Chinese Text Project Dictionary

School of the Military -> The Art of War -> Weak Points and Strong -> 3

故形人而我無形，則我專而敵分，我專為一，敵分為十，是以十攻其一也。則我眾而敵寡，能以眾擊寡，則我之所與戰者，約矣。

By discovering the enemy's dispositions and remaining invisible ourselves, we can keep our forces concentrated, while the enemy's must be divided. We can form a single united body, while the enemy must split up into fractions. Hence there will be a whole pitted against separate parts of a whole, which means that we shall be many to the enemy's few. And if we are able thus to attack an inferior force with a superior one, our opponents will be in dire straits.

Character	Composition	Variants	Reading	Meaning	Hanyu	Kangxi	Cihai
故	攴+5		gù ㄍㄨˋ	Cause. / State of affairs. / Event, incident. / Plot. / Old. / Past, original. / Death. / On purpose. / Originally. / Hence, thus.	v2,p1453#05	p.469#25	p.601r5c01
形	彡+4		xíng ㄒㄧㄥˊ	Body, thing with form. / Human body. / Form, appearance. / Lay of the land. / Circumstances. / Condition, situation. / Form, create. / Exhibit, show. / Compare. / Mould, die. / Same as 「刑(4.1)」 xíng ㄒㄧㄥˊ: Law, rules of punishment. / Same as 「鉶」 xíng ㄒㄧㄥˊ: Porcelain soup bowl.	v2,p0852#10	p.363#06	p.507r4c01
人	人+0	𠔽亻	rén ㄖㄣˊ	Man, person. / Others, other people. / The people, ordinary men. / Talent, material. / [A man's] character. / Affairs of men, world of man. / Benevolence.	v1,p0101#10	p.91#01	p.80r2c01
而	而+0		ér ㄦˊ	Whiskers. / Like, similar to. / Pronoun: you. / Pronoun: this, like this. / Connective: and, with. / Connective: and, then. / Connective: if, supposing. / Connective: yet, however. / Connective: therefore, hence. / Connective: expresses method or state. / Particle: of. / Expressive particle.	v4,p2810#01	p.961#18	p.1080r2c03
			néng ㄋㄥˊ	Same as 「能(3)」 néng ㄋㄥˊ: Able to, competent. / Same as 「能(2.1)」 néng ㄋㄥˊ: Ability, talent.
我	戈+3	𠨂𢦓𢦠	wǒ ㄨㄛˇ	First-person pronoun: I. / One's own side in general. / Expresses closeness. / Egoism, self-involvement.	v2,p1401#02	p.412#01	p.552r1c01
無	火+8	𣟒𣚨𠘩无橆	wú ㄨˊ	Not have. / Philosophical category referring to absence, non-existence, or vacuity. / Adverb expressing negation: not. / Adverb expressing questioning: or not. / Connective: regardless of. / Connective: even if. / Particle used at the beginning of a sentence, no meaning. / Do not. / Barren, uncultivated.	v3,p2211#15	p.673#26	p.848r2c04
則	刀+7	𠟻𠟭𠞋𠟔则	zé ㄗㄜˊ	Method, rule. / Mimic, emulate. / Level, grade. / Adverb used to emphasize an assertion. / Adverb used to express scope: only. / Connective expressing continuation: then, and then. / Connective emphasizing comparison. / Connective expressing contrast. / Connective expressing allowance: yet, even so. / Connective expressing unexpected turn of events. / Connective expressing suppostion: if.	v1,p0340#06	p.139#31	p.183r5c05
專	寸+8	耑𠧡𠧢𡴁专	zhuān ㄓㄨㄢ	monopolize, take sole possession	v1,p0507#01	p.295#01	p.434r6c01
敵	攴+11	敌	dí ㄉㄧˊ	enemy, foe, rival; resist	v2,p1475#04	p.474#48	p.607r1c02
分	刀+2	份	fēn ㄈㄣ	Separate, split. / Distribute, divide among. / Distinguish, tell apart. / Difference. / Clear, evident. / Share. / Half. / Gist, general point. / Equinox (in the Chinese unisolar calendar). / Measure word: unit of length equivalent to a tenth of one cun. / Measure word: unit of area equivalent to a tenth of one mu. / Measure word: unit of weight equivalent to a tenth of one qian.	v1,p0321#03	p.136#04	p.174r1c04
			fèn ㄈㄣˋ	Rank, position occupied. / Work, office. / Guess, speculate. / Happy, content.
為	火+5	爲为	wéi ㄨㄟˊ	Create, make. / Build, construct. / Do. / Plant, grow. / Govern. / Research, study. / Serve as. / Change into, become. / As, in the role of. / Count as, be considered as. / Called, named. / Expresses judgement: is. / Make, cause (to). / Have. / Take part in. / Write, author. / Connective: if. / Particle used in the middle of a sentence to move forward the object. / Modal particle used at the end of a sentence to express a rhetorical question.	v3,p2198#11	p.669#10	p.844r4c03
			wèi ㄨㄟˋ	Help, assist. / Preposition: for, on behalf of. / Preposition: by (passive). / Preposition: because of, due to. / Preposition: with, together with. / Connective: because. / Say. / False, fake.
一	一+0	弌壹	yī ㄧ	one; a, an; alone	v1,p0001#01	p.75#01	p.1r1c01
十	十+0	拾拾	shí ㄕˊ	ten, tenth; complete; perfect	v1,p0058#09	p.155#17	p.207r5c02
是	日+5	昰𣆞	shì ㄕˋ	Straight. / Right, correct. / Believe accurate, affirm. / Demonstrative pronoun: this. / Be (copula). / Auxiliary word, used after moving forward the object.	v2,p1497#05	p.493#26	p.639r1c01
以	人+3	㠯	yǐ ㄧˇ	Use. / Believe. / Command. / Lead. / Connect, implicate. / Have. / Cause, reason. / Preposition: because. / Preposition: from, in. / Preposition: at [some time]. / Preposition: using. / Preposition: in accordance with. / Preposition: relying upon. / Preposition: in the capacity of. / Preposition: with, together with. / Connective: indicates the following action is the objective of the preceding one. / Connective: used between adverbial clause and verb to express modification. / Connective: and. / Connective: but. / Connective: and so, thus. / Particle: used together with some words expressing direction and time. / Modal particle. / Same as 「已(1)」 yǐ ㄧˇ: Stop, discontinue. / Same as 「已(7.2)」 yǐ ㄧˇ: Adverb: already. / Same as 「已(7.3)」 yǐ ㄧˇ: Adverb: extremely.	v1,p0105#07	p.94#01	p.87r6c01
攻	攴+3		gōng ㄍㄨㄥ	attack, assault; criticize	v2,p1449#06	p.468#16	p.600r1c01
其	八+6	丌亓	qí ㄑㄧˊ	Third-person possessive pronoun: his, her, its, their. / Demonstrative pronoun: that, those. / Adverb expressing estimation or guess. / Adverb expressing imperative. / Adverb expressing rhetorical question. / Adverb expressing future tense. / Connective expressing hypothesis: if, supposing. / Connective expressing choice: or. / Connective expressing concession: even if. / Particle used after an adjective. / Particle: of. / Particle used for emphasis after single-character adjectives or onomatopoeia. / Particle used in the middle of a sentence to alter the tempo.	v1,p0245#01	p.127#18	p.162r5c01
			jì ㄐㄧˋ	Particle used after bi and he.
			jī ㄐㄧ	Modal particle expressing interrogative tone. / A year.
也	乙+2	𠃟匜	yě ㄧㄝˇ	Modal particle used at the end of a sentence, expressing assertion and affirmation. / Modal particle used at the end of a question for emphasis. / Modal particle used at the end of a cause-effect sentence to express explanation. / Modal particle used in the middle of a sentence to express a pause.	v1,p0050#05	p.84#04	p.55r1c01
眾	目+6	衆𠂝𥅫𠱧众	zhòng ㄓㄨㄥˋ	masses, people, multitude, crowd	v4,p2917#04	p.807#15	p.951r1c02
寡	宀+11	關	guǎ ㄍㄨㄚˇ	Few. / Lack, reduce. / A widow; be widowed. / A widower or unmarried man. / Modest way of referring to oneself used by rulers.	v2,p0947#07	p.290#19	p.427r2c02
能	肉+6		néng ㄋㄥˊ	A type of bear. / Ability, talent. / Man of ability, man of talent. / Able to, competent. / Comply with, be friendly towards. / Encompass, obtain. / To, arrive at. / Then, thus. / Same as 「而(4.3)」 ér ㄦˊ: Connective: if, supposing. / Only, merely. / Even if. / Thus, in this way. / Three-legged turtle.	v3,p2074#01	p.981#16	p.1095r5c02
			nài ㄋㄞˋ	Withstand, endure.
			tái ㄊㄞˊ	Same as 「台(1.1)」 tái ㄊㄞˊ: Name of a celestial body.
			tài ㄊㄞˋ	State, form.
擊	手+13	撃击	jī jí jì xí ㄐㄧㄐㄧˊ ㄐㄧˋ ㄒㄧˊ	strike, hit, beat; attack, fight	v3,p1965#06	p.458#09	p.594r2c01
之	丿+3	㞢	zhī ㄓ	Towards; go to. / Demonstrative pronoun: this, these. / Third person pronoun: him, her, it. / Auxiliary word: of. / Auxiliary word: used between subject and predicate, cancels independence of a clause. / Auxiliary word: used in a sentence for aesthetic purpose only, no meaning.	v1,p0043#01	p.82#04	p.47r2c02
所	戶+4	𢨷	suǒ ㄙㄨㄛˇ	Place. / Location. / A suitable place or location. / Measure word, used for counting buldings. / Used before a verb, creates a noun-like phrase. / If. Mainly used in oaths and curses. / Used together with 為 to indicate the passive tense. / Indicates an approximate number. / Number, number of times. / Meaning.	v3,p2259#01	p.415#16	p.556r1c01
與	臼+8	与𢌱𦦲𠔔	yǔ ㄩˇ	Give. / Follow, go along with. / Comrade, ally. / Association, contact. / Oppose. / Engage [an enemy]. / Approve, consent to. / Help. / Wait. / Preposition indicating passive tense. / Preposition: to, with. / Preposition: with. / Preposition: as. / Preposition: in, on. / Connective: and, with. / Connective: with its ... / Connective: or.	v1,p0251#04	p.1004#13	p.1113r2c03
			yù ㄩˋ	Participate, take part in.
			yǔ ㄩˇ	Interfere in.
			yú ㄩˊ	Auxiliary word: used at the end of a sentence to express questioning , exclamation, or a rhetorical question. / Auxiliary word: used in the middle of a sentence to express a pause.
戰	戈+12	戦战	zhàn ㄓㄢˋ	war, fighting, battle	v2,p1412#12	p.414#11	p.553r5c01
者	老+4		zhě ㄓㄜˇ	Pronoun used after verbs, adjectives, etc. in place of a person or thing. / Pronoun used after numbers in place of a thing. / Pronoun used after time or negation to express "when" or "if". / Expressive particle used in a declarative sentence after the subject. / Expressive particle used in a sentence after the subject to express cause or explanation.	v4,p2780#05	p.961#01	p.1080r1c01
			zhuó ㄓㄨㄛˊ	In, located in.
約	糸+3	约	yuē yāo yào dì ㄩㄝㄧㄠㄧㄠˋ ㄉㄧˋ	treaty, agreement, covenant	v5,p3364#15	p.915#21	p.1029r4c03
矣	矢+2	𠤘	yǐ ㄧˇ	Modal particle used to express declaration. / Modal particle used to express exclamation. / Modal particle used to express an order or request.	v4,p2580#04	p.823#37	p.955r5c01

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