Art of War 12.12
The Art of War (孫子兵法), The Attack By Fire 火攻篇
凡軍必知有五火之變以數守之
In every army, the five developments connected with fire must be known, the movements of the stars calculated, and a watch kept for the proper days.
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Lionel Giles's notes
Tu Mu’s commentary shows what has to be supplied in order to make sense out of 以數守之. He says: 須筭星𨇠之數守風起之日乃可發火 “We must make calculations as to the paths of the stars, and watch for the days on which wind will rise, before making our attack with fire.” Chang Yü seems to take 守 in the sense of 防: “We must not only know how to assail our opponents with fire, but also be on our guard against similar attacks from them.”
Character glossary
- 凡fánany, every, all; common, ordinary
- 軍jūnarmy, military; soldiers, troops
- 必bìsurely, certainly; must; will
- 知zhīto know, to perceive, to comprehend
- 有yǒuto have, to own, to possess; to exist
- 五wǔfive; surname
- 火huǒfire, flame; to burn; anger, rage
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 變biànto change, to transform, to alter; rebel
- 以yǐaccording to; so as to; because of; then
- 數shùcount, number, several
- 守shǒuto defend, to guard, to protect; to cons
Passages with shared wording
- Art of War 12.5
- Zhuangzi Tsê Yang
- Zhuangzi The Great Supreme
- Art of War 9.11
- Art of War 13.20
- Zhuangzi The Identity of Contraries
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.