Extensive Interpretation of Tao Te Ching (69)
道德經演義（六十九）
There is the maxim of military
strategists:
用兵有言：
I dare not be the first to
invade, but rather be the invaded.
吾不敢為主而為客，
Dare not press forward an
inch, but rather retreat a foot.
不敢進寸而退尺。
That is, to march
without formations,
是謂行無行，
to roll not up the sleeves,
攘無臂，
to charge not in frontal
attacks,
執無兵，
to arm without weapons.
扔無敵。
There is no greater
catastrophe than to underestimate the enemy.
禍莫大於輕敵;
To underestimate the enemy
might entail the loss of my treasures.
輕敵幾喪吾寶。
Therefore when two equally
matched armies meet, it is the man of sorrow who wins.
故抗兵相加，哀者勝矣。
Xianchi’s Interpretation of
Tao Te Ching (69) a。69
咸池評述道德經演義（六十九）a。69
1 Sending the
army to the battlefield needs a righteous cause. Why to fight? What’s the goal
of the fight? If sending the army out with a righteous cause, morale becomes
strong. How can army fight for long time without strength? How to persuade the
soldier to sacrifice for the war without righteous cause?
打仗講求師出有名，為什麼打，為什麼目標而打。師出有名，則氣壯。打架沒力氣如何能夠持久，如何能勸動士兵為戰爭而不惜犧牲性命。
2 Laotse said: “I dare not be the first to invade, but rather
be the invaded.” It means that you cause the war instead of me. That’s why when
Japanese invaded
老子說
“吾不敢為主而為客”，意思就是在說明，戰爭的爭執點不在我，在你。因此當日本人侵略中國時，中國人就能夠團結起來一致抗日，終而獲得勝利。
3 In a war,
especially a nip-and-tuck war, he who has righteous cause can win in most
cases. Readers who read this chapter must know that to march without
formations, to roll not up the sleeves, to charge not in frontal attacks, to
arm without weapons. It doesn’t mean that we don’t well prepare ourselves to
defend and arm. It means that a great wisdom should look as foolish. In other
words, the weapon we have that can defeat enemy is concealed but ready.
一場戰爭，特別是勢均力敵的戰爭，誰在理字上能站穩腳跟，誰就有較大的勝算。讀老子這章的人也必須瞭解，所謂行無行，攘無臂，執無兵，扔無敵，並不是不設防，也不是不武裝。其真實的涵義，應該是大智若愚、將戰勝敵人的武器隱藏起來，深藏不露，然而內心之中卻隨時都有奮起而抗敵的心理準備。
4 For this
reason, Laotse told us in following line that there
is no greater catastrophe than to underestimate the enemy. Laotse’s
real meaning is to make good preparation for war but not to start war.
正因如此，老子接著才又說，禍莫大於輕敵。沒事時妥為備戰，但卻不輕啟戰端，這才是老子真正的原意。
5To
conceal your weapon has another meaning that is you have no enemy. Since you
conceal your weapon, no one feel that you are threatening. They think that you
are safe, so they don’t offend you. Therefore you create no enemy around you.
Without enemy, you can lead a comfortable life.
深藏不露的另一個意思是沒有敵人。因為深藏，所以不會令人產生威脅感，讓別人都覺得你很安份，沒有絲毫侵犯之意，所以就不會樹立任何敵人。而沒有敵人，生活上也就舒服而安定多了。
6 One of the advantages of the shepherd plan—investing plan, is that there is
no direct object being robbed or being contended for. No one envies your
earning. Unlike other industry, your gain is from your counterparty’s loss,
which is so obvious. How could he who gains sing aloud with excitement and
celebration before the loser?
養羊計劃其中的一個好處，就是不用直接的接觸到爭與被奪的對象。就算你掙再多的錢也沒人會眼紅，也不會引起忌妒; 不像其他行業，你所有的得，直接就來自於你對手的失，得失是那麼直接而明顯。而那些有所得的人，又怎麼能夠在失的人的面前得意忘形、興奮的高唱凱歌，甚至於大肆慶祝呢？