In all battles, engage the enemy with regular troops and secure victory with surprise forces.
Those skilled at deploying surprise tactics create endless variations, like heaven and earth, and unceasing momentum like rivers. They repeat endlessly just as the sun and moon revolve; they renew constantly just as the four seasons change.
There are merely five musical notes, yet their combinations produce endless melodies. There are only five basic colors, yet their blends form countless scenes. There are just five fundamental flavors, yet their mixtures yield infinite tastes.
Battle formations boil down to regular and surprise tactics, whose transformations are boundless. Regular and surprise tactics give birth to one another, moving in an unbroken circle. Who can fathom their limits?
Note
Sun Tzu is teaching that tactical genius is not about inventing entirely new weapons or forces. It is about masterful combination. By seamlessly blending standard engagements with unpredictable surprises, and constantly shifting between the two, a commander creates a tactical rhythm that the enemy can never anticipate or exhaust.
A great military strategist and thinker in ancient China, who lived in the late Spring and Autumn Period. He authored The Art of War, the world’s earliest and most influential military classic. His strategic thoughts have been widely applied in military, politics and management worldwide.
Regular and surprise troops
The core tactical pair. Regular troops fight head-on; surprise troops launch ambushes and flanking attacks.
Five musical notes, five colors, five flavors
Traditional Chinese classification of basic sounds, colors and tastes, used as metaphors for endless tactical changes.
Circular transformation
It means regular and surprise tactics shift mutually without an end, representing flexible and unpredictable warfare.
Battle momentum
The overall operational posture of the army on the battlefield.
凡戰者，以正合，以奇勝。故善出奇者，無窮如天地，不竭如江河，終而復始，日月是也；死而復生，四時是也。聲不過五，五聲之變，不可勝聽也。色不過五，五色之變，不可勝觀也。味不過五，五味之變，不可勝嘗也。戰勢不過奇正，奇正之變，不可勝窮也。奇正相生，如循環之無端，孰能窮之哉！
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