CHAN KUO eras. His notes, therefore, are
well worth attention. They are very copious, and replete with
historical parallels. The gist of Sun Tzu's work is thus
summarized by him: "Practice benevolence and justice, but on the
other hand make full use of artifice and measures of expediency."
He further declared that all the military triumphs and disasters
of the thousand years which had elapsed since Sun Tzu's death
would, upon examination, be found to uphold and corroborate, in
every particular, the maxims contained in his book. Tu Mu's
somewhat spiteful charge against Ts`ao Kung has already been
considered elsewhere.

6. CH`EN HAO appears to have been a contemporary of Tu Mu.
Ch`ao Kung-wu says that he was impelled to write a new commentary
on Sun Tzu because Ts`ao Kung's on the one hand was too obscure
and subtle, and that of Tu Mu on the other too long-winded and
diffuse. Ou-yang Hsiu, writing in the middle of the 11th
century, calls Ts`ao Kung, Tu Mu and Ch`en Hao the three chief
commentators on Sun Tzu, and observes that Ch`en Hao is
continually attacking Tu Mu's shortcomings. His commentary,
though not lacking in merit, must rank below those of his
predecessors.

7. CHIA LIN is known to have lived under the T`ang dynasty,
for his commentary on Sun Tzu is mentioned in the T`ang Shu and
was afterwards republished by Chi Hsieh of the same dynasty
together with those of Meng Shih and Tu Yu. It is of somewhat
scanty texture, and in point of quality, too, perhaps the least
valuable of the eleven.

8. MEI YAO-CH`EN (1002-1060), commonly known by his "style"
as Mei Sheng-yu, was, like Tu Mu, a poet of distinction. His
commentary was published with a laudatory preface by the great
Ou-yang Hsiu, from which we may cull the following: --

Later scholars have misread Sun Tzu, distorting his
words and trying to make them square with their own one-sided
views. Thus, though commentators have not been lacking, only
a few have proved equal to the task. My friend Sheng-yu has
not fallen into this mistake. In attempting to provide a
critical commentary for Sun Tzu's work, he does not lose
sight of the fact that these sayings were intended for states
engaged in internecine warfare; that the author is not
concerned with the military conditions prevailing under the
sovereigns of the three ancient dynasties, [43] nor with the
nine punitive measures prescribed to t