Art of War 11.20
The Art of War (孫子兵法), The Nine Situations 九地篇
凡爲客之道深入則專主人不克
The following are the principles to be observed by an invading force: The further you penetrate into a country, the greater will be the solidarity of your troops, and thus the defenders will not prevail against you.
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Character glossary
- 凡fánany, every, all; common, ordinary
- 爲wèido, handle, govern, act; be
- 客kèguest, traveller; customer
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 道dàomethod, way; path, road
- 深shēndeep, profound; depth
- 入rùto enter, to come in; to join
- 則zérule, law, regulation; grades
- 專zhuānconcentrated, specialized; to monopolize
- 主zhǔto own; to host; master; host; lord
- 人rénman, person; people
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 克kèto subdue, to restrain, to overcome; use
Passages with shared wording
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.