Art of War 2.6
The Art of War (孫子兵法), Waging War 作戰篇
夫兵久而國利者未之有也
There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Lionel Giles's notes
The Yü Lan has 圖 instead of 國 — evidently the mistake of a scribe.
Character glossary
- 夫fūman, husband; worker; those
- 兵bīngsoldier; troops, an army; warlike
- 久jiǔlong ago; a long time
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 國guócountry, nation, state; national
- 利lìgains, advantage, profit, merit
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 未wèinot yet; 8th terrestrial branch
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 有yǒuto have, to own, to possess; to exist
- 也yěalso, too
Passages with shared wording
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.