始计
War is too consequential to enter blindly — weigh the five fundamentals and reckon the odds before the first move, because all warfare rests on deception.
- What this chapter says
- Key lines
- Applied today
- Related stratagems
- Chapters that share ground with this one
What this chapter says
The opening chapter insists that war, deciding a state's life or death, must never be undertaken without cold assessment. Sun Tzu names five fundamentals to weigh — the Moral Law (道, whether the people are in harmony with their ruler), Heaven (天, seasons and timing), Earth (地, terrain and distance), the Commander (将, his virtues), and Method and discipline (法, organisation). Compare both sides across these and the outcome can be calculated in the temple before a single battle: whoever scores more is more likely to win. And because deception governs everything — appear weak when strong, near when far — the plan is only the beginning; execution turns on misdirection and striking where the enemy is unready.
Key lines
From 十一家注孫子, the Eleven Commentators edition. The Chinese is verbatim from that text; the English beneath each is ours.
- 杜牧 《傳》曰：「國之大事，在祀與戎。」 The Zuo Commentary: the great affairs of a state are sacrifice and war.
- 張預 國之安危在兵，故講武練兵，實先務也。 A state's safety rests on its arms, so drilling troops is the first business of all.
- 李筌 兵者凶器，死生、存亡繫於此矣，是以重之，恐人輕行者也。 Weapons are instruments of ill omen; life and death, survival and ruin hang on them. Hence the gravity — the fear is that men will go to war lightly.
- 杜牧 國之存亡，人之死生，皆由於兵，故須審察也。 The survival of the state and the lives of its people both turn on war, so it must be examined closely.
- 賈林 地，猶所也，亦謂陳師、振旅、戰陳之地。得其利則生，失其便則死，故曰死生之地。道者，權機立勝之道，得之則存，失之則亡，故曰不可不察也。《書》曰：「有存道者，輔而固之；有亡道者，推而亡之。」 地 here means 'place' — the ground on which armies are drawn up, marshalled and engaged. Hold its advantage and you live; lose its convenience and you die: hence 'the ground of life and death'. 道 is the way of seizing the moment and settling the victory; gain it and you survive, lose it and you perish: hence 'it must be examined'. The Documents say: 'Where there is a way of survival, support and secure it; where there is a way of ruin, push it over.'
- 梅堯臣 地有死生之勢，戰有存亡之道。 Ground has its configuration of life and death; battle has its way of survival and ruin.
- 王晳 兵舉，則死生、存亡繫之。 Once troops are raised, life and death, survival and ruin hang upon it.
- 張預 民之死生兆於此，則國之存亡見於彼。然死生曰地、存亡曰道者，以死生在勝負之地，而存亡繫得失之道也，得不重慎審察乎？ The people's life and death is portended here; the state's survival or ruin appears there. That life and death is called 'ground' while survival and ruin is called 'way' is because life and death lie in the terrain of victory and defeat, while survival and ruin hang on the way of gain and loss. How could one not weigh it with the utmost care?
- 曹操 兵無常形，以詭詐爲道。 War has no fixed shape; deception is its method.
- 李筌 軍不厭詐。 An army never tires of deceit.
- 梅堯臣 非譎不可以行權，非權不可以制敵。 Without guile there is no expedient; without the expedient the enemy cannot be mastered.
- 王晳 詭者，所以求勝敵；御衆必以信也。 Deception is how one seeks to beat the enemy — but one's own troops must be governed by good faith.
- 張預 用兵雖本於仁義，然其取勝必在詭詐。故曳柴揚塵，欒枝之譎也；萬弩齊發，孫臏之奇也；千牛俱奔，田單之權也；囊沙壅水，淮陰之詐也，此皆用詭道而制勝也。 Though the use of arms is rooted in benevolence and right, victory is always taken by deception. Dragging brushwood to raise dust was Luan Zhi's ruse; ten thousand crossbows loosed at once was Sun Bin's surprise; a thousand oxen stampeded was Tian Dan's expedient; damming the river with sandbags was the Marquis of Huaiyin's trick. All took victory by the way of deception.
- 曹操 擊其懈怠，出其空虛。 Strike where he is slack; emerge where he is hollow.
- 李筌 擊懈怠，襲空虛。 Strike where they are slack; raid where they are empty.
- 杜牧 擊其空虛，襲其懈怠。 Strike the void; fall upon the negligence.
- 孟氏 擊其空虛，襲其懈怠，使敵不知所以備也。故曰：兵者無形爲妙。太公曰：「動莫神於不意，謀莫善於不識。」 Strike their emptiness, raid their slackness, so the enemy does not know what to guard. Hence: in war, formlessness is the marvel. Taigong said: 'No movement is more divine than the unlooked-for; no plan better than the unperceived.'
- 何氏 攻其無備者，魏太祖征烏桓，郭嘉曰：「胡恃其遠，必不設備，因其無備，卒然擊之，可破滅也。」太祖行至易水，嘉曰：「兵貴神速，今千里襲人，輜重多，難以趨利，不如輕兵兼道以出，掩其不意。」乃密出盧龍塞，直指單于庭，合戰，大破之。唐李靖陳十策以圖蕭銑，總管三軍之任，一以委靖。八月，集兵夔州。銑以時屬秋潦，江水泛漲，三峽路危，必謂靖不能進，遂不設備。九月，靖率兵而進，曰：「兵貴神速，機不可失。今兵始集，銑尚未知，乘水漲之勢，倏忽至城下，所謂疾雷不及掩耳。縱使知我，倉卒無以應敵，此必成擒也。」進兵至夷陵，銑始懼，召兵江南，果不能至。勒兵圍城，銑遂降。出其不意者︰魏末，遣將鍾會、鄧艾伐蜀，蜀將姜維守劍閣，鍾會攻維，未克。艾上言：「請從陰平由邪徑出劍閣，西入成都。奇兵衝其腹心，劍閣之軍必還赴涪，則會方軌而進；劍閣之軍不還，則應涪之兵寡矣。《軍志》云：攻其無備，出其不意。今掩其空虛，破之必矣。」冬十月，艾自陰平行無人之地七百餘里，鑿山通道，造作橋閣，山高谷深，至爲艱險。又糧運將匱，瀕於危殆。艾以氊自裹，推轉而下。將士皆攀木緣崖，魚貫而進。先登至江油，蜀守將馬邈降。諸葛瞻自涪還綿竹，列陳相拒，大敗之，斬瞻及尚書張遵等。進軍至成都，蜀主劉禪降。又，齊神武爲東魏將，率兵伐西魏，屯軍蒲坂，造三道浮橋渡河，又遣其將竇泰趣潼關，高敖曹圍洛州。西魏將周文帝出軍廣陽，召諸將謂曰：「賊今掎吾三面，又造橋於河，示欲必渡，欲綴吾軍，使竇泰得西入耳。久與相持，其計得行，非良策也。且高歡用兵，常以泰爲先驅，其下多銳卒，屢勝而驕。今出其不意，襲之必克。克泰，則歡不戰而自走矣。」諸將咸曰：「賊在近，捨而遠襲，事若蹉跌，悔無可及。」周文曰：「歡前再襲潼關，吾軍不過霸上。今者大來，兵未出郊，賊顧謂吾但自守耳，無遠鬬意；又狃於得志，有輕我心，乘此擊之，何往不克！賊雖造橋，未能徑渡。比五日中，吾取竇泰必矣。公等勿疑。」周文遂率騎六千還長安，聲言欲往隴右。辛亥，潛出軍。癸丑晨，至潼關。竇泰卒聞軍至，惶懼依山爲陳，未及成列，周文擊破之，斬泰，傳首長安。高敖曹適陷洛州，聞泰没，燒輜重，棄城而走。 He illustrates at length: Guo Jia urging Cao Cao that the Wuhuan, trusting to distance, would be unprepared, and the forced march light through the Lulong Pass straight to the Chanyu's court; then Li Jing's ten-point plan against Xiao Xian, striking while the autumn floods were thought to make the river impassable.summary, not a translation
- 張預 攻無備者，謂懈怠之處，敵之所不虞者，則擊之。若燕人畏鄭三軍，而不虞制人，爲制人所敗是也。出不意者，謂虛空之地，敵不以爲慮者，則襲之。若鄧艾伐蜀，行無人之地七百餘里是也。 'Attack where unprepared' means: where they are slack, where the enemy does not reckon on it, strike. 'Come out where unexpected' means: an empty place the enemy gives no thought to — raid it, as when Deng Ai invaded Shu, marching seven hundred li through uninhabited country.
Applied today
Enter a market only after honestly scoring both sides on the deciding factors — team, timing, positioning, resources. The competitor who has done more of this cold 'temple calculation' before acting usually wins.
Before you commit, map which side is stronger on each point that matters. Most contests are decided by preparation, not the clash — and letting the other side misread your position is part of the work.