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Wei Liaozi — Awe in Battle尉繚子 戰威

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) · 6 passages · 277 Chinese characters · reading time 1.1 min

Wujing Qishu (The Seven Military Classics) — the six besides the Sunzi Weiliaozi 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.

1A general fights with the people, the people fight with their spirit

夫將之所以戰者，民也；民之所以戰者，氣也。氣實則鬥，氣奪則走。

What a general fights with is the people; what the people fight with is their spirit. When the spirit is full they fight; when the spirit is taken from them they run.

2Taking away is the working of the mind

善用兵者，能奪人而不奪於人。奪者，心之機也。

One who uses troops well can take from others and is not taken from by others. This taking away is the working of the mind.

3No one has gained men's strength without gaining their hearts

古率民者，未有不能得其心，而能得其力者也；未有不能得其力，而能致其死者也。

Among those of old who led the people, there was never one who could gain their strength without gaining their hearts, and never one who could bring them to their death without gaining their strength.

4Only where there is ritual, good faith, kinship and love will the people trade fullness for hunger

故國必有禮、信、親、愛之義，而後民以飢易飽；國必有孝、慈、廉、恥之俗，而後民以死易生。故古率民者，必先禮信而後爵祿，先廉恥而後刑罰，先親愛而後律其身焉。

Therefore only when a state has the duty of ritual, good faith, kinship and love will the people trade fullness for hunger; only when a state has the custom of filial piety, kindness, integrity and shame will the people trade life for death. So those of old who led the people always put ritual and good faith before rank and salary, integrity and shame before punishment, kinship and love before the disciplining of their bodies.

5Land nourishes the people, walls guard the land, battle guards the walls

地所以養民也，城所以守地也，戰所以守城也。故務耕者，其民不飢；務守者，其地不危；務戰者，其城不圍。三者，先王之本務也，而兵最急矣。

Land is what nourishes the people, city walls are what guard the land, and battle is what guards the walls. So where farming is worked at, the people do not go hungry; where guarding is worked at, the land is not endangered; where battle is worked at, the walls are not besieged. These three were the root work of the former kings, and of them war is the most urgent.

6A true king's state enriches the people, a doomed state enriches its storehouses

王國富民，霸國富士，僅存之國富大夫，亡國富倉府，是謂上溢而下漏，故患無所救。故曰：舉賢用能，不時日而事利；明法審令，不卜筮而事吉；貴政養勞，不禱祠而得福。故曰：天時不如地利，地利不如人事。聖人所貴，人事而已矣。

A king's state makes its people rich, a hegemon's state makes its officers rich, a state that barely survives makes its great officers rich, and a doomed state makes its storehouses rich. This is called overflowing above and leaking below, and then there is no way to save it from trouble. Therefore it is said, "Raise up the worthy and employ the able, and affairs go well without picking a season or a day; make the laws clear and examine the orders, and affairs turn out well without divining; honor good government and nourish those who have toiled, and blessing comes without prayer or sacrifice." And it is said, "The season of heaven is not so good as the advantage of the ground, and the advantage of the ground is not so good as the doings of men." What the sage honors is the doings of men and nothing more.

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