Ones good at leading troops, are not warlike; ones good at fighting, a

配天 · Pèi Tiān

Classical Chinese Text

善为士者，不武；善战者，不怒；善胜敌者，不与；善用人者，为之下。是谓不争之德，是谓用人之力，是谓配天古之极。

Translation & Meaning

Ones good at leading troops, are not warlike; ones good at fighting, are not furious; ones good at defeating enemies, are not confrontational; ones good at using people, stay below them. This is called the virtue of not competing, also called the strength of using people, and called matching Heaven and Primeval’s utmost.

Linguistic & Character Analysis

  • 善 (shàn): goodness / skillful / kind
  • 为 (wèi): act / deem / become
  • 士 (shì): classical character (shì)
  • 者 (zhě): aspects / those who / things
  • 不 (bù): not / un- / without
  • 武 (wǔ): classical character (wǔ)
  • 战 (zhàn): classical character (zhàn)
  • 怒 (nù): classical character (nù)
  • 胜 (shèng): classical character (shèng)
  • 敌 (dí): classical character (dí)
  • 与 (yǔ): classical character (yǔ)
  • 用 (yòng): use / function / apply
  • 人 (rén): person / human
  • 之 (zhī): particle: of / possessive / it
  • 下 (xià): under / earthly realm / humble
  • 是 (shì): this / therefore
  • 谓 (wèi): called / named / designated
  • 争 (zhēng): compete / contend / rival
  • 德 (dé): Intrinsic Virtue / inner power
  • 力 (lì): classical character (lì)
  • 配 (pèi): classical character (pèi)
  • 天 (tiān): heaven / nature / cosmos
  • 古 (gǔ): classical character (gǔ)
  • 极 (jí): classical character (jí)