Art of War 6.16
The Art of War (孫子兵法), Weak Points And Strong 虛實篇
吾所與戰之地不可知不可知則敵所備者多敵所備者多則吾所與戰者寡矣
The spot where we intend to fight must not be made known; for then the enemy will have to prepare against a possible attack at several different points;
and his forces being thus distributed in many directions, the numbers we shall have to face at any given point will be proportionately few.
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Lionel Giles's notes
Sheridan once explained the reason of General Grant’s victories by saying that “while his opponents were kept fully employed wondering what he was going to do, he was thinking most of what he was going to do himself.”
Character glossary
- 吾wúI, my, our; to resist, to impede
- 所suǒplace, location; "that which", a particl
- 與yǔand; with; to; for; to give, to grant
- 戰zhànwar, fighting, battle
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 地deearth, ground, soil; land, region; struc
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 可kěmay, can, -able; possibly
- 知zhīto know, to perceive, to comprehend
- 則zérule, law, regulation; grades
- 敵díenemy, foe, rival; to match; to resist
- 備bèito prepare; to get ready, to equip; read
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 多duōmuch, many, multi-; more than, over
- 寡guǎwidowed; friendless, alone
- 矣yǐparticle of completed action
Passages with shared wording
- Art of War 6.15
- Zhuangzi Kêng Sang Ch’u
- Zhuangzi Hsü Wu Kuei
- Zhuangzi Knowledge travels North
- Mencius 2B.1
- Zhuangzi Opening Trunks
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.