《孫子兵法》三十六計（Thirty-Six Stratagems）乃兵家之經典著作。

語源于南北朝，成書于明清，是漢民族悠久文化遺產之一。

古人學好三十六計，帶兵打勝券在握。

現代人習之，在商場職場生活領域中，古為今用。

而三十六計在外國也極受歡迎……

那么我們就一起看看三十六計的英文表達吧！

第一套 勝戰計
Chapter 1: Winning Stratagems

第一計 瞞天過海
crossing the sea under camouflage

▌原文

備周則意??；常見則不疑。陰在陽之內，不在陽之對。太陽，太陰。

▌英文注釋

Mask your real goals, by using the ruse of a fake goal, until the real goal is achieved. Tactically, this is known as an 'open feint': in front of everyone, you point west, when your goal is actually in the east.

第二計 圍魏救趙
relieving the state of Zhao by besieging the state of Wei

▌原文

共敵不如分敵；敵陽不如敵陰。

▌英文注釋

When the enemy is too strong to be attacked directly, then attack something he holds dear. Know that he cannot be superior in all things. Somewhere there is a gap in the armour, a weakness that can be attacked instead. The idea here is to avoid a head-on battle with a strong enemy, and instead strike at his weakness elsewhere. This will force the strong enemy to retreat in order to support his weakness. Battling against the now tired and low-morale enemy will give a much higher chance of success.

第三計 借刀殺人
killing someone with a borrowed knife

▌原文

敵已明，友示定，引友殺敵，不自出力，以《損》推演。

▌英文注釋

When you do not have the means to attack your enemy directly, then attack using the strength of another. Trick an ally into attacking him, bribe an official to turn traitor, or use the enemy's own strength against him.

第四計 以逸待勞
waiting at one's ease for the exhausted enemy

▌原文

困敵之勢，不以戰；損剛益柔。

▌英文注釋

It is an advantage to choose the time and place for battle. In this way you know when and where the battle will take place, while your enemy does not. Encourage your enemy to expend his energy in futile quests while you conserve your strength. When he is exhausted and confused, you attack with energy and purpose.

第五計 趁火打劫
plundering a burning house

▌原文

敵之害大，就勢取利，剛決柔也。

▌英文注釋

When a country is beset by internal conflicts, when disease and famine ravage the population, when corruption and crime are rampant, then it will be unable to deal with an outside threat. This is the time to attack.

第六計 聲東擊西
making a feint to the east and attacking in the west

▌原文

敵志亂萃，不虞，坤下兌上之象。利其不自主而取之。

▌英文注釋

In any battle the element of surprise can provide an overwhelming advantage. Even when face to face with an enemy, surprise can still be employed by attacking where he least expects it. To do this you must create an expectation in the enemy's mind through the use of a feint.

第二套 敵戰計
Chapter 2: Enemy Dealing Stratagems

第七計 無中生有
creating something out of nothing

▌原文

誑也，非誑也，實其所誑也。少陰，太陰，太陽。

▌英文注釋

You use the same feint twice. Having reacted to the first and often the second feint as well, the enemy will be hesitant to react to a third feint. Therefore the third feint is the actual attack catching your enemy with his guard down.

第八計 暗渡陳倉
advancing secretly by an unknown path

▌原文

示之以動，利其靜而有主，“益動而巽”。

▌英文注釋

Deceive the enemy with an obvious approach that will take a very long time, while surprising him by taking a shortcut and sneak up to him. As the enemy concentrates on the decoy, he will miss you sneaking up to him.

第九計 隔岸觀火
watching a fire from the other side of the river

▌原文

陽乖序亂，陰以待逆。暴戾恣睢，其勢自斃。順以動豫，豫順以動。

▌英文注釋

Delay entering the field of battle until all the other players have become exhausted fighting amongst themselves. Then go in at full strength and pick up the pieces.

第十計 笑里藏刀
covering the dagger with a smile

▌原文

信而安之，陰以圖之。備而后動，勿使有變。剛中柔外也。

▌英文注釋

Charm and ingratiate yourself with your enemy. When you have gained his trust, move against him in secret.

第十一計 李代桃僵
palming off substitute for the real thing

▌原文

勢必有損，損陰以益陽。

▌英文注釋

There are circumstances in which you must sacrifice short-term objectives in order to gain the long-term goal. This is the scapegoat strategy whereby someone else suffers the consequences so that the rest do not.

第十二計 順手牽羊
picking up something in passing

▌原文

微隙在所必乘，微利在所必得。少陰，少陽。

▌英文注釋

While carrying out your plans be flexible enough to take advantage of any opportunity that presents itself, however small, and avail yourself of any profit, however slight.

第三套：攻戰計
Chapter 3: Attacking Stratagems

第十三計 打草驚蛇
beating the grass to frighten the snake

▌原文

疑以叩實，察而后動。復者，陰之媒也。

▌英文注釋

Do something unaimed, but spectacular ("hitting the grass") to provoke a response of the enemy ("startle the snake"), thereby giving away his plans or position, or just taunt him.

Do something unusual, strange, and unexpected as this will arouse the enemy's suspicion and disrupt his thinking.

More widely used as "[Do not] startle the snake by hitting the grass". An imprudent act will give your position or intentions away to the enemy.

第十四計 借尸還魂
resurrecting a dead soul by borrowing a corpse

▌原文

有用者，不可借；不能用者，求借。借不能用者而用之。匪我求童蒙，童蒙求我。

▌英文注釋

Take an institution, a technology, a method, or even an ideology that has been forgotten or discarded and appropriate it for your own purpose.

Revive something from the past by giving it a new purpose or bring to life old ideas, customs, or traditions and reinterpret them to fit your purposes.

第十五計 調虎離山
luring the tiger out of his den

▌原文

待天以困之，用人以誘之，往蹇來返。

▌英文注釋

Never directly attack an opponent whose advantage is derived from its position. Instead lure him away from his position thus separating him from his source of strength.

第十六計 欲擒故縱
letting the enemy off in order to catch him

▌原文

逼則反兵，走則減勢。緊隨勿迫，累其氣力，消其斗志，散而后擒，兵不血刃。需，有孚，光。

▌英文注釋

Cornered prey will often mount a final desperate attack. To prevent this you let the enemy believe he still has a chance for freedom.

His will to fight is thus dampened by his desire to escape. When in the end the freedom is proven a falsehood the enemy's morale will be defeated and he will surrender without a fight.

第十七計 拋磚引玉
giving the enemy something to induce him to lose more valuable things

▌原文

類以誘之，擊蒙也。

▌英文注釋

Bait someone by making him believe he gains something or just make him react to it ("toss out a brick") and obtain something valuable from him in return ("get a jade gem").

第十八計 擒賊擒王
capturing the ringleader first in order to capture all the followers

▌原文

摧其堅，奪其魁，以解其體。龍戰于野，其道窮也。

▌英文注釋

If the enemy's army is strong but is allied to the commander only by money, superstition or threats, then take aim at the leader.

If the commander falls the rest of the army will disperse or come over to your side.

If, however, they are allied to the leader through loyalty then beware, the army can continue to fight on after his death out of vengeance.