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back as 597 B。C。; these memorable words were uttered by Prince 

Chuang of the Ch‘u State:  〃The 'Chinese' character for 'prowess' 

is made up of 'the characters for' 'to stay'  and  'a spear' 

(cessation of hostilities)。  Military prowess is seen in the 

repression   of   cruelty;  the calling in of   weapons;   the 

preservation of the appointment of Heaven; the firm establishment 

of merit;  the bestowal of happiness on the people;  putting 

harmony between the princes; the diffusion of wealth。〃'



     4。  Thus;  what enables the wise sovereign and the good 

general to strike and conquer; and achieve things beyond the 

reach of ordinary men; is FOREKNOWLEDGE。



     'That is; knowledge of the enemy's dispositions; and what he 

means to do。'



     5。  Now this foreknowledge cannot be elicited from spirits; 

it cannot be obtained inductively from experience;



     'Tu Mu's note is:  〃'knowledge of the enemy'  cannot be 

gained by reasoning from other analogous cases。〃'



nor by any deductive calculation。



     'Li   Ch‘uan says:   〃Quantities like   length;   breadth; 

distance and magnitude; are susceptible of exact mathematical 

determination; human actions cannot be so calculated。〃'



     6。  Knowledge of the enemy's dispositions can only be 

obtained from other men。



     'Mei Yao…ch‘en has rather an interesting note:   〃Knowledge 

of the spirit…world is to be obtained by divination;  information 

in natural science may be sought by inductive reasoning; the laws 

of the universe can be verified by mathematical calculation:  but 

the dispositions of an enemy are ascertainable through spies and 

spies alone。〃'



     7。  Hence the use of spies; of whom there are five classes:  

(1)  Local spies;  (2) inward spies; (3)  converted spies;  (4) 

doomed spies; (5) surviving spies。

     8。  When these five kinds of spy are all at work; none can 

discover the secret system。  This is called 〃divine manipulation 

of the threads。〃  It is the sovereign's most precious faculty。



     'Cromwell;  one of the greatest and most practical of all 

cavalry leaders;  had officers styled  'scout masters;'  whose 

business it was to collect all possible information regarding the 

enemy; through scouts and spies; etc。; and much of his success in 

war was traceable to the previous knowledge of the enemy's moves 

thus gained。〃 '1' '



     9。  Having LOCAL SPIES means employing the services of the 

inhabitants of a district。



     'Tu Mu says:  〃In the enemy's country; win people over by 

kind treatment; and use them as spies。〃'



     10。  Having INWARD SPIES; making use of officials of the 

enemy。



     'Tu Mu enumerates the following classes as likely to do good 

service in this respect:  〃Worthy men who have been degraded from 

office;  criminals who have undergone punishment; also;  favorite 

concubines who are greedy for gold; men who are aggrieved at 

being in subordinate positions; or who have been passed over in 

the distribution of posts; others who are anxious that their side 

should be defeated in order that they may have a chance of 

displaying their ability and talents; fickle turncoats who always 

want to have a foot in each boat。  Officials of these several 

kinds;〃 he continues; 〃should be secretly approached and bound to 

one's interests by means of rich presents。  In this way you will 

be able to find out the state of affairs in the enemy's country; 

ascertain the plans that are being formed against you;  and 

moreover disturb the harmony and create a breach between the 

sovereign and his ministers。〃  The necessity for extreme caution; 

however;  in dealing with  〃inward spies;〃  appears from   an 

historical incident related by Ho Shih:  〃Lo Shang; Governor of 

I…Chou; sent his general Wei Po to attack the rebel Li Hsiung of 

Shu in his stronghold at P‘i。  After each side had experienced a 

number of victories and defeats; Li Hsiung had recourse to the 

services of a certain P‘o…t‘ai; a native of Wu…tu。  He began to 

have him whipped until the blood came; and then sent him off to 

Lo Shang; whom he was to delude by offering to cooperate with him 

from inside the city; and to give a fire signal at the right 

moment for making a general assault。  Lo Shang;  confiding in 

these promises; march out all his best troops; and placed Wei Po 

and others at their head with orders to attack at P‘o…t‘ai's 

bidding。  Meanwhile; Li Hsiung's general; Li Hsiang; had prepared 

an ambuscade on their line of march; and P‘o…t‘ai; having reared 

long scaling…ladders against the city walls;  now lighted the 

beacon…fire。  Wei Po's men raced up on seeing the signal and 

began climbing the ladders as fast as they could;  while others 

were drawn up by ropes lowered from above。  More than a hundred 

of Lo Shang's soldiers entered the city in this way; every one of 

whom was forthwith beheaded。  Li Hsiung then charged with all his 

forces;  both inside and outside the city; and routed the enemy 

completely。〃  'This happened in 303 A。D。  I do not know where Ho 

Shih got the story from。  It is not given in the biography of Li 

Hsiung or that of his father Li T‘e; CHIN SHU; ch。 120; 121。'



     11。  Having CONVERTED SPIES; getting hold of the enemy's 

spies and using them for our own purposes。



     'By means of heavy bribes and liberal promises detaching 

them from the enemy's service; and inducing them to carry back 

false information as well as to spy in turn on their own 

countrymen。  On the other hand; Hsiao Shih…hsien says that we 

pretend not to have detected him; but contrive to let him carry 

away a false impression of what is going on。  Several of the 

commentators accept this as an alternative definition; but that 

it is not what Sun Tzu meant is conclusively proved by his 

subsequent remarks about treating the converted spy generously 

(ss。 21 sqq。)。  Ho Shih notes three occasions on which converted 

spies were used with conspicuous success:  (1) by T‘ien Tan in 

his defense of Chi…mo (see supra; p。 90); (2) by Chao She on his 

march to O…yu (see p。 57); and by the wily Fan Chu in 260 B。C。; 

when Lien P‘o was conducting a defensive campaign against Ch‘in。  

The King of Chao strongly disapproved of Lien P‘o's cautious and 

dilatory methods;  which had been unable to avert a series of 

minor disasters; and therefore lent a ready ear to the reports of 

his spies;  who had secretly gone over to the enemy and were 

already in Fan Chu's pay。  They said:  〃The only thing which 

causes Ch‘in anxiety is lest Chao Kua should be made general。  

Lien P‘o they consider an easy opponent; who is sure to be 

vanquished in the long run。〃  Now this Chao Kua was a sun of the 

famous Chao She。  From his boyhood; he had been wholly engrossed 

in the study of war and military matters; until at last he came 

to believe that there was no commander in the whole Empire who 

could stand against him。  His father was much disquieted by this 

overweening conceit;  and the flippancy with which he spoke of 

such a serious thing as war; and solemnly declared that if ever 

Kua was appointed general; he would bring ruin on the armies of 

Chao。  This was the man who; in spite of earnest protests from 

his own mother and the veteran statesman Lin Hsiang…ju; was now 

sent to succeed Lien P‘o。  Needless to say; he proved no match 

for the redoubtable Po Ch‘i and the great military power of 

Ch‘in。  He fell into a trap by which his army was divided into 

two and his communications cut; and after a desperate resistance 

lasting 46 days; during which the famished soldiers devoured one 

another; he was himself killed by an arrow; and his whole force; 

amounting;  it is said; to 400;000 men; ruthlessly put to the 

sword。'



     12。  Having DOOMED SPIES; doing certain things openly for 

purposes of deception; and allowing our spies to know of them and 

report them to the enemy。



     'Tu Yu gives the best exposition of the meaning:   〃We 

ostentatiously do thing calculated to deceive our own spies;  who 

must be led to believe that they have been unwittingly disclosed。  

Then;  when these spies are captured in the enemy's lines;  they 

will make an entirely false report; and the enemy will take 

measures accordingly;  only to find that we do something quite 

different。  The spies will thereupon be put to death。〃   As an 

example of doomed spies; Ho Shih mentions the prisoners released 

by Pan Ch‘ao in his campaign against Yarkand。  (See p。 132。)   He 

also refers to T‘ang Chien; who in 630 A。D。 was sent by T‘ai 

Tsung to lull the Turkish Kahn Chieh…li into fancied security; 

until Li Ching was able to deliver a crushing blow against him。  

Chang Yu says that the Turks revenged themselves by killing T‘ang 

Chien; but this is a mistake; for we read in both the old and the 

New   T‘ang History  (ch。  58;  fol。  2 and ch。  89;  fol。

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