Chinese idioms from the Dao De Jing
以正治国，以奇用兵 (yǐ zhèng zhì guó, yǐ qí yòng bīng)
Word for word from chapter 57
以正治国，以奇用兵, “govern the state by what is upright; wage war by surprise”, opens chapter 57 of the Dao De Jing and means that a state is run by steady rules and a war is won by the unexpected.
Character by character
| 以 | yǐ | by means of, with |
|---|---|---|
| 正 | zhèng | the norm, set right |
| 治 | zhì | to govern; in order |
| 国 | guó | the state |
| 以 | yǐ | by means of, with |
| 奇 | qí | strange; surprise |
| 用 | yòng | to use |
| 兵 | bīng | arms, troops |
| 以正治国，以奇用兵 | Run a state by what is right and regular; fight a war by what the enemy does not expect. | |
Where it comes from
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以正治国，以奇用兵，
Govern the state by what is upright; wage war by surprise;
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以无事取天下。
win the world by leaving it alone.
How the meaning moved
Chapter 57 opens with three clauses: “Govern the state by what is upright; wage war by surprise; win the world by leaving it alone.” The idiom is the first two. In the chapter they lead up to the third clause, which carries the book's own view: the world is won not by rules or by stratagems but by leaving it alone. The chapter goes on: “the more prohibitions in the world, the poorer the people”, and ends with the sage: “I do not act, and the people transform of themselves.”
Today the line is quoted without the third clause, in writing on war, politics and business: a steady hand at home, surprise against a rival. It is close to a sentence in the Art of War (孙子兵法): “in battle, one engages with the regular and wins with the surprise” (以正合，以奇胜).
The excavated manuscripts write the first half differently. The Guodian bamboo slips and the Mawangdui silk manuscript A have 以正之邦, manuscript B and the Peking University Han slips 以正之国; the Mawangdui and Peking University copies also write 奇 with other characters (畸, 倚). Most scholars read 之 there as 治, “to govern”; some read it as 持, “to hold, keep”. This site follows the received text, 以正治国.
| 以正之邦，以畸用兵 | Mawangdui silk manuscript A (tomb sealed in 168 BCE) |
|---|---|
| 以正之国，以畸用兵 | Mawangdui silk manuscript B (tomb sealed in 168 BCE) |
| 以正之国，以倚用兵 | Peking University Han bamboo slips |
Using it today
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以正治国，以奇用兵，做企业也是这样：管理要规范，竞争要出奇。
yǐ zhèng zhì guó, yǐ qí yòng bīng, zuò qǐ yè yě shì zhè yàng: guǎn lǐ yào guī fàn, jìng zhēng yào chū qí.
Govern the state by what is upright, wage war by surprise: running a company is the same, with orderly management and unexpected moves against competitors.
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历史老师讲到这场战役时，引用了“以正治国，以奇用兵”。
lì shǐ lǎo shī jiǎng dào zhè chǎng zhàn yì shí, yǐn yòng le "yǐ zhèng zhì guó, yǐ qí yòng bīng".
When the history teacher came to this campaign, she quoted “Govern the state by what is upright; wage war by surprise”.