Art of War 10.7
The Art of War (孫子兵法), Terrain 地形篇
支形者敵雖利我我無出也引而去令敵半出而擊之利
In a position of this sort, even though the enemy should offer us an attractive bait,
it will be advisable not to stir forth, but rather to retreat, thus enticing the enemy in his turn; then, when part of his army has come out, we may deliver our attack with advantage.
Lionel Giles's notes
Tu Yu says 佯背我去 “turning their backs on us and pretending to flee.” But this is only one of the lures which might induce us to quit our position. Here again 利 is used as a verb, but this time in a different sense: “to hold out an advantage to.”
Mei Yao-ch‘ên paraphrases the passage in a curious jingle, the scheme of rhymes being abcbdd: 各居所險, 先出必敗, 利而誘我, 我不可愛, 僞去引敵, 半出而擊.
Character glossary
- 支zhīto support, to sustain; to withdraw, to
- 形xíngform, shape; to appear; to describe; to
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 敵díenemy, foe, rival; to match; to resist
- 雖suīalthough, even though
- 利lìgains, advantage, profit, merit
- 我wǒI, me, my; our, us
- 無wúno, not; lacking, -less
- 出chūto go out, to send out; stand; produce
- 也yěalso, too
- 引yǐnto pull, to stretch; to draw; to attract
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 去qùto go away, to leave, to depart
- 令lìngcommand, decree, order; magistrate; to a
- 半bànhalf; semi-, incomplete
- 擊jīto strike, to hit, to beat; to attack, t
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
Passages with shared wording
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.