Art of War 11.45
The Art of War (孫子兵法), The Nine Situations 九地篇
背固前隘者圍地也無所往者死地也
When you have the enemy’s strongholds on your rear, and narrow passes in front, it is hemmed-in ground. When there is no place of refuge at all, it is desperate ground.
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Lionel Giles's notes
固 = 險固.
Character glossary
- 背bèiback, backside; to betray, to violate
- 固gùto solidify; strength
- 前qiánin front, forward; former, preceding
- 隘àinarrow, confined; a strategic pass
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 圍wéito surround, to encircle, to corral
- 地deearth, ground, soil; land, region; struc
- 也yěalso, too
- 無wúno, not; lacking, -less
- 所suǒplace, location; "that which", a particl
- 往wǎngto go, to depart; past, former
- 死sǐdead; death; impassable, inflexible
Passages with shared wording
- Art of War 10.1
- Zhuangzi The Old Fisherman
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 76
- Art of War 8.2
- Art of War 11.1
- Art of War 11.14
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.