Severe Punishment

Wu Qi said: Battle drums and gongs are used to overawe the ear and unify hearing; banners and flags are used to overawe the eye and unify sight; prohibitions and punishments are used to overawe the heart and unify the will. When sound is used to overawe the ear, the sound must be clear; when form is used to overawe the eye, the form must be distinct; when punishment is used to overawe the heart, enforcement must be strict. If these three are not established, soldiers will become slack. Therefore it is said: wherever the general’s banner points, no one fails to follow with his heart; wherever the general’s command points, no one fails to advance to death. Modern Application:This chapter, opening with Wu Qi’s words, breaks “strictness in governing the army” into three channels that are independent yet must hold simultaneously: overawing the ear, overawing the eye, and overawing the heart. Its modern meaning is not to advocate “harsh laws and severe punishments,” but to reveal the completeness problem of an organization’s command system: for an order to be truly......