Art of War 12.8
The Art of War (孫子兵法), The Attack By Fire 火攻篇
極其火力可從而從之不可從而止
(3) When the force of the flames has reached its height, follow it up with an attack, if that is practicable; if not, stay where you are.
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Lionel Giles's notes
Ts‘ao Kung says: 見可而進知難而退 “If you see a possible way, advance; but if you find the difficulties too great, retire.”
Character glossary
- 極jíextreme, top; final, furthest, utmost; p
- 其qíhis, her, its, their; that
- 火huǒfire, flame; to burn; anger, rage
- 力lìstrength, power; capability, influence
- 可kěmay, can, -able; possibly
- 從cóngfrom, by, since, whence, through
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 止zhǐto stop, to halt; to detain; to desist
Passages with shared wording
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 58
- Zhuangzi Autumn Floods
- Zhuangzi The Secret of Life
- Analects 7.21
- Analects 7.27
- Art of War 10.9
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.