Art of War 6.26
The Art of War (孫子兵法), Weak Points And Strong 虛實篇
因形而錯勝於衆衆不能知
How victory may be produced for them out of the enemy’s own tactics — that is what the multitude cannot comprehend.
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Lionel Giles's notes
All the commentators except Li Ch‘üan make 形 refer to the enemy. So Ts‘ao Kung: 因敵形而立勝. 錯 is defined as 置. The T‘u Shu has 措, with the same meaning. See IV. § 13. The Yü Lan reads 作, evidently a gloss.
Character glossary
- 因yīncause, reason; by; because
- 形xíngform, shape; to appear; to describe; to
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 錯cuòerror, mistake; incorrect, wrong
- 勝shèngvictory; to excel, to truimph
- 於yúat, in, on; to, from; alas!
- 衆zhòngmultitude, crowd; the public
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 能néngcan, may; capable, full of energy
- 知zhīto know, to perceive, to comprehend
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi The Empire
- Zhuangzi The Evidence of Virtue Complete
- Art of War 13.4
- Zhuangzi The Universe
- Zhuangzi Tien Tzŭ Fang
- Art of War 11.54
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.
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