Art of War 10.19
The Art of War (孫子兵法), Terrain 地形篇
將不能料敵以少合衆以弱擊强兵無選鋒曰北
When a general, unable to estimate the enemy’s strength, allows an inferior force to engage a larger one, or hurls a weak detachment against a powerful one, and neglects to place picked soldiers in the front rank, the result must be a rout.
Lionel Giles's notes
Chang Yü paraphrases the latter part of the sentence 不選驍勇之士使爲先鋒兵必敗北也, and continues: 凡戰必用精銳爲前鋒者一則壯吾志一則挫敵威也 “Whenever there is fighting to be done, the keenest spirits should be appointed to serve in the front ranks, both in order to strengthen the resolution of our own men and to demoralise the enemy.” Cf. the primi ordines of Caesar (“De Bello Gallico,” V. 28, 44 et al.). There seems little to distinguish 北 from 走 in § 15, except that 北 is a more forcible word.
Character glossary
- 將jiāngthe future, what will be; ready, prepare
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 能néngcan, may; capable, full of energy
- 料liàoingredients, materials; to conjecture, t
- 敵díenemy, foe, rival; to match; to resist
- 以yǐaccording to; so as to; because of; then
- 少shǎofew, little; less; inadequate
- 合héto combine, to join, to unite; to gather
- 衆zhòngmultitude, crowd; the public
- 弱ruòweak, fragile, delicate
- 擊jīto strike, to hit, to beat; to attack, t
- 强qiángstrong, powerful, energetic
- 兵bīngsoldier; troops, an army; warlike
- 無wúno, not; lacking, -less
- 選xuǎnto select, to elect, to choose; election
- 鋒fēngspear-point; edge, point, tip
- 曰yuēto speak; to say
- 北běinorth; northern; northward
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi On Letting Alone
- Art of War 11.67
- Art of War 9.40
- Art of War 10.21
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 50
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 80
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.