- 故進不求名退不避罪唯民是保而利合於主國之寳也
- 視卒如嬰兒故可與之赴深谿視卒如愛子故可與之俱死
24. The general who advances without coveting fame and retreats without fearing disgrace,
It was Wellington, I think, who said that the hardest thing of all for a soldier is to retreat.
whose only thought is to protect his country and do good service for his sovereign,
合, which is omitted by the T‘u Shu, is said by Ch‘ên Hao to be equivalent to 歸. If it had to be separately translated, it would be something like our word “accrue.”
is the jewel of the kingdom.
A noble presentment, in few words, of the Chinese “happy warrior.” Such a man, says Ho Shih, 罪及其身不悔也 “even if he had to suffer punishment, would not regret his conduct.”
25. Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys; look on them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death.
Cf. I. § 6. In this connection, Tu Mu draws for us an engaging picture of the famous general Wu Ch‘i, from whose treatise on war I have frequently had occasion to quote: “He wore the same clothes and ate the same food as the meanest of his soldiers, refused to have either a horse to ride or a mat to sleep on, carried his own surplus rations wrapped in a parcel, and shared every hardship with his men. One of his soldiers was suffering from an abscess, and Wu Ch‘i himself sucked out the virus. The soldier’s mother, hearing this, began wailing and lamenting. Somebody asked her, saying: ‘Why do you cry? Your son is only a common soldier, and yet the commander-in-chief himself has sucked the poison from his sore.’ The woman replied: ‘Many years ago, Lord Wu performed a similar service for my husband, who never left him afterwards, and finally met his death at the hands of the enemy. And now that he has done the same for my son, he too will fall fighting I know not where’.” Li Ch‘üan mentions 楚子 the Viscount of Ch‘u, who invaded the small state of 蕭 Hsiao during the winter. 申公 The Duke of Shên said to him: “Many of
