战法必本于政胜 – Chinese philosophy and culture

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zhàn fǎ bì běn yú zhèng shèng 战法必本于政胜

Methods of Warfare Must Be Based on the Success of Politics.

战争取胜的原则或方法须以政治上的优势或成功为基础,亦即战争的胜败根本上取决于政治的优劣。中国古代兵家、法家从政治角度看待战争,认为战争的本质是政治,战争是政治的派生,政通人和是战争致胜的决定性因素。“战法必本于政胜”一语与德国军事学家克劳塞维茨(1780—1831)“战争无非是政治通过另一种手段的继续”的观点(《战争论》)有异曲同工之妙,但要早两千多年。

The principles or methods to win a war must be based on the success in politics, that is to say, military outcome is determined by the strength of politics. Ancient Chinese strategists and legalists looked at war from the angle of politics, regarding war as political in essence and an extension of politics. Efficient governance and social harmony among the people were the decisive factors of winning a war. That “the methods of warfare must be based on the success in politics” is an expression of the same idea as the Prussian military strategist Carl von Clausewitz (1780-1831) in his On War when he suggested that war was the continuation of politics by another mean, but the former is 2,000 years earlier than the latter.

引例 Citations:

◎凡战法必本于政胜,则其民不争,不争则无以私意,以上为意。故王者之政,使民怯于邑斗,而勇于寇战。(《商君书·战法》)

(战争取胜的原则必须以政治上的优胜为基础,这样人民就不会相互争斗;人民不相互争斗,也就不会各逞私意,而都统一到君主的意志上来了。所以成就王业的国君的政治,在于使民众怯于乡里争斗,而勇于和敌寇作战。)

The principle of winning a war must be based on the success in politics. This way people will not fight each other. Not fighting each other, they will not act out of self-interest but adhere to the will of the ruler. Therefore, the rule of a successful king will consist in making the people refrain from fighting with neighbors but brave in fighting against enemies. (The Book of Lord Shang)

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