About this edition

The Chinese text

The thirteen chapters are the received Chinese text, with the traditional chapter divisions and punctuation. It is the text Chinese readers know, set out so that a learner can follow it character by character.

The pinyin

Readings are given character by character, above the character, using standard Hanyu Pinyin with tone marks. Where a character has more than one reading, the one required by the classical context is used — 将 as jiàng, 乘 as shèng in military counts, 数 as shuò where it means "repeatedly", and Giles' own Wade-Giles spellings (Sun Tzŭ, Ts'ao Kung) are kept as he printed them.

The English translation

The translation is Lionel Giles' edition of 1910, first published in London. Giles was keeper of the Department of Oriental Printed Books and Manuscripts at the British Museum, and his version remains the most widely quoted English Art of War.

The notes

Giles' annotations sit with the sentence they explain, in a note you can open beside the text. The Chinese annotations, drawn from the commentarial tradition, are collected at the end of each chapter for readers who read Chinese.

How to read a chapter

Use the reading controls at the top of any chapter to show Chinese only, English only, or both; to hide the pinyin; to open every note at once; or to print the chapter. Your choice is remembered in this browser.

The chapters

1. Laying Plans · 2. Waging War · 3. Attack by Stratagem · 4. Tactical Dispositions · 5. Energy · 6. Weak Points and Strong · 7. Maneuvering · 8. Variation of Tactics · 9. The Army on the March · 10. Terrain · 11. The Nine Situations · 12. The Attack by Fire · 13. The Use of Spies

The text on this site

Every Chinese character in the chapters links through to its entry at the character dictionary — stroke order, readings, and the senses it carries.

Reuse

Both the Chinese text and the English translation by Lionel Giles (1910) are in the public domain. The arrangement, the pinyin, and the notes we wrote on the text are our own; if you reproduce them, a link back is appreciated.