Art of War 10.6
The Art of War (孫子兵法), Terrain 地形篇
我出而不利彼出而不利曰支
When the position is such that neither side will gain by making the first move, it is called temporising ground.
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Lionel Giles's notes
俱不便久相持也 “Each side finds it inconvenient to move, and the situation remains at a deadlock” (Tu Yu).
Character glossary
- 我wǒI, me, my; our, us
- 出chūto go out, to send out; stand; produce
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 利lìgains, advantage, profit, merit
- 彼bǐthat, those, the other
- 曰yuēto speak; to say
- 支zhīto support, to sustain; to withdraw, to
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi The Identity of Contraries
- Art of War 11.4
- Analects 17.21
- Mencius 4A.24
- Art of War 10.5
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 1
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.