Chapter 10 · Terrain · 地形

Passage 10-15

視卒如嬰兒, 故可與之赴深溪; 視卒如愛子, 故可與之俱死. 厚而不能使, 愛而不能令, 亂而不能治, 譬如驕子, 不可用也.

Treat troops like infants—they will follow you into deep valleys. Treat them like beloved sons—they will die beside you. But if too generous to command, too affectionate to give orders, too indulgent to enforce discipline—they become like spoiled children, useless.

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These passages from other chapters connect to the themes in Passage 10-15:

Reward and Punishment Passage 9-20 卒未親附而罰之, 則不服, 不服則難用也. 卒已親附而罰不行... The Five Fundamental Factors Passage 1-2 故經之以五事, 校之以計, 而索其情. 一曰道, 二曰天, ... Assessing Advantage Passage 1-9 故校之以七計, 而塞其情. 曰: 主孰有道, 將孰有能, 天... The General Receives His Mandate Passage 8-1 孫子曰: 凡用兵之法, 將受命於君, 合軍聚衆. Unity Through Shared Danger Passage 11-32 是故, 不爭天下之交, 不養天下之權, 信己之私, 威加於敵... The Skillful Strategist Passage 3-6 將不勝其忿, 而蟻附之, 殺士三分之一, 而城不拔者, 此攻...

More from Chapter 10: Terrain (地形)

Passage 10-1: Sun Tzu said: Terrain types include: accessible, entrapping, stalemating, narrow... Passage 10-2: Ground both sides can traverse freely is called accessible. On accessible terrai... Passage 10-3: Ground easy to enter but difficult to exit is called entrapping. On such terrain... Passage 10-4: Ground where neither side benefits from advancing is called stalemating. Here, e... Passage 10-5: On narrow terrain, occupy it first and fully man it to await the enemy. If the e... Passage 10-6: On precipitous terrain, occupy high, sunny ground first to await the enemy. If t... Passage 10-7: On distant terrain with balanced forces, initiating battle is difficult and disa... Passage 10-8: There are six types of army failure: flight, insubordination, deterioration, col... Passage 10-9: Equal forces sent one against ten—flight Strong troops with weak officers—insubo... Passage 10-10: Senior officers angry and insubordinate, engaging the enemy on impulse without t... Passage 10-11: A weak general lacking strictness, unclear instruction, no consistent standards ... Passage 10-12: A general who cannot assess the enemy, engages many with few, attacks the strong... Passage 10-13: Terrain assists military operations. Assessing the enemy to achieve victory, cal... Passage 10-14: If the Way of battle ensures victory, fight even if the ruler forbids it. If it ... Passage 10-16: Knowing your troops can strike but not that the enemy cannot be struck—half vict... Passage 10-17: Therefore, one who knows warfare moves without confusion, acts without exhaustio...