Art of War 3.14
The Art of War (孫子兵法), Attack By Stratagem 謀攻篇
不知三軍之事而同三軍之政者則軍士惑矣
(2) By attempting to govern an army in the same way as he administers a kingdom, being ignorant of the conditions which obtain in an army. This causes restlessness in the soldier’s minds.
Lionel Giles's notes
Ts‘ao Kung’s note is: 軍容不入國國容不入軍禮不可以治兵也, which may be freely translated: “The military sphere and the civil sphere are wholly distinct; you can’t handle an army in kid gloves.” And Chang Yü says: “Humanity and justice (仁義) are the principles on which to govern a state, but not an army; opportunism and flexibility (權變), on the other hand, are military rather than civic virtues.” 同三軍之政, “to assimilate the governing of an army” — to that of a State, understood. The T‘ung Tien has 欲 inserted before 同, here and in § 15.
Character glossary
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 知zhīto know, to perceive, to comprehend
- 三sānthree
- 軍jūnarmy, military; soldiers, troops
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 事shìaffair, matter, business; to serve; acci
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 同tóngsame, similar; together with, alike
- 政zhènggovernment, politics
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 則zérule, law, regulation; grades
- 士shìscholar, gentleman; soldier
- 惑huòto confuse, to mislead; to doubt
- 矣yǐparticle of completed action
Passages with shared wording
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.