Chapter 1 – Sentence 1

Giles:

Sun Tzu said: The art of war is of vital importance to the State. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.

 

Goldwater:

Sunzi said: War is an important matter to the State. The life or death of the people depends on it. The survival or extinction of the state depends on it. The subject of war must therefore be thoroughly investigated.

 

Traditional Chinese

孫子曰：兵者，國之大事，
死生之地，存亡之道，不可不察也。

 

Simplified Chinese

孙子曰：兵者，国之大事，
死生之地，存亡之道，不可不察也。

 

Pin Yin

Sūn zǐ yuē: bīng zhě, guó zhī dà shì,
sǐ shēng zhī dì, cún wáng zhī dào,
bù kě bù chá yě.

 

孫子曰：兵者，國之大事，死生之地，存亡之道，不可不察也。
Sunzi said: war, kingdom’s big thing, death-life’s place,
survival-extinction’s road, not can not investigate.

 

孫子 曰： 兵 者，
Sunzi said: War, *1

 

國 之 大 事，
Kingdom ‘s big thing,

 

死 生 之 地，
death life ‘s place,

 

存 亡 之 道，
survival extinction ‘s road,

 

不 可 不 察 也。
not can not investigate . *2

 

Sunzi said:
War (is a) big thing (to the) kingdom.
(It is the) place of life (or) death.
(It is the) road (to) survival (or) extinction.
(We) cannot not investigate (it).

Sunzi said:
War (is a) big thing (to the) State.
(It is the) place of life (or) death (of people).
(It is the) road (to) survival (or) extinction (of the state).
(We) cannot not investigate (it).

Sunzi said: War is an important matter to the State. The life or death of the people depends on it. The survival or extinction of the state depends on it. The subject of war must therefore be thoroughly investigated.

Comments:

1. 者 is a word that is often used to make the preceding noun more concrete.

2. 事 means thing. It refers not to things that are tangible, but to things that are intangible. In other words, the character refers to things that can exist not in the hands, but in the mind. Therefore, ‘big thing’ could also be translated by such as ‘important matter’.

3. 也 is often used as it is here to indicate the end of the sentence.

4. The character 國 is usually translated in modern times as kingdom. This is a reasonable translation. The modern, simplified version of the character, 国, shows a picture of a king (king’s stone, jade), 玉, within a boundary of land, 囗. However, based on the standard of documentation of European history over the past several centuries, the more common term that is used to describe political entities in a state of flux is State. This certainly applies to China at that time, as constant warfare led to frequent changes in the boundaries of control. The traditional character, 國, actually does reflect this state of flux, as it is a picture of a boundary of land, 囗, with the character for flux inside of it, 或; in other words, land the boundaries of which are in flux. In the minds of many, the modern notion of kingdom does not really imply this constant state of flux as well as the term State.