Fighting with a large army under your command is nowise different from
fighting with a small one: it is merely a question of instituting
signs and signals.
One must be careful to avoid translating 鬥衆 “fighting _against_ a
large number,” no reference to the enemy being intended. 形 is
explained by Ts‘ao Kung as denoting flags and banners, by means of
which every soldier may recognise his own particular regiment or
company, and thus confusion may be prevented. 名 he explains as
drums and gongs, which from the earliest times were used to sound
the advance and the retreat respectively. Tu Mu defines 形 as 陳形
“marshalling the troops in order,” and takes 名 as the flags and
banners. Wang Hsi also dissents from Ts‘ao Kung, referring 形 to
the ordering of the troops by means of banners, drums and gongs,
and 名 to the various names by which the regiments might be
distinguished. There is much to be said for this view.