Verse 2-Wei Liao Zi Art of War Chapter 1

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Verse 2-Wei Liao Zi Art of War Chapter 1

English

"According to Heavenly Positions, deploying troops with water to the rear is termed as 'isolated terrain'. Deploying troops facing a long ridge is termed as 'abandoning the army'. When King Wu attacked King Zhou of Shang, he deployed troops with rear facing the Ji River and facing the ridge. With twenty two thousand five hundred troops, King Wu managed to defeat King Zhou's army of hundreds of thousands, and destroyed the Shang Dynasty. King Wu did not accord with Heavenly Positions."

"Chu's general Gong Zi Xin was about to engage the State of Qi when the comet appears with its tail pointing to the State of Qi. People believed that State of Qi would be victorious, would never be defeated so they refuse to attack the State of Qi. Gong Zi Xin said:'What does a comet know? To fight someone with a broom, of course we use the handle to fight to achieve victory.' The next day, Gong Zi Xin engaged Qi and achieved resounding victory. The Yellow Emperor said:'Putting spirits and ghost first is not as good as first investigating own's knowledge.' This means that the Heavenly Positions are nothing compared to human effort."

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Modern

按《天官》上，‘背水列阵是置军队子绝境，向坡列阵是把军队置于无用之地。’ 但武王伐纣的时候，却背着济水，向着山坡列阵，以二万二千五百人，击败众多的纣军，灭亡了商朝，难道是纣王所布的阵势没有得到天官之利吗！楚将公子心与齐国作战，当时出现彗星，彗星的柄搦向齐国方面，有人认为柄所指的方向定会取得胜利，因而不能进攻。公子心说：‘彗星知道什么呢，用扫帚打人的，本来就应当倒转头来用柄去打才能取胜’。第二天与齐国交战，果然大破齐军。黄立说：‘首先问神问鬼，不如首先问问自己的才智如何’。与其说是天文星象的应验，不如说它是发挥了人的作用。

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Original

案天官曰：‘背水陈为绝地，向陂陈为废军’。武王伐封，背济水向山阪而陈，以二万二千五百人，击纣之亿万而灭商，岂纣不得天官之陈哉！楚将公子心与齐人战，时有彗星出，柄在齐，柄所在’胜，不可击。公子心曰：‘彗星何知，以彗斗者，固倒而胜焉’。明日与齐战，大破之。黄帝曰：‘先神先鬼，先稽我智 ’。谓之天官，人事而已。”

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