The general heeds my appraisals

Critical Text

Yinqueshan Text

將聽吾計用之必勝。。。

Shiyijia zhu Text

將聽吾計用之必勝留之將不聽吾計用之必負去之

Translation

The general heeds my appraisals. Employ him and he is certainly victorious. Retain him. The general does not heed my appraisals. Employ him and he is certainly defeated. Remove him.

Annotations

"Jiang" 將 can mean either "the general" or indicate the future conditional. Traditional commentators and modern editors are divided on how to interpret it. If it is the second, the lines would read, "If he should heed my appraisals, employ him and he is certainly victorious."

We prefer the first, as it clarifies the fact that the ruler is being advised on the employment of his general. Unlike the rest of the text, chapter 1 is addressed to the sovereign. Thus "the five" and the seven appraisals are means by which he can investigate the nature of military situations. The five are categories the ruler will know from other contemporary discourse: dao, fa, and heaven-earth-humanity. They are relevant to nearly any situation. With his novel redefinitions, the Sunzi editor appears to be drawing the ruler in to their military applications. The implicit argument is that when one moves from large to small, from universal process to military action, there is a consistent set of analytical categories one can maintain. The seven appraisals are more technically military in focus. They represent a means for the ruler to evaluate his military and select his general.