Art of War (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) (35 page)

with rising ground to your right and on your rear,

 

Tu Mu quotes T’ai Kung as saying: “An army should have a stream or a marsh on its left, and a hill or tumulus on its right.”

so that the danger may be in front, and safety lie behind. So much for campaigning in flat country.

10. These are the four useful branches of military knowledge

 

Those, namely, concerned with (1) mountains, (2) rivers, (3) marshes, and (4) plains. Compare Napoleon’s “Military Maxims,” no. 1.

which enabled the Yellow Emperor to vanquish four several sovereigns.

 

Ts’ao Kung’s explanation is, that the Yellow Emperor was the first to institute the feudal system of vassal princes, each of whom (to the number of four) originally bore the title of Emperor. Li Ch’üan tells us that the art of war originated under Huang Ti, who received it from his Minister Fêng Hou.

11. All armies prefer high ground to low,

 

“High ground,” says Mei Yao-ch’ên, “is not only more agreeable and salubrious, but more convenient from a military point of view; low ground is not only damp and unhealthy, but also disadvantageous for fighting.”

and sunny places to dark.

12. If you are careful of your men,

 

Ts’ao Kung says: “Make for fresh water and pasture, where you can turn out your animals to graze.” And the other commentators follow him. . . . [My reading] has reference to the health of the troops. It is the title for Chuang Tzu’s third chapter, where it denotes moral rather than physical well-being.

and camp on hard ground,

 

Dry and solid, as opposed to damp and marshy, ground. This is to be found as a rule in high places.

the army will be free from disease of every kind,

 

Chang Yü says: “The dryness of the climate will prevent the outbreak of illness.”

and this will spell victory.

13. When you come to a hill or a bank, occupy the sunny side, with the slope on your right rear. Thus you will at once act for the benefit of your soldiers and utilise the natural advantages of the ground.

14. When, in consequence of heavy rains up-country, a river which you wish to ford is swollen and flecked with foam, you must wait until it subsides.

15. Country in which there are precipitous cliffs with torrents running between, deep natural hollows,

 

Explained [by Mei Yao-ch’ên as “places enclosed on every side by steep banks, with pools of water at the bottom.”

confined places,

 

“Natural pens or prisons,” explained as “places surrounded by precipices on three sides—easy to get into, but hard to get out of.”

tangled thickets,

 

“Places covered with such dense undergrowth that spears cannot be used.”

quagmires

 

“Low-lying places, so heavy with mud as to be impassable for chariots and horsemen.”