Hence the enlightened ruler is heedful, and the good general full of
caution.
警, which usually means “to warn,” is here equal to 戒. This is a
good instance of how Chinese characters, which stand for ideas,
refuse to be fettered by dictionary-made definitions. The _T‘u
Shu_ reads 故曰, as in § 16.
This is the way to keep a country at peace and an army intact.
It is odd that 全軍 should not have the same meaning here as in
III. § 1, _q.v._ This has led me to consider whether it might not
be possible to take the earlier passage thus: “to preserve your
own army (country, regiment, etc.) intact is better than to
destroy the enemy’s.” The two words do not appear in the _T‘ung
Tien_ or the _Yü Lan_. Capt. Calthrop misses the point by
translating: “then is the state secure, and the army victorious in
battle.”