Guard against arms — beware the soldier's way誡兵
1Why no man of the Yan family ever rose by arms
顏氏之先，本乎鄒、魯，或分入齊，世以儒雅為業，遍在書記。仲尼門徒，升堂者七十有二，顏氏居八人焉。秦、漢、魏、晉，下逮齊、梁，未有用兵以取達者。春秋世，顏高、顏鳴、顏息、顏羽之徒，皆一鬥夫耳。齊有顏涿聚，趙有顏最，漢末有顏良，宋有顏延之，並處將軍之任，竟以顛覆。漢郎顏駟，自稱好武，更無事跡。顏忠以黨楚王受誅，顏俊以據武威見殺，得姓已來，無清操者，唯此二人，皆罹禍敗。頃世亂離，衣冠之士，雖無身手，或聚徒眾，違棄素業，僥幸戰功。吾既羸薄，仰惟前代，故寘心於此，子孫誌之。孔子力翹門關，不以力聞，此聖證也。吾見今世士大夫，纔有氣幹，便倚賴之，不能被甲執兵，以衛社稷；但微行險服，逞弄拳腕，大則陷危亡，小則貽恥辱，遂無免者。
The forebears of the Yan family came out of Zou and Lu, and some branched off into Qi. For generations they made Confucian learning and refinement their calling, and they are found all through the records. Of the disciples of Zhongni, seventy-two came up into the hall, and eight of these were Yan. Through Qin, Han, Wei and Jin, and down to Qi and Liang, not one of them rose high by the use of arms. In the Spring and Autumn age Yan Gao, Yan Ming, Yan Xi and Yan Yu and their like were all mere fighting men. Qi had Yan Zhuoju, Zhao had Yan Zui, the end of Han had Yan Liang, and Song had Yan Yanzhi; all held the post of general, and all came at last to be overthrown. Yan Si, a gentleman of the palace under Han, called himself a lover of the martial arts, but nothing more of his doings is recorded. Yan Zhong was put to death for siding with the Prince of Chu, and Yan Jun was killed for holding Wuwei. Since the family took its surname these two alone were without clean principle, and both met calamity and ruin. In these late years of disorder and scattering, men of cap and gown with no strength in their own limbs have gathered followings, thrown away the calling that was theirs, and hoped by luck for merit in war. I am thin and weak, and I look back to the earlier ages, and so my heart is settled in this. Let my sons and grandsons mark it. Confucius had the strength to lift the bar of a city gate, yet he was not known for strength. This is the sage's proof. I look at the gentry of this age, and the moment a man has a little spirit and capacity he leans on it. He cannot put on armor and take up weapons and guard the altars of the land. He only walks about in secret and dresses roughly and makes a show of fist and forearm. At the worst he falls into peril and destruction, at the least he leaves shame and disgrace behind him, and in the end not one of them escapes.
2The danger of a man of letters who has read a little in the books of war
國之興亡，兵之勝敗，博學所至，幸討論之。入帷幄之中，參廟堂之上，不能為主盡規以謀社稷，君子所恥也。然而每見文士，頗讀兵書，微有經略。若居承平之世，睥睨宮閫，幸災樂禍，首為逆亂，詿誤善良；如在兵革之時，構扇反復，縱橫說誘，不識存亡，強相扶戴：此皆陷身滅族之本也。誡之哉！誡之哉！
The rise and fall of states and the winning and losing of armies are what wide learning reaches, and it is well to discuss them. Not to enter within the tent and take part above in the hall of council, not to give the ruler the whole of one's counsel and plan for the altars of the land, is what a gentleman is ashamed of. But again and again I see a man of letters who has read a little in the books of war and has some small grasp of strategy. Set him in a time of peace and he eyes the palace gates sidelong, counting disaster his luck and taking joy in calamity, and he is the first to raise revolt and lead good men astray. Set him in a time of war and armor and he stirs men up and turns them about, talks and lures this way and that, and not knowing what will stand and what will fall he props up first one man and then another. All of this is the root of a man's own ruin and the wiping out of his house. Be warned. Be warned.
3Reading no books makes a man a soldier, they say — a rice bag and a wine jar
習五兵，便乘騎，正可稱武夫爾。今世士大夫，但不讀書，即稱武夫兒，乃飯囊酒甕也。
A man may be called a soldier only when he has trained in the five weapons and rides well. In this age the gentry call a man a soldier for nothing more than not reading books. He is in truth a rice bag and a wine jar.