Art of War 7.22
The Art of War (孫子兵法), Manœuvring 軍爭篇
先知迂直之計者勝此軍爭之法也
He will conquer who has learnt the artifice of deviation.
Such is the art of manœuvring.
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Lionel Giles's notes
See supra, §§ 3, 4.
With these words, the chapter would naturally come to an end. But there now follows a long appendix in the shape of an extract from an earlier book on War, now lost, but apparently extant at the time when Sun Tzŭ wrote. The style of this fragment is not noticeably different from that of Sun Tzŭ himself, but no commentator raises a doubt as to its genuineness.
Character glossary
- 先xiānfirst, former, previous
- 知zhīto know, to perceive, to comprehend
- 迂yūabstruse, pedantic, unrealistic
- 直zhístraight, vertical; candid, direct, fran
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 計jìto calculate, to count; to plan, to reck
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 勝shèngvictory; to excel, to truimph
- 此cǐthis, these; in this case, then
- 軍jūnarmy, military; soldiers, troops
- 爭zhēngto dispute, to fight, to contend, to str
- 法fǎlaw, rule, statute; method, way; French
- 也yěalso, too
Passages with shared wording
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.