Art of War 7.18
The Art of War (孫子兵法), Manœuvring 軍爭篇
侵掠如火不動如山
In raiding and plundering be like fire,
in immovability like a mountain.
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Lionel Giles's notes
Cf. Shih Ching, IV. 3. iv. 6: 如火烈烈則莫我敢曷 “Fierce as a blazing fire which no man can check.”
That is, when holding a position from which the enemy is trying to dislodge you, or perhaps, as Tu Yu says, when he is trying to entice you into a trap.
Character glossary
- 侵qīnto invade, to encroach upon, to raid
- 掠lüèto pillage, to ransack
- 如rúas, as if, like, such as, supposing
- 火huǒfire, flame; to burn; anger, rage
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 動dòngto move, to happen; movement, action
- 山shānmountain, hill, peak
Passages with shared wording
- Mencius 1B.10
- Art of War 7.19
- Zhuangzi The Circling Sky
- Mencius 7A.23
- Zhuangzi Transcendental Bliss
- Zhuangzi The Great Supreme
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.