Art of War 11.3
The Art of War (孫子兵法), The Nine Situations 九地篇
入人之地而不深者爲輕地
When he has penetrated into hostile territory, but to no great distance, it is facile ground.
Lionel Giles's notes
Li Ch‘üan and Ho Shih say 輕於退也 “because of the facility for retreating,” and the other commentators give similar explanations. Tu Mu remarks: 師出越境必焚舟梁示民無返顧之心 “When your army has crossed the border, you should burn your boats and bridges, in order to make it clear to everybody that you have no hankering after home.” I do not think that “disturbing ground,” Capt. Calthrop’s rendering of 輕地, has anything to justify it. If an idiomatic translation is out of the question, one should at least attempt to be literal.
Character glossary
- 入rùto enter, to come in; to join
- 人rénman, person; people
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 地deearth, ground, soil; land, region; struc
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 深shēndeep, profound; depth
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 爲wèido, handle, govern, act; be
- 輕qīnglight, gentle; simple, easy
Passages with shared wording
- Art of War 11.44
- Mencius 2B.1
- Zhuangzi The Great Supreme
- Art of War 11.7
- Mencius 7A.14
- Zhuangzi Perfect Happiness
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.