Art of War 3.5
The Art of War (孫子兵法), Attack By Stratagem 謀攻篇
將不勝其忿而蟻附之殺士三分之一而城不拔者此攻之災
The general, unable to control his irritation, will launch his men to the assault like swarming ants,
with the result that one-third of his men are slain, while the town still remains untaken. Such are the disastrous effects of a siege.
Lionel Giles's notes
Capt. Calthrop unaccountably omits this vivid simile, which, as Ts‘ao Kung says, is taken from the spectacle of an army of ants climbing a wall. The meaning is that the general, losing patience at the long delay, may make a premature attempt to storm the place before his engines of war are ready.
We are reminded of the terrible losses of the Japanese before Port Arthur, in the most recent siege which history has to record. The T‘ung Tien reads 不勝心之忿...則殺士卒...攻城之災. For 其忿 the Yü Lan has 心怒. Capt. Calthrop does not translate 而城不拔者, and mistranslates 此攻之災.
Character glossary
- 將jiāngthe future, what will be; ready, prepare
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 勝shèngvictory; to excel, to truimph
- 其qíhis, her, its, their; that
- 忿fènanger, fury; exasperation
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 蟻yǐant
- 附fùnearby; to adhere to, to attach; to rely
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 殺shāto kill, to murder, to slaughter; to hur
- 士shìscholar, gentleman; soldier
- 三sānthree
- 分fēnto divide, to allocate; fraction; small
- 一yīone; a, an; alone
- 城chéngcastle, city, town; municipality
- 拔báto uproot, to pull out; to select, to pr
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 此cǐthis, these; in this case, then
- 攻gōngto accuse; to assault; to criticize
- 災zāidisaster, catastrophe, calamity
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi On Letting Alone
- Art of War 7.10
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 54
- Mencius 4B.4
- Zhuangzi Autumn Floods
- Mencius 1B.9
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.