Art of War 4.9
The Art of War (孫子兵法), Tactical Dispositions 形篇
戰勝而天下曰善非善之善者也
Neither is it the acme of excellence if you fight and conquer and the whole Empire says, “Well done!”
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Lionel Giles's notes
True excellence being, as Tu Mu says: 陰謀潛運攻心伐謀勝敵之日曾不血刃 “To plan secretly, to move surreptitiously, to foil the enemy’s intentions and baulk his schemes, so that at last the day may be won without shedding a drop of blood.” Sun Tzŭ reserves his approbation for things that
“the world’s coarse thumb
And finger fail to plumb.”
Character glossary
- 戰zhànwar, fighting, battle
- 勝shèngvictory; to excel, to truimph
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 天tiānsky, heaven; god, celestial
- 下xiàbelow, underneath; inferior; to bring do
- 曰yuēto speak; to say
- 善shàngood, virtuous, charitable, kind
- 非fēinot, negative, non-; to oppose
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 也yěalso, too
Passages with shared wording
- Analects 12.21
- Art of War 3.2
- Art of War 4.8
- Mencius 6A.6
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 31
- Zhuangzi On Declining Power
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.
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