Art of War 6.29
The Art of War (孫子兵法), Weak Points And Strong 虛實篇
夫兵形象水水之行避高而趨下
Military tactics are like unto water; for water in its natural course runs away from high places and hastens downwards.
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Lionel Giles's notes
行 is 劉晝子 Liu Chou-tzŭ’s reading for 形 in the original text.
Character glossary
- 夫fūman, husband; worker; those
- 兵bīngsoldier; troops, an army; warlike
- 形xíngform, shape; to appear; to describe; to
- 象xiàngelephant; ivory; figure, image
- 水shuǐwater, liquid, lotion, juice
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 行xíngto go, to walk, to move; professional
- 避bìto avoid, to turn away; to escape, to hi
- 高gāotall, lofty; high, elevated
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 趨qūto hurry, to hasten; to approach, to be
- 下xiàbelow, underneath; inferior; to bring do
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi The Tao of God
- Zhuangzi Contingencies
- Zhuangzi Transcendental Bliss
- Art of War 2.6
- Mencius 6B.11
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 8
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.