Art of War 8.1
The Art of War (孫子兵法), Variation Of Tactics 九變篇
孫子曰凡用兵之法將受命於君合軍聚衆
Sun Tzŭ said: In war, the general receives his commands from the sovereign, collects his army and concentrates his forces.
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Lionel Giles's notes
Repeated from VII. § 1, where it is certainly more in place. It may have been interpolated here merely in order to supply a beginning to the chapter.
Character glossary
- 孫sūngrandchild, descendent; surname
- 子zison, child; seed, egg; fruit; small thin
- 曰yuēto speak; to say
- 凡fánany, every, all; common, ordinary
- 用yòngto use, to employ, to apply; use
- 兵bīngsoldier; troops, an army; warlike
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 法fǎlaw, rule, statute; method, way; French
- 將jiāngthe future, what will be; ready, prepare
- 受shòuto receive, to get, to accept; to bear
- 命mìnglife; destiny, fate, luck; an order, ins
- 於yúat, in, on; to, from; alas!
- 君jūnsovereign, ruler, prince, monarch, chief
- 合héto combine, to join, to unite; to gather
- 軍jūnarmy, military; soldiers, troops
- 聚jùto assemble, to collect, to meet
- 衆zhòngmultitude, crowd; the public
Passages with shared wording
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.