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Six Secret Teachings, Leopard Teaching — When the Enemy Is Strong六韜 敵強

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 · 240 Chinese characters · reading time 1.0 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.

1When the enemy is strong — against a shaking foe (震寇) it is well to go out and fight

武王問太公曰：「引兵深入諸侯之地，與敵人衝軍相當。敵眾我寡，敵強我弱。敵人夜來，或攻吾左，或攻吾右，三軍震動。吾欲以戰則勝，以守則固，為之奈何？」太公曰：「如此者謂之震寇。利以出戰，不可以守。選吾材士、強弩、車騎為之左右，疾擊其前，急攻其後；或擊其表，或擊其裏。其卒必亂，其將必駭。」武王曰：「敵人遠遮我前，急攻我後，斷我銳兵，絕我材士。吾內外不得相聞，三軍擾亂，皆散而走。士卒無鬥志，將吏無守心，為之奈何？」太公曰：「明哉！王之問也。當明號審令，出我勇、銳、冒將之士，人操炬火，二人同鼓。必知敵人所在，或擊其表，或擊其裏。微號相知，令之滅火，鼓音皆止。中外相應，期約皆當。三軍疾戰，敵必敗亡。」武王曰：「善哉。」

King Wu asked Taigong, "I lead the army deep into the land of the feudal lords and stand against the enemy's assault troops. The enemy is many and we are few, the enemy strong and we weak. The enemy comes by night, striking now our left and now our right, and the three armies are shaken. I wish that when we fight we win, and when we hold we are firm. What is to be done?" Taigong said, "Such a one is called a shaking foe. It is well to go out and fight him; you must not hold. Pick out our able men, our strong crossbows, our chariots and horsemen, and make them the left and the right. Strike his front swiftly and fall upon his rear in haste, and strike now his outside, now his inside. Then his soldiers are sure to fall into confusion and his general to be dismayed." King Wu said, "The enemy blocks our front far off and falls upon our rear in haste. He cuts off our keen troops and cuts off our able men, so that inside and outside cannot hear one another, the three armies are thrown into disorder and all scatter and run, the officers and men have no will to fight, and the generals and officers no mind to hold. What is to be done?" Taigong said, "Clear-sighted is my lord's question. You should make the calls clear and the orders exact, and send out our brave and keen soldiers, those who will face the enemy's general. Let each man hold a torch, and two men share one drum. Be sure to know where the enemy is, and strike now his outside, now his inside. Let them know one another by a faint signal; then have the fires put out and all the drums stopped. Inside and outside answer one another, and all that was agreed upon falls out as set. If the three armies fight swiftly, the enemy is sure to be beaten and destroyed." King Wu said, "Good."

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