Art of War 1.4
The Art of War (孫子兵法), Laying Plans 計篇
一曰道二曰天三曰地四曰將五曰法
These are: (1) The Moral Law; (2) Heaven; (3) Earth; (4) The Commander; (5) Method and discipline.
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Lionel Giles's notes
It appears from what follows that Sun Tzŭ means by 道 a principle of harmony, not unlike the Tao of Lao Tzŭ in its moral aspect. One might be tempted to render it by “morale,” were it not considered as an attribute of the ruler in § 13.
Character glossary
- 一yīone; a, an; alone
- 曰yuēto speak; to say
- 道dàomethod, way; path, road
- 二èrtwo; twice
- 天tiānsky, heaven; god, celestial
- 三sānthree
- 地deearth, ground, soil; land, region; struc
- 四sìfour
- 將jiāngthe future, what will be; ready, prepare
- 五wǔfive; surname
- 法fǎlaw, rule, statute; method, way; French
Passages with shared wording
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.