Art of War 7.29
The Art of War (孫子兵法), Manœuvring 軍爭篇
故善用兵者避其銳氣擊其惰歸此治氣者也
A clever general, therefore,
avoids an army when its spirit is keen, but attacks it when it is sluggish and inclined to return. This is the art of studying moods.
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Lionel Giles's notes
The 故, which certainly seems to be wanted here, is omitted in the T‘u Shu.
The T‘ung Tien, for reasons of 避諱 “avoidance of personal names of the reigning dynasty,” reads 理 for 治 in this and the two next paragraphs.
Character glossary
- 故gùreason, cause; happening, instance
- 善shàngood, virtuous, charitable, kind
- 用yòngto use, to employ, to apply; use
- 兵bīngsoldier; troops, an army; warlike
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 避bìto avoid, to turn away; to escape, to hi
- 其qíhis, her, its, their; that
- 銳ruìsharp, pointed; keen, acute
- 氣qìair, gas; steam, vapor; anger
- 擊jīto strike, to hit, to beat; to attack, t
- 惰duòlazy, idle, indolent; careless
- 歸guīto return, to go back; to return to, to
- 此cǐthis, these; in this case, then
- 治zhìto administer, to govern, to regulate
- 也yěalso, too
Passages with shared wording
- Art of War 11.29
- Zhuangzi On Declining Power
- Zhuangzi Language
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 4
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 56
- Mencius 2A.2
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.