Tʽai Tsung ) was seconded by the brilliant strategy of Li Ching . None of these generals need fear comparison with the greatest names in the military history of Europe.

In spite of all this, the great body of Chinese sentiment, from Lao Tzǔ downwards, and especially as reflected in the standard literature of Confucianism, has been consistently pacific and intensely opposed to militarism in any form. It is such an uncommon thing to find any of the literati defending warfare on principle, that I have thought it worth while to collect and translate a few passages in which the unorthodox view is upheld. The following, by Ssǔ-ma Chʽien , shows that for all his ardent admiration of Confucius, he was yet no advocate of peace at any price:⁠—