Book 15 · 杂守 · Chapter 53
禽子问曰：“客众而勇，轻意见威，以骇主人。薪土俱上，以为羊坽，积土为高，以临吾民，蒙橹俱前，遂属之城，兵弩俱上，为之柰何？”
Master Qin Huali asked: "The enemy are numerous and brave; making light of difficulty they show off their might so as to terrify the defenders. With faggots and earth carried up together they build a 'sheep embankment' (yangling), piling up earth to make it high, in order to overlook our people; under the cover of mantlets they advance together until they reach right up to the city wall, and weapons and crossbows are all brought up. What is to be done about this?"
子墨子曰：“子问羊坽之守邪？羊坽者攻之拙者也，足以劳卒，不足以害城。羊坽之攻，远攻则远御，近攻则近御，害不至城。矢石无休，左右趣射，兰为柱后，望已固。厉吾锐卒，慎无使顾，守者重下，攻者轻去。养勇高奋，民心百倍，多执数赏，卒乃不怠。
Master Mozi said: "You are asking about the defence against the 'sheep embankment'? The sheep embankment is a clumsy method of attack: it suffices to wear out the troops but does not suffice to harm the city. In the attack by sheep embankment, if they attack from afar then resist from afar, if they attack from near then resist from near; the harm does not reach the city. Let arrows and stones fly without cease, and shoot quickly to left and right; set up screens (lan) as supports to the rear, and your lookout will already be secure. Steel your keen troops, taking care not to let them look back; the defenders strike heavily downward while the attackers retreat lightly. Foster their courage and rouse their spirit high, so that the people's morale increases a hundredfold; make many captures and grant frequent rewards, and the troops will then not slacken.
作土不休，不能禁御，遂属之城，以御云梯之法应之。凡待堙、冲、云梯、临之法，必应城以御之，石不足，则以木椁之。左百步，右百步，繁下矢、石、沙、灰以雨之，薪火、水汤以济之。选厉锐卒，慎无使顾，审赏行罚，以静为故，从之以急，无使生虑，养勇高愤，民心百倍，多执数赏，卒乃不怠。冲、临、梯皆以冲冲之。
If they raise earthworks without stopping and cannot be checked or repelled, so that they reach right up to the city wall, then respond to them with the method for resisting scaling-ladders (yunti). For all the methods of countering ramparts (yin), battering-rams (chong), scaling-ladders (yunti), and overlooking-towers (lin), you must match the city's defences to resist them. If stones are insufficient, then encase them with timber. For a hundred paces to the left and a hundred paces to the right, let arrows, stones, sand, and lime fall thickly upon them like rain, and reinforce this with firewood-fire and boiling water. Select and steel your keen troops, taking care not to let them look back; carefully administer rewards and carry out punishments, taking calm as your rule, urging them on with vigour, not letting anxious thoughts arise; foster their courage and rouse their spirit high, so that the people's morale increases a hundredfold; make many captures and grant frequent rewards, and the troops will then not slacken. Battering-rams, overlooking-towers, and ladders are all to be struck with the ram (chong).
渠长丈五尺，其埋者三尺，夫长丈二尺。渠广丈六尺，其梯丈二尺，荅之垂者四尺。树渠无傅堞五寸，梯渠十丈一梯，渠荅大数，里二百五十八，渠荅百二十九。
The trough-frame (qu) is one zhang five chi long, of which the buried part is three chi; the crosspiece (fu) is one zhang two chi long. The trough is one zhang six chi wide; its ladder is one zhang two chi, and the hanging part of the screen (da) is four chi. Set up the trough-frames no closer than five cun from the battlements; the trough-ladders, one ladder every ten zhang. As to the total number of troughs and screens: for a li, two hundred and fifty-eight; troughs and screens, one hundred and twenty-nine.
诸外道可要塞以难寇，其甚害者为筑三亭，亭三隅，织女之，令能相救。诸钜阜、山林、沟渎、丘陵、阡陌、郭门、若阎术，可要塞及为微识，可以迹知往来者少多及所伏藏之处。
On all the outer roads where there are passes that may be barricaded to obstruct the invaders, at the most dangerous points build three watch-posts (ting), each post with three corners, interwoven [in formation] like the Weaving Maid [constellation], so that they can rescue one another. As for all the great mounds, mountain forests, ditches and channels, hillocks and ridges, footpaths between fields, outer-city gates, and lane-passages that may be barricaded, set up secret markers there, by which one may track and learn the numbers of those coming and going and the places where they lie in ambush.
葆民，先举城中官府、民宅、室署，大小调处，葆者或欲从兄弟、知识者许之。外宅粟米、畜产、财物诸可以佐城者，送入城中，事即急，则使积门内。民献粟米布帛金钱牛马畜产，皆为置平价，与主券书之。
As for taking refugees under protection (baomin): first survey the offices and government buildings, the people's dwellings and chambers within the city, both great and small, and allot them suitably for lodging. If a protected person wishes to follow brothers or acquaintances [in lodging], permit it. The grain and millet, livestock, and goods in the outer dwellings, all that can aid the city, are to be brought into the city; and if the matter is urgent, then have them stored just inside the gates. When the people contribute grain and millet, cloth and silk, gold and cash, oxen and horses, and livestock, in every case set a fair price for them, and record it on a tally together with the owner.
使人各得其所长，天下事当，均其分职，天下事得，皆其所喜，天下事备，强弱有数，天下事具矣。
Cause each person to obtain a post suited to his abilities, and the affairs of the realm will be fitting; equalize the apportionment of their duties, and the affairs of the realm will be well managed; let each be at what he delights in, and the affairs of the realm will be complete; let the strong and the weak each have their measure, and the affairs of the realm will be fully provided for.
筑邮亭者圜之，高三丈以上，令倚杀。为臂梯，梯两臂长三丈，连版三尺，报以绳连之。堑再匝，为县梁。垄灶，亭一鼓。寇烽、警烽、乱烽，传火以次应之，至主国止，其事急者引而上下之。烽火已举，辄五鼓传，又以火属之，言寇所从来者少多，毋弇建，去来属次烽勿罢。望见寇，举一烽；入境，举二烽；射要，举三烽三鼓；郭会，举四烽四鼓；城会，举五烽五鼓；夜以火，如此数。守烽者事急。
When building a relay-post (youting), make it round, three zhang or more high, with the upper part tapering inward. Make an arm-ladder (biti): the ladder's two arms are three zhang long, with connecting boards three chi [wide], joined and bound together with rope. Dig the moat doubly around, and make a suspension bridge (xianliang). [Build] a raised stove; each post has one drum. The invasion-beacon, the alarm-beacon, and the chaos-beacon: pass the fire on in sequence so that they answer one another, stopping when it reaches the home state. In urgent cases, draw [the beacon] up and down. Once the beacon-fire has been raised, at once relay five drum-beats, and connect it further with fire, reporting whether the invaders coming are few or many. Do not let [the beacon-frame] be obscured. As they come and go, keep the relay-beacons in succession and do not cease. On sighting the enemy, raise one beacon; when they enter the borders, raise two beacons; when they reach the [outer] defences, raise three beacons and beat the drum three times; when they assemble at the outer wall, raise four beacons and beat the drum four times; when they assemble at the city wall, raise five beacons and beat the drum five times. At night use fire, in the same numbers. For those who tend the beacons, the matter is urgent.
候无过五十，寇至堞，随去之，无弇逮。日暮出之，令皆为微识。距阜、山林，皆令可以迹，平明而迹，迹者无下里三人，各立其表，城上应之。候出置田表，斥坐郭内外立旗帜，卒半在内，令多少无可知。即有警，举外表，见寇，举次表。城上以麾指之，斥坐鼓整旗，以战备从麾所指。田者男子以战备从斥，女子亟走入。即见寇，鼓传到城止。守表者三人，更立邮表而望，守数令骑若吏行旁视，有以知其所为。其曹一鼓。望见寇，鼓传到城止。
Scouts should not exceed fifty [paces out]; when the enemy reaches the battlements, follow [the signal] to withdraw, not letting [the enemy] catch them. At dusk send them out, and have them all use secret markers. On the distant mounds and mountain forests, in every case make it possible to track, and track at dawn. The trackers should be no fewer than three per li, each setting up his marker, and those on the city wall respond to it. The scouts go out and set up field-markers; the lookouts (chi) sit and set up flags and banners inside and outside the outer wall, with half the troops within, so that their number cannot be known. If there is an alarm, raise the outer marker; on sighting the enemy, raise the next marker. Those on the city wall direct them with a signal-flag; the seated lookouts beat the drum and dress their banners, and with battle-readiness follow where the flag points. The men working the fields, with battle-readiness, follow the lookouts; the women rush quickly inside. As soon as the enemy is sighted, the drumming is relayed until it reaches the city, then stops. There are three men keeping the markers, who in turn set up relay-markers and keep watch. The commander frequently has horsemen or officers patrol about and observe on the side, so as to know what they are doing. Each squad has one drum. On sighting the enemy, the drumming is relayed until it reaches the city, then stops.
斗食，终岁三十六石；参食，终岁二十四石；四食，终岁十八石；五食，终岁十四石四斗；六食，终岁十二石。斗食食五升，参食食参升小半，四食食二升半，五食食二升，六食食一升大半，日再食。救死之时，日二升者二十日，日三升者三十日，日四升者四十日，如是，而民免于九十日之约矣。
[For] the douche ration (one dou): for the whole year, thirty-six shi; [for] the san ration: for the whole year, twenty-four shi; [for] the four-portion ration: for the whole year, eighteen shi; [for] the five-portion ration: for the whole year, fourteen shi four dou; [for] the six-portion ration: for the whole year, twelve shi. The dou ration is five sheng per meal; the san ration is three and a small fraction sheng; the four-portion ration is two and a half sheng; the five-portion ration is two sheng; the six-portion ration is one and a large fraction sheng; with two meals a day. In a time of saving lives [from starvation]: at two sheng a day, twenty days; at three sheng a day, thirty days; at four sheng a day, forty days. In this way the people may be spared the ninety-day stint of dearth.
寇近，亟收诸离乡金器，若铜铁及他可以佐守事者。先举县官室居、官府不急者，材之大小长短及凡数，即急先发。寇薄，发屋，伐木，虽有请谒，勿听。入柴，勿积鱼鳞簪，当遂，令易取也。材木不能尽入者，燔之，无令寇得用之。积木，各以长短大小恶美形相从，城四面外各积其内，诸木大者皆以为关鼻，乃积聚之。
When the enemy is near, quickly gather in all the metal implements of the outlying villages, such as bronze and iron and other things that may aid the work of defence. First requisition the dwellings and offices of the county that are not urgently needed; record the size and length of their timber and its total number, and when matters become urgent dismantle them first. As the enemy presses close, tear down houses and fell trees; even if there are requests and pleas [to spare them], do not heed them. When bringing in firewood, do not stack it tightly like fish-scales packed together, so that it may be easy to take out. Timber that cannot all be brought in is to be burned, so that the enemy cannot make use of it. In stacking timber, arrange each piece by length, size, and quality of form; on each of the four sides of the city stack it on the inner side, and for all the larger pieces of timber make ring-holes [for handling], and then gather and stack them.
城守司马以上，父母、昆弟、妻子，有质在主所，乃可以坚守。署都司空，大城四人，候二人，县候面一，亭尉、次司空、亭一人。吏侍守所者才足，廉信，父母昆弟妻子又在葆宫中者，乃得为侍吏。诸吏必有质，乃得任事。守大门者二人，夹门而立，令行者趣其外。各四戟，夹门立，而其人坐其下。吏日五阅之，上逋者名。
For those who defend [holding rank of] Major (sima) and above, only when their parents, brothers, wives, and children are held as hostages in the ruler's keeping can [the city] be firmly defended. As for appointing Directors of Works (sikong): for a great city, four men; lookout officers, two men; for the county-lookouts, one to each face; watch-post commandants and assistant Directors of Works, one to each post. The officers attending at the defence headquarters should be just sufficient in number, honest and trustworthy, and only those whose parents, brothers, wives, and children are also in the hostage-palace may serve as attending officers. All officers must have hostages [pledged] before they may be charged with duties. Those guarding the great gate are two men, standing on either side of the gate, making passers-by keep to the outside [of them]. Four halberds [are set] on each side, flanking the gate, and the men sit beneath them. The officers inspect them five times a day, and report by name those who absent themselves.
池外廉有要有害，必为疑人，令往来行夜者射之，诛其疏者。墙外水中，为竹箭，箭尺广二步，箭下于水五寸，杂长短，前外廉三行，外外向，内亦内向。三十步一弩庐，庐广十尺，长丈二尺。
Where the outer edge of the moat has critical or vulnerable points, you must station decoy figures (yiren, dummy sentries), and have the night patrols going to and fro shoot at them, punishing any who are negligent. In the water outside the wall, set bamboo arrow-stakes (zhujian), the stakes [spaced] one chi over a width of two paces, the stakes [submerged] five cun below the water, mixed long and short, three rows along the front outer edge, the outer ones pointing outward, the inner ones likewise pointing inward. Every thirty paces, one crossbow shelter (nulu); the shelter is ten chi wide and one zhang two chi long.
队有急，亟发其近者往佐，其次袭其处。
When a sector (dui) is in distress, quickly dispatch those nearest to go to its aid, and have the next [nearest] take over their position.
守节出入，使主节必疏书，署其情，令若其事，而须其还报以检验之。节出，使所出门者，辄言节出时操者名。
When a defence tally is to go out or in, have the officer in charge of the tally always write out a clear record, noting its particulars and matching it to the affair, and await the return report to verify it against [the record]. When a tally goes out, the gate by which it is sent out must at once report the name of the bearer at the time the tally went out.
百步一队。
Every hundred paces, one sector (dui).
閤通守舍，相错穿室。治复道，为筑墉，墉善其上。
Doorways (he) connect with the defence quarters, with rooms bored through interlinking one another. Construct covered passageways (fudao); build walls for them, and make the tops of the walls good.
取蔬，令民家有三年蓄蔬食，以备湛旱、岁不为。常令边县豫种畜芫、芒、乌喙、椒叶，外宅沟井填可，塞不可，置此其中。安则示以危，危示以安。
In gathering vegetables, have each household of the people keep a three-year store of vegetable food, so as to be ready against flood, drought, and crop failure. Always have the border counties plant and store in advance yuan (Daphne genkwa), mang (cocklebur), wuhui (aconite), and pepper-leaf [poisons]. The ditches and wells of the outer dwellings: fill in those that can be [reused] and stop up those that cannot, placing these [poisons] within them. When secure, show [the appearance of] danger; when in danger, show [the appearance of] security.
寇至，诸门户令皆凿而幎窍之，各为二类，一凿而属绳，绳长四尺，大如指。寇至，先杀牛、羊、彘、鸡、狗、凫、雁，收其皮革、筋、角、脂、脑、羽皆剥之。使檟桐栗，为铁錍，后兰为衡柱。事急，卒不可远，令掘外宅林。课多少，若治城上为击，三隅之。重五斤以上诸林木，渥水中，无过一筏。涂茅屋若积薪者，厚五寸以上。吏各举其部界中财物，可以佐守备者上。
When the enemy arrives, have all the doors and gateways bored through and their holes plugged, each fitted with two kinds [of fastening]: one [hole] bored and fitted with a rope, the rope four chi long and as thick as a finger. When the enemy arrives, first slaughter the oxen, sheep, pigs, chickens, dogs, ducks, and geese, and gather their hides and leather, sinews, horns, fat, brains, and feathers, all flayed off. Use jia, paulownia, and chestnut wood; make iron arrowheads (tiepi); set up screens (lan) to the rear as cross-supports. If the matter is urgent and there is no time to go far for troops, have [them] dig up the woods of the outer dwellings. Assess the quantity, and if managing the city wall, use [the timber] for striking, [fashioning] three-cornered [pieces]. For all woodland timber weighing five jin or more, soak it in water, [in bundles] not exceeding one raft. In daubing thatched roofs or stacked firewood, [apply mud] five cun thick or more. Let the officers each report the goods within their sector's bounds that may aid the defensive preparations, and hand them up.
有谗人，有利人，有恶人，有善人，有长人，有谋士，有勇士，有巧士，有使士，有内人者，外人者，有善人者，有善斗人者，守必察其所以然者，应名乃纳之。民相恶，若议吏，吏所解，皆札书藏之，以须告者之至以参验之。诸小睨五尺，不可卒者，为署吏，令给事官府若舍。
There are slanderers, there are self-seekers, there are evil men, there are good men, there are men of stature, there are strategists, there are brave men, there are skilled craftsmen, there are envoys, there are those who [direct] inward and those who [direct] outward, there are good men, and there are men good at fighting. The defending commander must examine why each is so, and admit him in accordance with [his true] designation. When the people slander one another, or when they criticize the officers, whatever the officers settle [of such matters] is all to be recorded on slips and stored away, to await the arrival of an informant so as to cross-check it. As for the small ones, five chi [tall], who cannot serve as soldiers, assign them as clerks' assistants and have them serve in the offices or quarters.
蔺石、厉矢，诸材器用，皆谨部，各有积分数。为轺车以梓，载矢以轺车，轮毂，广十尺，辕长丈，为四轮，广六尺。为板箱，长与辕等，高四尺，善盖上治中，令可载矢。”
Catapult-stones (linshi) and sharpened arrows, and all materials, tools, and implements, are all to be carefully [assigned by] sector, each having its allotted accumulated quantity. Make a light cart (yaoche) of catalpa wood, and load arrows on the light cart. Its wheel-hubs are ten chi wide, the shaft one zhang long; make four wheels, six chi wide. Make a plank box, as long as the shaft, four chi high, well covered above and finished within, so that it can carry arrows."
子墨子曰：“凡不守者有五：城大人少，一不守也；城小人众，二不守也；人众食寡，三不守也；市去城远，四不守也；蓄积在外，富人在墟，五不守也。率万家而城方三里。”
Master Mozi said: "In general there are five [conditions under which a city] cannot be defended: when the city is large but the people few, this is the first 'cannot defend'; when the city is small but the people many, this is the second 'cannot defend'; when the people are many but the food scarce, this is the third 'cannot defend'; when the market is far from the city, this is the fourth 'cannot defend'; when the stores are kept outside and the rich men dwell in the [outlying] settlements, this is the fifth 'cannot defend.' At the rate of ten thousand households, the city is three li square."