The general
is the bulwark of the nation.
When the bulwark is strong, the nation
is strong. When the bulwark is
weak, the nation is
weak.
There
are three ways
in which a ruler can bring
misfortune to his army: if he orders
the army to retreat or advance when it cannot
effectively do so, this is called “hobbling the army”;
if he attempts to administer the army when he does not
know how, its warriors will become frustrated;
if he commands the officers without proper
insight into how they function, this
will undermine their
confidence.
Once an army
has been confused like this,
trouble will arise from every direction.
This is known as “inviting chaos
and handing victory to the
opponent.”
💀
from The Art of War, Chapter III
ebooks & apps of the Tao the Ching, I Ching,
Hua hu Ching, Wei wu Wei Ching,
You
can now buy
The Art of War as part of a
five-app bundle of Taoist classics
for iPhone or iPad for less than
the cost of one hardcover
book.
