The first is Tao

Critical Text

Yinqueshan Text

一曰道，二曰天，三曰地，四曰將，五曰法

Shiyijia zhu Text

一曰道，二曰天，三曰地，四曰將，五曰法

Translation

The first is dao, the second is heaven, the third is earth, the fourth is the general, and the fifth is methods.

Annotations

This is the famous triad "heaven, earth and humanity," flanked here by dao (the way) and fa (model, method, and, eventually, law). Thus the opening section of the Sunzi announces its concern with the major concepts of Warring States "Masters" (zi 子) discourse. As we will see, each term is given a characteristic new definition. This passage is probably a late addition to the lore that was assembled to become our Sunzi text, added by its editor to frame his Sunzi anthology within contemporary concerns.