《孫子算經序》 "Sun Tzŭ's Computational Classic: Preface"

In the preface, Sun Tzŭ tells us that mathematics governs absolutely everything, and allows us to do even magical things like "acquire [the] whereabouts of gods [and] earth-spirits". Basically it reads like advertising material for prospective STEM undergraduates.

Translation

Chinese source text: Version A, Version B, Version C, Version D.
Unless noted otherwise, I follow the text from Version D, 《知不足齋叢書》本.

Source text Target text Notes
孫子曰、夫算者、 Sun Tzŭ saith: Computation:
天地之經緯、群生之元首、 [the] warp [and] woof of Heaven [and] Earth, [and the] origin [and] beginning of amassed life;
  • From this line until almost the end of the preface, the text consists of pairs of lines which parallel each other, character for character. This is a very common rhetorical device in Literary Chinese.
  • 經緯： warp [and] woof; or meridians [and] parallels
五常之本末、陰陽之父母、 [the] base [and] tip of [the] Five Constants, [and the] father [and] mother of Yin [and] Yang;
  • 五常： Five Constants

    仁義禮智信, i.e. Humanity, Righteousness, Propriety (or Rites), Wisdom, and Trust.

星辰之建號、三光之表裏、 [the] establishment [and] designation of [the] stars [and] asters, [and the] surface [and] internals of [the] Three Luminaries;
  • 三光： Three Luminaries

    日月星, i.e. the sun, the moon, and the stars.

  • Version C erroneously has 裹 for 裏.
五行之準平、四時之終始、 [the] evenness [and] levelness of [the] Five Elements, [and the] finishing [and] starting of [the] Four Seasons;
  • 五行： Five Elements

    金木水火土, i.e. metal, tree, water, fire, and earth. Perhaps better rendered as the "Five Phases".

萬物之祖宗、六藝之綱紀。 [the] forebear [and] ancestor of [the] myriad things, [and the] principle [and the] law of [the] Six Arts.
  • 六藝： Six Arts

    禮樂射御書數, i.e. Propriety (or Rites), Music, Marksmanship, (Chariot) Driving, Calligraphy, and Computation.

稽群倫之聚散、考二氣之降升、 [It] examineth [the] gathering [and] scattering of [the] amassed kinds, [and] inspecteth [the] falling [and] rising of [the] Two Forces;
  • 二氣： Two Forces; lit. Two Breaths

    陰氣, "Yin Force", and 陽氣, "Yang Force".

推寒暑之迭運、步遠近之殊同、 [it] deduceth [the] alternating [and] revolving of winter [and] summer, [and] paceth [the] disparity [and] sameness of far [and] near;
  • 寒暑： winter [and] summer; lit. cold [and] heat
觀天道精微之兆基、察地理從橫之長短、 [it] observeth [the] omens [and] foundations of the fine [and] the minute of Physics, [and] inspecteth [the] length [and] shortness of [the] meridians [and] parallels of Geography;
  • 天道： Physics; lit. Way of Heaven
  • 地理： Geography; lit. Science of Earth
采神祇之所在、極成敗之符驗、 [it] acquireth [the] whereabouts of gods [and] earth-spirits, [and] extremeth [out the] corroboration of success [and] failure;
  • 祇： earth-spirits

    祇、音岐、 Cantonese: kʻei4, Mandarin: qí

  • 符驗： corroboration; lit. talisman verification
窮道德之理、究性命之情。 [it] exhausteth [the] reasonings of morality, [and] scrutiniseth [the] senses of life.
  • 理： reasonings; or principles
  • 情： senses; lit. sentiments
立規矩、準方圓、 [It] establisheth the compass [and] the steel-square, standardiseth the square [and] the circle,
  • 規矩： the compass [and] the steel-square; or [the] rules
謹法度、約尺丈、 stricteneth [the] law [and the] standard, restraineth [the] rule [and the] rod,
  • 謹： stricteneth; lit. careful
  • 尺丈： [the] rule [and the] rod

    Units of length, see Volume I §1. One rule, chʻek (尺), is of the order one Imperial foot, and one rod, chang (丈), is equal to ten rules.

立權衡、平重輕、 establisheth the scale [and] the steelyard, levelleth the heavy [and] the light,
剖毫釐、析黍絫。 dissecteth [the] mil [and the] cent, [and] splitteth [the] millet [and the] pile.
  • 毫釐： [the] mil [and the] cent

    Small units of length (see Volume I §1), respectively a thousandth and a hundredth of the Chinese inch, tsʻun (寸).

  • 黍絫： [the] millet [and the] pile

    Small units of weight (see Volume I §2), respectively a hundredth and a tenth of the Chinese dram, chu (銖), which is of the order one gram.

歷億載而不朽、施八極而無疆、 [It] endureth [an] hundred million years and rotteth not, [and is] imparted unto [the] Eight Extremities and [is] without bound.
  • 億： hundred million; lit. square-myriad
  • 八極： [the] Eight Extremities

    Probably the four cardinal directions plus the four intercardinal directions. Sometimes called the "principal winds" in English.

散之不可勝究、斂之不盈掌握。 Scattering it, [it] cannot [be] wholly scrutinised, [yet] collecting it, [it is] not beyond grasp.
  • 勝： wholly

    勝、平聲、 Cantonese: shing1 (post-merger: sing1), Mandarin: shēng (Government-regulated 統讀: shèng)

  • 盈： beyond; lit. exceedeth
  • 掌握： grasp; lit. palm's grasp
嚮之者富有餘、背之者貧且窶、 He that faceth it [shall be] wealthy in excess, [but] he that turneth [his] back to it [shall be] poor and also destitute;
  • 窶： destitute

    窶、音巨、 Cantonese: k_ü6, Mandarin: jù

心開者幼沖而即悟、意閉者皓首而難精。 the open-minded one, [even a] young child, [shall] immediately comprehend, [but] the closed-thoughted one, [even] white-headed [of hair], cannot [be] proficient.
  • 皓： white

    皓、音號、 Cantonese: hou6, Mandarin: hào

  • 難： cannot; lit. difficult
  • Here the parallel pairing of lines stops.
夫欲學之者、必務量能揆己、志在所專。 He that wisheth to learn it, must endeavour to measure [his] ability [and] gauge himself, [and put] will into that focused upon.
  • 量： measure; or gauge

    量、去聲、 Cantonese: lœng6, Mandarin: liàng

    量 is a funny word. When it is the verb "measure/gauge" applied to physical measurements (e.g. volume of grain), it is read in 平聲 (lœng4/liáng), but when applied to figurative or not-so-physical quantities (e.g. 量力, "gauging strength/ability", or 量入, "gauging revenue"), it is read in 去聲 (lœng6/liàng). And when it is the noun "amount", also 去聲 (lœng6/liàng).

如是則焉有不成者哉。 [Among those] like this, how be there those that succeed not!
END of Preface

Cite this page

Conway (2023). "Sun Tzŭ's Computational Classic: Preface". <https://yawnoc.github.io/sun-tzu/preface/> Accessed yyyy-mm-dd.