Art of War 3.6
The Art of War (孫子兵法), Attack By Stratagem 謀攻篇
故善用兵者屈人之兵而非戰也拔人之城而非攻也毀人之國而非久也
Therefore the skilful leader subdues the enemy’s troops without any fighting; he captures their cities without laying siege to them; he overthrows their kingdom without lengthy operations in the field.
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Lionel Giles's notes
Chia Lin notes that he only overthrows the 國, that is, the Government, but does no harm to individuals. The classical instance is Wu Wang, who after having put an end to the Yin dynasty was acclaimed “Father and mother of the people.”
Character glossary
- 故gùreason, cause; happening, instance
- 善shàngood, virtuous, charitable, kind
- 用yòngto use, to employ, to apply; use
- 兵bīngsoldier; troops, an army; warlike
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 屈qūto bend, to flex; bent, crooked, crouche
- 人rénman, person; people
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 非fēinot, negative, non-; to oppose
- 戰zhànwar, fighting, battle
- 也yěalso, too
- 拔báto uproot, to pull out; to select, to pr
- 城chéngcastle, city, town; municipality
- 攻gōngto accuse; to assault; to criticize
- 毀huǐto damage, to ruin; to defame, to slande
- 國guócountry, nation, state; national
- 久jiǔlong ago; a long time
Passages with shared wording
- Art of War 3.2
- Zhuangzi Autumn Floods
- Art of War 2.2
- Mencius 1A.3
- Zhuangzi On Declining Power
- Zhuangzi Tsê Yang
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.