Military Leaders From China

"Long before Christopher Columbus, the celebrated Chinese navigator Zheng He travelled through the south and westward maritime routes in the Indian Ocean and established relations with more than thirty countries in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East."

"Columbus's fleet in 1492 - which consisted of three small ships manned by 120 sailors - was like a trio of mosquitoes compared to Zheng He's drove of dragons."

"“I had for many years been a devout believer in Shushi says Nakaye Toju (1608-48), “when, by the mercy of Heaven, the collected works of Oyomei were brought for the first time to Japan. Had it not been for the aid of their teaching, my life would have been empty and barren.”"

"In 1795 an edict went forth against the further teaching of the Oyomei philosophy; and so docile was the mind of Japan that from that time on Oyomei concealed itself within the phrases of Confucianism, or entered as a modest component into that military Zen which, by a typical paradox of history, transformed the pacific faith of Buddha into the inspiration of patriotic warriors."

"There were contradictions in this philosophy, but these did not disturb its leading opponent, the gentle and peculiar Wang Yang-ming. For Wang was a saint as well as a philosopher; the meditative spirit and habits of Mahayana Buddhism had sunk deeply into his soul. It seemed to him that the great error in Chu Hsi was not one of morals, but one of method; the investigation of things, he felt, should begin not with the examination of the external universe, but, as the Hindus had said, with the far profounder and more revealing world of the inner self."

"众里寻他千百度，蓦然回首，那人却在，灯火阑珊处。"

"召辱己之少年令出胯下者以為楚中尉。告諸將相曰：「此壯士也。方辱我時，我寧不能殺之邪？殺之無名，故忍而就於此。」"

"淮陰屠中少年有侮信者，曰：「若雖長大，好帶刀劍，中情怯耳。」眾辱之曰：「信能死，刺我；不能死，出我袴下。」於是信孰視之，俛出袴下，蒲伏。一市人皆笑信，以為怯。"

"吾如淮陰，淮陰人為余言，韓信雖為布衣時，其志與眾異。其母死，貧無以葬，然乃行營高敞地，令其旁可置萬家。余視其母冢，良然。假令韓信學道謙讓，不伐己功，不矜其能，則庶幾哉，於漢家勳可以比周、召、太公之徒，後世血食矣。不務出此，而天下已集，乃謀畔逆，夷滅宗族，不亦宜乎！"

"上常從容與信言諸將能不，各有差。上問曰：「如我能將幾何？」信曰：「陛下不過能將十萬。」上曰：「於君何如？」曰：「臣多多而益善耳。」上笑曰：「多多益善，何為為我禽？」信曰：「陛下不能將兵，而善將將，此乃言之所以為陛下禽也。且陛下所謂天授，非人力也。」"

"諸將效首虜，（休）畢賀，因問信曰：「兵法右倍山陵，前左水澤，今者將軍令臣等反背水陳，曰破趙會食，臣等不服。然竟以勝，此何術也？」信曰：「此在兵法，顧諸君不察耳。兵法不曰『陷之死地而後生，置之亡地而後存』？且信非得素拊循士大夫也，此所謂『驅市人而戰之』，其勢非置之死地，使人人自為戰；今予之生地，皆走，寧尚可得而用之乎！」諸將皆服曰：「善。非臣所及也。」"

"Once you have acquired the skills, you must test them on an opponent, but in no way should you consider victory or submission to be a cause for shame or pride. Rather, you ought to think, "By what means did I defeat him?" Or, "By what means could I have defeated him?" Then you exert and test yourself for a while."

"The slogans of 'countering back the mainland' created by Chiang Kai-shek and 'liberating Taiwan' by Mao Zedong several decades ago should be forgotten because none of them could be put into practice."

"The fist methods do not seem to concern themselves with the arts of great warfare; nevertheless, to move the hands and feet actively and to work habitually the limbs and body constitutes the gateway to beginning study and entering the art."

"Taiwanese independence is a dead end."

"When people on both sides of the Strait reach a consensus on their political system, unification will come to fruition naturally."

"[Su Wu] relates how he shed tears during this separation, and urges his wife to remember their first love. He vows to return to her if he survives his ordeal, but if he dies first, then he hopes she will remember him with love. The courtly tone of his message to his wife, and his expression of integrity are mirrored in Su Wu's political life. In captivity he was offered the chance of liberty if he renounced his country, but he refused to become a traitor, for which he was honoured on his return."

"I suddenly remember the distance that I must travel; I spring from bed and look out to see the time. The stars and planets are all grown dim in the sky; Long, long is the road; I cannot stay. I am going on service, away to the battle-ground, And I do not know when I shall come back. I hold your hand with only a deep sigh; Afterwards, tears—in the days when we are parted. With all your might enjoy the spring flowers, But do not forget the time of our love and pride. Know that if I live, I will come back again, And if I die, we will go on thinking of each other."

"I shall send people to urge them to return home."

"Where have they gone?"

"Jung Lu has the guns which my army needs; with their aid not a stone would be left standing in the whole of the Legation Quarter."

"You Hollanders are conceited and senseless people. You will make yourselves unworthy of the mercy which I now offer you. You will subject yourselves to the highest punishment by proudly opposing the great force I have brought with the merest handleful of men which I am told you have in your castle."

"I will give you more and stronger ones. But if you still persist in refusing to listen to reason and decline to do my bidding, and if you wish deliberately to rush to your ruin, then I will shortly, in your presence, order your Castle to be stormed. (Here he pointed with one hand towards Fort Provintia.) My smart boys will attack it, conquer it, and demolish it in such a way, that not one stone will remain standing. If I wish to set my forces to work, then I am able to move Heaven and Earth; wherever I go, I am destined to win. Therefore take warning, and think the matter well over."

"On land you saw how the pride of Captain Pedel was so much humbled that he with his men, who are as foolish as himself, could not even bear the look of my men ; and how, on the mere sight of my warriors, they threw down their arms and willingly awaited their well-deserved punishment with outstretched necks. Are these not sufficient proofs of your incompetency and inability to resist my forces?"

"You have by this time surely seen with your own eyes what your iron ships, with which you think you can accomplish wonders and on which you boast so much, can do against my junks; how one of them has been burned by one of my junks and has disappeared in smoke; how the others would have met with the same doom had they not taken to flight and gone out to sea."

"You Hollanders are conceited and senseless people; you will make yourselves unworthy of the mercy which I now offer; you will subject yourselves to the highest punishment by proudly opposing the great force I have brought with the mere handful of men which I am told you have in your Castle; you will obstinately persevere in this. Do you not wish to be wiser? Let your losses at least teach you, that your power here cannot be compared to a thousandth part of mine."

"This island was the dominion of my fatherand should descend to none other than myself. Foreigners must go."

"Are these not sufficient proofs of your incompetency and inability to resist my forces? I will give you more and stronger ones. But if you still persist in refusing to liften to reason and decline to do my bidding, and if you wish delibrately to rush to your ruin, then I will shortly, in your presence, order your castle [Fort Provintia] to be stormed. If I wish to set my force to work, then I am able to move heaven and Earth. Wherever I go I am destined to win. Therefore take warning, and think the matter over."

"Muslims and Christians are brothers."

"I have read your religious works and I have found nothing inappropriate."

"This is because all my time is taken up by the war. You should keep in mind that there are times when the rifle is more important than the pen."

"The tomb of late general Bai Chongxi will form the basis for a Muslim cultural area and Taiwan historical park."

"We must take advantage of the victory in the anti-Japanese War to win our war against the Communist bandits, once for all."

"The Military Campaigns of the Kingdom of Wu." "They didn't have any machine guns or airplanes then."

"In a year and a half," "China will be sufficiently reunited to allow me to take my trip around the world. I wish to take Madam Wu and an entourage of about thirty persons, engaging expert guides in each country to instruct me in its governmental and industrial methods."

"Without establishing national laws, how can you suppress the rebellion?"

"The American people must understand that the China of today is not the China of 20 years ago. There has been a natural awakening. China will never submit to the Japanese."

"Rumors that Moscow is helping me must be due to the fact that while I was Chief of Police of the Town of Sakhalin-Ula I used to dine twice a year with the Soviet officials. I can swear that no foreigners have given or are giving me guns, munitions, supplies or money! I want the League of Nations to fulfill its duty. I want it to force the Japanese to withdraw from Northern Manchuria. If I am forced to abandon Tsitsihar I intend to retire into the back country."

"A toast to America! A toast to China!"

"I am convinced that we face a great offensive immediately," "We have lost more than 400 killed and 300 wounded since Nov. 5 and now the Japanese have handed an ultimatum to me. I know we are not strong enough to fight. But we must hold our own, until Death!"

"one of my soldiers can handle three Communist soldiers"

"I have always had one answer for Communists-kill them all."

"Chiang Kai-shek does not like my policies but he cannot do anything to me. I am too far away from his reach."

"He was a silly boy. He went mad. He murdered everyone."

"He was like the rider on the pale horse, which appeared when the fourth seal was broken: 'And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with the sword, and with hunder and eath, and with the beasts of the earth.'"

"The third reason is that at the time that Turkic Muslims were waging rebellion in the early years of the Guangxu reign, the ‘five elite divisions’ that governor general Liu Jintang led out of the Pass were all Dungan troops [Hui dui 回队]. Back then, Dungan military commanders such as Cui Wei and Hua Dacai were surrendered troops who had been redeployed. These are undoubtedly cases of pawns who went on to achieve great merit. When Cen Shuying was in charge of military affairs in Yunnan, the Muslim troops and generals that he used included many rebels, and it was because of them that the Muslim rebellion in Yunnan was pacified. These are examples to show that Muslim troops can be used effectively even while Muslim uprisings are still in progress. What is more, since the establishment of the Republic, Dungan have demonstrated not the slightest hint of errant behaviour to suggest that they may prove to be unreliable."

"They have not enjoyed the educational and political privileges of the Han chinese, and they are in many respects primitive. But they know the meaning of fidelity, and if I say 'do this, although it means death,' they cheerfully obey."

"In the past, the Mongols and Tibetans were divided as lords and slaves, but the two chairmen [Ma Qi and Ma Bufang], insisting on the principle of equality of all nationalities in our country, corrected the absurdity and astutely reformed it, which is really a perceptive measure greatly significant for the frontiers. Better still, in September when cattle and sheep are plump, people cheerful, making the lake worship ritual is really a celebration, analagous to the Mid-Autumn Festival in agricultural society, celebrating the harvest. The nomadic nationalities can now all rejoice without division in land and region."

"I lost my post when, as a result of the troubles, China lost her authority in Kashgar."

"I have served the Government of China for many years, first the Emperor, and after that the Republican Government at Nanking. I have always tried to do my best; but I must have committed errors--- though I do not know what they were---or this misfortune would not have befallen me. I have lost face."