The Methods of the Sima — Fixing the Ranks司馬法 定爵

In war: fix the ranks and titles, make merit and guilt plain, gather in the wandering scholars, repeat the teachings and the decrees, question the host, seek out their skills, weigh every side and exhaust all things, turn aside what is suspected and put doubt away, nourish strength and search out craft, and go along with the movements of the heart.

In war: make the host firm, look to advantage, put disorder in order, advance and halt, submit to what is right, bring shame to completion, keep the laws few, and cut down the punishments. Small offenses are then put to death. When small offenses prevail, great offenses follow after them.

To follow Heaven, to make wealth abundant, to gladden the host, to make the ground serve you, to honor weapons: these are called the five considerations. Following Heaven is to honor the seasons. Making wealth abundant is to take it from the enemy. Gladdening the host is to make them willing to follow. Making the ground serve you is to hold the narrow and the broken places. Honoring weapons is this: bows and arrows to ward off, the mace and the spear to hold, the dagger-axe and the halberd to help. The five weapons answer to five uses. The long guard the short, the short rescue the long. When they fight by turns, the fighting lasts long. When they all fight together, it is strong. To see what the enemy has and match it is called making it two.

The ruler stands firm and makes them willing to follow, and he acts when he sees the enemy. The mind of the general is the mind, and the mind of the host is the mind as well. Horses and oxen, chariots and weapons, rested and well fed, are the strength. Teaching is done beforehand, and fighting is done by measure. The general is the body, the soldiers are the limbs, and the file is the fingers.

War is wisdom, combat is courage, formation is craft. Use what they wish for, do what they are able to do, and set aside what they do not wish and cannot do. With the enemy, do the opposite of this.

In war there is Heaven, there is wealth, and there is goodness. The season and the day are not shifted, the tortoise shell gives a victory, and the march is made unseen: this is called having Heaven. There is a host, and out of what it has good things arise: this is called having wealth. The men are practiced in the formation and its advantages, and all things are exhausted beforehand: this is called having goodness. When the men strive and come up to their charge, it is called delighting the men. A great army to make things firm, abundant strength to keep them busy, bearing all things with simple rule, seeing a thing and meeting the sudden: this is called acting beforehand. Light chariots and light foot soldiers, warding firmly with bows and arrows: this is called a great army. Close ranks, quiet, with much strength within: this is called a firm formation. To advance and withdraw by this is called abundant strength. When those above find leisure and teach the men, it is called keeping the formation busy. When it is so and each has his charge, it is called bearing all things. To sort out things by this is called simple rule.

Weigh the host, follow the ground, follow the enemy, and give the order for the formation. Attack, battle, defense, advance, retreat, halt, the order of front and rear, the chariots and the foot soldiers each falling in: these are the guides of war. Not submitting, not trusting, not being in accord, sloth, doubt, weariness, dread, propping and balking, bending, wearing out, license, collapse, slackness: these are called the troubles of war. Arrogance upon arrogance, fear upon fear, groaning and staring away, alarm and dread, regret for what has been done: these are called ruin and breaking. Great and small, hard and soft, threes and fives, many and few, and all doubling: these are called the weighing of war.

In war: spy out what is far, watch what is near, follow the season, follow the wealth at hand, hold trust dear, and hate doubt. Raise soldiers with righteousness, take up affairs in season, and employ men with kindness. When the enemy is seen, be still. When disorder is seen, take your leisure. When danger and hardship are seen, do not forget the host. At home in the state, be kind and be trusted. In the army, be broad and martial. On the edge of the blade, be bold and quick. At home in the state, be in accord. In the army, keep the law. On the edge of the blade, be watchful. At home in the state, show goodwill. In the army, show square dealing. On the edge of the blade, show good faith.

In formation: on the march be open, in battle be close, and let the weapons be mixed. Teach the men thoroughly. Only in stillness is there order, and then authority and advantage are plain. When they keep righteousness with one another, the men strive. When the plans are many and come to fruit, the men submit. When they submit in good season, their ranks are in order. When things are plain, the eye is clear. When the plan is settled, the heart is strong. Advance and withdraw without doubt, and see the enemy without scheming. Hear the sentence of death, ask no one his name, and do not change his flag.

In all affairs, what is good lasts long, and what follows the ancients is carried out. When the oath is made and set forth plainly, the men grow strong, and the evil omen is wiped out. The way of wiping out the evil: the first is righteousness. Clothe them in trust, come upon them with strength, make the foundation, and make one the shape of all under Heaven. Then there is no man who is not glad, and this is called using their men along with your own. The second is expedience. Let their excess come to its full, take away what they love, act from outside them, and make them act from within.

The first is men, the second is rectitude, the third is words, the fourth is craft, the fifth is fire, the sixth is water, the seventh is weapons. These are called the seven governings. Honor, profit, shame, and death are called the four things to hold. Bearing and countenance and the weight of authority go no further than changing the will, and all of this is the way. Only benevolence has kinship in it. To have benevolence and no trust is to ruin your own body instead. Let men be men, let rectitude be rectitude, let words be words, let fire be fire.

This is the way of war. Their spirit having been roused, thereupon send forth your governing, lend them a countenance, lead them with words, warn them through their fear, set them to work through their wants, tread upon the enemy and command the ground, and give each man his order by his charge. This is called the law of war.

The shape of men comes out of what the host seeks. Try them by name and by conduct, and they must carry it out well. If a thing is to be done and it is not done, lead them in it yourself. If a thing is to be done and it is done, then use them so and let them not forget, and at the third time it becomes plain. What is fitting for the life of men is called law.

The way of ruling disorder: the first is benevolence, the second is trust, the third is uprightness, the fourth is oneness, the fifth is righteousness, the sixth is change, the seventh is honor. In setting up the law: the first is receiving it, the second is the law itself, the third is establishing it, the fourth is swiftness, the fifth is the control of their dress, the sixth is the grading of their colors, the seventh is that none of the hundred officers wears dress beyond his place. In any army, to keep the law in your own hands is called holding it alone, and to fear the law together with those below is called law. In the army there is no listening to small things, and in battle there is no taking of small advantage. To bring it about day by day and to act in the smallest things is called the way.

In war, if what is right is not carried out, then take the matter into your own hands. If they do not submit, use the law. If they do not trust one another, make them one. If they are slothful, stir them. If they doubt, change it. If the men do not trust those above, then do what will not have to be done again. This is the governing that comes down from of old.