Chinese strategy explained : know yourself and the ennemy, use deception, spies, and "win with ease". Tr. Giles (en, annotated) and Amiot (fr).
Tactical Dispositions
Ts`ao Kung explains the Chinese meaning of the words for the title of this chapter: "marching and countermarching on the part of the two armies with a view to discovering each other's condition." Tu Mu says: "It is through the dispositions of an army that its condition may be discovered. Conceal your dispositions, and your condition will remain secret, which leads to victory,; show your dispositions, and your condition will become patent, which leads to defeat." Wang Hsi remarks that the good general can "secure success by modifying his tactics to meet those of the enemy."
What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease.1
Giles IV.11.
Les habiles guerriers ne trouvent pas plus de difficultés dans les combats ; ils font en sorte de remporter la bataille après avoir créé les conditions appropriées. Ils ont tout prévu ; ils ont paré de leur part à toutes les éventualités. Ils savent la situation des ennemis, ils connaissent leurs forces, et n'ignorent point ce qu'ils peuvent faire et jusqu'où ils peuvent aller ; la victoire est une suite naturelle de leur savoir.
Amiot
The Art of War – Sun Zi IV. 9. – Chinese off/on – Français/English
Alias Sun Tzu, Sun Wu, Sun Tse, Sunzi Bingfa, Souen Tseu, Souen Wou, 孫武.
The Book of Odes, The Analects, Great Learning, Doctrine of the Mean, Three-characters book, The Book of Changes, The Way and its Power, 300 Tang Poems, The Art of War, Thirty-Six Strategies
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