Book 14 · 备蛾傅 · Chapter 49
禽子再拜再拜曰：“敢问适人强弱，遂以傅城，后上先断，以为法程，斩城为基，掘下为室，前上不止，后射既疾，为之柰何？”
Master Qin bowed twice and twice again and said: "I venture to ask: when the enemy, whether strong or weak, presses forward to swarm up the wall, those behind mounting while those in front are cut down, taking this as their fixed method and standard; when they hack at the wall to make a foothold and dig down to make burrows; when the front ranks keep climbing without cease and the rear shoots arrows fast and hard—what is to be done about it?"
子墨子曰：“子问蛾傅之守邪？蛾傅者，将之忿者也。守为行临射之，校机藉之，擢之，太泛迫之，烧荅覆之，沙石雨之，然则蛾傅之攻败矣。备蛾傅为县脾，以木板厚二寸，前后三尺，旁广五尺，高五尺，而折为下磨车，转径尺六寸。令一人操二丈四方，刃其两端，居县脾中，以铁璅敷县二脾上衡，为之机，令有力四人下上之，弗离。施县脾，大数二十步一，攻队所在六步一。
Master Mozi said: "Are you asking about the defence against the ant-rush assault? The ant-rush is what a commander resorts to in his rage. The defender, for it, sets up movable ramparts (xing-lin) and shoots from them, levers and hooks them with mechanical devices, drags them down, presses upon them in great floods, covers them over with burning faggots, rains down sand and stones upon them—then the ant-rush attack is defeated. To prepare against the ant-rush, make hanging crab-frames (xianpi): use wooden boards two inches thick, three feet front-to-back, five feet broad on the side, and five feet high, bent downward into a lower grinding-cart (mo-che) whose turning wheel has a diameter of one foot six inches. Have one man wield a blade two zhang and four [feet] long, edged at both ends, stationed within the hanging crab-frame; with iron chains hang the two crab-frames upon the upper crossbar, make a machine for it, and have four strong men raise and lower it without it coming apart. In setting out the hanging crab-frames, the general rule is one every twenty paces, but where the attack column presses, one every six paces.
为累荅广从丈各二尺，以木为上衡，以麻索大编之，染其索涂中，为铁璅，钩其两端之县。客则蛾傅城，烧荅以覆之，连梃，抄大皆救之。以车两走，轴闲广大以圉，犯之。刺其两端。以束轮，遍编涂其上。室中以榆若蒸，以棘为旁，命曰火捽，一曰传汤，以当队。客则乘队，烧传汤，斩维而下之，令勇士随而击之，以为勇士前行，城上辄塞坏城。
Make piled faggot-mats (lei-da), one zhang broad and one zhang long, each two feet [thick]; use wood for the upper crossbar and bind them together with thick hempen rope, dyeing the rope by smearing it [with mud]; make iron chains and hook them at both ends of the suspension. When the enemy swarms up the wall like ants, burn the faggot-mats to cover them, [use] linked staves (lian-ting), and with grapnels and hooks all come to the rescue. With a pair of carts let them run, the axle-space being wide and large so as to ward off and strike at the enemy; stab them at both ends. Bind them with wheels, binding all around and smearing mud over them. Within the chamber [place] elm or kindling, with thorn-brush at the sides—this is called the "fire-grappler" (huo-zu), also called the "passing-cauldron" (chuan-tang)—to meet the attack column. When the enemy mounts the column, burn the passing-cauldron, cut the cord and let it down, and have brave men follow it and strike them, making the brave men the front rank; on the wall they at once block up and repair the breaches.
城下足为下说鑱杙，长五尺，大圉半以上，皆剡其末，为五行，行闲广三尺，狸三尺，大耳树之。为连殳，长五尺，大十尺。梃长二尺，大六寸，索长二尺。椎，柄长六尺，首长尺五寸。斧，柄长六尺，刃必利，皆筑其一后。荅广丈二尺，其长丈六尺，垂前衡四寸，两端接尺相覆，勿令鱼鳞槮，著其后行。中央木绳一，长二丈六尺，荅楼不会者以牒塞，数暴乾，荅为格，令风上下。堞恶疑坏者，先狸木十尺一枚一，节坏，邓植以押虑卢薄于木，卢薄表八尺，广七寸，经尺一，数施一击而下之，为上下釫而斫之。
Below the wall it suffices to make sharpened stakes (chan-yi) of the lower set, five feet long and more than half a [foot] thick, all with pointed ends, arranged in five rows, the rows three feet apart, buried three feet deep, planted with great care. Make linked maces (lian-shu), five feet long and ten [inches] thick. The staves are two feet long, six inches thick, with cords two feet long. The mallet has a handle six feet long and a head one foot five inches long. The axe has a handle six feet long, its blade must be sharp, and all are weighted (tamped firm) at the rear of one [end]. The faggot-mat is one zhang two feet broad and one zhang six feet long, hanging four inches over the front crossbar, its two ends overlapping by a [foot] so as to cover, but do not let them be staggered like fish-scales; attach it to the rear row. In the centre is one wooden rope, two zhang six feet long; where the faggot-mat and the tower do not meet, stop the gap with slips; dry them repeatedly in the sun; make the faggot-mat into a lattice (ge) so that the wind passes up and down. Where the battlements are bad and seem about to collapse, first bury one timber ten feet [long] per [spot]; where a section collapses, set up posts and press the laths against the timber—the lath-screen being eight feet on its face, seven inches broad, one foot one inch around—and apply them several times, with one stroke knocking it down; make upper and lower trowels (huan) and hack at it.
经一钧、禾楼、罗石、县荅，植内毋植外。
The full set: one jun-weight, the grain-tower (he-lou), the gathered stones (luo-shi), and the hanging faggot-mat (xian-da)—plant them within, not without.
杜格，狸四尺，高者十丈，木长短相杂，兑其上，而外内厚涂之。
The blocking-grid (du-ge): bury it four feet [deep], the tall ones being ten zhang [high], with timbers long and short intermixed, pointed at the top, and thickly smeared with mud inside and out.
为前行行栈、县荅。隅为楼，楼必曲里。土五步一，毋其二十畾。雀穴十尺一，下堞三尺，广其外。转傅城上，楼及散与池革盆。若转，攻卒击其后，暖失治。车革火。
Make for the front rank the row-galleries (xing-zhan) and the hanging faggot-mats. At the corners make towers, and the tower must curve inward. Earth [mounds] one every five paces, ... [not] its twenty ... Sparrow-holes (que-xue) one every ten feet, three feet below the battlements, widening toward the outside. When [the enemy] wheels round to press upon the wall-top, [use] the towers and the scattered [troops] together with leather basins from the moat. If they wheel about, the attacking soldiers strike at their rear, [so that they are] confused and lose their order. [Use] carts, leather, and fire.
凡杀蛾傅而攻者之法，置薄城外，去城十尺，薄厚十尺。伐操之法，大小尽木断之，以十尺为断，离而深狸坚筑之，毋使可拔。
The general method for killing those who carry out the ant-rush assault: set a fence (bo) outside the wall, ten feet from the wall, the fence being ten feet thick. The method of felling and managing [the timber]: cut all the wood, large and small, breaking it into ten-foot lengths, set apart and buried deep and firmly rammed, so that it cannot be pulled out.
二十步一杀，有鬲，厚十尺。杀有两门，门广五步，薄门板梯狸之，勿筑，令易拔。城上希薄门而置捣。
Every twenty paces make one killing-place (sha), with a partition (ge), ten feet thick. The killing-place has two gates, each gate five paces wide; the fence-gate is of planks and ladders buried in, but not rammed, so that they are easy to pull out. On the wall make sparing use of the fence-gate and set up a pounding-device (dao).
县火，四尺一椅，五步一灶，灶门有炉炭。传令敌人尽入，车火烧门，县火次之，出载而立，其广终队，两载之间一火，皆立而待鼓音而然，即俱发之。敌人辟火而复攻，县火复下，敌人甚病。
Hanging fire (xian-huo): one chair (yi)/bracket every four feet, one stove every five paces, with a brazier of charcoal at the stove-mouth. Pass the order to let the enemy all enter; [then] the cart-fire burns the gate, the hanging fire comes next; bring it out, mount it, and set it up, its breadth spanning the whole column, with one fire between each pair of mounts; all stand and wait for the drum-sound, and then ignite—at that they are all set off together. When the enemy avoids the fire and attacks again, the hanging fire comes down once more, and the enemy is sorely afflicted.
敌引哭而榆，则令吾死士左右出穴门击遗师，令贲士、主将皆听城鼓之音而出，又听城鼓之音而入。因素出兵将施伏，夜半，而城上四面鼓噪，敌人必或，破军杀将。以白衣为服，以号相得。
When the enemy draws back wailing and elm[-withdraws], then order our death-defying men to sally left and right from the burrow-gates and strike the retreating host; order the valiant men and the chief commanders all to heed the sound of the city-drum and go out, and again to heed the sound of the city-drum and come in. Accordingly, having beforehand sent out troops and commanders to lay ambushes, at midnight have the four sides of the wall beat drums and raise a clamour, and the enemy will surely be thrown into confusion—their army broken and their commanders slain. Wear white clothing as the uniform, and recognize one another by the watchword."