Three Strategies — The Upper Strategy三略 上略

The law of the chief commander is to work at winning the hearts of heroes, to give reward and stipend to those who have merit, and to share his purpose with the multitude. Therefore, when he likes what the multitude likes, there is nothing he cannot bring about; when he hates what the multitude hates, there is nothing he cannot overturn. To govern a state and keep a household at peace comes of gaining men; to ruin a state and break a household comes of losing men. Every kind of thing that holds breath wishes to gain what it longs for.

The Military Pronouncements says, "The soft can master the hard, the weak can master the strong." The soft is virtue. The hard is a robber. The weak is what men come to help. The strong is what resentment comes to attack. The soft has its place to be set out, the hard has its place to be used; the weak has its place to be employed, the strong has its place to be added. Hold all four together, and control what is fitting.

When neither end nor beginning is seen, no one can know. Heaven and earth and the bright spirits shift along with things. Their changes have no constant; they turn according to the enemy. They do not go before the matter; they move, and follow at once. Therefore he can plan and govern without limit, and uphold and complete the majesty of Heaven. He sets the eight far quarters at peace and in order, and quietly settles the nine Yi. One who plans like this becomes teacher to emperors and kings.

Therefore it is said, "There is no one who does not covet strength, but few can keep hold of the subtle. He who can keep hold of the subtle preserves his life. The sage keeps it within him, and so meets the turning point of affairs. Unrolled, it fills the four seas; rolled up, it does not fill a cup. He dwells in it without house or home; he guards it without wall or rampart. He hides it in his breast, and enemy states submit."

The Military Pronouncements says, "When a state can be soft and can be hard, it shines the brighter; when it can be weak and can be strong, it stands out the more. When it is purely soft and purely weak, it is sure to be pared away; when it is purely hard and purely strong, it is sure to perish."

The Way of ruling a state is to lean on the worthy and on the people. Trust the worthy as your heart and belly, employ the people as your four limbs, and no plan will fall short. Wherever you go it is as when the limbs follow one another and the joints come to one another's aid. The Way of Heaven is so of itself, and its skill has no gap.

The essential of army and state is to look into the hearts of the multitude and to set a hundred affairs in order. Those in danger, make safe. Those in fear, make glad. Those who have rebelled, bring back. Those who resent, pardon. Those who plead, hear out. Those who are low, raise up. Those who are strong, hold down. Those who stand against you, wipe out. Those who are greedy, make rich. Those who desire, put to use. Those who are afraid, shelter. Those who plan, keep near. Those who slander, overturn. Those who defame, pay back. Those who turn traitor, cast out. Those who are violent, break. Those who are full, take from. Those who come over, call in. Those who submit, settle. Those who surrender, set free. Gain a firm place, and hold it. Gain a narrow pass, and block it. Gain a hard place, and camp there. Gain a walled town, and parcel it out. Gain land, and divide it. Gain goods, and scatter them. When the enemy moves, watch him. When the enemy is near, guard against him. When the enemy is strong, humble yourself before him. When the enemy is at ease, leave him. When the enemy looks down on you, wait for him. When the enemy is fierce, slow him. When the enemy goes against right, meet him with right. When the enemy is in harmony, draw him apart. What has risen by going with the course, break it. Ride the momentum, and shatter him. Let words go abroad, and fix a fault on him. Spread the net on four sides, and gather him in. Gain, and do not keep. Dwell, and do not hold. Pull down, and do not stay long. Set up, and do not take. The doing is mine, but the having is the soldiers'. How then should anyone know where the gain lies? They become the lords, I become the Son of Heaven. Let the walled towns guard themselves, let the soldiers settle themselves.

In the world many can honor their ancestors as ancestors, but few can bow to those below them. To honor the ancestors is kinship; to bow to those below is to be a ruler. To bow to those below is this: to work at plowing and the raising of silkworms and not rob men of their season; to make taxes light, so that their goods do not run short; to make labor service rare, so that they are not worn out. Then the state is rich and households are glad, and after that officers are chosen to shepherd them.

Those called officers are heroes. Therefore it is said, "Net the heroes, and the enemy state is brought to its end." Heroes are the trunk of the state; the common people are its root. Gain the trunk and gather in the root, and government goes forward with no resentment.

The essential in using troops lies in exalting ritual and making stipends heavy. When ritual is exalted, wise officers come. When stipends are heavy, righteous officers hold death light. Therefore, if you give stipends to the worthy and do not grudge goods, and reward merit without letting the moment pass, those below join their strength and the enemy state is pared away. The Way of using men is this: raise them with rank and show them goods, and officers come of themselves; meet them with ritual and urge them with right, and officers die for you.

A general must share the same taste with his officers and men and be with them in safety and in danger. Only then can he strike the enemy. So his troops have a whole victory, and the enemy a whole collapse. Long ago, when a good general was using his troops, someone sent him a bowl of wine. He had it poured into the river and drank the flowing water together with his officers and men. One bowl of wine cannot give flavor to a whole river, yet the soldiers of the three armies longed to die for him, because the taste had reached them too.

The Military Pronouncements says, "While the army's well is not yet dug, the general does not say he is thirsty. While the army's tents are not yet pitched, the general does not say he is weary. While the army's stoves have not yet cooked, the general does not say he is hungry. In winter he does not put on a fur coat, in summer he does not take up a fan, in rain he does not raise a cover." This is called the ritual of a general. He is at ease with them and in danger with them. Therefore his multitude can be joined and cannot be parted, can be used and cannot be worn out, because his kindness has been stored up in ordinary days and his plans have long been at one with theirs. So it is said, "Store up kindness and never grow weary, and with one you take ten thousand."

The Military Pronouncements says, "What makes a general awesome is his orders. What makes a battle a whole victory is the discipline of the army. What makes soldiers hold death light is obedience to command. Therefore a general does not take back an order, and reward and punishment must be trusted, like Heaven and like Earth. Only then can he use men. Only when officers and men obey command can he cross the border."

It is the general who leads the army and holds its momentum; it is the multitude that makes victory and defeats the enemy. Therefore a disordered general must not be set to keep an army whole, and a scattered multitude must not be sent to attack others. They attack a walled town and cannot take it; they surround a city and cannot bring it down. When both come to nothing, the strength of the soldiers is worn out. When the strength of the soldiers is worn out, the general stands alone and the multitude turns against him. On defense they do not hold firm, in battle they run away. This is called an old army. When the army is old, the general's awe does not work. When the general has no awe, officers and men hold punishment light. When officers and men hold punishment light, the army loses its ranks. When the army loses its ranks, officers and men desert. When officers and men desert, the enemy rides the advantage. When the enemy rides the advantage, the army is sure to be lost.

The Military Pronouncements says, "When a good general leads an army, he measures others by himself and so governs them. He extends his kindness and bestows favor, and the strength of his soldiers is new each day. His battle is like wind rising, his attack like a river bursting its dike." Therefore his multitude can be looked upon and cannot be withstood, can be humbled and cannot be overcome. He goes before others in his own person, and so his troops are the boldest under Heaven. The Military Pronouncements says, "An army takes reward for its outer robe and punishment for its lining." When reward and punishment are clear, the general's awe works. When the right officials are gained, officers and men submit. When those given charge are worthy, enemy states are afraid.

The Military Pronouncements says, "Where the worthy go, there is no enemy before them. Therefore officers may be humbled but must not be made arrogant; a general may be made glad but must not be made anxious; plans may be made deep but must not be made doubtful." When officers are arrogant, those below do not follow. When the general is anxious, inside and outside do not trust each other. When plans are doubted, the enemy state rises up. To attack and punish with these is to come to disorder. The general is the life of the state. When the general can make victory, the state is settled and at peace.

The Military Pronouncements says, "A general must be able to be clear, to be still, to be fair, to be orderly; able to take remonstrance, to hear lawsuits, to receive men, to gather up what is said; able to know the customs of a country, to draw its hills and streams, to mark its steep and hard places, and to hold the power of the army." Therefore it is said, "The wisdom of the kind and worthy, the thought of the sage and the enlightened, the words of the man carrying firewood, the talk of the court, the affairs of rise and fall, all these a general ought to hear." When a general thinks of officers as a thirsty man thinks of water, plans follow him. When a general turns remonstrance away, heroes scatter. When plans are not followed, his planners turn against him. When good and bad are treated alike, officers of merit grow slack. When he has his own way alone, those below lay the blame on him. When he boasts of himself, those below make little merit. When he trusts slander, the hearts of the multitude leave him. When he covets goods, he cannot stop what is crooked. When he looks back to his own house, officers and men fall into license. If a general has one of these, the multitude does not submit. If he has two, the army has no rule. If he has three, those below run away. If he has four, disaster reaches the state.

The Military Pronouncements says, "A general's plans should be secret, his officers and men should be one, his attack on the enemy should be swift." When the general's plans are secret, crooked hearts are shut out. When officers and men are one, the heart of the army is knit together. When the attack on the enemy is swift, he cannot set his defenses in time. When an army has these three, its plans are not taken from it. When the general's plans leak out, the army has no momentum. When those outside spy on what is inside, disaster cannot be checked. When goods come into the camp, every kind of crookedness gathers there. When a general has these three, the army is sure to be beaten. When a general has no forethought, his planners leave. When a general has no courage, officers and men are afraid. When a general moves rashly, the army has no weight. When a general shifts his anger onto others, the whole army is in fear.

The Military Pronouncements says, "Forethought and courage are what a general holds weighty. Movement and anger are what a general puts to use. These four are what a general must guard against."

The Military Pronouncements says, "When an army has no goods, officers do not come. When an army has no rewards, officers do not go forth."

The Military Pronouncements says, "Under a fragrant bait there is sure to be a dead fish; under a heavy reward there is sure to be a brave man." Therefore ritual is what officers turn to, and reward is what officers die for. Call them with what they turn to and show them what they will die for, and the men you seek will come. So he who offers ritual and then regrets it will not keep his officers, and he who gives reward and then regrets it will not be able to use them. Let ritual and reward never grow weary, and officers will vie with one another to die.

The Military Pronouncements says, "A state that raises an army works first at making its kindness deep; a state that attacks and takes works first at nourishing its people." To beat the many with the few is a matter of kindness; to beat the strong with the weak is a matter of the people. Therefore a good general nourishes his officers no differently from his own body, and so he can make the three armies one heart, and his victory can be whole.

The Military Pronouncements says, "The essential in using troops is first of all to look into the enemy's condition: to see his storehouses, measure his grain, reckon whether he is strong or weak, look at his heaven and his earth, and watch for his gaps." Therefore, when a state has no trouble of war and yet carts grain, it is empty. When the people have the color of herbs in their faces, they are at the end of their means. When grain is carried a thousand li, the soldiers have the look of hunger. When they gather firewood and grass before they cook, the army is never full for the night. To carry grain a thousand li is to be without a year's food; two thousand li, without two years' food; three thousand li, without three years' food. This is called an empty state. When the state is empty, the people are poor. When the people are poor, high and low are not close. The enemy attacks from without and the people steal within. This is called sure collapse.

The Military Pronouncements says, "When those above act cruelly, those below grow harsh and hard. Taxes are heavy, levies are frequent, punishment has no end, and the people harm one another. This is called a state that will perish."

The Military Pronouncements says, "Greedy within and clean without, taking a name by false praise; stealing what is public and making it a favor of his own, so that high and low are in the dark; adorning his person and setting his face straight to get high office. This is called the beginning of a robber."

The Military Pronouncements says, "The many officials form cliques and each brings forward the men close to him; they call up and recommend the crooked and the bent and hold down and break the kind and the worthy; they turn their backs on what is public and set up what is private, and men of the same rank speak ill of one another. This is called the source of disorder."

The Military Pronouncements says, "Powerful clans gather crooked men and are honored though they hold no office; their awe does not thunder, yet they are twined together like creeping vines; they plant virtue and set up favors and take away the power of those in office; they encroach on the lowly people and hold them in contempt, and the country is in an uproar while the ministers cover it up and say nothing. This is called the root of disorder."

The Military Pronouncements says, "Generation after generation they work crookedness; they encroach on the offices of the state and steal from them; in going forward and drawing back they seek their own convenience; they twist the written word and play with it, and so put their ruler in danger. This is called the traitor of the state."

The Military Pronouncements says, "Officials are many and the people few; high and low are alike, and strong and weak prey upon one another. No one is able to stop it, and it reaches even the gentlemen. The state takes the blame for it."

The Military Pronouncements says, "The good are called good and not brought forward; the bad are called bad and not driven out. The worthy are hidden away and the unworthy hold office. The state takes the harm of it."

The Military Pronouncements says, "Branch and leaf are strong and great; they band together and take the power. The low and mean look down on the noble, and with time they grow greater still, while those above cannot bring themselves to cast them out. The state takes the ruin of it."

The Military Pronouncements says, "When a flattering minister is above, the whole army goes to law. He draws the awe of office to himself, and when he moves he goes against the multitude. He neither advances nor withdraws, but takes in a mean way what favor he can get. He takes everything on himself alone, and at every step boasts of his merit. He slanders full virtue and speaks falsely against the worthless. Good and bad are all one to him, so long as all agree with him. He holds up business, so that orders do not get through. He makes harsh government, changes the old and alters what is constant. When a ruler uses a flatterer, he is sure to take disaster and calamity."

The Military Pronouncements says, "Crooked heroes praise one another and screen the ruler's brightness; defaming and praising rise together and stop up the ruler's hearing; each fawns on his own, and makes the ruler lose his loyal men." Therefore, when the ruler looks into words that differ, he sees the sprout of it. When the ruler calls in the worthy men of learning, crooked heroes flee. When the ruler gives charge to the old and seasoned, ten thousand affairs are set in order. When the ruler calls in those who dwell in rocky caves, officers gain what is real. When his planning reaches the man carrying firewood, his merits are worth the telling. When he does not lose the hearts of men, his virtue overflows and increases.