五音

King Wu asked Taigong: 'Can the sounds of pitch pipes be used to know the condition of the three armies and determine victory or defeat?' Taigong said: 'Profound indeed is the king's question! The twelve pitch pipes have as their essence the five notes — gong, shang, jue, zhi, and yu — these are the standard tones. Unchanged through ten thousand generations, they are the spirits of the five elements, the constants of the Way. Through them you can know which of the enemy's elements — metal, wood, water, fire, or earth — is dominant, and attack each with the element that conquers it. In the age of the Three Sovereigns of antiquity, the essence of emptiness and nothingness was used to control what was hard and strong. Before writing existed, everything operated through the five elements. The way of the five elements is the natural order of heaven and earth. The divisions of the six cycles of sixty are subtle and divine.'

The method is as follows: on a clear night free of clouds, wind, and rain, at midnight, dispatch light cavalry to a position nine hundred paces from the enemy camp, carrying a full set of pitch pipes. The pipe that resonates — its response will be extremely faint. If the jue note responds, employ the White Tiger formation. If the zhi note responds, employ the Black Tortoise formation. If the shang note responds, employ the Vermilion Bird formation. If the yu note responds, employ the Hook Array formation. If all five pipes are sounded and none responds, the element is gong — employ the Azure Dragon formation. Using the talismans of the five elements, these are the signs that assist victory and the pivot of success or failure.' King Wu said: 'Excellent!'

Taigong said: 'These subtle sounds all have external indicators.' King Wu asked: 'How does one know them?' Taigong said: 'When the enemy is startled into activity, listen: if you hear the sound of drums, it corresponds to jue. If you see the light of fires, it corresponds to zhi. If you hear the sound of metal, iron, spears, and halberds, it corresponds to shang. If you hear the sounds of men shouting and whistling, it corresponds to yu. If there is silence and nothing can be heard, it corresponds to gong. These five are the indicators of sound and appearance.'