pride. As in all countries, the
greatest are fond of emerging at the most fateful crises of her
history. Thus, Po Ch`i stands out conspicuous in the period when
Ch`in was entering upon her final struggle with the remaining
independent states. The stormy years which followed the break-up
of the Ch`in dynasty are illuminated by the transcendent genius
of Han Hsin. When the House of Han in turn is tottering to its
fall, the great and baleful figure of Ts`ao Ts`ao dominates the
scene. And in the establishment of the T`ang dynasty,one of the
mightiest tasks achieved by man, the superhuman energy of Li
Shih-min (afterwards the Emperor T`ai Tsung) was seconded by the
brilliant strategy of Li Ching. None of these generals need fear
comparison with the greatest names in the military history of
Europe.
In spite of all this, the great body of Chinese sentiment,
from Lao Tzu downwards, and especially as reflected in the
standard literature of Confucianism, has been consistently
pacific and intensely opposed to militarism in any form. It is
such an uncommon thing to find any of the literati defending
warfare on principle, that I have thought it worth while to
collect and translate a few passages in which the unorthodox view
is upheld. The following, by Ssu-ma Ch`ien, shows that for all
his ardent admiration of Confucius, he was yet no advocate of
peace at any price: --

Military weapons are the means used by the Sage to
punish violence and cruelty, to give peace to troublous
times, to remove difficulties and dangers, and to succor
those who are in peril. Every animal with blood in its veins
and horns on its head will fight when it is attacked. How
much more so will man, who carries in his breast the
faculties of love and hatred, joy and anger! When he is
pleased, a feeling of affection springs up within him; when
angry, his poisoned sting is brought into play. That is the
natural law which governs his being.... What then shall be
said of those scholars of our time, blind to all great
issues, and without any appreciation of relative values, who
can only bark out their stale formulas about "virtue" and
"civilization," condemning the use of military weapons? They
will surely bring our country to impotence and dishonor and
the loss of her rightful heritage; or, at the very least,
they will bring about invasion and rebellion, sacrifice of
territory and gener