39. 焚舟破釜若驅羣羊而往驅而來莫知所之

He burns his boats and breaks his cooking-pots;

Omitted in the _T‘u Shu_.

like a shepherd driving a flock of sheep, he drives his men this way

and that, and none knows whither he is going.

The _T‘u Shu_ inserts another 驅 after 羊. Tu Mu says: 三軍但知進

退之命不知攻取之端也 “The army is only cognisant of orders to

advance or retreat; it is ignorant of the ulterior ends of

attacking and conquering.”

Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War: The Oldest Military Treatise in the World · 第 356 / 458 题