b.孫子兵法 (計篇第一) (Chapter 1 - 7) (Part 8)

始 計 篇 第 一 

孫 子 曰 ： 兵 者 ， 國 之 大 事 ， 死 生 之 地 ， 存 亡 之 道， 不 可 不 察 也 。

　 　 故 經 之 以 五 事 ， 校 之 以 計 ， 而 索 其 情 ， 一 曰 道 ，二 曰 天 ， 三 曰 地 ， 四 曰 將 ， 五 曰 法 。
　 　 道 者 ， 令 民 與 上 同 意 ， 可 與 之 死 ， 可 與 之 生 ， 而 不 畏 危 也 。 天 者， 陰 陽 ， 寒 暑 ， 時 制 也 。 地 者 ， 遠 近 ， 險 易 ， 廣 狹 ，死 生 也 。 將 者 ，智 ， 信 ， 仁 ， 勇 ， 嚴 也 。 法 者 ， 曲 制 ， 官 道 ， 主 用 也。 凡 此 五 者 ， 將 莫 不 聞 ， 知 之 者 勝 ， 不 知 者 不 勝 。

　 　 故 校 之 以 計 ， 而 索 其 情 。 曰 ： 主 孰 有 道 ， 將 孰 有 能 ， 天 地 孰 得 ，法 令 孰 行 ， 兵 眾 孰 強 ， 士 卒 孰 練 ， 賞 罰 孰 明 ， 吾 以 此 知 勝 負 矣 。 將 聽 吾 計 ， 用 之 必 勝 ， 留 之 ； 將 不 聽 吾 計 ， 用 之 必 敗 ， 去 之 。

　 　 計 利 以 聽 ， 乃 為 之 勢 ， 以 佐 其 外 ； 勢 者 ， 因 利 而 制 權 也 。

　 　 兵 者 ， 詭 道 也 。 故 能 而 示 之 不 能 ， 用 而 示 之 不 用， 近 而 示 之 遠 ，遠 而 示 之 近 。 利 而 誘 之 ， 亂 而 取 之 ， 實 而 備 之 ， 強 而 避 之 ， 怒 而 撓 之， 卑 而 驕 之 ， 佚 而 勞 之 ， 親 而 離 之 。 攻 其 無 備 ， 出 其 不 意 ， 此 兵 家 之勝 ， 不 可 先 傳 也 。

　 　 夫 未 戰 而 廟 算 勝 者 ， 得 算 多 也 ； 未 戰 而 廟 算 不 勝 者 ， 得 算 少 也 ；多 算 勝 ， 少 算 不 勝 ， 而 況 於 無 算 乎 ？ 吾 以 此 觀 之 ， 勝負 見 矣 。 

Some translation suggested: 

"All warfare is based on deception." 

This is the saddest part of SunTzu's conclusion.

SunTzu said that every battle must involve employment of cunning or trickery. China has followed this advice for two and half thousand years, maybe that's the reason why China had never make it in the world arena: A dragon trapped in the shallows. The strength NEVER can come from deception.

SunTzu has placed this advice here in the very first chapter implied its paramount importance. This is so very sad. Over his latter years, I assumed that he must have reflected on this statement many times and decided that it was so important that it must be placed first. I can feel his pain. He lived in a cunning society -  a society full of croaks. To survive, he thought that he needs to outfox everybody every day. What a sad existence!

This idea did not get him very far. His legs were lobed off during a lost battle.

Employing cunning simply don't work. In the game of Texas Hold'em poker, one would have realized that being honest may not have gained much money in a short run. But, in the long run, the accumulation of money is although slow but very stable. I have seen many big risk-takers losing their pants and never recover. Reflecting this game of poker over one's life is so uncanningly similar. Those people who never take risk actually ended up so strong that it is unbelievable.

Employing cunning is only a short-term advantage, but never the long-term success. One easily gets addicted to these short-term risk-taking so much so that one loses sight of the long-term goal that one is just a mere 浮萍 (a floating water weed) floating down one's life journey.

The two great world wars were started by the Germans. It was never intended to start as a world war. It was a domestic issue. It was the intention of the Germans to exterminate the Jews from their country and her neighbours. Over long periods, the Jews had been extremely nasty to their host countries. They wheeled and dealt. They spread by wild fire. Every non-Jewish gal they married must become a Jew and follow their religious belief. Every Jewish gal cannot marry someone outside the Jewish community. They only traded among themselves. They controlled the food, the banks and the newspapers. Even cultural scenes were full of Jews. They lured customers through very intelligent sale schemes. They never give back to their hosts but leeched them high and dry. They controlled almost every aspect of the economy.

The Jews were once rated as the most intelligent race. Almost nobody can outfox them. They were not only intelligent but extremely hard-working. They deserved the success they worked for. The only mistake was the Jews never share their spoils. This has brought very deep resentment and the host country felt extremely disadvantaged and felt that their hospitality had been foolish. This led to a call for arms.

The Germans did not feel justified that the Jews were doing so well while they were not. The Germans were also an extremely hardworking people. They worked hard and they worked straight. They were never late for appointments and work precisely and accurate on their tasks.

Their cars, engineering and heavy industries to date are still unrivalled. Although the Germans may have lost the world wars, they are still the richest country in the world. They still controlled Europe absolutely.

By not employing cunning, they lost out to the Jews. Over the years, the Germans felt cornered. Nevertheless, the honest Germans prevailed in the end. Right now, their economy is the strongest in the world. They owed nobody, everybody owed them.

Where are the Jews today? A nobody. Unless and otherwise they employed no deceit, will they see the daylight. They are like vampires living in the dark. Strong, vicious, always attacking, but cannot live in daylight.

In business terms, at first I have employed cunning too in my business. I started fast and furious. I wheeled and dealt. In a very short time, I received so much fun that I always attributed that to beginner's luck. Since I was so successful, being young and brash, I showed off and I spent and treated my so-called friends as if there was no tomorrow. The end-results, you guessed it right, was easy-come, it MUST BE easy-go. I lost all my true friends and capital.

Things cannot be so simple. If it is, then there would be no poor souls in the market. The fact remains that only a very select few made it means they must be something special about these winners. It is still 1-99 ratio.

Slowly I removed my wayward ways, I only employed honesty as my only banner. I regained trust once more. I believe hard work as the only honest business. I learned to distrust all get-rich schemes. I relied on no one but yet handsomely rewarding those who helped me along the way. I punished those who disrespect me by removing my time with them. No complaints, no explanations. I don't teach nor alert the uninitiated. For those who respect me, I reward them with my time and a listening ear.

After awhile, little by little, success starts to restart on me again. This time, interestingly I no longer need to show off, as that was a former sign for my lack of confidence. If for anything, I kept this success very closed to my heart. No show-offs, no fanfares, just an assuring smile to those whom I trusted. 

In this instance, SunTzu didn't see the much bigger picture. Why? He revealed and contradicted this statement of employing cunning later in his writings, betraying his unwavering faith in falsehood.

The entire teaching of SunTzu was founded on falsehood and deception. How sad!