Art of War 5.7
The Art of War (孫子兵法), Energy 埶篇
聲不過五五聲之變不可勝聽也
There are not more than five musical notes,
yet the combinations of these five give rise to more melodies than can ever be heard.
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Lionel Giles's notes
宮商角微羽.
Character glossary
- 聲shēngsound, noise; voice, tone, music
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 過guòpass; to go across, to pass through
- 五wǔfive; surname
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 變biànto change, to transform, to alter; rebel
- 可kěmay, can, -able; possibly
- 勝shèngvictory; to excel, to truimph
- 聽tīngto hear, to listen; to understand; to ob
- 也yěalso, too
Passages with shared wording
- Art of War 5.8
- Art of War 5.9
- Zhuangzi The Universe
- Zhuangzi Horses' Hoofs
- Zhuangzi Tsê Yang
- Art of War 5.10
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.