16. 故殺敵者怒也取敵之利者貨也
Now in order to kill the enemy, our men must be roused to anger; that there may be advantage from defeating the enemy, they must have their rewards.
These are two difficult sentences, which I have translated in accordance with Mei Yao-ch‘ên’s paraphrase. We may incontinently reject Capt. Calthrop’s extraordinary translation of the first: “Wantonly to kill and destroy the enemy must be forbidden.” Ts‘ao Kung quotes a jingle current in his day: 軍無財士不來軍無賞士不往. Tu Mu says: “Rewards are necessary in order to make the soldiers see the advantage of beating the enemy; thus, when you capture spoils from the enemy, they must be used as rewards, so that all your men may have a keen desire to fight, each on his own account.” Chang Yü takes 利 as the direct object of 取, which is not so good.
17. 故車戰得車十乘已上賞其先得者而更其旌旗車雜而乘之卒善而養之
Therefore in chariot fighting, when ten or more chariots have been taken, those should be rewarded who took the first.
Capt. Calthrop’s rendering is: “They who are the first to lay their hands on more than ten of the enemy’s chariots, should be encouraged.” We should have expected the gallant captain to see that such Samson-like prowess deserved something more substantial than mere encouragement. The T‘u Shu omits 故, and has 以上 in place of the more archaic 已上.
Our own flags should be substituted for those of the enemy, and the chariots mingled and used in conjunction with ours. The captured soldiers should be kindly treated and kept.
18. 是謂勝敵而益强
This is called, using the conquered foe to augment one’s own strength.
19. 故兵貴勝不貴久