8. Nine Variations｜The Art of War

孙（sūn）子（zǐ）曰（yuē）：（）凡（fán）用（yòng）兵（bīng）之（zhī）法（fǎ），（）将（jiāng）受（shòu）命（mìng）于（yú）君（jūn），（）合（hé）军（jūn）聚（jù）众（zhòng）。（）圮（pǐ）地（dì）无（wú）舍（shě），（）衢（qú）地（dì）合（hé）交（jiāo），（）绝（jué）地（dì）无（wú）留（liú），（）围（wéi）地（dì）则（zé）谋（móu），（）死（sǐ）地（dì）则（zé）战（zhàn）。（）途（tú）有（yǒu）所（suǒ）不（bù）由（yóu），（）军（jūn）有（yǒu）所（suǒ）不（bù）击（jī），（）城（chéng）有（yǒu）所（suǒ）不（bù）攻（gōng），（）地（dì）有（yǒu）所（suǒ）不（bù）争（zhēng），（）君（jūn）命（mìng）有（yǒu）所（suǒ）不（bù）受（shòu）。（）故（gù）将（jiàng）通（tōng）于（yú）九（jiǔ）变（biàn）之（zhī）利（lì）者（zhě），（）知（zhī）用（yòng）兵（bīng）矣（yǐ）；（）将（jiāng）不（bù）通（tōng）于（yú）九（jiǔ）变（biàn）之（zhī）利（lì），（）虽（suī）知（zhī）地（dì）形（xíng），（）不（bù）能（néng）得（dé）地（dì）之（zhī）利（lì）矣（yǐ）；（）治（zhì）兵（bīng）不（bù）知（zhī）九（jiǔ）变（biàn）之（zhī）术（shù），（）虽（suī）知（zhī）地（dì）利（lì），（）不（bù）能（néng）得（dé）人（rén）之（zhī）用（yòng）矣（yǐ）。（）

Sun Zi says that a commander receives the ruler's command and then gathers and aligns troops.

Unstable ground is not a place to stay; a main-crossing is suitable for concentration; a cut-off area is not a place to linger;

surrounding an enemy must be prepared first, and in a trapped situation one must fight decisively.

Not every route is passable, not every force should be attacked, not every city needs to be taken, and not every order is followed unchanged.

One who understands the Nine Variations can use war; one who cannot, even with good terrain knowledge, cannot gain its benefit, and cannot make people effective.

The section shifts the focus from static terrain labels to adaptive control. The command challenge is choosing when to act and when not to act.

是（shì）故（gù）智（zhì）者（zhě）之（zhī）虑（lǜ），（）必（bì）杂（zá）于（yú）利（lì）害（hài），（）杂（zá）于（yú）利（lì）而（ér）务（wù）可（kě）信（xìn）也（yě），（）杂（zá）于（yú）害（hài）而（ér）患（huàn）可（kě）解（jiě）也（yě）。（）是（shì）故（gù）屈（qū）诸（zhū）侯（hóu）者（zhě）以（yǐ）害（hài），（）役（yì）诸（zhū）侯（hóu）者（zhě）以（yǐ）业（yè），（）趋（qū）诸（zhū）侯（hóu）者（zhě）以（yǐ）利（lì）。（）

A wise planner must weigh profit and risk together. Pursuing gain without building trust makes plans unreliable, while seeing only harm without remedies increases trouble.

Hence rulers are bent with fear of loss, engaged through manageable tasks, and drawn near through benefits.

The text frames military influence as calibrated governance. Different levers—pressure, duty, and incentive—are selected according to context.

故（gù）用（yòng）兵（bīng）之（zhī）法（fǎ），（）无（wú）恃（shì）其（qí）不（bù）来（lái），（）恃（shì）吾（wú）有（yǒu）以（yǐ）待（dài）之（zhī）；（）无（wú）恃（shì）其（qí）不（bù）攻（gōng），（）恃（shì）吾（wú）有（yǒu）所（suǒ）不（bù）可（kě）攻（gōng）也（yě）。（）

In war, do not rely on the enemy staying away; rely on your ability to meet him.

Do not rely on the enemy not attacking; rely instead on what you have that cannot be easily attacked.

This is a readiness doctrine. A strong force is defined by resilience and response, not by assumptions about opponent inertia.

故（gù）将（jiàng）有（yǒu）五（wǔ）危（wēi）：（）必（bì）死（sǐ），（）可（kě）杀（shā）也（yě）﹔（）必（bì）生（shēng），（）可（kě）虏（lǔ）也（yě）﹔（）忿（fèn）速（sù），（）可（kě）侮（wǔ）也（yě）﹔（）廉（lián）洁（jié），（）可（kě）辱（rǔ）也（yě）﹔（）爱（ài）民（mín），（）可（kě）烦（fán）也（yě）。（）凡（fán）此（cǐ）五（wǔ）者（zhě），（）将（jiāng）之（zhī）过（guò）也（yě），（）用（yòng）兵（bīng）之（zhī）灾（zāi）也（yě）。（）覆（fù）军（jūn）杀（shā）将（jiāng），（）必（bì）以（yǐ）五（wǔ）危（wēi），（）不（bù）可（kě）不（bù）察（chá）也（yě）。（）

A commander faces five risks: if he insists on dying, he may be killed; if he clings only to survival, he may be captured; if he is quickly angry, he is easily provoked against;

if he is overly rigid and self-righteous, he can be humiliated; if he is overly protective of the people, the command can be burdened and disrupted.

These are excesses of command and become disasters in war. When an army collapses and a general is lost, these risks are usually involved.

Personality is not outside strategy. Leadership bias can itself become a battlefield variable that weakens operational control.

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8. Nine Variations

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