Art of War 2.17
The Art of War (孫子兵法), Waging War 作戰篇
故車戰得車十乘已上賞其先得者而更其旌旗車雜而乘之卒善而養之
Therefore in chariot fighting, when ten or more chariots have been taken, those should be rewarded who took the first.
Our own flags should be substituted for those of the enemy, and the chariots mingled and used in conjunction with ours. The captured soldiers should be kindly treated and kept.
Lionel Giles's notes
Capt. Calthrop’s rendering is: “They who are the first to lay their hands on more than ten of the enemy’s chariots, should be encouraged.” We should have expected the gallant captain to see that such Samson-like prowess deserved something more substantial than mere encouragement. T. omits 故, and has 以上 in place of the more archaic 已上.
Character glossary
- 故gùreason, cause; happening, instance
- 車chēcart, vehicle; to move in a cart
- 戰zhànwar, fighting, battle
- 得déto obtain, to get, to acquire; suitable,
- 十shíten, tenth; complete; perfect
- 乘chéngride, mount; to make use of; to ascend;
- 已yǐalready; finished; to stop; then, afterw
- 上shàngabove, on top, superior; to go up; to at
- 賞shǎngreward; to appreciate; to bestow, to gra
- 其qíhis, her, its, their; that
- 先xiānfirst, former, previous
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 更gèngmore, further; to shift, to alternate; t
- 旌jīngto signal; a flag adorned with feathers
- 旗qíbanner, flag, streamer
- 雜zámix, blend; various, miscellaneous
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 卒zúsoldier; servant; at last, finally
- 善shàngood, virtuous, charitable, kind
- 養yǎngto raise, to rear, to bring up; to suppo
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi Lieh Tzŭ
- Zhuangzi The Great Supreme
- Zhuangzi On Letting Alone
- Zhuangzi Autumn Floods
- Zhuangzi The Empire
- Mencius 6A.7
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.