Art of War 9.26
The Art of War (孫子兵法), The Army On The March 行軍篇
無約而請和者謀也
Peace proposals unaccompanied by a sworn covenant indicate a plot.
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Lionel Giles's notes
Tu Yu defines 約 as 要約, and Li Ch‘üan as 質盟之約 “a treaty confirmed by oaths and hostages.” Wang Hsi and Chang Yü, on the other hand, simply say 無故 “without reason,” “on a frivolous pretext,” as though 約 bore the rather unusual sense of “important.” Capt. Calthrop has “without consultation,” which is too loose.
Character glossary
- 無wúno, not; lacking, -less
- 約yuētreaty, covenant, agreement
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 請qǐngto ask, to request; to invite; please
- 和héharmony, peace; calm, peaceful
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 謀móuto plan, to scheme; strategem
- 也yěalso, too
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi On Declining Power
- Mencius 2B.5
- Mencius 5B.1
- Zhuangzi The Tao of God
- Zhuangzi Kêng Sang Ch’u
- Tao Te Ching Chapter 27
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.