part in 203 B.C., when sent by the King of Han to open peaceful negoti-

ations with Ch'i. He has certainly more claim to be described as a ^ Rjj ; for the King of Ch'i, being subsequently attacked without warning by Han Hsin, and infuriated by what he considered the treachery of Li I-chi, ordered the unfortunate envoy to be boiled alive.
13. Surviving spies, finally, are those who bring back news from the enemy's camp.
This is the ordinary class of spies, properly so called, forming a regular part of the army. Tu Mu says: ^ Rjj ^ fa ^( jXj tyj #\> ^
jib £ "Your surviving spy must be a man of keen intellect, though * Cfrien Han Shu, ch. 43, fol. i. ^ gj|j "jjf Yen Shih-ku in loc. says: j£
1 68
in outward appearance a fool; of shabby exterior, but with a will of iron. He must be active, robust, endowed with physical strength and courage; thoroughly accustomed to all sorts of dirty work, able to endure hunger and cold, and to put up with shame and ignominy." Ho Shih tells the fol- lowing story of ^ ^| jj£ Ta-hsi Wu of the Sui dynasty : "When he was governor of Eastern Ch'in, jjj||j jj£ Shen-wu of Ch'i made a hostile movement upon ffi ~fifa Sha-yuan. The Emperor T'ai Tsu [? Kao Tsu] sent Ta-hsi Wu to spy upon the enemy. He was accompained by two other men. All three were on horseback and wore the enemy's uniform. When it was dark, they dismounted a few hundred feet away from the enemy's camp and stealthily crept up to listen, until they succeeded in catching the passwords used by the army. Then they got on their horses again and boldly passed through the camp under the guise of night- watchmen ( 30& ^ ^ ) ; and more than once, happening to come across a soldier who was committing some breach of discipline, they actually stopped to give the culprit a sound cudgelling ! Thus they managed to return with the fullest possible information about the enemy's dispositions, and received warm commendation from the Emperor, who in consequence of their report was able to inflict a severe defeat on his adversary." With the above classification it is interesting to compare the remarks of Frederick the Great:* "Es giebt vielerley Sorten von Spions: i. Geringe Leute, welche sich von diesem Handwerk meliren. 2. Doppelte Spions. 3. Spions von Consequenz, und endlich 4. Diejenigen, welche man zu diesem unglucklichen Hankwerk zwinget." This of course is a bad cross-division. The first class ("Biirgersleute, Bauern, Priesters, etc.") corresponds roughly to Sun Tzu's "local spies," and the third to "inward spies." Of "Doppelte Spions" it is broadly stated that they are employed "um dem Feinde falsche Nachrichten aufzubinden." Thus they would include both con- verted and doomed spies. Frederick's last class of spies does not appear in Sun Tzu's list, perhaps because the risk in using them is too great.
14. Hence it is that with none in the whole army are more intimate relations to be maintained than with spies.
The original text and the T'u Shu have |Jj in place of the first ^ . Tu Mu and Mei Yao-ch'en point out that the spy is privileged to enter even the general's private sleeping-tent. Capt. Calthrop has an inaccurate translation: "In connection with the armies, spies should be treated with the greatest kindness."
"Umerricht des Konigs von Preussen an die Generate seiner Armeen," cap. 12 (edition of 1794).
169
None should be more liberally rewarded.
Frederick concludes his chapter on spies with the words: "Zu allem diesem fiige ich noch hinzu, dass man in Bezahlung der Spions freygebig, ja verschwenderisch seyn muss. Ein Mench, der um cures Dienstes halber den Strick waget, verdienet dafiir belohnet zti werden."
In no other business should greater secrecy be preserved. Tu Mu gives a graphic touch : {f| p ^ Jf ^ , that is to say, all
communications with spies should be carried on "mouth-to-ear." Capt. Calthrop has: "All matters relating to spies are secret," which is distinctly feeble. An interior reading for t&& is ;gp . The following remarks on spies may be quoted from Turenne, who made perhaps larger use of them than any previous commander: "Spies are attached to those who give them most, he who pays them ill is never served. They should never be known to anybody; nor should they know one another. When they propose anything very material, secure their persons, or have in your possession their wives and children as hostages for their fidelity. Never communicate anything to them but what it is absolutely necessary that they should know." *
15. Spies cannot be usefully employed This is the nuance of Tu Yu's paraphrase ^ without a certain intuitive sagacity.
Mei Yao-ch'en says: & £ ft ft $ £ ^ j£ g|J fa $
"In order to use them, one must know fact from falsehood, and be able to discriminate between honesty and double-dealing." Wang Hsi takes Bg and ^ separately, denning the former as j|| jfjj ^Q ^ "intuitive perception" and the latter as HH "fc^ jif. "practical intelligence." Tu
• • •
Mu strangely refers these attributes to the spies themselves : -yfa j|f ^Jj
HiZ&M^^^B&vlftZ "Before usi"g si>ies we
must assure ourselves as to their integrity of character and the extent of their experience and skill." But he continues: J|[ ^ '$? '|f| |J^ ^ Uj JH ^ IE A ^ Hi 9& "A brazen face and a crafty disposition are more dangerous than mountains or rivers; it takes a man of genius to penetrate such." So that we are left in some doubt as to his real opinion on the passage.
* "Marshal Turenne," p. 311.
i/o
17..
is. ftft * ft* ft 7 )B B ft
1 6. They cannot be properly managed without bene- volence and straightforwardness.
Chang Yii says that ^ means "not grudging them honours and pay;" ^g , "showing no distrust of their honesty." "When you have attracted them by substantial offers, you must treat them with absolute sincerity; then they will work for you with all their might."
17. Without subtle ingenuity of mind, one cannot make certain of the truth of their reports.
Mei Yao-ch'en says: "Be on your guard against the possibility of spies going over to the service of the enemy." The Tlung Tien and Yu Lan read gj& for ^?,
1 8. Be subtle! be subtle!
Cf. VI. § 9: fjfjj; 5p. ;j|£ 3J1. Capt. Calthrop translates: "Wonderful indeed is the power of spies."
and use your spies for every kind of business.
19. If a secret piece of news is divulged by a spy before the time is ripe, he must be put to death together with the man to whom the secret was told.
The Chinese here is so concise and elliptical that some expansion is necessary for the proper understanding of it. ^ ijjf. denotes important information about the enemy obtained from a surviving spy. The sub- ject of -jff ^, however, is not this information itself, but the secret stratagem built up on the strength of it. ^ ^ means "is heard" — by anybody else. Thus, word for word, we get: "If spy matters are heard before [our plans] are carried out," etc. Capt. Calthrop, in trans- lating ^ Jjjl ffi &f ^ "the spy who told the matter, and the man who repeated the same," may appeal to the authority of the commen- tators; but he surely misses the main point of Sun Tzu's injunction. For, whereas you kill the spy himself S& J^ jfjjf- "as a punishment for letting out the secret," the object of killing the other man is only, as Ch'en Hao puts it, J£J p "to stop his mouth" and prevent the
20.
9 it •& ft it £
news leaking any further. If it had already been repeated to others, this object would not be gained. Either way, Sun Tzu lays himself open to the charge of inhumanity, though Tu Mu tries to defend him by saying that the man deserves to be put to death, for the spy would certainly not have told the secret unless the other had been at pains to worm it out of him. The T'ung Tien and Yii Lan have the reading . . .
•4r ^ it fM ^ fi , etc., which, while not affecting the sense, strikes me as being better than that of the standard text. The Tu Shu has ...
|^j ffi ffi -§• ^ , which I suppose would mean : "the man who heard the secret and the man who told it to him."
20. Whether the object be to crush an army, to storm a city, or_ to assassinate an individual, it is always neces- sary to begin by finding out the names of the attendants,
-fc ~jb+ is a comprehensive term for those who wait on others, ser- vants and retainers generally. Capt. Calthrop is hardly happy in rendering it "right-hand men."
the aides-de-camp,
IfJI =f£ , literally "visitors," is equivalent, as Tu Yu says, to :j: ^ ]j! ^j£ "those whose duty it is to keep the general supplied with infor- mation," which naturally necessitates frequent interviews with him. Chang Yii goes too far afield for an explanation in saying that they are J& ^pf ?Sr ^ s$° "tne lea(^ers of mercenary troops.". the door-keepers and sentries
HfJII and of the general in command.
TJ* $$> according to Chang Yu, is simply ^f* ^ Q ffiJc ^ $£
• "a general on active service." Capt. Calthrop is wrong, I think, in making £j* $£ directly dependent on ^ ^g (. . . "the names of the general in charge," etc.). Our spies must be commissioned to ascertain these.
As the first step, no doubt, towards finding out if any of these important functionaries can be won over by bribery. Capt. Calthrop blunders badly with: "Then set the spies to watch them."
172
22.
24. ;
21. The enemy's spies who have come to spy on us must be sought out,
jj£\ ^^ is omitted by the Tlung Tien and Yii Lan. Its recurrence is certainly suspicious, though the sense may seem to gain by it. The Tlu Shu has this variation: ... " etc.
tempted with bribes, led away and comfortably housed.
^ is probably more than merely Jj| j£ or ;3p|| ^ "detain." Cf. §25 ad fin., where Sun Tzu insists that these converted spies shall be treated well. Chang Yii's paraphrase is Bg -^g- .
Thus they will become converted spies and available for cur service.
22. It is through the information brought by the con- verted spy that we are able to acquire and employ local and inward spies.
Tu Yu expands @ Jf [ft ft £ into @ ^ gjjr f^ fffi ^J
]^ jp| "through conversion of the enemy's spies we learn the enemy's condition." And Chang Yii says: ^% & %. ffl %H $.M X Z,
^ *fl * W A 2 # SK * if ffij ® £ "We must templ the
converted spy into our service, because it is he that knows which of the local inhabitants are greedy of gain, and which of the officials are open to corruption." In the Fung Tien, ^Jj has been altered to |g| , doubtless for the sake of uniformity with § 9.
23. It is owing to his information, again, that we can cause the doomed spy to carry false tidings to the enemy.
"Because the converted spy knows how the enemy can best be deceived" (Chang Yu). The T'ung Tien text, followed by the Yu Lan, has here the obviously interpolated sentence ^ ^ "Sf ^ fffl ^ -^ .
24. Lastly, it is by his information that the surviving spy can be used on appointed occasions.
Capt. Calthrop omits this sentence.
>73 25.
25. The end and aim of spying in all its five varieties is knowledge of the enemy,
I have ventured to differ in this place from those commentators — Tu Yu and Chang Yu — who understand ij: as ^ :jr, and make 3^ ^jj ^ Iff, the antecedent of £ (the others ignoring the point altogether). It is plausible enough that Sun Tzu should require the ruler to be familiar with the methods of spying (though one would rather expect iteC "general" in place of £JT). But this involves taking ^JJ ^ here in quite a dif- ferent way from the ^Jfl ^ immediately following, as also from those
in the previous sentences. ^ there refers vaguely to the enemy or the enemy's condition, and in order to retain the same meaning here, I make ij: a verb, governed by 3L R!j £ iff- Cf. XI. § 19, where IJT is used in exactly the same manner. The sole objection that I can see in the way of this interpretation is the fact that the 7fa ^f] , or fourth variety of spy, does not add to our knowledge of the enemy, but only misinforms the enemy about us. This would be, however, but a trivial oversight on Sun Tzti's part, inasmuch as the "doomed spy" is in the strictest sense not to be reckoned as a spy at all. Capt. Calthrop, it is hardly necessary to remark, slurs over the whole difficulty.
and this knowledge can only be derived, in the first in- stance, from the converted spy.
As explained in §§ 22 — 24. He not only brings information himself, but makes it possible to use the other kinds of spy to advantage.
Hence it is essential that the converted spy be treated with the utmost liberality.
26. Of old, the rise of the Yin dynasty
Sun Tztt means the j§j Shang dynasty, founded in 1766 B.C. Its •name was changed to Yin by j^ J^f P'an Keng in 1401.
was due to I Chih
Better known as ^ ^ I Yin, the famous general and statesman who took part in Ch'eng T'ang's campaign against |j| ^ Chieh Kuei.
,
174
27.
who had served under the Hsia. Likewise, the rise of the Chou dynasty was due to Lii Ya
S IpJ Lu Shang, whose "style" was -^ ^f, rose to high office under the tyrant &J- rfe Chou Hsin, whom he afterwards helped to over- throw. Popularly known as ^ ^ , a title bestowed on him by Wen Wang, he is said to have composed a treatise on war, erroneously identi- fied with the -fc Ipg .
who had served under the Yin.
There is less precision in the Chinese than I have thought it well to introduce into my translation, and the commentaries on the passage are by no means explicit. But, having regard to the context, we can hardly doubt that Sun Tzu is holding up I Chih and Lii Ya as illustrious examples of the converted spy, or something closely analogous. His suggestion is, that the Hsia and Yin dynasties were upset owing to the intimate know- ledge of their weaknesses and shortcomings which these former ministers were able to impart to the other side. Mei Yao-ch'en appears to reseat any such aspersion on these historic names: "I Yin and Lii Ya," he says, "were not rebels against the Government ( ife ^ ~jfe [|| -{^ ). Hsia could not employ the former, hence Yin employed him. Yin could not employ the latter, hence Chou employed him. Their great achieve- ments were all for the good of the people." Ho Shih is also indignant:
"How snould two divinely inspired men such as I and Lu have acted as common spies? Sun Tzu's mention of them simply means that the proper use of the five classes of spies is a matter which requires men of the highest mental calibre like I and Lu, whose wisdom and capacity qualified them for the task. The above words only emphasise this point." Ho Shih believes then that the two heroes are mentioned on account of their supposed skill in the use of spies. But this is very weak, as it leaves totally unexplained the significant words ^g jj and ^ jj*£ . Capt. Calthrop speaks, rather strangely, of "the province of Yin . . . the country of Hsia . . . the State of Chu . . . the people of Shang."
27. Hence it is only the enlightened ruler and the wise general who will use the highest intelligence of the army for purposes of spying,
Ch'en Hao compares § 15 : ^ || Jj* jfi |£ ^ pjj . He points
out that ^ jit ;£ H ffr § 3lt $ "the god-like wisdom of Ch'eng T'ang and Wu Wang led them to employ I Yin and Lii Shang." The T'u Shu omits ^ .
and thereby they achieve great results.
Tu Mu closes with a note of warning: ^ ^fC ffi J£J j|| ^ -jfj-
* W 0 ^K rfii 1 & ^ Rg #f K il ^c HJ * W H RB
pjj /|ij| ^ ^" "Just as water, which carries a boat from bank to bank, may also be the means of sinking it, so reliance on spies, while produc- tive of great results, is oft-times the cause of utter destruction."
Spies are a most important element in war, because on them depends an army's ability to move. ^ r
The antecedent to |H/ must be either Rfl 5& or ffl Rfl 4£ understood
**- w I w V PI / I -9 I M V M
from the whole sentence. Chia Lin says that an army without spies is like a man without ears or eyes.
CHINESE CONCORDANCE
[PROPER NAMES ARE INDICATED
Ai
^ VIII. 12; X. 25, 26; XL
cheng
18, 66; XIII. 2.
,,
gg X. 21.
„
an
^ II. 20; V. 22; VI. 4;