How to Read “Ten thousand soldiers are easy to get, but one general is hard to find”
Bansotsu wa eyasuku isshō wa egatashi
Meaning of “Ten thousand soldiers are easy to get, but one general is hard to find”
This proverb means that while many soldiers are easy to obtain, an excellent general is hard to find. In any organization, gathering regular workers is relatively easy. But finding an outstanding leader who can command everyone and make sound decisions is extremely difficult.
People use this saying when companies or groups are looking for talent. It especially applies when they cannot find the right person for important positions like executives or managers.
The phrase also appears when people recognize the value of excellent leaders and express gratitude for their presence.
This expression clearly shows the difference between quantity and quality in human resources. There is a huge gap between gathering numbers and finding truly exceptional people.
The proverb uses military imagery to make this point easy to understand. Today, people experience this truth in business, sports, education, and all kinds of organizational settings.
Origin and Etymology
This proverb likely comes from ancient Chinese classics. Scholars believe it connects deeply with ideas found in military strategy books and historical texts like “Han Feizi” and “Records of the Grand Historian.”
In ancient China, countless battles occurred during the Warring States period. Through these wars, people painfully learned how important talented people were in military affairs.
Soldiers could be trained to reach a certain standard. But the qualities of a general who could command entire armies, read battle situations, and make accurate judgments could not be learned through simple training alone.
“Bansotsu” means ten thousand soldiers, while “isshō” refers to one general. By contrasting large numbers with high quality, the expression highlights how rare valuable people are.
You can recruit soldiers easily enough. But finding a general with excellent leadership, judgment, and respect from others is nearly impossible no matter how hard you search. The proverb captures this reality.
The saying probably came to Japan along with Chinese classics. Samurai society also passed down this teaching as an important lesson.
The importance of leaders who can guide organizations is a universal theme that crosses time and borders. This is why the proverb has been told for so long.
Usage Examples
- We have many excellent employees, but no candidates who can lead the company to the next level. This is truly “ten thousand soldiers are easy to get, but one general is hard to find.”
- Replacing team members is simple, but finding a successor for the manager has been difficult. “Ten thousand soldiers are easy to get, but one general is hard to find” is so true.
Universal Wisdom
The universal truth in this proverb is that human abilities differ in quality. The power to see the whole picture and guide others is extremely rare. Why has this wisdom been passed down through the ages?
Human society always depends on cooperation. But for cooperation to work effectively, someone must show direction and unite people’s efforts. However, people with such qualities are never abundant.
Courage, insight, decisiveness, and respect from others—the probability of someone being born with all these traits is statistically very low.
Interestingly, this proverb does not say “generals cannot be developed.” “Hard to find” means difficult to discover. It also teaches that when you meet such a person, you are lucky and should recognize their value.
As a human truth, most people can fulfill assigned roles. But those who can forge new paths in unknown situations are limited. This is not about superiority or inferiority. It is about different roles.
Yet the fate of organizations depends precisely on people with these rare qualities. Our ancestors understood this harsh but realistic view of human nature. They compressed this wisdom into simple words and passed it to future generations.
When AI Hears This
Ordinary soldiers can be created with training manuals—short programs. You just need to teach them set movements. In information theory, information that can be reproduced with simple rules is called “compressible.”
For example, combining three commands like “advance, stop, shoot” lets you move a thousand soldiers. This is easy to copy because the information content is small.
But the judgment of an excellent general is different. Terrain, weather, enemy personality, soldier fatigue, supply conditions, political background—they instantly integrate countless factors to find the optimal solution.
This ability is “incompressible.” Why? Because to reproduce that judgment, you would need to bring along every battlefield the general experienced, every failure, every success. In other words, the general’s brain contains vast information in its shortest form, impossible to compress further.
In Kolmogorov complexity theory, the length of the shortest program that generates certain information represents that information’s essential complexity. The “program” to create a soldier is short.
But the “program” to create a general becomes as long as that person’s entire life. That is why textbooks cannot develop them, and even AI cannot easily reproduce them.
Rarity is actually incompressibility of information itself.
Lessons for Today
This proverb teaches modern people to properly recognize the value of excellent leaders. In daily life, we tend to take leaders for granted. But meeting a truly outstanding leader is actually very fortunate.
If you are part of an organization, treasure your encounters with excellent supervisors and mentors. What you can learn from them is precious wisdom not written in any textbook.
Ask questions, observe, and try to understand their thought processes. This effort will help you grow.
On the other hand, if you are in a leadership position, be aware of this responsibility’s weight. A position guiding many people is not one where replacements are easily found.
That is why you must keep learning and improving yourself constantly.
Most importantly, human value cannot be measured by simple numbers. One excellent person has the power to transform an entire organization.
Develop your eye for people and do not overlook truly valuable talent. This is the unchanging message that this proverb gives to those of us living today.
Comments