The Six Secret Strategies of Tai Gong

[KC Elbows]

Thought I'd share this passage, had to translate it for a class, feel free to tear up my translation:

武王问太公曰: “將何以為威? 何以為明? 何以為禁止而令行?"
太公曰： "將以誅大為威，以賞小為明；以罰審為禁止而令行。故殺一人而三軍震者，殺之；賞一人而萬人說者，賞之；殺貴 大，賞貴小。殺及當路貴重之臣, 是刑上極也；賞及牛豎、馬洗、廄養之徒, 是賞下通也。 刑上極，賞下通，是將威之所行也."

King Wu asked the Tai Gong: "By what means does the general make prestige and power? Through what means is he made brilliant? By what means does he make the forbidden stop and orders be carried out?"

The Tai Gong said: "The general uses punishing the great to make power and prestige, and uses rewarding the small to be enlightened. By means of punishing carefully he makes transgressions stop and commands be executed. Therefore, if there is one who killing would cause the Three Armies to tremble, [then] kill him. If there is one who rewarding would cause ten thousand people to be pleased, then reward him. In killing, value the great; in rewarding value the small. If you kill those in power, important and valued officials, this is a punishment that reaches the heights. If reward reaches the cowherds, grooms, and stable men, this is reward passing through to the lowest. Punishment mounts the heights, rewards pass through to the lowest; this is the general's power and prestige achieved."

For a good pro translation, check out Sawyer's The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China.

[KC Elbows]

For those who are curious, the Liu Tao of Tai Gong first appeared at the end of the third century B.C. It is the only of the seven military classics to be based on rebellion, specifically rebellion against the unworthy by a virtuous state, and so it was considered dangerous to own. It's organization covers quite a bit of territory, as its goal was to convey how a state with limitations could defeat a greater state, so any possible advantage was apparently seen as important to cover.

[sanjuro_ronin]

One of the first "ends justify the means" classics.
One of many.
And one that caught on quick.
Manipulation of the masses though small, deceptive means.
Those wacky ninjas !

[Lokhopkuen]

Thought I'd share this passage, had to translate it for a class, feel free to tear up my translation:

武王问太公曰: “將何以為威? 何以為明? 何以為禁止而令行?"
太公曰： "將以誅大為威，以賞小為明；以罰審為禁止而令行。故殺一人而三軍震者，殺之；賞一人而萬人說者，賞之；殺貴 大，賞貴小。殺及當路貴重之臣, 是刑上極也；賞及牛豎、馬洗、廄養之徒, 是賞下通也。 刑上極，賞下通，是將威之所行也."

King Wu asked the Tai Gong: "By what means does the general make prestige and power? Through what means is he made brilliant? By what means does he make the forbidden stop and orders be carried out?"

The Tai Gong said: "The general uses punishing the great to make power and prestige, and uses rewarding the small to be enlightened. By means of punishing carefully he makes transgressions stop and commands be executed. Therefore, if there is one who killing would cause the Three Armies to tremble, [then] kill him. If there is one who rewarding would cause ten thousand people to be pleased, then reward him. In killing, value the great; in rewarding value the small. If you kill those in power, important and valued officials, this is a punishment that reaches the heights. If reward reaches the cowherds, grooms, and stable men, this is reward passing through to the lowest. Punishment mounts the heights, rewards pass through to the lowest; this is the general's power and prestige achieved."

For a good pro translation, check out Sawyer's The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China.

It's as good as other translations of the same material I've read and better than some.

[SPJ]

translation is good.

just to comment on the texts.

1. wei: respect, how does a general command respect from his soldiers so that they will carry out his orders?

2. sa: kill. even if the person is high in rank or in importance, if he committed something wrong, you would punish them the same way as those in lower rank or importance, then the soldiers will respect your "laws". and to kill is the ultimate punishment, however, you do not kill lightly.

3. shang: reward: if a person in a small position or lower rank, if he does something good, yes, you would reward them, too.

Shang Fa Fen Ming: a general or a governor has to be clear (ming) in both reward and punishment.

then the general or a governor will have no problems in letting the soldiers or subject carry out orders or following the rules/laws.

the most important word is ming (clear or apparent).

ming is also means wisdom.

but make a soldier brave and willing to fight to his death is another story.

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[SPJ]

just mention 2 well know proverbs. (to make soldiers fight bravely)

1. breaking the axes and sinking the boats (Po Fu Chen Zhou) 破斧沉舟

the soldiers from wu were good at fighting on the water/rivers. when they had to march a long distance on the land to fight Zhu kingdom. Sun Zi wanted to make the soldiers to fight a land war, which was unfamiliar with them. In order to make the Wu soldiers to fight bravely without even thinking about retreating. He ordered to destroy the boats that they travelled with. and then broke all the axes. b/c soldiers may use axes to chop wood and build boats again. so they were no ways to retreat or turning back--

2. fighting against a river (Bei Shui Yi Zhan) 背水一战

there is no retreating backward, so the only way out is to fight the enemy.

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