Art of War 11.39
The Art of War (孫子兵法), The Nine Situations 九地篇
焚舟破釜若驅羣羊而往驅而來莫知所之
He burns his boats and breaks his cooking-pots;
like a shepherd driving a flock of sheep, he drives his men this way and that, and none knows whither he is going.
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Lionel Giles's notes
Omitted in the T‘u Shu.
The T‘u Shu inserts another 驅 after 羊. Tu Mu says: 三軍但知進 退之命不知攻取之端也 “The army is only cognisant of orders to advance or retreat; it is ignorant of the ulterior ends of attacking and conquering.”
Character glossary
- 焚fénto burn
- 舟zhōuboat, ship
- 破pòto break, to rout; to ruin, to destroy
- 釜fǔcauldron, kettle, pot
- 若ruòif, supposing, assuming; similar
- 驅qūto spur a horse on; to expel, to drive a
- 羣qúngroup, crowd, multitude, mob
- 羊yángsheep, goat
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 往wǎngto go, to depart; past, former
- 來láito arrive, to come, to return; in the fu
- 莫mòcannot; do not; is not; negative
- 知zhīto know, to perceive, to comprehend
- 所suǒplace, location; "that which", a particl
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi Kêng Sang Ch’u
- Mencius 1A.7
- The Doctrine of the Mean Passage 7
- Zhuangzi The Great Supreme
- Analects 13.18
- Mencius 2B.4
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.
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