[Those, namely, concerned with (1) mountains, (2) rivers, (3) marshes,
and (4) plains. Compare Napoleon’s "Military Maxims," no. 1.]
which enabled the Yellow Emperor to vanquish four several sovereigns.
[Regarding the "Yellow Emperor": Mei Yao-ch’en asks, with some
plausibility, whether there is an error in the text as nothing is known
of Huang Ti having conquered four other Emperors. The _Shih Chi_ (ch. 1
ad init.) speaks only of his victories over Yen Ti and Ch’ih Yu. In the
_Liu T’ao_ it is mentioned that he "fought seventy battles and pacified
the Empire." Ts’ao Kung’s explanation is, that the Yellow Emperor was
the first to institute the feudal system of vassals princes, each of
whom (to the number of four) originally bore the title of Emperor. Li
Ch’uan tells us that the art of war originated under Huang Ti, who
received it from his Minister Feng Hou.]