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Six Secret Teachings, Leopard Teaching — The Few Against the Many六韜 少眾

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 · 185 Chinese characters · reading time 0.7 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.

1Striking the many with the few and the strong with the weak

武王問太公曰：「吾欲以少擊眾，以弱擊強，為之奈何？」太公曰：「以少擊眾者，必以日之暮，伏以深草，要之隘路。以弱擊強者，必得大國之與，鄰國之助。」武王曰：「我無深草，又無隘路，敵人已至，不適日暮；我無大國之與，又無鄰國之助。為之奈何？」太公曰：「妄張詐誘，以熒惑其將，迂其途，令過深草；遠其路，令會日暮。前行未渡水，後行未及舍，發我伏兵，疾擊其左右，車騎擾亂其前後。敵人雖眾，其將可走。事大國之君，下鄰國之士，厚其幣，卑其辭。如此，則得大國之與，鄰國之助矣。」武王曰：「善哉！」

King Wu asked Taigong, "I wish to strike the many with the few and the strong with the weak. How is it to be done?" Taigong said, "To strike the many with the few, you must do it at dusk, lying in ambush in deep grass and blocking him on a narrow road. To strike the strong with the weak, you must gain the backing of a great state and the help of a neighboring state." King Wu said, "We have no deep grass and no narrow road, the enemy has already come and the hour is not dusk, and we have no great state backing us and no help from a neighboring state. How is it to be done?" Taigong said, "Make a wild show and lure him with deceits, so as to bewilder his general. Bend his route so that he passes through deep grass, and lengthen his road so that he meets the dusk. When his front column has not yet crossed the water and his rear column has not yet reached its lodging, send out our troops from ambush, strike his left and right quickly, and let chariots and horsemen throw his front and rear into confusion. Then, though the enemy be many, his general can be put to flight. Serve the ruler of a great state, humble yourself before the officers of a neighboring state, make your gifts generous and your words modest. Do this, and you gain the backing of a great state and the help of a neighboring state." King Wu said, "Good."

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