Art of War 10.11
The Art of War (孫子兵法), Terrain 地形篇
若敵先居之引而去之勿從也
If the enemy has occupied them before you, do not follow him, but retreat and try to entice him away.
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Lionel Giles's notes
The turning-point of 李世民 Li Shih-min’s campaign in 621 A.D. against the two rebels, 竇建德 Tou Chien-tê, King of 夏 Hsia, and 王世充 Wang Shih-ch‘ung, Prince of 鄭 Chêng, was his seizure of the heights of 武牢 Wu-lao, in spite of which Tou Chien-tê persisted in his attempt to relieve his ally in Lo-yang, was defeated and taken prisoner. [See Chiu T‘ang Shu, ch. 2, fol. 5 vo and also ch. 54.]
Character glossary
- 若ruòif, supposing, assuming; similar
- 敵díenemy, foe, rival; to match; to resist
- 先xiānfirst, former, previous
- 居jūto live, to reside; to dwell; to sit
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 引yǐnto pull, to stretch; to draw; to attract
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 去qùto go away, to leave, to depart
- 勿wùmust not, do not; without, never
- 從cóngfrom, by, since, whence, through
- 也yěalso, too
Passages with shared wording
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.