heptagrammaton’s Reviews > The Art of War > Status Update

  

His form is visible
     But I am
     Formless;
     I am concentrated,
     He is divided.

I am concentrated
     Into one;
     He [the enemy] is divided
     Into ten.
     I am
     Ten
     To his one;
     Many
     Against
     His few.

Interesting secondary literature in this edition. J. Minford refers also to Amiot's 1782 translation and commentary on the episode of Sun-Tzu in He Lü's harem: '... one can conclude that severity is the basis of the general's authority... This maxim, which may not be valid for the Nations of Europe, is an excellent one for the Asiatics, among whom honor is by no means always the first motive.' (p. xxiii, xlix)[yeesh]