#audio_books #vikas_jagtap #The_art_of_war_by_Sun_Tzu chapter 1 #LAYING_PLANS [Ts‘ao Kung, in defining the meaning of the Chinese for the title of this chapter, says it<br />refers to the deliberations in the temple selected by the general for his temporary use,<br />or as we should say, in his tent. See. ss. 26.]<br />1. Sun Tzu said: The art of war is of vital importance to the State.<br />2. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it<br />is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.<br />3. The art of war, then, is governed by five constant factors, to be taken into<br />account in one’s deliberations, when seeking to determine the conditions<br />obtaining in the field.<br />4. These are: (1) The Moral Law; (2) Heaven; (3) Earth; (4) The Com-<br />mander; (5) Method and discipline.<br />[It appears from what follows that Sun Tzu means by "Moral Law" a prin-<br />ciple of harmony, not unlike the Tao of Lao Tzu in its moral aspect. One<br />might be tempted to render it by "morale," were it not considered as an<br />attribute of the ruler in ss. 13.]<br />5., 6. The MORAL LAW causes the people to be in complete accord with their<br />ruler, so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by<br />any danger.<br />[Tu Yu quotes Wang Tzu as saying: "Without constant practice, the officers<br />will be nervous and undecided when mustering for battle; without constant<br />practice, the general will be wavering and irresolute when the crisis is at<br />hand."]<br />7. HEAVEN signifies night and day, cold and heat, times and seasons.<br />[The commentators, I think, make an unnecessary mystery of two words<br />here. Meng Shih refers to "the hard and the soft, waxing and waning" ofHeaven. Wang Hsi, however, may be right in saying that what is meant<br />is "the general economy of Heaven," including the five elements, the four<br />seasons, wind and clouds, and other phenomena.]
