;

One who takes position first

Critical Text

先	處	戰	地	而	待
xian	chu	zhan	di	er	dai
first	position	battle	ground	and	await

戰	者	佚	後	處	戰
zhan	zhe	yi	hou	chu	zhan
battle	one-who	ease	after	position	battle

地	而	趨	戰	者	勞
di	er	qu	zhan	zhe	lao
ground	and	hasten	battle	one-who	labor

故	善	戰	者	致	人
gu	shan	zhan	zhe	zhi	ren
thus	good	battle	one-who	summon	people

而	不	致	於	人
er	bu	zhi	yu	ren
and	not	summon	by	people

Yinqueshan Text

先處戰地而待戰者失後處戰地而趨戰者勞故善戰者致人而毋[致於]人

Shiyijia zhu Text

凡先處戰地而待敵者佚後處戰地而趨戰者勞故善戰者致人而不致於人

Translation

One who takes position first at the battleground and awaits the enemy is at ease. One who takes position later at the battleground and hastens to do battle is at labor. Thus one skilled at battle summons others and is not summoned by them.

Annotations

The Yinqueshan text has "at the battleground and awaits battle (zhan)" rather than the received text掇 "and awaits the enemy." The slight awkwardness of this repetition argues for it as a stronger reading, and it is supported by the two zhan in the second clause. The Denma translation in The Art of War (p. 20), which follows the received text here, should be corrected.