Art of War 10.1
The Art of War (孫子兵法), Terrain 地形篇
孫子曰地形有通者有挂者有支者有隘者有險者有遠者
Sun Tzŭ said: We may distinguish six kinds of terrain, to wit: (1) Accessible ground;
(2) entangling ground;
(3) temporising ground;
(4) narrow passes; (5) precipitous heights;
(6) positions at a great distance from the enemy.
Lionel Giles's notes
Mei Yao-ch‘ên says: 道路交達 “plentifully provided with roads and means of communication.”
The same commentator says: 網羅之地往必掛綴 “Net-like country, venturing into which you become entangled.”
Tu Yu explains 支 as 久. This meaning is still retained in modern phrases such as 支托, 支演 “stave off,” “delay.” I do not know why Capt. Calthrop calls 支地 “suspended ground,” unless he is confusing it with 挂地.
The root idea in 隘 is narrowness; in 險, steepness.
It is hardly necessary to point out the faultiness of this classification. A strange lack of logical perception is shown in the Chinaman’s unquestioning acceptance of glaring cross-divisions such as the above.
Character glossary
- 孫sūngrandchild, descendent; surname
- 子zison, child; seed, egg; fruit; small thin
- 曰yuēto speak; to say
- 地deearth, ground, soil; land, region; struc
- 形xíngform, shape; to appear; to describe; to
- 有yǒuto have, to own, to possess; to exist
- 通tōngto pass through, to open, to connect; to
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 挂guàto suspend, to put up, to hang; suspense
- 支zhīto support, to sustain; to withdraw, to
- 隘àinarrow, confined; a strategic pass
- 險xiǎnnarrow pass, strategic point
- 遠yuǎndistant, remote, far; profound
Passages with shared wording
- Mencius 2B.3
- Art of War 11.45
- Zhuangzi The Identity of Contraries
- Art of War 9.17
- Hexagram 29
- Art of War 1.4
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.