Art of War 5.12
The Art of War (孫子兵法), Energy 埶篇
激水之疾至於漂石者埶也
The onset of troops is like the rush of a torrent which will even roll stones along in its course.
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Character glossary
- 激jīto arouse, to incite; acute, sharp; fier
- 水shuǐwater, liquid, lotion, juice
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 疾jísickness, illness, disease; to envy, to
- 至zhìreach, arrive; very, extremely
- 於yúat, in, on; to, from; alas!
- 漂piàoto drift, to float; to be tossed about;
- 石shístone, rock, mineral
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 埶yìart
- 也yěalso, too
Passages with shared wording
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.