[Daehanjeiguk]

The threats of war were coming to all peoples around the world, and the Emperor spent many long nights, tormented over the best action to preserve peace. He saw the great multitude of states and nations rushing to war in haste and often with foul intentions and perceptions. They clearly followed none of the conventions that the Marshal Ma had discussed in the previous months of dialogue, and yet he expected himself to follow these conventions to achieve victory? How could one calculate against the incalculable, who resorted to awkward stances and followed no convention at all on the conduct of war, or even of the state? With this in mind, the Emperor called Marshal Ma for another consultation on this matter.

(馬 - Ma)
(皇 - Emperor)

皇: We have discussed much the ways to war, to victory, and to defeat. I understand the ways to war, and to peace. But I survey the world in my position, and I see the masses following no convention at all. There are the nations that band together in weak alliances; there are nations that band together and attack foes who have no knowledge of these concepts; there are the nations that vulgarly oppress their people and their enemies. Is the way to victory and to peace a universal concept, or must we discard all that we have discussed and abandon it to the masses that have no acquaintance with it?

馬: His Imperial Majesty must heed the words I speak carefully, or otherwise scatter doubt to the wind and let the four corners cave to the earth.

In a time long ago, there were the barbarians who threatened civilization. They came from all around, and to us there was no venue to victory. We were defeated, though we held the principles to ourselves, the enemy had no concern for the welfare and misery of their defeated foes. In the world, there is one law – the weak suffer at the will of the mighty. And this rule will apply regardless of where or when it may be. We have been trampled by the barbarians because they were mighty and we were weak. However, there is another law – the hierarchy of power never remains constant. It is in this manner that the mighty can become the weak, and the weak can become powerful. It is therefore the right of the weak – once they become strong – to return the favors of the mighty – once they become weak. In this manner, it is possible that the civilized can tame the uncivilized if they are the stronger. It is also possible for the uncivilized to vanquish the civilized if they are the stronger. In these times, the barbarians force back the world and civilization retracts to a dark age, waiting for the opportune time to return as a beacon to the world. And yet there is one more law, and perhaps most important of all – all men desire innately a sense of order. It is in this way that the civilized man – regardless of his strength – will always vanquish the uncivilized man, because they both seek order and balance. It is true that what they seek in material is virtually opposed, but in truth, they seek the same consequence – a world ordered in the manner that they perceive is most superior. Therefore, though the stronger will vanquish the weak; though the mighty will never remain the stronger; the conclusion of the world is a harmonic balance of opposition and resolution. This is the concept of eumyang (for you folks of Mandarin lore, that’s the same thing as yin-yang).

皇: How does this relate to the five criteria and the concepts to which we have already applied?

馬: The stronger is the one who possess the five criteria, and the concepts are already in application. These concepts are very much universal, but not always recognized. The laws of men may perceive other trivial matters – human rights, mutually assured destruction, might makes right, and other things. But the sum of their discoveries means nothing in the end. We have concluded that the five criteria are the sum of all victory and defeat; to make any other evaluation would pollute the intelligent and wise commander’s judgment.

The states that wage war with no thought to these are like the barbarians or yore – they have no aim in sight, and their purpose in the world is trivial. Yet the civilized state stands upon the five criteria and does not cast it to the wind in seek of glory or power. Of course, do not mistake that even the most unwitting enemies may stumble upon advantages without much thought. It is for this reason why the generals of ancient days preferred cunning to brute strength; by manipulating your enemy to concede his advantages, you are able to win without fighting him. However, the stubborn enemy may prove to be a worse enemy, for he fights outside of convention and though he holds the five criteria, he does not act in the manner that is anticipated of the wise commander. It can be said therefore the only other factor in determining the viability of any enemy is his sanity.

皇: Then, the criteria are the law, and the law is certain, immutable, and universal. But how do these nations conquer when not abiding by it?

馬: You seek of the countries that conquer by day – but how long do their empires last? I have yet to see one that has lasted a year. These are empires built upon the principle that they are the superior and that all weakness must be vanquished. But the wise and sagacious leader does not immediate seek to vanquish; instead, his ultimate objective is simple and innate - to establish balance and harmony.

皇: If this is so, then does the wise and sagacious leader seek peace as an end?

馬: We must be careful on our choice of words; peace and harmony are two different concepts.

皇: How is this so? We speak of peace and harmony within the same context, and yet they are not the same?

馬: We have said that peace is the opposite of war – that is the state of conflict. It is true that the wise and sagacious leader longs for war, but he neither longs for peace either. To settle in the matters of war and peace, one must recognize that it is a balance between the two sides. The belligerent is wrong because his objective is to perpetuate the state of war. This is flawed, because protracted war drains the state of its capabilities. It kills the young and bright minds of the future; it numbs the minds the elders, who sacrifice many hours and many lives; it corrupts the civilized nature of man by inclining him to chaotic thoughts. To seek war is anarchic in itself. But to seek peace is equally flawed. Peace dulls the young an restless minds; the elder become dissatisfied with a perpetual status quo; and the mind become weak and docile after misuse. Indeed, the wise and sagacious seeks neither war nor peace, but rather a balance between the two. It is this harmony of which we speak; for without it, there is no order in war or peace.

There is a time and a place for everything, and depending on the law, the method, the disposition, the superiority, and the right. The wise and sagacious leader calculates these objectives and does best with his resources to maximize his benefits; he benefits best in harmony. Nations will continue to fight, and the battle between civilization and non-civilization will rage to perpetuity – for where there is knowledge, there is ignorance; for where there is justice, there is malice; for where there is peace, there is war. The wise and sagacious further knows that there is no end to war, no end to peace; but the balance of either can make the great empire stand for a thousand years.

皇: Therefore, the objective of the wise and sagacious leader is to seek harmony in the universe. It sounds so simple.

馬:What else do you expect? Simplicity is the best maxim possible without being too verbose! If the great leaders spent as much time planning every contingency as they did preparing their own contingencies, the world would be much simpler. As a rule of thumb, always aim to make your judgments simple, or otherwise risk losing your thought in a run of complex incomprehensible thoughts. Issue commands plainly; present your case plainly; let it be known what is your aim; act with one face instead of many; confront your foes as your friends. Making complexities in the world is a great fallacy of even the greatest minds, and to make things more complicated than what they need to be is unnecessary strain; all things need to relax, and adding complexity to any circumstance only winds the strain farther. Harmony is simple; war and peace are blatantly simple; victory and defeat even simpler. If you try to make sense of these things only to expect more complex thought is driving yourself to ruin.

皇: If the state of war and peace, and the harmony one ought to achieve between the two are inherently simple, why do we need the five criteria? Is it not simpler to say that one side will be victorious and the other not?

馬: His Imperial Majesty says it very well, but without a focus. You say that it is simpler to leave the ways of war and peace to their own. But you first ask me the way to victory and defeat. How else do I answer but the truth? Every great person must face a defeat and they will rise again to face victory; and the five criteria dictate the circumstances of victory and defeat. Now you ask me on the matters concerning war and peace; how are these two associated except by their different polarities? Indeed, victory and defeat are simpler still, though they have the five criteria, because human examination makes it possible to analyze them more closely. Yet war and peace, they are only simple, but humanity cannot yet explain it simply. The divine characteristic remains – we do not understand all that is around us, but we strive to explain it by deriving complex theories of the ways. Know first – the weak suffer the mighty, the mighty do not remain mighty, and the ways of all humanity lead inevitably to harmony.

皇: For stating the simple, you make obviously difficult statements.

馬: If His Imperial Majesty is not pleased with the manner of my discourse, he may excuse me from his service. Otherwise, I render the service that has been asked of me.

皇: You are excused.

And here rest the dialogues in their full integrity. The Marshal Ma retired from his position, and thence the Emperor endowed him with a full pension for the rest of his days. The Marshal Ma has never been called back to service, though the Empire may have needed him, and though the Empire remains threatened by violent forces beyond the Imperial Realm, these instructions have been well-kept among the commanders and leaders of the Empire. All those are taught to understand, and as more people come to read and understand the principles of these 13 chapters, there is the universal understanding that war is not the aim; harmony is the true objective for any person in any endeavor.

SUMMARY
- As if nothing gets into your head, I will pound this one word in your noggin: HARMONY.
- Belligerence is too overbearing, while pacifism begs an invader to overpower you; instead seek to maximize your power by managing your involvement in war and peace.
- There are many laws out there, but as long as you remember the ones that matter, everything else is worthless.
- Keep it simple!
- Power struggle is dynamic; so even though your NS population can only increase, don’t expect to be the top dawg in everything that you do always without a good fight for it.
- Don’t be fooled by all of the glittery words out there – like “communist”, “conservative”, “EVIL”, “orthodox”, or even “crème pie” – the only things that matter are what matters to your state.
- Aim for a harmonic balance in your daily diet.