Someone in the room is about to quote Sun Tzu. The line is sharp, it sounds ancient, and it is about to push a decision: strike now, hold back, appear weak. This note does not ask whether the quote inspires you. It asks a narrower question: is that line in the thirteen chapters, and what does the Chinese say around it? If you cannot answer, you are quoting a missing fact. Do not move on a missing fact.
One book, many spellings — do not pay for the difference
“Sun Tzu” and “Sun Zi” are the same two characters, 孙子 (traditional 孫子), written in two romanisations: Wade-Giles from the 1910 Giles translation, and Hanyu Pinyin from 1958 onward. Both mean “Master Sun.” The man is 孙武, Sun Wu. The book is 《孙子兵法》, Sunzi Bingfa. “The Art of War” is the English title Lionel Giles chose; it is not a translation of the Chinese title. If you are arguing spellings in the room, you have already left the check.
So when you search “sun tsu,” “sung tzu,” or “sun zi in chinese,” you are searching for one text. You do not need three sources. You need one chapter page with the Chinese line and the English line together, which is what every chapter on this site shows: classical Chinese, vernacular Chinese, and English on one screen. This piece only checks quotes against the original. It is not a biography.
Nine lines people quote, with the original
These nine lines are the ones most often carried into a room to justify a move. Read the Chinese first, then the English, then the note about how the line usually gets bent. If you only take the English slogan, you skip the check this page is for.
1. 兵者，国之大事，死生之地，存亡之道，不可不察也。 — Stay out. War is the great affair of the state, the ground of life and death, the road to survival or ruin; it must be examined. This is the opening sentence. It is not a call to arms. It is a warning label. If you quote it to hurry a fight, you have reversed it.
2. 能而示之不能，用而示之不用。 — Same chapter. When able, appear unable; when using force, appear not to. This is the closest the text comes to “appear weak when you are strong, and strong when you are weak.” That English sentence is a paraphrase, not a line. The original is about not showing your hand, and it sits inside a list of deceptions, followed by 强而避之 — when the other side is strong, avoid them. Quote it as a reason to bluff, and you have dropped the half that says avoid.
3. 攻其无备，出其不意。 — Same chapter. Strike where they are unprepared; appear where they do not expect you. Read the sentence after it: 此兵家之胜，不可先传也 — this is how commanders win, and it cannot be taught in advance. The text is telling you it is not a formula. Treat it as a formula, and you have left the original.
4. 不战而屈人之兵，善之善者也。 — Without fighting. To bend the other side without fighting is the highest excellence. “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting” is a fair English gloss of this line. It is also the sentence this whole site is built on. Before you use Sun Tzu to push a decision, check whether this line is still in the room.
5. 上兵伐谋，其次伐交，其次伐兵，其下攻城。 — Same chapter. The highest form attacks the plan; next, the alliances; next, the army; the lowest attacks cities. If a quote is being used to justify the siege, the text ranks the siege last. When you hear “siege” sold as Sun Tzu’s first choice, stop.
6. 知彼知己，百战不殆。 — Same chapter. Know the other side and know yourself, and in a hundred battles you will not be in danger. 不殆 means “not endangered.” It does not say “win a hundred battles.” The popular English — “you can fight a hundred battles without disaster” — is closer to the text than “win a hundred victories,” which is not what it says at all. If you turn “not endangered” into “must win,” you have rewritten it.
7. 胜兵先胜而后求战，败兵先战而后求胜。 — Chapter 4. The winning army wins first, then seeks battle; the losing army fights first, then hopes to win. This is the line behind “make yourself hard to defeat before you attack.” If you open the fight first and hunt for a win later, the text puts you on the losing side.
8. 兵无常势，水无常形。 — Chapter 6. Force has no fixed shape, as water has no constant form. Usually quoted to praise flexibility. The sentence before it says what the flexibility is for: 避实而击虚 — avoid the solid, strike the empty. Praise flexibility alone, and you have pulled out the purpose.
9. 主不可以怒而兴师，将不可以愠而致战。 — Chapter 12. A ruler must not raise an army out of anger; a general must not start a battle out of resentment. Then: 亡国不可以复存，死者不可以复生 — a ruined state cannot be restored, the dead cannot be brought back. Anger is not a reason. If you use anger to back the decision, the original stops you.
Lines that are not in the book
“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer” is from The Godfather Part II. It is not in any of the thirteen chapters. “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake” is attributed to Napoleon, not to any Chinese text. “If you wait by the river long enough, the bodies of your enemies will float by” has no Chinese source line; it circulates only in English. When a quote has no chapter and no Chinese, treat it the way you treat any missing fact: name it as missing, and do not move on it.
This is not pedantry. A quote used in a room is an argument. If the argument rests on a line the author never wrote, or on half of a line whose other half says “avoid,” then the decision it pushes is standing on nothing. The room will not check. You have to.
The one check to run before you quote him
You are not being asked to become a sinologist. You are being asked to do one thing before the words leave your mouth.
Find the chapter. Every real line has one; the thirteen are short and the contents page lists them. Then read the Chinese line and the sentence on either side. You do not need to read Chinese for this — the chapter pages put the original and the English on the same screen, so you can see where the sentence begins and ends. Then ask two questions. Is the English a translation or a paraphrase? Does the line, in its own context, argue for what I am about to use it for?
If the answer to the second question is no, you do not quote it. Not because it is untrue, but because it is not evidence for this decision. Most of the time the honest version of the quote argues for less force, not more: appear unable — and avoid the strong; know both sides — and you will not be in danger; win first — then seek battle. If you quote Sun Tzu accurately, you will find he keeps talking you out of the fight.
Questions people ask about Sun Tzu in Chinese
Are Sun Tzu, Sun Zi and Sun Wu the same person?
Yes. 孙子 (Sun Tzu / Sun Zi) is the honorific, “Master Sun.” 孙武 (Sun Wu) is the name. The book is 《孙子兵法》. Spellings like sun tsu, sung tzu, shun zu are misspellings of the same Wade-Giles form; search engines already treat them as one. In pinyin: Sūn Zǐ, Sūn Wǔ, Sūnzǐ Bīngfǎ. “Tzu” and “Zi” are the same syllable — roughly “dzuh” — so “sun zoo” is wrong. You need the Chinese line, not a spelling fight.
What is the Chinese title of The Art of War?
《孙子兵法》 — Sunzi Bingfa, “Master Sun’s methods.” In traditional characters, 《孫子兵法》. “The Art of War” is Giles’s 1910 English title and has stuck; the Chinese title does not contain the word “art.” If you read “art” back into the original, you are adding a word the Chinese never wrote. For the quote check, the title only helps you find the page — it does not prove the line is there. You still open the chapter and read the neighbours.
Is there a PDF of The Art of War in Chinese and English?
The classical Chinese and the 1910 Giles English are both public domain, so many PDFs exist and most separate the two languages. The chapter pages here keep Chinese and English on one screen, which is the point of the check. If you need a file, print any chapter to PDF from the browser — no sign-up, no download gate. Run the check on screen first; save a file only if your room still needs one.
Did Sun Tzu say “appear weak when you are strong”?
Not in those words. The closest line is 能而示之不能，用而示之不用 in the same chapter as Stay out — when able, appear unable; when using, appear not to. It is followed in the same passage by 强而避之, avoid the strong. Quote the whole thought or do not quote it. If you only take the “appear weak” half, you have dropped the half that tells you to avoid. That half is the one rooms most often leave behind when they want a bluff.
Does “know yourself, know your enemy” promise a hundred victories?
No. The line is 知彼知己，百战不殆 — a hundred battles without being endangered. It promises safety, not victory. The verse continues: know only yourself and you win one, lose one; know neither and every battle is dangerous. If you turn “not endangered” into “must win,” you are no longer quoting the original. Check the word 殆 before you carry the slogan into the room.
Which English translation does this site use, and where is the Chinese?
The chapter pages carry classical Chinese, a modern Chinese rendering, and English that follows the Giles chapter titles readers already search for — Laying Plans, Waging War, Tactical Dispositions. Open any chapter from the contents page; the original sits on the same screen as the English. This article does not crown one “correct” translation for you. It only asks you to see where the Chinese line stops, and what sits on either side, before you quote.
Where do the quotes about “keeping your enemies closer” or “bodies floating by the river” come from?
Not from this book. The first is film dialogue; the second has no source line in Chinese. If you cannot find a chapter and a Chinese sentence, the honest attribution is “often attributed to Sun Tzu,” and the honest use in a room is none. When you hear either line used to push a decision, name it as missing and do not move on it. A quote with no chapter is not evidence you can stand on.
The next move is not a sharper quote. It is one check: find the chapter, read the line and its neighbours, and ask whether it argues for what you are about to do. If a team needs that habit taught in one room, and it fits, Contact Us. We talk about teaching, training, and content — not crushing a rival. We reply within two business days. Check the line before you quote it.