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Bushi Zhengzong · The Orthodox Tradition of Divination
Golden Counsels · Warfare
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Warfare
A physician does not cling to a prescription; an army does not cling to a rule: thus the talent of a great commander can be assessed. Planning lies with people, success with Heaven: investigate the former master’s subtleties.
Examine the strength or decline of Self and Response to decide victory or defeat for the two sides. Use the strength or weakness of Blessing and Officer to distinguish our commanders and the enemy’s.
Parents rising strongly foretells standards filling the fields. A Metal line moving in Void makes one listen sideways for gongs and drums filling the sky.
Wealth is the root of grain and fodder; Brothers is the configuration of concealed troops.
Water rising to support Self suits light boats in crossing a river. Fire strong and generating the Body means the camp will be established on advantageous ground.
Parents rising and holding the position means the chief commander lacks tolerant benevolence. Descendants properly placed means the general has talent for deciding victory.
A Water line controls Descendants, yet Descendants is strong: Han Xin forms his array with water at his back, and Chen Yu is beheaded.
A yin image holds Brothers, and Brothers controls Response: Li Su advances on a snowy night, and Yuanji is captured.
Reading note: The supplied name 李訴 is romanized Li Su; its Chinese graphic is not replaced.
Self holds Descendants and is injured: one may follow Zhou Yafu in fortifying the walls and refusing battle.
Officer at Response is controlled: act like Sima Yi, strengthening the ramparts and resting the troops.
Self holds declining Blessing but receives generation and support: Wang Jian defeats Chu with six hundred thousand men.
The hexagram has many Officers and strong Descendants: Xie Xuan breaks Qin with eight thousand troops.
Two Descendants combine with Self and support the Body: Li and Guo act with one heart and restore the Tang house.
Two Blessing lines penalize and clash, changing into Extinction: Zhong and Deng fall into mutual estrangement and lose themselves and their households.
Descendants changes into a Death line: Cao Cao loses his army at Red Cliffs.
Self meets the place of Extinction: Xiang Yu cuts his throat at the Wu River.
Water Ghost controls the Body: Fu Jian of Qin suffers defeat at the Fei River.
Fire Officer holds Self: Gaozu of Han meets the siege at Pingcheng.
Officer at Response controls Self and the hexagram lacks Wealth: Zhang of Suiyang exhausts his food and dies.
Ghost at Self rises strongly and generates or combines with Response: Lü Wenhuan has no relief and surrenders.
Descendants in the outer palace moves and changes into an Extinction line: this is why Li Ling surrenders to the enemy.
Blessing in the inner trigram rises and generates or combines with Response: this is why Yue Yi turns away from Yan.
Though Ghost declines, it receives generation and support: do not pursue a cornered enemy.
Though Descendants is strong, it is controlled and restrained: do not hastily raise the army.
A Ghost line secretly moves and injures the Body: the King of Wu is stabbed by Zhuan Zhu.
Descendants changes into an Officer line that controls Self: Zhang Fei is killed by Fan and Zhang.
To recognize the effective instruments of warfare, infer in detail from both the Five Phases and hexagram images.
How could a general’s benevolence, wisdom, courage and strictness lie beyond this? In attack, defense and defeating the enemy, employ troops at the proper time.
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