Art of War 1.9
The Art of War (孫子兵法), Laying Plans 計篇
將者智信仁勇嚴也
The Commander stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerity, benevolence, courage and strictness.
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Lionel Giles's notes
The five cardinal virtues of the Chinese are (1) 仁 humanity or benevolence; (2) 義 uprightness of mind; (3) 禮 self-respect, self-control, or “proper feeling;” (4) 智 wisdom; (5) 信 sincerity or good faith. Here 智 and 信 are put before 仁, and the two military virtues of “courage” and “strictness” substituted for 義 and 禮.
Character glossary
- 將jiāngthe future, what will be; ready, prepare
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 智zhìwisdom, knowledge, intelligence
- 信xìnto trust, to believe; letter, sign
- 仁rénbenevolent, humane, kind
- 勇yǒngbrave, courageous, fierce
- 嚴yánstrict, rigorous, rigid; stern
- 也yěalso, too
Passages with shared wording
- Mencius 7B.12
- The Doctrine of the Mean Passage 20
- Art of War 3.11
- Mencius 7A.37
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 33
- Mencius 5B.1
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.