Sun Tzŭ means the 商 Shang dynasty, founded in 1766 B.C. Its name
was changed to Yin by 盤庚 P‘an Kêng in 1401.
was due to I Chih
Better known as 伊尹 I Yin, the famous general and statesman who
took part in Ch‘êng T‘ang’s campaign against 桀癸 Chieh Kuei.
who had served under the Hsia. Likewise, the rise of the Chou dynasty
was due to Lü Ya
呂尙 Lü Shang, whose “style” was 子牙, rose to high office
under the tyrant 紂辛 Chou Hsin, whom he afterwards helped to
overthrow. Popularly known as 太公, a title bestowed on him by Wên
Wang, he is said to have composed a treatise on war, erroneously
identified with the 六韜.
who had served under the Yin.
There is less precision in the Chinese than I have thought it well to
introduce into my translation, and the commentaries on the passage are
by no means explicit. But, having regard to the context, we can hardly
doubt that Sun Tzŭ is holding up I Chih and Lü Ya as illustrious
examples of the converted spy, or something closely analogous. His
suggestion is, that the Hsia and Yin dynasties were upset owing to the
intimate knowledge of their weaknesses and shortcomings which these
former ministers were able to impart to the other side. Mei Yao-ch‘ên
appears to resent any such aspersion on these historic names: “I Yin
and Lü Ya,” he says, “were not rebels against the Government
(非叛於國也). Hsia could not employ the former, hence Yin employed him.
Yin could not employ the latter, hence Chou employed him. Their great
achievements were all for the good of the people.” Ho Shih is also
indignant: 伊呂聖人之耦豈爲人間哉今孫子引之者言五間之用須上智之人如伊呂之才智者
可以用間葢重之之辭耳 “How should two divinely inspired men such as I and
Lü have acted as common spies? Sun Tzŭ’s mention of them simply means
that the proper use of the five classes of spies is a matter which
requires men of the highest mental calibre like I and Lü, whose
wisdom and capacity qualified them for the task. The above words only
emphasise this point.” Ho Shih believes then that the two heroes are
mentioned on account of their supposed skill in the use of spies. But
this is very weak, as it leaves totally unexplained the significant
words 在夏 and 在殷. Capt. Calthrop speaks, rather strangely, of “the
province of Yin ... the country of Hsia ... the State of Chu ... the
people of Shang.”