Art of War 11.8

Or simply, “forests.” I follow the T‘u Shu in omitting the 行 before 山林, given in the standard text, which is not only otiose but spoils the rhythm of the sentence.

圮 p‘i3 (to be distinguished from 圯 i4) is defined by K‘ang Hsi (after the Shuo Wên) as 毁 “to destroy.” Hence Chia Lin explains 圮地 as ground 經水所毀 “that has been ruined by water passing over it,” and Tu Yu simply as 沮洳之地 “swampy ground.” But Ch‘ên Hao says that the word is specially applied to deep hollows—what Chu-ko Liang, he tells us, used to designate by the expressive term 地獄 “earth-hells.” Compare the 天井 of IX. § 15.