;

And so knowing victory

Critical Text

故	知	勝	有	五	知
gu	zhi	sheng	you	wu	zhi
thus	know	victory	have	five	know

可	以	戰	與	不	可
ke	yi	zhan	yu	bu	ke
able	to	attack	and	not	able

以	戰	者	勝	知	眾
yi	zhan	zhe	sheng	zhi	zhong
to	attack	one-who	victory	know	many

寡	之	用	者	勝	上
gua	zhi	yong	zhe	sheng	shang
few	's	employ	one-who	victory	above

下	同	欲	者	勝	以
xia	tong	yu	zhe	sheng	yi
below	same	desire	one-who	victory	take

虞	待	不	虞	者	勝
yu	dai	bu	yu	zhe	sheng
prepare	await	not	prepare	one-who	victory

將	能	而	君	不	繟
jiang	neng	er	jun	bu	yu
general	able	and	ruler	not	interfere

者	勝	此	五	者	知
zhe	sheng	ci	wu	zhe	zhi
one-who	victory	this	five	one-who	know

勝	之	道	也
sheng	zhi	dao	ye
victory	's	dao	(period)

Yinqueshan Text

。。。知可而戰與不可而戰者喫知眾。。。以虞侍不。。。此五者知勝之道也

Shiyijia zhu Text

故知勝有五知可以戰與不可以戰者勝識眾寡之用者勝上下同欲者勝以虞待不虞者勝將能而君不御者勝此五者知勝之道也

Translation

And so knowing victory is fivefold. Knowing when one can and cannot do battle is victory. Knowing the use of the many and the few is victory. Superior and inferior desiring the same is victory. Being prepared and awaiting the unprepared is victory. The general being capable and the ruler not interfering is victory. These five are a dao of knowing victory.

Annotations

This passage lists five ways of knowing when one may be victorious. (These sentences could also be translated "One who knows . . . will be victorious.") In doing so it draws naturally from the most important concepts of the book.

"Knowing when one can and cannot do battle� is perhaps the most basic of all. It appears all through the subsequent chapter in the guise of kesheng, "able to be victorious," which we have translated as the nominal "vincibility." It is pivotal to the discussions in chapter 10 about refusing the ruler掇 orders to attack if one knows it cannot be done (buke).

"Knowing the use of the many and the few" is mentioned explicitly in chapter 5 and implicitly in the reference of chapter 7 to the use of pennants and flags, bells and gongs. "Superior and inferior desiring the same" harkens back to the definition of dao in chapter 1. "Preparation" and its lack are not mentioned again in the text but are implied in passages, such as the opening lines of chapter 6, that recommend getting to the battlefield first so as to await (dai) the enemy.

Finally, the tension between ruler and general is the subject of several passages. It is found most notably in the immediately preceding section of this text and in chapter 10.