The ultimate in giving form

Critical Text

Yinqueshan Text

刑兵之極至於無刑無刑則深間弗能窺也貙者弗能謀也因刑貙 措勝於。。。制刑所以勝者不。。。

Shiyijia zhu Text

故形兵之極至於無形無形則深間不能窺智者不能謀因形而措 勝於眾眾不能知人皆知我所以勝之形而莫知吾所以制勝之形 故其戰勝不復而應形於無窮

Translation

The ultimate in giving form to the military is to arrive at formlessness. When one is formless, deep spies cannot catch a glimpse and the wise cannot strategize. Rely on form to bring about victory over the multitude, and the multitude cannot understand. The elite all know the form by which I am victorious, but no one knows how I determine form. Do not repeat the means of victory, but respond to form from the inexhaustible.

Annotations

The Yinqueshan text has fu neng kui/mou 弗能窺/謀 (not able to glimpse it/strategize it), whereas the received texts have the negative bu 不. It might be preferable then to make explicit the direct object that fu implies and to translate these lines "deep spies cannot glimpse one and the wise cannot strategize against one."

The middle section of this passage sets out the levels of understanding of three groups: ordinary people (who can see the victory but not the forms though which it was attained), the elite (who can see the method, but only after the victory has been achieved), and the sage commander (who alone knows how to "determine the form of victory."). In order to bring out this progression more clearly, following Wu Jiulong (p. 101) we have omitted the yi in the first suoyi 所以 phrase, thus sustaining the second occurence of that phrase.

This passage and the next bring the Sunzi teachings on form to their apogee.