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6

Now you may have strong armor and sharp weapons,[1] but if
they are not sufficient to undertake an expedition against the
enemy or to defeat the foe,[2] [it is just the same as not having
weapons at all].[3] Your bow may be good and the arrows may
match, but if they are not sufficient to shoot far and to hit a small
mark, [it is just the same as having no bow and arrows]. If the


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people are not equal to being put to hard service against a formidable
enemy, it is just the same as not having the people at
all. Just as a thousand li of boulders does not mean you have
any [real] territory, even so a million[4] ignorant citizens does not
mean you have the people. The Ode says,[5]

In the south is the Sieve,
But it is of no use to sift.
In the north is the Ladle,
But it lades out no liquor.
 
[1]

Cf. Mencius 135 (1A/5.3): "The strong mail and sharp weapons of the troops of
Ch`in and Ch`u."

[2]

[OMITTED] usually is applied to a specific enemy in a pejorative sense.

[3]

This phrase has become displaced to a position after the next sentence, the conclusion
to which I have supplied in brackets.

[4]

For [OMITTED] TPYL 499.1a has [OMITTED] "a billion," or "a hundred billion," depending
on the definition of [OMITTED].

[5]

Shih 356 No. 203/7.