Thus compare by means of the appraisals

Critical Text

故	校	之	以	計	而
gu	jiao	zhi	yi	ji	er
thus	compare	it	by	calculations	and

索	其	情	曰	主	孰
suo	qi	qing	yue	zhu	shu
seek out	its	tendency	say	ruler	who

有	道	將	孰	有	能
you	dao	jiang	shu	you	neng
has	way	general	who	has	ability

天	地	孰	得	法	令
tian	di	shu	de	fa	ling
heaven	earth	who	possess	methods	orders

孰	行	兵	眾	孰	強
shu	xing	bing	zhong	shu	qiang
who	practices	military	multitudes	who	strong

士	卒	孰	練	賞	罰
shi	zu	shu	lian	shang	fa
officer	troops	who	trained	reward	punishment

孰	明	吾	以	此	知
shu	ming	wu	yi	ci	zhi
who	clear	I	by	this	know

勝	負	矣
sheng	fu	yi
victory	defeat	(!)

Yinqueshan Text

。。。有能天地孰得法。。。孰強士卒孰練賞罰孰明吾以此知勝。。。

Shiyijia zhu Text

故校之以計而索其情曰主孰有道將孰有能天地孰得法令孰行兵眾孰強士卒孰練賞罰孰明吾以

Translation

Thus compare by means of the appraisals and so seek out its nature. Ask which ruler has dao? Which general has ability? Which attains heaven and earth? Which implements method and orders? Whose military and multitudes are strong? Whose officers and soldiers are trained? Whose rewards and punishments are clear? By these I know victory and defeat!

Annotations

The first clause, "compare by means of the appraisals and so seek out its nature," appears verbatim at the beginning of this chapter. It is possible that the Sunzi once began with this set of seven appraisals, added on to pre-existing material by an early editor as a device to frame the text. In this hypothesis, "the five" were added still later, as they explicitly link the military to the larger world of Warring States political discourse.