To be ignorant of any one of the following four or five principles

Referring, I think, to what is contained in §§ 54, 55. Ts‘ao Kung,

thinking perhaps of the 五利 in VIII. § 6, takes them to be 九地之

利害 “the advantages and disadvantages attendant on the nine

varieties of ground.” The _T‘u Shu_ reads 此五者.

does not befit a warlike prince.

霸王, “one who rules by force,” was a term specially used for those

princes who established their hegemony over other feudal states.

The famous 五霸 of the 7th century B.C. were (1) 齊桓公 Duke Huan

of Ch‘i, (2) 晉文公 Duke Wên of Chin, (3) 宋襄公 Duke Hsiang of Sung,

(4) 楚莊王 Prince Chuang of Ch‘u, (5) 秦穆公 Duke Mu of Ch‘in. Their

reigns covered the period 685–591 B.C.

Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War: The Oldest Military Treatise in the World · 第 372 / 458 题