Art of War 7.9
The Art of War (孫子兵法), Manœuvring 軍爭篇
五十里而爭利則蹶上將軍其法半至
If you march fifty li in order to outmanœuvre the enemy, you will lose the leader of your first division, and only half your force will reach the goal.
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Lionel Giles's notes
蹶 is explained as similar in meaning to 挫: literally, “the leader of the first division will be torn away.” Cf. Tso Chuan, 襄 19th year: 是謂蹶其本 “This is a case of [the falling tree] tearing up its roots.”
Character glossary
- 五wǔfive; surname
- 十shíten, tenth; complete; perfect
- 里lǐunit of distance equal to 0.5km; village
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 爭zhēngto dispute, to fight, to contend, to str
- 利lìgains, advantage, profit, merit
- 則zérule, law, regulation; grades
- 蹶juéto stumble, to fall; to trample
- 上shàngabove, on top, superior; to go up; to at
- 將jiāngthe future, what will be; ready, prepare
- 軍jūnarmy, military; soldiers, troops
- 其qíhis, her, its, their; that
- 法fǎlaw, rule, statute; method, way; French
- 半bànhalf; semi-, incomplete
- 至zhìreach, arrive; very, extremely
Passages with shared wording
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.