Art of War 11.42
The Art of War (孫子兵法), The Nine Situations 九地篇
凡爲客之道深則專淺則散
When invading hostile territory, the general principle is, that penetrating deeply brings cohesion; penetrating but a short way means dispersion.
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Lionel Giles's notes
Cf. supra, § 20.
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
- 則zérule, law, regulation; grades
- 專zhuānconcentrated, specialized; to monopolize
- 淺qiǎnshallow, superficial
- 散sànto scatter, to disperse, to break up
Passages with shared wording
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.