Art of War 5.11
The Art of War (孫子兵法), Energy 埶篇
奇正相生如循環之無端孰能窮之
The direct and the indirect lead on to each other in turn. It is like moving in a circle — you never come to an end. Who can exhaust the possibilities of their combination?
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Lionel Giles's notes
The T‘u Shu adds 哉. The final 之 may refer either to the circle or, more probably, to the 奇正之變 understood. Capt. Calthrop is wrong with: “They are a mystery that none can penetrate.”
Character glossary
- 奇qístrange, unusual, odd; uncanny, occult
- 正zhèngstraight, right, proper, correct, just,
- 相xiāngmutual, reciprocal; equal; each other
- 生shēnglife, lifetime; birth; growth
- 如rúas, as if, like, such as, supposing
- 循xúnto obey, to follow, to comply with
- 環huánbracelet, ring; to surround, to loop
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 無wúno, not; lacking, -less
- 端duānend, extreme; head; beginning
- 孰shúwho? which? what? which one?
- 能néngcan, may; capable, full of energy
- 窮qióngpoor, destitute; to exhaust
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi Autumn Floods
- Zhuangzi On Swords
- Mencius 4B.31
- Zhuangzi Knowledge travels North
- Art of War 5.3
- Art of War 5.10
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.