Annotations
四海分裂 若復廢法 何用討賊邪
“The realm is broken and the war has only begun. If we now abandon the law as well, with what shall we ever defeat the enemy?”
— Zhuge Liang諸葛亮
ko천하가 갈라져 싸움이 이제 막 시작되었는데, 여기서 법을 다시 무너뜨린다면 무엇으로 적을 토벌하겠는가.
ja天下が分裂し、戦いがまさに始まったばかりなのに、ここで再び法を崩すなら、何をもって賊を討つのか。
The scene behind the words
His tearful answer, after Jieting, to those who urged that Ma Su was too talented to execute. Citing the ancient strategists, he insisted that in wartime the law is the army’s very life — then applied the principle to the protégé he loved. The logical core of the "executing Ma Su in tears" story.
Source: Xiangyang Ji (annotations to Ma Su’s biography)