Book · The Art of War
Page 45 of 266
Author: Sun Tzu
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However, it points to the third term as being a calculation of
numbers.]
19. A victorious army opposed to a routed one, is as a pound's
weight placed in the scale against a single grain.
[Literally, "a victorious army is like an i (20 oz.) weighed
against a shu (1/24 oz.); a routed army is a shu weighed against
an i." The point is simply the enormous advantage which a
disciplined force, flushed with victory, has over one demoralized
by defeat. Legge, in his note on Mencius, I. 2. ix. 2, makes the
i to be 24 Chinese ounces, and corrects Chu Hsi's statement that
it equaled 20 oz. only. But Li Ch'uan of the T'ang dynasty here
gives the same figure as Chu Hsi.]
20. The onrush of a conquering force is like the bursting of
pent-up waters into a chasm a thousand fathoms deep. So much for
tactical dispositions.
Chapter V. ENERGY
1. Sun Tzŭ said: The control of a large force is the same
principle as the control of a few men: it is merely a question of
dividing up their numbers.
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