The Art of War

qui vive;
without waiting to be asked, they will do
your will;
[Literally, "without asking, you will get."]
without restrictions, they will be faithful; without giving orders,
they can be trusted.
26. Prohibit the taking of omens, and do away with superstitious
doubts. 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: "'Spells and incantations should be strictly forbidden, and no officer
allowed to inquire by divination into the fortunes of an army, for fear the
soldiers' 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."]
27. 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 Yu has the best note on this passage: "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 Tzu 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.]
28. On the day they are ordered out to battle, your soldiers may
weep,
[The word in the Chinese is "snivel." This is taken to indicate more genuine
grief than tears alone.]
those sitting up bedewing their garments, and those lying down

---

letting the tears run down their cheeks.
[Not because they are afraid, but because, as Ts’ao Kung says, "all have
embraced the firm resolution to do or die." We may remember that the heroes of
the Iliad were equally childlike in showing their emotion. Chang Yu alludes to
the mournful parting at the I River between Ching K’o and his friends, when the
former was sent to attempt the life of the King of Ch’in (afterwards First
Emperor) in 227 B.C. The tears of all flowed down like rain as he bade them
farewell and uttered the following lines: "The shrill blast is blowing, Chilly the
burn; Your champion is going—Not to return." [1] ]
But let them once be brought to bay, and they will display the
courage of a Chu or a Kuei.
[Chu was the personal name of Chuan Chu, a native of the Wu State and
contemporary with Sun Tzu himself, who was employed by Kung-tzu Kuang,
better known as Ho Lu Wang, to assassinate his sovereign Wang Liao with a
dagger which he secreted in the belly of a fish served up at a banquet. He
succeeded in his attempt, but was immediately hacked to pieces by the king's
bodyguard. This was in 515 B.C. The other hero referred to, Ts’ao Kuei (or
Ts’ao Mo), performed the exploit which has made his name famous 166 years
earlier, in 681 B.C. Lu had been thrice defeated by Ch’i, and was just about to
conclude a treaty surrendering a large slice of territory, when Ts’ao Kuei
suddenly seized Huan Kung, the Duke of Ch’i, as he stood on the altar steps and
held a dagger against his chest. None of the duke's retainers dared to move a
muscle, and Ts’ao Kuei proceeded to demand full restitution, declaring the Lu
was being unjustly treated because she was a smaller and a weaker state. Huan
Kung, in peril of his life, was obliged to consent, whereupon Ts’ao Kuei flung
away his dagger and quietly resumed his place amid the terrified assemblage
without having so much as changed color. As was to be expected, the Duke
wanted afterwards to repudiate the bargain, but his wise old counselor Kuan
Chung pointed out to him the impolicy of breaking his word, and the upshot was
that this bold stroke regained for Lu the whole of what she had lost in three
pitched battles.]
29. The skillful tactician may be likened to the