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The Art of War
By Sun Tzu
Translated by Lionel Giles
The Art of War (Chinese: 孙子兵法; pinyin: Sūnzǐ Bīngfǎ) is a Chinese military treatise that was written by Sun Tzu in the 6th century BC, during the Spring and Autumn period. (Some scholars believe it was written during the later Warring States period.) Composed of 13 chapters, each of which is devoted to one aspect of warfare, it is said to be the definitive work on military strategies and tactics of its time, and still one of the basic texts.《孙子兵法》，简称《孙子》，又称《孙武兵法》和《吴孙子兵法》，是中国古代的兵书，作者为春秋末年的齐国人孙武（字长卿）。一般认为，《孙子兵法》成书于前515至前512年，全书为十三篇，是孙武初次见面赠送给吴王的见面礼。事见司马迁《史记》：“孙子武者，齐人也，以兵法见吴王阖闾。阖闾曰：子之十三篇吾尽观之矣”。The Art of War is one of the oldest and most successful books on military strategy. It has had an influence on Eastern military thinking, business tactics, and beyond. Sun Tzu suggested the importance of positioning in strategy and that position is affected both by objective conditions in the physical environment and the subjective opinions of competitive actors in that environment. He thought that strategy was not planning in the sense of working through an established list, but rather that it requires quick and appropriate responses to changing conditions. Planning works in a controlled environment, but in a changing environment, competing plans collide, creating unexpected situations.有个别观点曾认为今本《孙子》应是战国中晚期孙膑及其弟子的作品，但是银雀山出土的汉简（同时在西汉墓葬中出土《孙子兵法》、《孙膑兵法》各一部）已基本否定此说。The book was translated into the French language in 1772 by French Jesuit Jean Joseph Marie Amiot, and into English by British officer Everard Ferguson Calthrop in 1905. Leaders as diverse as Mao Zedong, General Vo Nguyen Giap, Baron Antoine-Henri Jomini, and General Douglas MacArthur have claimed to have drawn inspiration from the work. The Art of War has also been applied to business and managerial strategies. 《孙子兵法》是世界上最早的兵书之一。在中国被奉为兵家经典，后世的兵书大多受到它的影响，对中国的军事学发展影响非常深远。它也被翻译成多种语言，在世界军事史上也具有重要的地位。
VI. Weak Points and StrongSun Tzu said: Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy, will be fresh for the fight; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted.孙子曰：凡先处战地而待敌者佚，后处战地而趋战者劳。Therefore the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy's will to be imposed on him.By holding out advantages to him, he can cause the enemy to approach of his own accord; or, by inflicting damage, he can make it impossible for the enemy to draw near.能使敌人自至者，利之也；能使敌人不得至者，害之也。If the enemy is taking his ease, he can harass him; if well supplied with food, he can starve him out; if quietly encamped, he can force him to move.Appear at points which the enemy must hasten to defend; march swiftly to places where you are not expected. An army may march great distances without distress, if it marches through country where the enemy is not.You can be sure of succeeding in your attacks if you only attack places which are undefended. You can ensure the safety of your defense if you only hold positions that cannot be attacked.攻而必取者，攻其所不守也。守而必固者，守其所必攻也。Hence that general is skillful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skillful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack.O divine art of subtlety and secrecy! Through you we learn to be invisible, through you inaudible; and hence we can hold the enemy's fate in our hands.微乎微乎，至于无形；神乎神乎，至于无声，故能为敌之司命。You may advance and be absolutely irresistible, if you make for the enemy's weak points; you may retire and be safe from pursuit if your movements are more rapid than those of the enemy.进而不可御者，冲其虚也；退而不可追者，速而不可及也。 If we wish to fight, the enemy can be forced to an engagement even though he be sheltered behind a high rampart and a deep ditch. All we need do is attack some other place that he will be obliged to relieve.故我欲战，敌虽高垒深沟，不得不与我战者，攻其所必救也；If we do not wish to fight, we can prevent the enemy from engaging us even though the lines of our encampment be merely traced out on the ground. All we need do is to throw something odd and unaccountable in his way.我不欲战，虽画地而守之，敌不得与我战者，乖其所之也。By discovering the enemy's dispositions and remaining invisible ourselves, we can keep our forces concentrated, while the enemy's must be divided.We can form a single united body, while the enemy must split up into fractions. Hence there will be a whole pitted against separate parts of a whole, which means that we shall be many to the enemy's few.And if we are able thus to attack an inferior force with a superior one, our opponents will be in dire straits.The spot where we intend to fight must not be made known; for then the enemy will have to prepare against a possible attack at several different points; and his forces being thus distributed in many directions, the numbers we shall have to face at any given point will be proportionately few.吾所与战之地不可知，不可知则敌所备者多，敌所备者多，则吾所与战者寡矣。For should the enemy strengthen his van, he will weaken his rear; should he strengthen his rear, he will weaken his van; should he strengthen his left, he will weaken his right; should he strengthen his right, he will weaken his left. If he sends reinforcements everywhere, he will everywhere be weak.故备前则后寡，备后则前寡，备左则右寡，备右则左寡，无所不备，则无所不寡。Numerical weakness comes from having to prepare against possible attacks; numerical strength, from compelling our adversary to make these preparations against us.Knowing the place and the time of the coming battle, we may concentrate from the greatest distances in order to fight.But if neither time nor place be known, then the left wing will be impotent to succor the right, the right equally impotent to succor the left, the van unable to relieve the rear, or the rear to support the van. How much more so if the furthest portions of the army are anything under a hundred LI apart, and even the nearest are separated by several LI!不知战之地，不知战日，则左不能救右，右不能救左，前不能救后，后不能救前，而况远者数十里，近者数里乎！Though according to my estimate the soldiers of Yueh exceed our own in number, that shall advantage them nothing in the matter of victory. I say then that victory can be achieved.以吾度之，越人之兵虽多，亦奚益于胜哉！故曰：胜可为也。Though the enemy be stronger in numbers, we may prevent him from fighting. Scheme so as to discover his plans and the likelihood of their success.Rouse him, and learn the principle of his activity or inactivity. Force him to reveal himself, so as to find out his vulnerable spots.Carefully compare the opposing army with your own, so that you may know where strength is superabundant and where it is deficient.In making tactical dispositions, the highest pitch you can attain is to conceal them; conceal your dispositions, and you will be safe from the prying of the subtlest spies, from the machinations of the wisest brains.故形兵之极，至于无形。无形则深间不能窥，智者不能谋。How victory may be produced for them out of the enemy's own tactics--that is what the multitude cannot comprehend.All men can see the tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.Do not repeat the tactics which have gained you one victory, but let your methods be regulated by the infinite variety of circumstances.Military tactics are like unto water; for water in its natural course runs away from high places and hastens downwards.So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and to strike at what is weak.Water shapes its course according to the nature of the ground over which it flows; the soldier works out his victory in relation to the foe whom he is facing.Therefore, just as water retains no constant shape, so in warfare there are no constant conditions.He who can modify his tactics in relation to his opponent and thereby succeed in winning, may be called a heaven-born captain.The five elements (water, fire, wood, metal, earth) are not always equally predominant; the four seasons make way for each other in turn. There are short days and long; the moon has its periods of waning and waxing.来源网络，仅供英语学习。