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Six Secret Teachings, Civil Teaching — Guarding the Land六韜 守土

Wujing Qishu (The Seven Military Classics) — the six besides the Sunzi 武經七書 · Ascribed to Jiang Taigong · ascribed to Huang Shigong · Wei Liao · Wu Qi · Sima Rangju · Li Jing · Warring States to Tang (4th century BC to 7th century AD) · 1 passages · 228 Chinese characters · reading time 0.9 min

Wujing Qishu (The Seven Military Classics) — the six besides the Sunzi Six Secret Teachings The six that remain when the Art of War of Sunzi is taken out of the seven military books the Song set as the texts for examining military officers. The Six Secret Teachings is sixty chapters of questions and answers in which King Wen and King Wu ask Taigong Wang, running from the governing of a state to chariots, cavalry, battle in the open and the crossing of water; the Three Strategies is three short books said to have been given to Zhang Liang by Huang Shigong; the Wei Liaozi is twenty-four chapters setting down in detail the military orders and the squads of five and ten around the time of Qin; the Wuzi is six chapters of Wu Qi's answers to Marquis Wu of Wei; the Methods of the Sima is five chapters handing down the military rites of before the Spring and Autumn period; and Questions and Replies with Li Weigong is three books in which Taizong of Tang and Li Jing go back and forth over the unorthodox and the orthodox, the empty and the full, the frontier peoples and the Han, and attack and defense. "Arms are an instrument of ill omen," "bring the enemy to you and do not be brought to him," and "a thousand chapters and ten thousand phrases do not go beyond that one phrase" all come from here. The remaining six streams of the military school, read after the Art of War, are gathered in one place.

1At midday be sure to dry in the sun; with a knife in hand be sure to cut

文王問太公曰：「守土奈何？」太公曰：「無疏其親，無怠其眾，撫其左右，御其四旁。無借人國柄。借人國柄，則失其權。無掘壑而附丘，無舍本而治末。日中必彗，操刀必割，執斧必伐。日中不彗，是謂失時；操刀不割，失利之期；執斧不伐，賊人將來。涓涓不塞，將為江河。熒熒不救，炎炎奈何？兩葉不去，將用斧柯。是故人君必從事於富。不富無以為仁，不施無以合親。疏其親則害，失其眾則敗。無借人利器；借人利器，則為人所害而不終於世。」文王曰：「何謂仁義？」太公曰：「敬其眾，合其親。敬其眾則和，合其親則喜，是為仁義之紀。無使人奪汝威。因其明，順其常。順者，任之以德，逆者，絕之以力。敬之勿疑，天下和服。」

King Wen asked Taigong, "How does one guard the land?" Taigong said, "Do not hold your kinsmen at a distance, and do not be slack toward the multitude. Soothe those at your left and right, and govern the four quarters around you. Do not lend the handles of the state to another. Lend the handles of the state to another, and you lose your power. Do not dig out the valley to add to the hill, and do not leave the root to tend the branches. At midday be sure to dry things in the sun. With a knife in hand be sure to cut. With an axe in hand be sure to strike. Not to dry them at midday is to lose the season. To hold the knife and not cut is to lose the moment of profit. To hold the axe and not strike is to have robbers come. A trickle unblocked will become a river. A flicker not put out will blaze up, and then what will you do? Two leaves not taken away will need an axe handle later. Therefore the ruler must give himself to making the state rich. Without riches he cannot be benevolent, and without giving he cannot draw his kinsmen together. Hold his kinsmen at a distance and he is harmed. Lose the multitude and he is beaten. Do not lend a sharp tool to another. Lend a sharp tool to another, and you will be harmed by him and will not live out your days." King Wen said, "What is meant by benevolence and righteousness?" Taigong said, "It is to honor the multitude and to draw the kinsmen together. Honor the multitude and there is harmony. Draw the kinsmen together and there is gladness. This is the guiding thread of benevolence and righteousness. Let no one take your authority from you. Follow what is clear and follow what is constant. Those who go along with you, entrust by virtue. Those who go against you, cut off by force. Honor them and do not doubt them, and all under Heaven will be in harmony and submit."

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