Art of War 1.26
The Art of War (孫子兵法), Laying Plans 計篇
夫未戰而廟算勝者得算多也未戰而廟算不勝者得算少也多算勝少算不勝而況於無算乎吾以此觀之勝負見矣
Now the general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought.
The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand. Thus do many calculations lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat: how much more no calculation at all! It is by attention to this point that I can foresee who is likely to win or lose.
Lionel Giles's notes
Chang Yü tells us that in ancient times it was customary for a temple to be set apart for the use of a general who was about to take the field, in order that he might there elaborate his plan of campaign. Capt. Calthrop misunderstands it as “the shrine of the ancestors,” and gives a loose and inaccurate rendering of the whole passage.
Character glossary
- 夫fūman, husband; worker; those
- 未wèinot yet; 8th terrestrial branch
- 戰zhànwar, fighting, battle
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 廟miàotemple, shrine; imperial court
- 算suànto calculate, to count; to figure, to pl
- 勝shèngvictory; to excel, to truimph
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 得déto obtain, to get, to acquire; suitable,
- 多duōmuch, many, multi-; more than, over
- 也yěalso, too
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 少shǎofew, little; less; inadequate
- 況kuàngcondition, situation; furthermore
- 於yúat, in, on; to, from; alas!
- 無wúno, not; lacking, -less
- 乎hūinterrogative or exclamatory final parti
- 吾wúI, my, our; to resist, to impede
- 以yǐaccording to; so as to; because of; then
- 此cǐthis, these; in this case, then
- 觀guānto observe, to spectate; appearance, vie
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 負fùload, burden; to carry, to bear
- 見jiànto see, to observe, to meet, to appear
- 矣yǐparticle of completed action
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi Autumn Floods
- Zhuangzi Lieh Tzŭ
- Art of War 1.14
- Zhuangzi The Identity of Contraries
- Analects 9.6
- Mencius 6A.6
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.