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Original |
Translation |
| 1 |
孫子曰:用兵之法,有散地,有輕地,有爭地,有交地,有衢地,有
重地,有圮地,有圍地,有死地。
|
Sun Zi said: The art of war recognizes nine varieties of ground: (1) Dispersive ground; (2) facile ground; (3) contentious ground;
(4) open ground; (5) ground of intersecting highways;
(6) serious ground; (7) difficult ground; (8) hemmed-in ground;
(9) desperate ground.
|
| 2 |
諸侯自戰其地,為散地。 |
When a chieftain is fighting in his own territory,
it is dispersive ground. |
| 3 |
入人之地不深者,為輕地。 |
When he has penetrated into hostile territory,
but to no great distance, it is facile ground. |
| 4 |
我得則利,彼得亦利者,為爭地。 |
Ground the possession of which imports great
advantage to either side, is contentious ground. |
| 5 |
我可以往,彼可
以來者,為交地。 |
Ground on which each side has liberty of movement
is open ground. |
| 6 |
諸侯之地三屬,先至而得天下眾者,為衢地。 |
Ground which forms the key to three contiguous states,
so that he who occupies it first has most of the Empire
at his command, is a ground of intersecting highways. |
| 7 |
入人之地深,背城邑多者,為重地。 |
When an army has penetrated into the heart of a
hostile country, leaving a number of fortified cities
in its rear, it is serious ground. |
| 8 |
山林、險阻、沮澤,凡難行之道者,
為圮地。
|
Mountain forests, rugged steeps, marshes and fens--all
country that is hard to traverse: this is difficult ground. |
| 9 |
所從由入者隘,所從歸者迂,彼寡可以擊我之眾者,為圍地 |
Ground which is reached through narrow gorges,
and from which we can only retire by tortuous paths,
so that a small number of the enemy would suffice to crush
a large body of our men: this is hemmed in ground. |
| 10 |
疾戰則存,不疾戰則亡者,為死地。 |
Ground on which we can only be saved from
destruction by fighting without delay, is desperate ground. |
| 11 |
是故散地則無戰,輕地則無止
,爭地則無攻, |
On dispersive ground, therefore, fight not.
On facile ground, halt not. On contentious ground,
attack not. |
| 12 |
衢地則合交, |
On open ground, do not try to block the enemy's way.
On the ground of intersecting highways, join hands
with your allies. |
| 13 |
重地則掠,圮地則行, |
On serious ground, gather in plunder.
In difficult ground, keep steadily on the march. |
| 14 |
圍地則謀,死地則戰。 |
On hemmed-in ground, resort to stratagem.
On desperate ground, fight. |
| 15 |
所謂古之善用兵者,能使敵人前後不相及,眾寡不相恃,貴賤不相救
,上下不相收, |
Those who were called skillful leaders of old knew
how to drive a wedge between the enemy's front and rear;
to prevent co-operation between his large and small divisions;
to hinder the good troops from rescuing the bad,
the officers from rallying their men. |
| 16 |
卒離而不,兵合而不齊。 |
When the enemy's men were united, they managed
to keep them in disorder. |
| 17 |
合于利而動,不合于利而
止。 |
When it was to their advantage, they made
a forward move; when otherwise, they stopped still. |
| 18 |
敢問:“敵眾整而將來,待之若何?”曰:“先奪其所愛,則聽
矣。” |
If asked how to cope with a great host of the enemy
in orderly array and on the point of marching to the attack,
I should say: "Begin by seizing something which your
opponent holds dear; then he will be amenable to your will." |
| 19 |
兵之情主速,乘人之不及,由不虞之道,攻其所不戒也。 |
Rapidity is the essence of war: take advantage of
the enemy's unreadiness, make your way by unexpected routes,
and attack unguarded spots. |
| 20 |
凡為客之道:深入則專,主人不克。 |
The following are the principles to be observed
by an invading force: The further you penetrate into
a country, the greater will be the solidarity of your troops,
and thus the defenders will not prevail against you. |
| 21 |
掠于饒野,三軍足食。 |
Make forays in fertile country in order to supply
your army with food. |
| 22 |
謹養而勿
勞,并氣積力,運并計謀,為不可測。 |
Carefully study the well-being of your men,
and do not overtax them. Concentrate your energy and hoard
your strength. Keep your army continually on the move,
and devise unfathomable plans. |
| 23 |
投之無所往,死且不北死焉
不得,士人盡力。 |
Throw your soldiers into positions whence there
is no escape, and they will prefer death to flight.
If they will face death, there is nothing they may
not achieve. Officers and men alike will put forth
their uttermost strength. |
| 24 |
兵士甚陷則不懼,無所往則固,深入則拘,不得已
則鬥。 |
Soldiers when in desperate straits lose
the sense of fear. If there is no place of refuge,
they will stand firm. If they are in hostile country,
they will show a stubborn front. If there is no help
for it, they will fight hard. |
| 25 |
是故其兵不修而戒,不求而得,不約而親,不令而信。 |
Thus, without waiting to be marshaled, the soldiers
will be constantly on the qui vive; without waiting to
be asked, they will do your will; without restrictions,
they will be faithful; without giving orders, they can
be trusted. |
| 26 |
禁祥去
疑,至死無所之。 |
Prohibit the taking of omens, and do away with
superstitious doubts. Then, until death itself comes,
no calamity need be feared.
|
| 27 |
吾士無餘財,非惡貨也﹔無餘命,非惡壽也。 |
If our soldiers are not overburdened with money, it is not because they have
a distaste for riches; if their lives are not unduly
long, it is not because they
are disinclined to longevity. |
| 28 |
令發之日,士卒坐者涕沾襟,偃臥者淚交頤。投之無所往者,諸、劌之勇
也。 |
On the day they are ordered out to battle, your soldiers may weep, those sitting
up bedewing their garments, and those lying down letting
the tears run
down their cheeks. But let them once be brought to bay, and they will display
the courage of a Chu or a Kuei. |
| 29 |
故善用兵者,譬如率然。率然者,常山之蛇也。擊其首則尾至,擊其尾則首至,擊其中則首尾俱至。 |
The skillful tactician may be likened to the shuai-jan. Now the shuai-jan is
a snake that is found in the ChUng mountains. Strike
at its head, and you
will be attacked by its tail; strike at its tail, and you will be attacked by
its head; strike at its middle, and you will be attacked by head and tail both. |
| 30 |
敢問:“兵可使如率然乎?”曰:“
可。”夫吳人與越人相惡也,當其同舟而濟,遇風,其相救也,如左右手。 |
Asked if an army can be made to imitate the shuai-jan, I should answer, Yes.
For the men of Wu and the men of Yueh are enemies;
yet if they are crossing a river in the same boat and
are caught by a storm, they will come
to each other's assistance just as the left hand helps the right. |
| 31 |
是故方馬埋輪,未足恃也。 |
Hence it is not enough to put one's trust in the tethering of horses, and the
burying of chariot wheels in the ground |
| 32 |
齊勇如一,政之道也, |
The principle on which to manage an army is to set up one standard of courage
which all must reach. |
| 33 |
剛柔皆得,
地之理也。 |
How to make the best of both strong and weak--that is a question involving the
proper use of ground. |
| 34 |
故善用兵者,攜手若使一人,不得已也。 |
Thus the skillful general conducts his army just as though he were leading a
single man, willy-nilly, by the hand. |
| 35 |
將軍之事:靜以幽,正以治。 |
It is the business of a general to be quiet and thus ensure secrecy; upright
and just, and thus maintain order. |
| 36 |
能愚士卒之耳目,使之無知。 |
He must be able to mystify his officers and men by false reports and appearances,
and thus keep them in total ignorance. |
| 37 |
易其事,
革其謀,使人無識。易其居,迂其途,使人不得慮。 |
By altering his arrangements and changing his plans, he keeps the enemy without
definite knowledge. By shifting his camp and taking
circuitous routes,
he prevents the enemy from anticipating his purpose. |
| 38 |
帥與之期,如登
高而去其梯。帥與之深入諸侯之地,而發其機, |
At the critical moment, the leader of an army acts like one who has climbed up
a height and then kicks away the ladder behind him.
He carries his men deep
into hostile territory before he shows his hand. |
| 39 |
焚舟破釜,若驅群羊。驅而往,驅而來,莫知所之。 |
He burns his boats and breaks his cooking-pots; like a shepherd driving a flock
of sheep, he drives his men this way and that, and
nothing knows whither he is going. |
| 40 |
聚三軍之眾,投之于險,此謂將軍之
事也。 |
To muster his host and bring it into danger:--this may be termed the business
of the general.
|
| 41 |
九地之變,屈伸之力,人情之理,不可不察也。 |
The different measures suited to the nine varieties of ground; the expediency
of aggressive or defensive tactics; and the fundamental
laws of human nature: these are things that must most
certainly be studied. |
| 42 |
凡為客之道:深則專,淺則散。 |
When invading hostile territory, the general principle is, that penetrating deeply
brings cohesion; penetrating but a short way means
dispersion. |
| 43 |
去國越境而師者,絕地也﹔四達者,
衢地也﹔ |
When you leave your own country behind, and take your army across neighborhood
territory, you find yourself on critical ground. When
there are means of communication on all four sides,
the ground is one of intersecting highways. |
| 44 |
入深者,重地也﹔入淺者,輕地也﹔ |
When you penetrate deeply into a country, it is serious ground. When you penetrate
but a little way, it is facile ground. |
| 45 |
背固前隘者,圍地也﹔無所往者,死地也。 |
When you have the enemy's strongholds on your rear, and narrow passes in front,
it is hemmed-in ground. When there is no place of refuge
at all, it is desperate ground. |
| 46 |
是故散地,吾將一其志﹔輕地,吾將使之屬﹔ |
Therefore, on dispersive ground, I would inspire my men with unity of purpose.
On facile ground, I would see that there is close connection
between all parts of my army. |
| 47 |
爭地,吾將趨其後﹔ |
On contentious ground, I would hurry up my rear. |
| 48 |
交地,吾將謹其守﹔衢地,吾將固其結﹔ |
On open ground, I would keep a vigilant eye on my defenses. On ground of intersecting
highways, I would consolidate my alliances. |
| 49 |
重地,吾將繼其食﹔圮地,吾將進其途﹔ |
On serious ground, I would try to ensure a continuous stream of supplies. On
difficult ground, I would keep pushing on along the
road. |
| 50 |
圍地,吾將塞其闕﹔死地,吾將示之以不活。 |
On hemmed-in ground, I would block any way of retreat. On desperate ground, I
would proclaim to my soldiers the hopelessness of saving
their lives. |
| 51 |
故兵之情:圍則御,不得已則鬥,過則從。 |
For it is the soldier's disposition to offer an obstinate resistance when surrounded,
to fight hard when he cannot help himself, and to
obey promptly when he has fallen into danger.
|
| 52 |
是故不知諸侯之謀者,不能預交。不知山林、險阻、沮澤之形者,不
能行軍。不用鄉導,不能得地利。。 |
We cannot enter into alliance with neighboring princes until we are acquainted
with their designs. We are not fit to lead an army
on the march unless we are familiar with the face of
the country--its mountains and forests,
its pitfalls and precipices, its marshes and swamps. We shall be unable to turn
natural advantages to account unless we make use of local guides. |
| 53 |
四五者,不知一,非霸、王之兵也
。 |
To be ignored of any one of the following four or five principles does not befit
a warlike prince. |
| 54 |
夫霸、王之兵,伐大國,則其眾不得聚﹔威加于敵,則其交不得合
。 |
When a warlike prince attacks a powerful state, his generalship shows itself
in preventing the concentration of the enemy's forces.
He overawes his opponents, and their allies are prevented
from joining against him. |
| 55 |
是故不爭天下之交,不養天下之權,信己之私,威加于敵,則其城可拔,其國可隳 |
Hence he does not strive to ally himself with all and sundry, nor does he foster
the power of other states. He carries out his own secret
designs, keeping his antagonists in awe. Thus he is
able to capture their cities and overthrow their kingdoms. |
| 56 |
施無法之賞,懸無政之令,犯三軍之眾,若使一人
。 |
Bestow rewards without regard to rule, issue orders without regard to previous
arrangements; and you will be able to handle a whole
army as though
you had to do with but a single man. |
| 57 |
犯之以事,勿告以言。犯之以利,勿告以害。 |
Confront your soldiers with the deed itself; never let them know your design.
When the outlook is bright, bring it before their eyes;
but tell them nothing when
the situation is gloomy. |
| 58 |
投之亡地然後存,陷之死地然後生。 |
Place your army in deadly peril, and it will survive; plunge it into desperate
straits, and it will come off in safety.
|
| 59 |
夫眾陷于害,然後能為勝敗。 |
For it is precisely when a force has fallen into harm's way that is capable of
striking a blow for victory. |
| 60 |
故為兵之事,在于佯順敵之意, |
Success in warfare is gained by carefully accommodating ourselves to the enemy's
purpose. |
| 61 |
并敵一向,千里殺將, |
By persistently hanging on the enemy's flank, we shall succeed in the long run
in killing the commander-in-chief. |
| 62 |
是謂巧能成事者也。 |
This is called ability to accomplish a thing by sheer cunning. |
| 63 |
是故政舉之日,夷關折符,無通其使﹔ |
On the day that you take up your command, block the frontier passes, destroy
the official tallies, and stop the passage of all emissaries. |
| 64 |
勵于廊廟之上,以誅其事。 |
Be stern in the council-chamber, so that you may control the situation. |
| 65 |
敵人開闔,必亟入之, |
If the enemy leaves a door open, you must rush in. |
| 66 |
先其所愛,微與之期。 |
Forestall your opponent by seizing what he holds dear, and subtly contrive to
time his arrival on the ground. |
| 67 |
踐墨隨敵,以決戰事。 |
Walk in the path defined by rule, and accommodate yourself to the enemy until
you can fight a decisive battle. |
| 68 |
是故始如處女,敵人開戶,後如脫兔,敵不及拒。
|
At first, then, exhibit the coyness of a maiden, until the enemy gives you an
opening; afterwards emulate the rapidity of a running
hare, and it will be too late
for the enemy to oppose you. |