Art of War 6.27
The Art of War (孫子兵法), Weak Points And Strong 虛實篇
人皆知我所以勝之形而莫知吾所以制勝之形
All men can see the tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Lionel Giles's notes
I.e., everybody can see superficially how a battle is won; what they cannot see is the long series of plans and combinations which has preceded the battle. It seems justifiable, then, to render the first 形 by “tactics” and the second by “strategy.”
Character glossary
- 人rénman, person; people
- 皆jiēall, every, everybody
- 知zhīto know, to perceive, to comprehend
- 我wǒI, me, my; our, us
- 所suǒplace, location; "that which", a particl
- 以yǐaccording to; so as to; because of; then
- 勝shèngvictory; to excel, to truimph
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 形xíngform, shape; to appear; to describe; to
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 莫mòcannot; do not; is not; negative
- 吾wúI, my, our; to resist, to impede
- 制zhìsystem; to establish; to manufacture; to
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi The Great Supreme
- Zhuangzi Man Among Men
- Mencius 6A.10
- Zhuangzi The Identity of Contraries
- Zhuangzi Opening Trunks
- Mencius 7B.34
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.