Art of War 13.21
The Art of War (孫子兵法), The Use Of Spies 用間篇
必索敵人之間來間我者因而利之導而舍之故反間可得而用也
The enemy’s spies who have come to spy on us must be sought out,
tempted with bribes, led away and comfortably housed.
Thus they will become converted spies and available for our service.
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Lionel Giles's notes
必索 is omitted by the T‘ung Tien and Yü Lan. Its recurrence is certainly suspicious, though the sense may seem to gain by it. The T‘u Shu has this variation: ...敵間之來間吾者, etc.
舍 is probably more than merely 居止 or 稽留 “detain.” Cf. §25 ad fin., where Sun Tzŭ insists that these converted spies shall be treated well. Chang Yŭ’s paraphrase is 館舍.
Character glossary
- 必bìsurely, certainly; must; will
- 索suǒcable, rope; rules, laws; to demand, to
- 敵díenemy, foe, rival; to match; to resist
- 人rénman, person; people
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 間jiānbetween, among; midpoint; space, place,
- 來láito arrive, to come, to return; in the fu
- 我wǒI, me, my; our, us
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 因yīncause, reason; by; because
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 利lìgains, advantage, profit, merit
- 導dǎoto direct, to guide, to lead, to conduct
- 舍shěhouse, dwelling; to reside, to dwell; to
- 故gùreason, cause; happening, instance
- 反fǎnreverse, opposite; contrary, anti-
- 可kěmay, can, -able; possibly
- 得déto obtain, to get, to acquire; suitable,
- 用yòngto use, to employ, to apply; use
- 也yěalso, too
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi The Universe
- Art of War 13.25
- Zhuangzi Kêng Sang Ch’u
- Art of War 13.22
- Art of War 13.11
- Art of War 13.20
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.