Chapter 1 – Sentence 18

Giles:

These military devices, leading to victory, must not be divulged beforehand.

 

Goldwater:

These are military leaders’ ways to victory. They cannot be fully determined in advance, but must include reaction to circumstances in the field.

 

Traditional Chinese

此兵家之勝，不可先傳也。

 

Simplified Chinese

此兵家之胜，不可先传也。

 

Pin Yin

cǐ bīng jiā zhī shèng,
bù kě xiān chuán yě.

 

此兵家之勝，不可先傳也。
These military leaders’s victory,
not can first communicate.

 

此 兵 家 之 勝，
These military leaders ‘s victory,

 

不 可 先 傳 也。
not can first communicate .

 

These (are) military leaders’ (ways to) victory. (They) cannot (be) communicated (in advance).

These are military leaders’ ways to victory. They cannot be (fully) determined in advance (, but must include reaction to circumstances in the field).

These are military leaders’ ways to victory. They cannot be fully determined in advance, but must include reaction to circumstances in the field.

Comments:

1. In other words, a general should know the principles and develop basic strategy, but deception requires that the general be flexible enough to react to opportunities as they occur and circumstances as they present.

2. There seems to be a healthy discussion among readers as to whether the interpretation of this sentence is that these deceptions must not be divulged in advance or that they cannot be determined in advance. I cannot imagine that, having talked at length about deception, the otherwise extremely terse author felt a need to remind people to keep their plans a secret, since that is obviously the very nature of deception. Instead, Sentence 12 has already stated the need to be able to react to opportunities as they arise in the field, and this is certainly true with acts of deception.