Art of War 4.20
The Art of War (孫子兵法), Tactical Dispositions 形篇
勝者之戰民也若決積水於千仞之谿者形也
The onrush of a conquering force is like the bursting of pent-up waters into a chasm a thousand fathoms deep. So much for tactical dispositions.
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Lionel Giles's notes
The construction here is slightly awkward and elliptical, but the general sense is plain. The T‘u Shu omits 民也. A 仞 = 8尺 or Chinese feet.
Character glossary
- 勝shèngvictory; to excel, to truimph
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 戰zhànwar, fighting, battle
- 民míncitizens, subjects; a nation's people
- 也yěalso, too
- 若ruòif, supposing, assuming; similar
- 決juéto decide, to determine, to judge
- 積jīto store up, to amass, to accumulate
- 水shuǐwater, liquid, lotion, juice
- 於yúat, in, on; to, from; alas!
- 千qiānthousand; many, numerous; very
- 仞rènancient unit of measure (about 8 feet);
- 谿xīvalley, gorge; mountain stream
- 形xíngform, shape; to appear; to describe; to
Passages with shared wording
- Art of War 5.23
- Zhuangzi Autumn Floods
- Zhuangzi Transcendental Bliss
- Mencius 7A.16
- Zhuangzi On Declining Power
- Zhuangzi Tsê Yang
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.