A Chinese Art of War.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIIC, Issue 14211, 28 May 1910, Page 2 (Supplement)

A Chinese Art of War.

:!.",n-l VK.\i;s DLiJ. i ; .... . . . --;;.--- | : I ne. .-.prciaior reviews a. new I tra.islaiion of a Chinese -,. ork on ''The \ ' Art of War." written hy Sun 'i'/.n ' Pearly six bombed years H.C.. a work ' which is aptly described as '". oc oldest j military treatise in the world." Tim ' translator :idds some comments by ' later hands, and the ".Spectator"' § ' gives some of these. The first tells [ < the following story of Ho Lu, King of ; '' Wu. and Sun Tzu : " j ] "Ho Lu said to him : 1 have care fully | ' perused your 13 chapter's. .May j sub- ; ] ir.it your theory of managing ' soldiers ] : to a slight testr —Sun Ten ' replied:': You may. —Ho Lu asked : Alav Hie test ! . be applied to women r—Tiia answer i . was again in the affirmative, so ar- ' rangements were made to bring 181) I ' ladies out of the Palace. Sun Tzu di- j : vided them into two companies, and I placed one of the King's favourite con- ] cubines at the. head of each. He then : bade them all take spears in their bands, and addressed them thus: 1 : presume you know ,11c difference be- [ i ween front and back, right ham! and : ■ lei I hand?— The girls replied: Yes.—j Sun Tzu went- on: When" I say ' Eyes . ironf." you must look straight ahead. | Y\ lien I sav 'Left turn,' you must! face towards your left- hand. Wh-n I j ■ say ■ Right turn.' yon must-face right" round towards ihe 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.Jie gave the order 'Right turn.' But the girls onlv burst out.'t laughing. Sun Tzu said:'if words of i command arc not clear and distinct, if I orders are not thorough!-*- understood, j then tlm general is to blame.—So he i started driving them again, and this] time gave the order 'left turn,' where- ! upon the girls once more burst into i fits of l.umhter. Sun Tzu said: II" words of command are not- clear and distinct, if orders are not thoroughly I understood, the genera] is to blame. I Bin: if his orders are dear, and the sehljeps nevertheless disobec. then it i is t!:e fault of their officers. —So sqv- ' ing, he ordered the leaders of Ihe two : companies to be beheaded. Now the . h-:cg of Wu was wat--ii : "g the scene : from the top of the raised psvilion; and i when lie saw that his favourite cencu- ! bines were mmm in be executed, he' was greatly alarmed and hurriedlv sent : down trie *Y!hiwi:.ig message: We are j ho.-'Ut of these two concubines, our ; m-at and drink will lose their savour, i It is our wish that- ihey shall not be i certain commands of ills .Maic-s-fv whi?h. acting in tint cac, ';-,-. f :: i n unable to accept. —Accordingly, he had wav instahod the pair next hi ordc- as leaders in their place. When this had been done, the drum was sounded for through ail the evolutions, turning to the right or to the k ft. marching ahead or wheeling back, kneeling or standing, with perfect aecuracv and precision, not venturing to utter a sound. Then Sun Tzu sent- a messen- : ger to the King saying: Your soldiers. Sire, are now properly drilled and diseip'iincd. and ready for Your lUajesty's ' inspection. They can be put to any ; use that their sovereign may desire: f bid theiu go Through lire and wafer, I and they will not disobey.—Hut the j King replied: Let our general cease; drilling and return to camp. As for . us. Y. e have no wish to come down and ; inspect the troops.—Thereupon Sun T;-:u j said: The King Is only fond of words. 1 and cannot translate them into deeds.; —After that. Ho Lu saw thai Sun Tzu • was one who knew how to handle an army, and finallv appointed him general. In the West, "ho 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 Tzu ( shared in the might of the King." That is a grim story, amf verv strikingly characteristic of the Chinese. The introduction also contains some very curious passages which show that. ! though the teaching of Confucius is ! generally supposed to be purelv pacific. ! tlicre is another side to the question, i Both Confucius and another commenta- ! tor. Tu IMu, seem to have been aware ! of the exceeding danger of divorcing ) knowledge of military force from civil I statesmanship and keeping each in a i water-tight compartment : I "Chi-sun asked. .Tan Yu. saving: j 'Have you. Sir, acquired your military I aptitude by studv. or is it innate?' j ■Tan Yu replied: 'lt has been acquired ■ by study.' ' How can that be so.' said \ Chi-sun. 'seeing that you are a disciple i of Confucius?' 'lt is a fact.' replied: Jan Yu: 'I was taught by Confucius, j

il'-i-.i. ihough i<•• lis sure niv ]usu-;>c-g'••:•<• very nil'.' .Vow. ■-.hi) li'.B author; was rii this rigid dji. !•-,'rii-n between She 'civil' ;i;kl Jin. 'military.' unci ihe. limitation of each io a yoonrate sphere nf action. «r in what v«hr of which dyn-iMs it v. a.s first introduced, is more "liiiin I i-sill say Hi'.t, at. any rat'', ifc Jiiis come a limit that the members of ihe governing class are quite afraid of eul.ngmg on military tonics, or do so only iii a shame-faced manner. If any aiv hold enough to discuss the. subject, inev are at once set clown as eccentric individuals of coarse and brutal propensities. This is an extraordinary instance of the way in which., through sheer lack of reasoning, men unlmppily kst sight of fundamental principles. When the Duke of C'hou was minister under Clreng "Wong, lie regulated ceremonies and made music, and venerated the arts of scholarship and learning: yet- when the barbarians of the Hirer Huai revolted, he sallied forth and chastised them. "\Yhcu Confucius held office under the Duke of Lu, and a. meeting was convened at Chia-ku, lie said: •If pacific negotiations are in progress, warlike preparations should have been made beforehand.' He rebuked and shamed the .Marquis of C'h'i. who cowered under him and dared not proceed to violence. How can it be said that these two great Sages had no knowledge of military mattersi'" We are told in a further passage that Confucius once uttered the words "If 1. light I conquer." Another passage In- the commentator Ssu-ma C'hi'en on the impossibilty of banishing war from the world, and the folly and sophistry of those who preach pence at any price, deserves to bo quoted : "Military weapons are the means used by the Sage t-o punish violence and cruelty, to give peace to troublous times, to remove difficulties and dangers, and to succour those who are in peril. Every animal with blood in 'ts veins and horns on its head will fight when ii is attacked. How much more so will man. who carries in his breast the faculties of love and hatred, jov and anger! When lie is oleased. a feeling of affection snriugs Jo within him: when angry. his poisoned sting is brought into play, fhac is the natural law which governs his being . . . What then shall he .said of those scholars of our time, blind to all groat issues, and without any apnreei.-uion of relative who can only hark out their stale formulas a bom- 'virtue' and 'civilisation,' contemning the use of military weapons? They will surelv bring our count rv to imocfence um l dishonour ; t nd the loss of" her rightful heritage: or. at the verv lea.it." thev will bring about invasion "and rebellion saoi'diee of territory : md general enteeMement, Act i hey ohstinate.lv refuse to modify the >,osition thev "have taken ui>. The truth Is that, 'hist- as m the family Ho teacher must not spare the rod, and punishments cannot be dispensed with in the State, so rnihterv chastisement can never he allowed to tall into abeyance in the Empire. AH one can riv Is that this power will be e-:ei-.-ised wisolv In- some foohshly by others, and that" amotmJ !! ' r " w! '° , '" > :"- "!!'? some wiil lie loyal and others rebellions." One of the actual maxims of Sun T;m was specially selected bv Lord lloherts as of modern armlioatinn it ' is as follows:—"The art of war teaches ' us to rely not on the likelihood of the ■ enemy not coming, but on our own ■ readiness to receive him : not on the : chance of Ins not attacking, but r a tbe>I o:i the tact that we have made our j position unassailable." Would that our statesmen, anr! indeed the nation ; could be b-omdit to realise . meaning of these words' Thev j oun-M fsavs the "Snoctator") to he - emn!azon->d over the desks 'of H- ! ! Aormralty, ana the Secretarv of State j tor Vi ar.