Art of War 9.42
The Art of War (孫子兵法), The Army On The March 行軍篇
卒未親附而罰之則不服不服則難用也卒已親附而罰不行則不可用也
If soldiers are punished before they have grown attached to you, they will not prove submissive; and, unless submissive, they will be practically useless. If, when the soldiers have become attached to you, punishments are not enforced, they will still be useless.
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Lionel Giles's notes
This is wrongly translated by Capt. Calthrop: “If the troops know the general, but are not affected by his punishments, they are useless.”
Character glossary
- 卒zúsoldier; servant; at last, finally
- 未wèinot yet; 8th terrestrial branch
- 親qīnrelatives, parents; intimate; the hazeln
- 附fùnearby; to adhere to, to attach; to rely
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 罰fápenalty, fine; to punish, to penalize
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 則zérule, law, regulation; grades
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
- 服fúclothes; to dress, to wear; to take medi
- 難nánhard, difficult, arduous; unable
- 用yòngto use, to employ, to apply; use
- 也yěalso, too
- 已yǐalready; finished; to stop; then, afterw
- 行xíngto go, to walk, to move; professional
- 可kěmay, can, -able; possibly
Passages with shared wording
- Zhuangzi Robber Chê
- Zhuangzi Tsê Yang
- Mencius 3B.3
- Analects 16.1
- Zhuangzi Knowledge travels North
- Zhuangzi The Tao of God
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.