” he continues, “that if all doubts and scruples are discarded, your men will never falter in their resolution until they die.” The reading of the standard text is 無所之 “there will be no refuge,” which does not fit in well here. I therefore prefer to adopt the variant 災, which evidently stood in Li Ch‘üan’s text.

27. 吾士無餘財非惡貨也無餘命非惡壽也

If our soldiers are not overburdened with money, it is not because they have a distaste for riches; if their lives are not unduly long, it is not because they are disinclined to longevity.

Chang Yü has the best note on this passage: 貨與壽人之所愛也所以燒擲 財寳割棄性命者非憎惡之也不得已也 “Wealth and long life are things for which all men have a natural inclination. Hence, if they burn or fling away valuables, and sacrifice their own lives, it is not that they dislike them, but simply that they have no choice.” Sun Tzŭ is slyly insinuating that, as soldiers are but human, it is for the general to see that temptations to shirk fighting and grow rich are not thrown in their way. Capt. Calthrop, mistaking 惡 for the adjective, has: “not because money is a bad thing ... not because long life is evil.”

28. 令發之日士卒坐者涕霑襟偃臥者涕交頤投之無所往者諸劌之勇也