Brian Small... if every preparation is in good shape and the state goes out to engage in war, then the state will lose its men and the people will neglect their vocations. Have we not heard it said that, when a warring state goes on an expedition, of the officers there must be several hundred, of the common people there must be several thousand, and of the soldiers and prisoners there must be ten thousand, before the army can set out? It may last for several years, or, at the shortest, several months. So, the superior will have no time to attend to government, the officials will have no time to attend to their offices, the farmers will have no time to sow or reap, the women will have no time to weave or spin: that is, the state will lose its men and the people will neglect their vocations. Besides, the chariots will break and horses will be exhausted. As to tents, army supplies, and soldiers' equipment - if one-fifth of these can remain (after the war) it would already be beyond expectation. Moreover, innumerable men will be missing and lost on the way, and will become sick from the long distances, meagre rations, hunger and cold, and die in the ditches. Now the calamity to the people and the world is tremendous. Yet the rulers enjoy doing it. This means they enjoy injuring and exterminating the people; is this not perversity? ... When good government is substituted for aggressive war, the country will be benefited many fold. When the expense of the army is limited and the evils of the feudal lords removed, then we shall enjoy prosperity. Let the control (of the army) be judicious and the cause be righteous. Be lenient to the people and place confidence in the army - with this to meet the forces of the feudal lords, there can be no equal in the world. And the benefits to the world will be innumerable. This is what wiII benefit the world, yet the rulers do not understand making use of it: such may be said to be ignorance of the great thing in the world.
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- https://ctext.org/mozi/condemnation-of-offensive-war-iii
#Modi #Mozi #Motzu #Motse #墨子 #墨翟 #非攻 #非攻下編
#MoziBook5III #CondemnationOfOffensiveWar
Mozi : Book 5 : Condemnation of Offensive War III - Chinese Text Project
Condemnation of Offensive War III (非攻下) - full text database, fully browsable and searchable on-line; discussion and list of publications related to Condemnation of Offensive War III. In English and simplified and traditional Chinese.
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