Simafa 司馬法

Simafa 司馬法 "Methods of the Minister of War" is an ancient military treatise. It belongs to the corpus of the Seven Military Classics (Wujing qishu 武經七書). Authorship is attributed to Tian Rangju 田穰苴, called Sima Rangju 司馬穰苴 "Rangju, Minister of War", a general of the state of Qi 齊 during the Warring States period 戰國 (5th cent.-221 BCE). The book is therefore also known with the title Sima Rangju bingfa 司馬穰苴兵法 or Sima bingfa 司馬兵法.

The imperial bibliography Yiwen zhi 藝文志 in the official dynastic history Hanshu 漢書 says the book Junli sima fa 軍禮司馬法 "Methods of the Minister of War concerning military rituals" was 155 chapters-long. The bibliographical chapter Jingjizhi 經籍志 in the Suishu 隋書 speaks of a Simafa of 3 juan in length. The received version is only 1-juan-long and includes 5 chapters. It seems that the original text included not only recommendations for the conduct of war but also prescriptions for military ceremonies and military law.

Parts of the text might have originated in the Western Zhou period 西周 (11th cent.-770 BCE), and there is written evidence that King Wei of Qi 齊威王 (r. 379-343) ordered to assemble fragments and reconstruct a text then called Sima Rangju bingfa. During the Tang period 唐 (618-907), no more than 10 chapters were left of the text as it existed during the Han period 漢 (206 BCE-220 CE), and the text as transmitted today was reduced to no more than 5 chapters during the Song period 宋 (960-1279). Contradictions in different parts of the text demonstrate that the Simafa was a concoction of texts of different origins, and not the coherent product of a single author or group of authors.

About the life of the purported author, virtually nothing is known. Most famous is a story in which Sima Rangju demonstrated the importance of command and obedience by having executed grand master Zhuang Jia 莊賈 because the latter appeared late to an appointment for military review.

The text of the Simafa is to be found, for instance, in the series Xu guyi congshu 續古逸叢書, which reproduces a Song-period print, as well as Siku quanshu 四庫全書, Zishu baijia 子書百家, Zhihai 指海, Sibu beiyao 四部備要, and Sibu congkan 四部叢刊.

Sima Rangju saw warfare as part of the standard administration and defined situations in which a ruler might justifiably resort to war, for instance, to appease a country, save the population from further disturbances, or to stop warfare by war (yi zhan zhi zhan 以戰止戰爭). Respect for civilian life was a crucial matter. Campaigns should not be carried out during agricultural seasons (summer, autumn). Even the population on the enemy's territory was to be respected, for instance, when a plague or natural disaster ravaged the country. Respect for the political competitor can be seen in the recommendation not to attack a country in mourning for a deceased ruler. Traditional principles of honour and respect can also be seen in the custom not to pursue fleeing troops farther than one hundred paces.

Although the author operates with the concept of the six virtues (liude 六德) ritual (li 禮), kindheartedness (ren 仁), trust (xin 信), righteousness (yi 義), bravery (yong 勇) and wisdom (zhi 智), which are usually associated with Confucianism, Sima Rangju stresses that moral values prevalent in the civilian sphere could not be applied in war. Benevolence in civilian government, for instance, was expressed by creating trust, while military spirit (wu 武) had to prevail in warfare. While the civilian sphere operated based on harmony (he 和), only methodical prescriptions (fa 法) would provide order in the rank and files. "Harmony" nevertheless played a specific role among the troops, for otherwise, an army would not be able to fight with a united spirit.

The author highlights the importance of leadership qualifications a general should have. A general must be competent to incite the commitment of the officer corps and the ordinary troops. He had to calculate calmly and deep-sighted, and free himself of personal emotions, even in imminent danger. Hotspurs were no good generals.

A general had to care for the well-being of his troops (provisions, clothing, weaponry) and to light the necessary martial fire in their hearts. On entering the enemy's territory, an army had to keep together closely and avoid exposing weak points the enemy might attack. The troops and draft animals had to save their forces to be ready for battle at any time. Rewards and punishments certainly had their use, but Sima Rangju warns against applying them excessively. Neither should reward after a victory make the troops arrogant, nor should punishment after defeat deprive them of their spirits. The same was true for the general himself. He should take responsibility alone in case of defeat and not blame the army.

It was important to consider five points (wulü 五慮) before engaging in war: weather and seasons (tian shun 天順), funding (fu cai 阜財), the fighting spirit of the troops (yi zhong 懌眾), topography (li di 利地), and armament (you bing 右[=佑]兵). Spies (jian 間) would have to find out about the strength and operations of the enemy to know whether it would be possible to defeat him. The use of reconnaissance is strictly recommended, as well as close observation of all inimical movements.

Arousing the spirit of the people was called the guiding principle of warfare (zhan zhi dao 戰之道). The "seven administrative aspects" (qizheng 七政) were men (ren 人), uprightness (zheng 正), language (ci 辭), skills (qiao 巧), attack by fire (huo 火), attack by or on water (water 水), and weapons (bing 兵). These were to be applied in the right way. Benevolence (ren 仁), credibility (xin 信), straightforwardness (zhi 直), unity (yi), righteousness (yi 義), change (bian 變, and centralised authority (zun 尊) were guiding principles for imposing order on chaos (zhi luan zhi dao 治亂之道).

Acceptance [of constraints] (shou 受), laws or standards (fa 法), establishment [of the talented and upright] (li 立), urgency [in administration] (ji 疾), distinguishing with insignia (yu qi fu 御其服), ordering the colours (deng qi se 等其色), and no nonstandard uniforms among the officers (baiguan yi wu yin fu 百官宜無淫服), were guiding principles for establishing laws (li fa zhi dao 立法之道).

The training was an integral part of the preparation for battle. Troops had to know how to interpret signals, how to use their individual weapons, and how to create formations. The Simafa has a unique paragraph on defence, which was carried out by sitting, kneeling, or prostrating. Most important in all fighting situations was the density of the formation.

Each weapon had a specified use: Bow and arrow for attack, maces and spears (shu mao 殳矛) for defence, dagger-axes and spear-halberds (ge ji 戈戟) for support. The long weapons protected the short, and the short rescued the long.

The methods described in the book Simafa were applied by generals of the Warring States period. The famous warlord Cao Cao 曹操 (155-220) from the very late Eastern Han period 後漢 (25-220) often quoted from the book. In practical matters, the Simafa had an influence which can easily be compared with the far better-known book Sunzi bingfa 孫子兵法.

There is a complete translation of the Simafa by Ralph D. Sawyer (1993).