仁义不施而攻守之势异也

仁義不施而攻守之勢異也

rényìbùshīérgōngshǒuzhīshìyìyě

phrase

Meanings

1 because benevolence and righteousness were not practiced, the postures of attack and defense were reversed
2 (fig.) a regime that abandons moral legitimacy flips from conqueror to defender — and then to victim
3 (lit.) humanity-righteousness not practiced, and attack-defense's posture differed

Characters

righteousness (仁义 = Confucian virtue)

and so / therefore (classical)

defend (攻守 = offense and defense)

之

zhī

's (classical possessive)

(classical final particle)

Examples

这段历史的教训正如仁义不施而攻守之势异也，政权失德终致覆亡。

Zhè duàn lìshǐ de jiàoxùn zhèng rú rényì bù shī ér gōngshǒu zhī shì yì yě, zhèngquán shī dé zhōng zhì fùwáng.

The lesson of this historical period is precisely that 'without practicing benevolence and righteousness, attack and defense reverse' — a regime that loses virtue eventually falls.

贾谊《过秦论》的结句仁义不施而攻守之势异也被历代政论家反复引用。

Jiǎ Yì《Guò Qín Lùn》de jié jù rényì bù shī ér gōngshǒu zhī shì yì yě bèi lìdài zhèng lùnjiā fǎnfù yǐnyòng.

The closing line of Jia Yi's 'Critique of Qin,' 'because benevolence was not practiced, attack and defense reversed,' has been cited by political commentators in every era.

Tips

history

The closing verdict of 贾谊《过秦论》(Jia Yi, 'On the Faults of Qin,' Western Han, c. 170 BCE). Jia Yi's essay diagnoses why the Qin — after unifying China under Qin Shi Huang — collapsed within 15 years. The argument: Qin succeeded in 'attack' through Legalist harshness, but once it ruled the empire, it kept attacking instead of shifting to benevolent 'defense' — so the people rose up. This sentence is one of the most-quoted lines in Chinese political-historical writing and a standard text in Chinese high-school literature.

usage

而 here is a classical connective ('therefore / and thus'); 之 links 攻守 to 势; 异 = 'differed / became different'; 也 is a final particle marking conclusion. The sentence is cited as shorthand for 'a conquering power that fails to switch to virtuous rule will fall.'

Stroke Order

仁 rén

义 yì

不 bù

施 shī

而 ér

攻 gōng

守 shǒu

之 zhī

势 shì

异 yì

也 yě