Art of War 9.30
The Art of War (孫子兵法), The Army On The March 行軍篇
汲而先飮者渴也
If those who are sent to draw water begin by drinking themselves, the army is suffering from thirst.
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Lionel Giles's notes
As Tu Mu remarks: 覩一人三軍可知也 “One may know the condition of a whole army from the behaviour of a single man.” The 先 may mean either that they drink before drawing water for the army, or before they return to camp. Chang Yü takes the latter view. The T‘ung Tien has the faulty reading 汲役先飮者, and the Yü Lan, worse still, 汲設飮者.
Character glossary
- 汲jíto draw water at a well; to imbibe
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 先xiānfirst, former, previous
- 飮yǐndrink; swallow; kind of drink
- 者zhěthat which; they who; those who
- 渴kěthirsty, parched; to yearn, to pine for
- 也yěalso, too
Passages with shared wording
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.