Wuzi — Planning for the State吳子 圖國

Wu Qi, in the robes of a scholar, came to see Marquis Wen of Wei with the workings of war. The marquis said, "I am not fond of the business of armies."

Wu Qi said, "Your servant reckons what is hidden from what is shown, and looks at what is coming from what has gone. Why, my lord, do your words go against your heart? Now through all four seasons my lord has hides cut and laid out, covered over with red lacquer, painted with cinnabar and blue, and made to shine with rhinoceros horn and ivory; but worn in winter they are not warm, and worn in summer they are not cool. You have long halberds made two fathoms and four feet, and short halberds one fathom and two feet; leather chariots with their doors covered, the wheels sheathed and the hubs wrapped; yet looking at them with the eye they are not fine, and riding them to the hunt they are not light. I do not know what my lord means to use them for. If they are made ready for advancing to battle and falling back to defend, and yet you do not seek men able to use them, it is as though a brooding hen were to fight a wildcat, or a suckling dog were to set upon a tiger: they have the heart to fight, but they only follow it to their death. In old times the lord of the Chengsang clan cultivated virtue and did away with arms, and by that destroyed his state; the lord of the Youhu clan trusted in his numbers and loved bravery, and by that lost his altars of the land. The enlightened ruler takes warning from this, and within cultivates the virtue of the civil, and without puts the arms of war in order. So to stand before the enemy and not advance does not reach righteousness, and to stand over the fallen dead and mourn them does not reach benevolence."

At this Marquis Wen himself spread the mat, and his wife held up the goblet, and they poured out the cup for Wu Qi in the ancestral temple and set him up as great general to guard Xihe. He fought seventy-six great battles with the feudal lords and won sixty-four of them outright, and the rest were drawn. He opened the land on all four sides and widened it by a thousand li, and all of this was Wu Qi's doing.

Wu Zi said, "Those who in old times planned for the state always first taught the hundred families and drew the ten thousand people close. There are four kinds of discord. Where there is discord in the state, the army cannot be sent out; where there is discord in the army, the formation cannot be drawn up; where there is discord in the formation, they cannot advance to battle; and where there is discord in the battle, victory cannot be decided. Therefore when a ruler who has the Way would use his people, he first brings them into accord and then undertakes the great affair. He does not dare to trust his own private plan, but tells it in the ancestral temple, asks it of the great tortoise, weighs it against the season of heaven, and only when it is auspicious does he raise it. When the people know that their lord holds their lives dear and grudges their deaths as much as this, and they face danger together with him, then the soldiers hold it a glory to go forward and die, and a shame to fall back and live."

Wu Zi said, "The Way is that by which one turns back to the root and returns to the beginning; righteousness is that by which one carries out affairs and sets up merit; planning is that by which one keeps clear of harm and goes toward gain; and the essential is that by which one keeps the work whole and guards what has been achieved. If a man's conduct does not accord with the Way and his acts do not accord with righteousness, and yet he holds a great place and dwells in honor, trouble will surely reach him. Therefore the sage makes them calm with the Way, orders them with righteousness, moves them with ritual, and soothes them with benevolence. These four virtues, when cultivated, make a state rise, and when cast aside, make it decay. So when Cheng Tang struck Jie, the people of Xia rejoiced, and when King Wu of Zhou struck King Zhou of Shang, the men of Yin did not call it wrong. Their acts were in accord with heaven and with men, and so it could be thus."

Wu Zi said, "In ordering a state and governing an army, you must teach them with ritual and urge them on with righteousness, so that they have a sense of shame. When men have shame, in a great way it is enough for fighting and in a small way it is enough for defending. Yet to win a battle is easy, and to keep what has been won is hard. So it is said, 'Among the warring states under heaven, he who wins five times meets disaster, he who wins four times is worn out, he who wins three times becomes a hegemon, he who wins twice becomes a king, and he who wins once becomes emperor.' Therefore those who have won often and gained all under heaven are few, and those who have perished by it are many."

Wu Zi said, "There are five causes from which soldiers arise: the first is contending for a name, the second contending for gain, the third heaped-up hatred, the fourth disorder within, and the fifth famine. Their names too are five: the first is righteous troops, the second strong troops, the third hard troops (剛兵), the fourth violent troops, and the fifth rebellious troops. To forbid cruelty and rescue men from disorder is called righteous; to trust in numbers and attack is called strong; to raise an army out of anger is called hard (剛); to cast away ritual and covet gain is called violent; and to set an affair afoot and move the host while the state is in disorder and the people are worn out is called rebellious. Each of these five has its own way: the righteous must be subdued by ritual, the strong must be subdued by humility, the hard must be subdued by words, the violent must be subdued by deceit, and the rebellious must be subdued by expedient power."

Marquis Wu asked, "I would like to hear the way of governing the army, measuring men, and making the state firm." Wu Qi answered, "The enlightened kings of old were always careful of the ritual between lord and servant, adorned the ceremonies of high and low, gathered officers and people in peace, taught them according to their customs, and chose and enlisted good material to be ready against the unforeseen. In old times Duke Huan of Qi enlisted fifty thousand soldiers and became hegemon over the feudal lords; Duke Wen of Jin called up forty thousand for his front ranks and got his will; and Duke Mu of Qin set up thirty thousand men to break the formations and made the neighboring enemies submit. So the lord of a strong state always measures his people. Among the people, those who have boldness and courage and strength are gathered into one company; those who delight in going forward to battle and giving their strength to show their loyalty and courage are gathered into one company; those who can climb high and leap far, who are light of foot and run well, are gathered into one company; those who were the king's servants and lost their places and wish to show merit before him are gathered into one company; and those who abandoned a city and left their post and wish to wipe away that disgrace are gathered into one company. These five are the trained and keen of the army. With three thousand such men, going out from within you can break a siege, and coming in from without you can put a city to the sword."

Marquis Wu asked, "I would like to hear the way by which the formation is surely settled, the defense surely firm, and the battle surely won." Wu Qi answered, "You may see it at once; why only hear of it? If my lord can have the worthy above and the unworthy below, then the formation is already settled. If the people are at peace in their fields and houses and hold their own officers dear, then the defense is already firm. And if the hundred families all say our lord is right and the neighboring states are wrong, then the battle is already won."

Marquis Wu once planned an affair, and none of his many servants could match him, and when the court broke up he had a look of joy. Wu Qi came forward and said, "In old times King Zhuang of Chu once planned an affair, and none of his many servants could match him, and when the court broke up he had a look of care. The Duke of Shen asked, 'My lord has a look of care. Why is that?' He said, 'I have heard that the age is never without sages and the state never lacks worthy men, and that he who can get them for his teachers becomes king, and he who can get them for his friends becomes hegemon. Now I am without talent, and none of my many servants can match me, so the state of Chu is in danger.' This is what King Zhuang of Chu was troubled by, and my lord is glad of it, so your servant is secretly afraid." At this Marquis Wu had a look of shame.