...is to blame. So he started drilling them again, and this time gave the order Left turn, hereupon the girls once more burst into fits of laughter. Sun Tzu If ords of command are not clear and distinct, if orders are not thoroughly understood, the general is to blame. But if his orders ARE clear, and the soldiers nevertheless disobey, then it is the fault of their officers. So saying, he ordered the leaders of the to companies to be beheaded. No the king of u as atching the scene from the top of a raised pavilion and hen he sa that his favorite concubines ere about to be executed, he as greatly alarmed and hurried ly sent don the folloing message e are no quite satisfied as to our generals ability to handle troops. If e are bereft of these to concubines, our meat and drink ill lose their savor. It is our ish that they shall not be beheaded. Sun Tzu replied Having once received His Majestys commission to be the general of his forces, there are certain commands of His Majesty hich, acting in that capacity, I am unable to accept. Accordingly, he had the to leaders beheaded, and straig htay installed the pair next in order as leaders in their place. hen this had been done, the drum as sounded for the drill once more and the girls ent through all the evolution, turning to the right or to the left, marching ahead or heeling back, k neeling or standing, ith perfect accuracy and precision, not venturing to utter a sound. Then Sun Tzu sent a messenger to the King saying Your soldiers, Sire, are no properly drilled and disciplined, and ready for your majestys inspection. They can be put to any use that their sovereign may desire bid them go through fire and ater, an d they ill not disobey. But the King replied Let our general cease drilling and return to camp. As for us, e have no ish to come don and inspect the troops. Thereupon Sun Tzu said The King is only fond of ords, and cannot translate them into deeds. After that, Ho Lu sa that Sun Tzu as one ho kne ho to handle an army, and finally appointed him general. In the est, he defeated the Chau State and forced his ay into Ying, the capital to the north he put fear into the States of Chai and Chin, and spre ad his fame abroad amongst the feudal princes. And Sun Tzu shared in the might of the King. About Sun Tzu himself this is all that Ssu-ma Chaien has to tell us in this chapter. But he proceeds to give a biography of his descendant, Sun Pin, born about a hundred years after his famous ancestors death, and also the outstanding military genius o f his time. The historian speaks of him too as Sun Tzu, and in his preface e read Sun Tzu had his feet cut off and yet continued to discuss the art of ar. i3s It seems likely, then, that Pin as a nickname bestoed on him after his mutilation, unless the story as invented in order to account for the name. The croning incident of his career, the crushing defeat of his treacherous rival Paang Chuan, ill be found briefly related in Chapter V. ss. 19, note. To return to the elder Sun Tzu. He is mentioned in to other passages of the SHIH CHI In the third year of his reign i512 BCs Ho Lu, king of u, took the field ith Tzu-hsu ii.e. u Yuans and Po Paei, and attacked Chau. He captured the ton of Shu and sle the to princes sons ho had formerly been generals of u. He as then meditating a descent on Ying ithe capitals but the general Sun u said The army is exhausted. It is not yet possible. e must ait.... iAfter further successful fighting ,s in the ninth year i506 BCs, King Ho Lu addressed u Tzu-hsu and Sun u, saying Formerly, you declared that it as not yet possible for us to enter Ying. Is the time ripe no The to men replied Chaus general Tzu-chaang, i4s is grasping and covetous, and the princes of Taang and Tsaai both have a grudge against him. If Your Majesty has resolved to make a grand attack, you must in over Taang and Tsaai, and then you may s ucceed. Ho Lu folloed this advice, ibeat Chau in five pitched battles and marched into Ying.s i5s This is the latest date at hich anything is recorded of Sun u. He does not appear to have survived his patron, ho died from the effects of a ound in 496. In another chapter there occurs this passage i6s -- From this time onard, a number of famous soldiers arose, one after the other Kao-fan, i7s ho as employed by the Chin State ang-tzu, i8s in the service of Chai and Sun u, in the service of u. These men developed and thre light upon the principles of ar. It is obvious enough that Ssu-ma Chaien at least had no doubt about the reality of Sun u as an historical personage and ith one exception, to be noticed presently, he is by far the most important authority on the period in question. It ill not be nec essary, therefore, to say much of such a ork as the U YUEH CHaUN CHaIU, hich is supposed to have been ritten by Chao Yeh of the 1st century AD The attribution is somehat doubtful but even if it ere otherise, his account ould be of little value, based as it is on the SHIH CHI and expanded ith romantic details. The story of Sun Tzu ill be found, for hat it is orth, in chapter 2. The onl y ne points in it orth noting are 1 Sun Tzu as first recommended to Ho Lu by u Tzu-hsu. 2 He is called a native of u. 3 He had previously lived a retired life, and his contemporaries ere unaare of his ability. The folloing passage occurs in the Huai-nan Tzu hen sovereign and ministers sho perversity of mind, it is impossible even for a Sun Tzu to encounter the foe. Assuming that this ork is genuine and hitherto no doubt has been cast upon it, e hav e here the earliest direct reference for Sun Tzu, for Huai-nan Tzu died in 122 BC, many years before the SHIH CHI as given to the orld. Liu Hsiang 80-9 BC says The reason hy Sun Tzu at the head of 30,000 men beat Chau ith 200,000 is that the latter ere undisciplined. Teng Ming-shih informs us that the surname Sun as bestoed on Sun us grandfather by Duke Ching of Chai i547-490 BCs. Sun us father Sun Paing, rose to be a Minister of State in Chai, and Sun u himself, hose style as Chaang-chaing, fled to u on account of the rebellion hich as being fomented by the kindred of Taien Pao. He had three sons, of hom the second, named Ming, as the father of Sun Pin. According to this account then, Pin as the grandson of u, hich, considering that Sun Pins v ictory over ei as gained in 341 BC, may be dismissed as chronological impossible. hence these data ere obtained by Teng Ming-shih I do not kno, but of course no reliance hatever can be placed in them. An interesting document hich has survived from the close of the Han period is the short preface ritten by the Great Tsaao Tsaao, or ei u Ti, for his edition of Sun Tzu. I shall give it in full -- I have heard that the ancients used bos and arros to their advantage. i10s The SHU CHU mentions the army among the eight objects of government. The I CHING says army indicates firmness and justice the experienced leader ill have good fortune. The SHIH CHING says The King rose majestic in his rath, and he ...
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