Art of War 9.8
The Art of War (孫子兵法), The Army On The March 行軍篇
若交軍於斥澤之中必依水草而背衆樹此處斥澤之軍也
If forced to fight in a salt-marsh, you should have water and grass near you, and get your back to a clump of trees.
So much for operations in salt-marshes.
Lionel Giles (1910), Sun Tzŭ on the Art of War (1910), with Giles' notes — public domain.
Lionel Giles's notes
Li Ch‘üan remarks that the ground is less likely to be treacherous where there are trees, while Tu Yu says that they will serve to protect the rear. Capt. Calthrop, with a perfect genius for going wrong, says “in the neighbourhood of a marsh.” For 若 the T‘ung Tien and Yü Lan wrongly read 爲, and the latter also has 倍 instead of 背.
Character glossary
- 若ruòif, supposing, assuming; similar
- 交jiāoto connect; to deliver, to exchange; to
- 軍jūnarmy, military; soldiers, troops
- 於yúat, in, on; to, from; alas!
- 斥chìto scold, to upbraid; to accuse, to blam
- 澤zémarsh, swamp; brilliance, grace
- 之zhīmarks preceding phrase as modifier of fo
- 中zhōngcentral; center, middle; amidst; to hit
- 必bìsurely, certainly; must; will
- 依yīto rely on; to consent, to obey; accordi
- 水shuǐwater, liquid, lotion, juice
- 草cǎograss, herbs; straw, thatch
- 而érand, and then, and yet; but
- 背bèiback, backside; to betray, to violate
- 衆zhòngmultitude, crowd; the public
- 樹shùtree; to plant; to set up, to establish
- 此cǐthis, these; in this case, then
- 處chùto reside at, to live in; place, locale;
- 也yěalso, too
Passages with shared wording
Data: English Wikisource (Public domain texts; transcription CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.