Art of War 6.15
The Art of War (孫子兵法), Weak Points And Strong 虛實篇
能以衆擊寡者則吾之所與戰者約矣
And if we are able thus to attack an inferior force with a superior one, our opponents will be in dire straits.
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Lionel Giles's notes
For 擊, the T‘ung Tien and Yü Lan have 敵. Tu Yu, followed by the other commentators, arbitrarily defines 約 as 少而易勝 “few and easy to conquer,” but only succeeds thereby in making the sentence absolutely pointless. As for Capt. Calthrop’s translation: “In superiority of numbers there is economy of strength,” its meaning is probably known to himself alone. In justification of my own rendering of 約, I would refer to Lun Yü IV. 2 and VII. 25 (3).
Character glossary
- 能néngcan, may; capable, full of energy
- 以yǐaccording to; so as to; because of; then
- 衆zhòngmultitude, crowd; the public
- 擊jīto strike, to hit, to beat; to attack, t
- 寡guǎwidowed; friendless, alone
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 則zérule, law, regulation; grades
- 吾wúI, my, our; to resist, to impede
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 所suǒplace, location; "that which", a particl
- 與yǔand; with; to; for; to give, to grant
- 戰zhànwar, fighting, battle
- 約yuētreaty, covenant, agreement
- 矣yǐparticle of completed action
Passages with shared wording
- Art of War 6.16
- Art of War 6.18
- Zhuangzi Robber Chê
- Zhuangzi Tsê Yang
- Zhuangzi Autumn Floods
- Zhuangzi The Great Supreme
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.