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The Art of War - 孙子兵法 - Chapter 13

Manhattan Mandarin

Chapter 13: 用间篇 (Yòng Jiān Piān) - The Use of Spies


孙子曰:凡兴师十万,出征千里,百姓之费,公家之奉,日费千金。Sūn Zǐ yuē: Fán xīng shī shí wàn, chū zhēng qiān lǐ, bǎi xìng zhī fèi, gōng jiā zhī fèng, rì fèi qiān jīn.

Sun Tzu said: When deploying an army of 100,000 to march 1,000 miles, the expenses of the people and the state will amount to a thousand pieces of gold daily.


故三军之事,莫亲于间,赏莫厚于间,事莫密于间。Gù sān jūn zhī shì, mò qīn yú jiān, shǎng mò hòu yú jiān, shì mò mì yú jiān.

Thus, no activity is closer to the heart of the commander than the use of spies, no rewards are more generous than those for spies, and no operations are more secretive.


非圣智不能用间,非仁义不能使间,非微妙不能得间之实。Fēi shèng zhì bù néng yòng jiān, fēi rén yì bù néng shǐ jiān, fēi wēi miào bù néng dé jiān zhī shí.

Only those with great wisdom and virtue can use spies effectively, and only those with subtlety can gain accurate information from them.


间有五:有因间,有内间,有反间,有死间,有生间。Jiān yǒu wǔ: yǒu yīn jiān, yǒu nèi jiān, yǒu fǎn jiān, yǒu sǐ jiān, yǒu shēng jiān.

There are five types of spies: local spies, inside spies, converted spies, expendable spies, and surviving spies.


五间俱起,莫知其道,是谓神纪之军。Wǔ jiān jù qǐ, mò zhī qí dào, shì wèi shén jì zhī jūn.

When all five types of spies are active, no one can detect their strategy. This is called divine organization in warfare.


Vocabulary List for Chapter 13

Chinese

Pinyin

English Meaning

用间

yòng jiān

the use of spies

兴师

xīng shī

deploying an army

十万

shí wàn

one hundred thousand

出征

chū zhēng

march to battle

千里

qiān lǐ

a thousand miles

百姓

bǎi xìng

the people

fèi

expenses

三军

sān jūn

the three armies

shǎng

rewards

jiān

spies

圣智

shèng zhì

great wisdom

仁义

rén yì

virtue, benevolence

微妙

wēi miào

subtlety

因间

yīn jiān

local spies

内间

nèi jiān

inside spies

反间

fǎn jiān

converted spies

死间

sǐ jiān

expendable spies

生间

shēng jiān

surviving spies

神纪

shén jì

divine organization

jūn

army


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