;

Sun Tzu said

Critical Text

孫	子	曰	昔	善	者
sun	zi	yue	xi	shan	zhe
sun	zi	said	old	good	ones

先	為	不	可	勝	以
xian	wei	bu	ke	sheng	yi
first	make	not	able	victory	to

待	敵	之	可	勝	不
dai	di	zhi	ke	sheng	bu
await	enemy	's	able	victory	not

可	勝	在	己	可	勝
ke	sheng	zai	ji	ke	sheng
able	victory	in	self	able	victory

在	敵
zai	di
in	enemy

Yinqueshan Text--A

孫子曰昔善。。。勝以侍敵之可勝不可勝在己可勝在敵

Yinqueshan Text--B

。。。

Shiyijia zhu Text

孫子曰昔之善戰者先為不可勝以待敵之可勝不可勝在己可勝在敵

Translation

Sun Tzu said: In the past the skilled first made themselves invincible to await the enemy's vincibility. Invincibility lies in oneself. Vincibility lies in the enemy.

Annotations

The Shiyijia zhu text uses the phrase "shan zhan zhe," "those skilled in battle." We have dropped the "zhan," following the Yinqueshand text from sections 3 and 7, below, though the portion of the bamboo strip from this section is missing. Indeed, as Li Ling points out (p. 143, n.2), the Yinqueshan text shows a general preference for the shorter "shan zhe." This usage, however, is not consistent.