Sun Tzŭ said: We come now to the question of encamping the army, and
observing signs of the enemy.
The discussion of 處軍, as Chang Yü points out, extends from here
down to 伏姦之所藏處也 (§§ 1–17), and 相敵 from that point down to
必謹察之 (§§ 18–39). The rest of the chapter consists of a few
desultory remarks, chiefly on the subject of discipline.
Pass quickly over mountains,
For this use of 絶, cf. _infra_. § 3. See also 荀子, ch. 1. fol. 2
(standard edition of 1876): 絶江河; _Shih Chi_, ch. 27 _ad init._:
後六星絶漢.
and keep in the neighbourhood of valleys.
Tu Mu says that 依 here = 近. The idea is, not to linger among
barren uplands, but to keep close to supplies of water and grass.
Capt. Calthrop translates “camp in valleys,” heedless of the very
next sentence. Cf. Wu Tzŭ, ch. 3: 無當天竈 “Abide not in natural
ovens,” _i.e._ 大谷之口 “the openings of large valleys.” Chang Yü
tells the following anecdote: “武都羗 Wu-tu Ch‘iang was a robber
captain in the time of the Later Han, and 馬援 Ma Yüan was sent to
exterminate his gang. Ch‘iang having found a refuge in the hills,
Ma Yüan made no attempt to force a battle, but seized all the
favourable positions commanding supplies of water and forage.
Ch‘iang was soon in such a desperate plight for want of provisions
that he was forced to make a total surrender. He did not know the
advantage of keeping in the neighbourhood of valleys.”