《三略》之上略 (1)

夫主将之法，务揽英雄之心，赏禄有功，通志于众。故与众同好，靡不成；与众同恶，靡不倾。治国安家，得人也；亡国破家，失人也。含气之类，咸愿得其志。

白话文：

担任军队主帅的要诀，在于务必笼络英雄豪杰的心。重赏那些有功之人，使部下通晓明白自己的志向。因此，与众人同喜好，就没有不成功的事业；与众人同憎恶，就没有摧不垮的敌人。国治家安，在与人用了有才干之人；国亡家破，在于失却了有才干之人。人类众生，都想实现自己的理想。

英译文：

The commander in chief’s method focuses onwinning the minds of the valiant, rewarding and providing salaries to themeritorious, and having his will penetrate to the masses. Thus if he has the same likes as the masses, there is nothing he will not accomplish. If he has the same dislikes as the masses, there is nothing he will not overturn. Governing the state and giving security to one’s family is a question of gaining the people. Losing the state and destroying one's family is a question of losing thepeople. All living beings want to realize their ambitions.

《军谶》曰：“柔能制刚，弱能制强。”柔者，德也。刚者，贼也。弱者，人之所助。强者，怨之所攻。柔有所设，刚有所施；弱有所用，强有所加。兼此四者，而制其宜。

白话文：

兵书《军谶》上说，”柔的能制服刚的，弱的能战胜强的"。柔而适中，是一种美德。刚愎不仁，是谓残暴。弱小者，不乏他人相助，暴虐者，定招不满而被攻击。柔有它起作用的时候，刚也有它的用途；弱有它的用处，强也有它使用的时机。关键在于，对柔，刚，弱，强要因时制宜地运用。

英译文:

The Military Pronouncements' states: “Thesoft can control the hard, the weak can control the strong.” The soft isVirtue. The hard is a brigand. The weak is what the people will help, thestrong is what resentment will attack. The soft has situations in which it isestablished; the hard has situations in which it is applied; the weak hassituations in which it is employed; and the strong has situations in which itis augmented. Combine these four and control them appropriately.

端末未见，人莫能知；天地神明，与物推移；变动无常，因敌转化；不为事先，动而辄随。故能图制无疆，扶成天威。康正八极，密定九夷。如此谋者，为帝王师。

白话文：

事物未显露头尾之时，人们无从正确了解它。天地间一切事物，都是根据时间地运转和事物自身地发展规律而不断变化的。与敌作战，需根据敌人的变化而随时改变自己的策略。不要事先制定僵死刻板的作战模式，要因敌方的变化而变化。只有这样，才能制服敌方，立于不败，从而树立君主的权威，安定天下，宾服四海。能够如此出谋划策之人，方可真成为帝王的老师。

英译文：

When neither the beginning nor end has yetbecome visible, no one is able to know them. Heaven and Earth are spiritual andenlightened, with the myriad things they change and transform. His changes andmovements should not be constant. He should change and transform in response tothe enemy. He does not precede affairs; when the enemy moves he immediately followsup. Thus he is able to formulate inexhaustible strategies and methods of control, sustain and complete theawesomeness of Heaven, bring tranquility and order to the extremes of the eightdirections, and gather and settle the Nine Barbarians. Such a strategist is ateacher for an emperor or a true king.

故曰：“莫不贪强，鲜能守微；若能守微，乃保其生。圣人存之，以应事机。舒之弥四海，卷之不盈杯。居之不以室宅，守之不以城郭。藏之胸臆，而敌国服。”

白话文：

故而，人没有不渴求强大的，却很少能持守微弱力量。若是能持守微弱力量，就能保住生存，以图将来的发展。圣人深明柔刚弱强之道理，并能巧妙运用，以适应事物的千变万化。此道理施用起来，可放诸四海而皆准，将它收拢起来，却不满一杯。无需用屋宅安置它，也用不着用城池守护它，只需将它置于胸怀间，敌国定然俯首称臣。

英译文：

Thus I say everyone covets strength, butrare are those capable of preserving the subtle. If someone can preserve thesubtle he can protect his life. The Sage preserves it in order to respond tothe slightest change in affairs. If he releases it then it will extendthroughout the Four Seas. If he rolls it up it will not fill a cup. He dwellsin it, but without a house. He guards it, but without city walls. He stores itaway in his breast, and enemy states submit.

《军谶》曰：“能柔能刚，其国弥光；能弱能强，其国弥彰。纯柔纯弱，其国必削；纯刚纯强，其国必亡。”

白话文：

兵书《军谶》上说，既能用柔，又能用刚，刚柔并济，那么国家就能如日中天，遍地光明。既能守弱，又能用强，强弱不怠，那么国家就会愈益彰显，繁荣昌盛。如果一味柔弱，国家必然衰败；如果一味刚强，国家必定灭亡。

英译文：

The Military Pronouncements states: “If one can be soft and hard, his state will be increasingly glorious! If one can be weak and strong, his state will be increasingly illustrious! If purely soft and purely weak, his state will inevitably decline. If purely hard and purely strong, his state will inevitably be destroyed.”