Seite 250 von 266

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 Tzŭ meant is conclusively proved by his subsequent remarks

about treating the converted spy generously (§ 21 sqq.). Ho Shih

notes three occasions on which converted spies were used with

conspicuous success: (1) by T'ien Tan in his defence 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.