Art of War 5.9
The Art of War (孫子兵法), Energy 埶篇
味不過五五味之變不可勝嘗也
There are not more than five cardinal tastes,
yet combinations of them yield more flavours than can ever be tasted.
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Lionel Giles's notes
酸辛醎甘苦 sour, acrid, salt, sweet, bitter.
Character glossary
- 味wèitaste; smell, odor; delicacy
- 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
- 嘗chángto taste; to experience, to experiment w
- 也yěalso, too
Passages with shared wording
- Art of War 5.7
- Art of War 5.8
- Art of War 5.10
- Zhuangzi The Universe
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 12
- Zhuangzi Joined Toes
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.