Chapter 31

Weapons, however fine, are instruments of misfortune, disliked, one might say, by all creatures. So those who follow the Tao have no taste for using them.

In ordinary times, the superior man honors the left as the place of honor, but in war he honors the right. Weapons are instruments of misfortune, not the tools of the superior man; he uses them only when he has no choice. Calm and quiet are what he values; victory through arms gives him no pleasure. To take pleasure in it would mean delighting in the killing of people, and whoever delights in killing people cannot have his way in the kingdom.

At celebrations, the left is the place of honor; at funerals, the right. The second in command of the army stands on the left; the commanding general stands on the right—his position assigned as in the rites of mourning. One who has killed many people should weep for them with bitter grief; and the victor in battle takes his place, rightly, according to the rites of mourning.