The Masters of War Had a Saying
The Text
用兵有言：吾不敢为主，而为客；不敢进寸，而退尺。是谓行无行，攘无臂，扔无敌，执无兵。祸莫大于轻敌，轻敌几丧吾宝。故抗兵相若，哀者胜矣。
The masters of war had a saying: I dare not be host, but rather guest; dare not advance an inch, but retreat a foot. This is called marching without marching, baring sleeves without arms, seizing without weapons, charging without enemy. No disaster is greater than underestimating the enemy — underestimating the enemy nearly costs one’s treasure. So when armies match, the grieving one wins.
Reading it
Guest not host: refuse the aggressor’s frame and the fight happens on terrain you have already accepted. The treasure lost by underestimation is the three treasures of ch. 67. The closing rule is psychological, not sentimental — grief holds nothing back and wastes nothing on performance.
为客不为主：拒绝侵略者的框架，仗就打在你早已接受的地形上。轻敌所丧之「宝」，即第 67 章的三宝。收束的规则是心理学的而非感伤的——哀者不设防于表演，一无所留，也一无所废。
In one contest this week, take the guest position deliberately — receive, then respond. Compare the outcome.
这周在一次较量里刻意取客位——先接，后应。比较结果。