(Translated by Sherwin Lu)

    Countries maintaining a strong army may have different motives for resorting to arms. Roughly, there are three: for spoils, for justice, or for vengeance.

    Predatory warfare happens when the victim country is suffering from famine or internal strife or discord between the sovereign and ministers. This kind of war will not bring serious harm, if not huge gains, to the initiator.

    Just wars are supposed to help suppress a rebellion or overthrow a tyrant in another state in order to remove the vicious and promote the virtuous. When fighting for justice, people are willing to sacrifice themselves. So, the rulers of powerful states usually annex other ones under the banner of justice but seldom push the principle of justice through to the end. Without consistency, initially just wars would also end in injustice.

    Wars may also grow out of bitter resentment if the bitterness is not dissolved in other ways. But such wars intended for revenge can lead to nowhere. Even if one wins the war, the resentment may come back on himself, because venting one’s bitterness is not the right way to solve disputes.

    The right approach to war is to always stay on the defensive side. That means you are forced to fight back when a war is imposed on you. Just because you are defensive, you will win unfailing moral support.  So, to yield at first is to leave room for winning a counterattack; to refrain from firing the first shot is to pave the way for a final victory. This is the way to be invincible.