Art of War 12.11
The Art of War (孫子兵法), The Attack By Fire 火攻篇
晝風久夜風止
A wind that rises in the daytime lasts long, but a night breeze soon falls.
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Lionel Giles's notes
Cf. Lao Tzŭ’s saying: 飄風不終朝 “A violent wind does not last the space of a morning.” (Tao Tê Ching, chap. 23.) Mei Yao-ch‘ên and Wang Hsi say: “A day breeze dies down at nightfall, and a night breeze at daybreak. This is what happens as a general rule.” The phenomenon observed may be correct enough, but how this sense is to be obtained is not apparent.
Character glossary
- 晝zhòudaytime, daylight
- 風fēngwind; air; customs, manners; news
- 久jiǔlong ago; a long time
- 夜yènight, dark; under cover of night
- 止zhǐto stop, to halt; to detain; to desist
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.