Art of War 6.5
The Art of War (孫子兵法), Weak Points And Strong 虛實篇
出其所必趨趨其所不意
Appear at points which the enemy must hasten to defend; march swiftly to places where you are not expected.
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Lionel Giles's notes
The original text, adopted by the T‘u Shu, has 出其所不趨; it has been altered to suit the context and the commentaries of Ts‘ao Kung and Ho Shih, who evidently read 必趨. The other reading would mean: “Appear at points to which the enemy cannot hasten;” but in this case there is something awkward in the use of 趨. Capt. Calthrop is wrong of course with “appearing where the enemy is not.”
Character glossary
- 出chūto go out, to send out; stand; produce
- 其qíhis, her, its, their; that
- 所suǒplace, location; "that which", a particl
- 必bìsurely, certainly; must; will
- 趨qūto hurry, to hasten; to approach, to be
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 意yìthought, idea, opinion; desire, wish; me
Passages with shared wording
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.