Art of War 9.44
The Art of War (孫子兵法), The Army On The March 行軍篇
令素行以教其民則民服令不素行以教其民則民不服
If in training soldiers commands are habitually enforced, the army will be well-disciplined; if not, its discipline will be bad.
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Lionel Giles's notes
The T‘ung Tien and Yü Lan read: 令素行以教其人者也令素行則人服令素不行則人不服.
Character glossary
- 令lìngcommand, decree, order; magistrate; to a
- 素sùplain; white; vegetarian; formerly; norm
- 行xíngto go, to walk, to move; professional
- 以yǐaccording to; so as to; because of; then
- 教jiàoschool, education
- 其qíhis, her, its, their; that
- 民míncitizens, subjects; a nation's people
- 則zérule, law, regulation; grades
- 服fúclothes; to dress, to wear; to take medi
- 不bùno, not, un-; negative prefix
Passages with shared wording
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.