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Chinese text
夫佳兵者，不祥之器，物或恶之，故有道不处。
君子居则贵左，用兵则贵右。
兵者不祥之器，非君子之器，不得已而用之，恬惔为上，故不美，若美之，是乐杀人。
夫乐杀者，不可得意于天下。
故吉事尚左，凶事尚右。
是以偏将军居左，上将军居右。
杀人众多，以悲哀泣之；战胜，以哀礼处之.
Translation
The finest weapons are instruments of misfortune. All men detest them. Therefore, he who possesses the Tao does not rely on them. In times of peace, the sage values the left; in war, he values the right. Weapons are instruments of misfortune; they are not the tools of the sage. He uses them only when he cannot avoid it, and prefers tranquility and rest. If he triumphs, he does not rejoice. To rejoice would be to delight in killing men. He who delights in killing men cannot rule the empire. In happy events, the left is preferred; in sorrowful events, the right is preferred. The deputy general is on the left; the commander-in-chief is on the right. This is because victory in war is akin to funeral rites. He who has killed many men must weep for them with tears and sighs. He who has won a battle is placed according to funeral rites.
Notes
Sse-ma-wen-kong says: The more excellent a weapon is (佳 jiā), the more men it wounds (or kills). They are called so because they are meant to kill men.
The word 物 wù (vulgo thing) is interpreted by some as 'man'. Men detest them. No commentary has given the meaning of 或 huò (vulgo someone, perhaps). In the second sentence of chapter IV (book I), Ho-chang-kong explains it as 'constantly'.
He does not use weapons. This meaning is taken from Liu-kie-fou who explains 居 jū with the words 平居 píngjū.
The word 左 zuǒ 'left side' relates to the active principle, 阳 yáng; it is the symbol of life; thus, in happy events (for example, in weddings), the left is preferred. The word 右 yòu 'right side' relates to the passive principle, 阴 yīn; it is the symbol of death; thus, in sorrowful events (for example, in funerals), the right is preferred.
The words 恬惔 tiándàn literally mean: 'calm, rest, non-action'. As he constantly thinks of calm and non-action, he refrains from fighting. He who believes that the best plan is not to fight shows that he values human life the most.
The words 不美 bù měi literally mean: 'not to consider as beautiful, as praiseworthy'; that is, he does not approve of the victory he has won. Although weapons have been used to win the victory, they have necessarily killed many men; that is why, deep in his heart, the sage does not rejoice at his victory. Some commentators refer the word 美 měi to the weapons and explain it as: 'he does not esteem them (the weapons)'.
If someone rejoices at his victory, it is because he is devoid of all feeling of pity and loves to kill men.
If a prince loves to kill men, heaven abandons him forever and the people revolt against him. Such a man has never succeeded in ruling the empire for long.
At this point, the author returns to the thought expressed above: in times of peace, the sage values the left; the warrior values the right.
The deputy general is actually below the commander-in-chief; why is he placed on the left (that is, in the place that corresponds to the active principle 阳 yáng and which is the symbol of life)? Why is the commander-in-chief placed on the right (that is, in the place that corresponds to the passive principle 阴 yīn and which is the symbol of death)? Here is the reason. The use of weapons is a cause for mourning. If the latter wins the victory and has killed a great number of men, one conforms to the funeral rites and places him on the right. The deputy general is on the left because he does not have the right to preside over the slaughter, nor even to kill an enemy by his private authority.
In antiquity, when a general had won a victory, he went into mourning. He placed himself (in the temple) in the place of him who presides over funeral rites, and, dressed in plain clothes, he wept and sighed.
