Sun Zi – The Art of War

Chinese strategy explained : know yourself and the ennemy, use deception, spies, and "win with ease". Tr. Giles (en, annotated) and Amiot (fr).

Introduction
I. Laying Plans
II. Waging War
III. Attack by Stratagem
IV. Tactical Dispositions

V. Energy
VI. Weak Points and Strong
VII. Maneuvering
VIII. Variation in Tactics
IX. The Army On The March

X. Terrain
XI. The Nine Situations
XII. The Attack By Fire
XIII. The Use of Spies

The Attack By Fire

Rather more than half the chapter (SS. 1-13) is devoted to the subject of fire, after which the author branches off into other topics.

Sunzi XII. 4.

The proper season is when the weather is very dry; the special days are those when the moon is in the constellations of the Sieve, the Wall, the Wing or the Cross-bar;1 for these four are all days of rising wind.

1. These are, respectively, the 7th, 14th, 27th, and 28th of the Twenty-eight Stellar Mansions, corresponding roughly to Sagittarius, Pegasus, Crater and Corvus.

Giles XII.4.

Le temps de mettre le feu est celui où tout est tranquille sous le Ciel, où la sérénité paraît devoir être de durée. Le jour de le faire éclater est celui où la lune se trouve sous une des quatre constellations Qi, Pi, Yi, Tchen. Il est rare que le vent ne souffle point alors, et il arrive très souvent qu'il souffle avec force.

Amiot

Sun Zi XII. 4.