Art of War 6.31
The Art of War (孫子兵法), Weak Points And Strong 虛實篇
水因地而制流兵因敵而制勝
Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows;
the soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing.
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Lionel Giles's notes
The T‘ung Tien and Yü Lan read 制形, — the latter also 制行. The present text is derived from Chêng Yu-hsien.
Character glossary
- 水shuǐwater, liquid, lotion, juice
- 因yīncause, reason; by; because
- 地deearth, ground, soil; land, region; struc
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 制zhìsystem; to establish; to manufacture; to
- 流liúto flow, to drift, to circulate; class
- 兵bīngsoldier; troops, an army; warlike
- 敵díenemy, foe, rival; to match; to resist
- 勝shèngvictory; to excel, to truimph
Passages with shared wording
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.