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To go a thousand li

Critical Text

故	行	千	里	而	不
gu	xing	qian	li	er	bu
thus	go	1000	li	and	not

畏	行	無	人	之	地
wei	xing	wu	ren	zhi	di
fear	go	without	people	's	ground

也	攻	而	必	取	攻
ye	gong	er	bi	qu	gong
(period)	attack	and	must	seize	attack

其	所	不	守	也	守
qi	suo	bu	shou	ye	shou
their	which	not	defend	(period)	defend

而	必	固	守	其	所
er	bi	gu	shou	qi	suo
and	must	firm	defend	their	which

必	攻	也	故	善	攻
bi	gong	ye	gu	shan	gong
must	attack	(period)	thus	good	attack

者	敵	不	知	所	守
zhe	di	bu	zhi	suo	shou
one-who	enemy	not	know	which	defend

善	守	者	敵	不	知
shan	shou	zhe	di	bu	zhi
good	defend	one-who	enemy	not	know

所	攻
suo	gong
which	attack

Yinqueshan Text

行千里而不畏行無人之地也攻而必[取攻其]所不守也守而必固守其所必[攻也故善攻]者適不知所守善守者適不知。。。

Shiyijia zhu Text

行千里而不勞者行於癙人之地也攻而必取者攻其所不守也守而必固者守其所貙攻也故善攻者敵不知其所守善守者敵不知其所攻

Translation

To go a thousand li without fear, go through unpeopled ground. To attack and surely take it, attack where they do not defend. To defend and surely hold firm, defend where they will surely attack. Thus with one skilled at attack, the enemy does not know where to defend. With one skilled at defense, the enemy does not know where to attack.

Annotations

The final phrase, "defend where they will surely (bi 必) attack," reads in all the major texts traditions, "where they will not (bu 不) attack." The Yinqueshan strip's bi is supported by the Yulan (juan 317) as well as by military logic. As we note in the Commentary to this passage in The Art of War (p. 159), one cannot control where the enemy will attack, but one can make one's own defences secure.