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Chapter 69

用兵有言：

用yòng兵bīng有yǒu言yán：
吾wú不bù敢gǎn为wéi主zhǔ而ér为wéi客kè；
不bù敢gǎn进jìn寸cùn而ér退tuì尺chǐ。
是shì谓wèi行xíng无wú行xíng；
攘rǎng无wú臂bì；
扔rēng无wú敌dí；
执zhí无wú兵bīng。
祸huò莫mò大dà于yú轻qīng敌dí，
轻qīng敌dí几jǐ丧sàng吾wú宝bǎo。
故gù抗kàng兵bīng相xiāng若ruò，
哀āi者zhě胜shèng矣yǐ。

a> Military strategists have a saying: I dare not act as the host, but rather the guest; I dare not advance an inch, but rather retreat a foot.

This is called walking where there is no road, rolling up the sleeve where there is no arm, grasping where there is no weapon, struggling where there is no enemy.

b> There is no calamity greater than having no enemy, without an enemy, I have almost lost my treasure. Thus when two matched armies contest, it is

the victor that mourns.

A modern classroom translation, with labeled subsections for study.

© 2010, 2016, 2019 Robert Eno. Freely available for personal use and not-for-profit educational settings. For other purposes, apart from fair use, copyright is not waived.