蘇秦為趙合從，說齊宣王曰：「齊南有太山，東有琅邪，西有清河，北有渤海，此所謂四塞之國也。齊地方二千里，帶甲數十萬，粟如丘山。齊車之良，五家之兵，疾如錐矢，戰如雷電，解如風雨，即有軍役，未嘗倍太山、絕清河、涉渤海也。臨淄之中七萬戶，臣竊度之，下戶三男子，三七二十一萬，不待發於遠縣，而臨淄之卒，固以二十一萬矣。臨淄甚富而實，其民無不吹竽、鼓瑟、擊筑、彈琴、鬥雞、走犬、六博、𠻘踘者；臨淄之途，車变擊，人肩摩，連衽成帷，舉袂成幕，揮汗成雨；家敦而富，志高而揚。夫以大王之賢與齊之強，天下不能當。今乃西面事秦，竊為大王羞之。

 

Su Qin[1] exercised his persuasions on King Xuan of Qi[2] on behalf of Zhao's alliance, saying: "To the South of Qi you have Mount Tai[3]. To the East you have Mount Langxie[4]. To the West is the Qing River[5]. To the North you have the Bohai Sea[6]. These can be called the four walls of your state. The land of Qi is two thousand square li[7], protected by hundreds of thousands of armed guards and possessing mountainous grain reserves. Qi has good quality heavy cavalry and the troops of the Five Houses[8]; your archers strike like a plague, and in battle your troops fall on the enemy like thunder and then dissolve into the landscape like wind and rain. Even when armies have attacked, none has yet put Mount Tai behind it, traversed the Qing River[9] or sailed across the Bohai Sea. In Linzi[9] there are seventy thousand households. Your servant has taken the liberty of calculating that this gives an average of three men of military age per household[10]. Three times seven is two hundred and ten thousand. If Linzi is mobilised, without relying upon distant counties to dispatch troops, this alone[11] will produce an army of two hundred and ten thousand. Linzi's fortune and resources are such that among its citizens, there are none who do not pass their time in playing the flute, guse[12], zhu[13] and zither, and with cockfighting, dog racing, playing liubo[14] and kickball[15]. In the streets of Linzi, carriage axels jostle one another[16], and the people are packed shoulder-to-shoulder, so close that their lapels are like awnings and their sleeves like tents, shielding the ground from the sweat the falls like rain. Its households are flourishing[17] and prosperous, their high ambitions widely recognised. Given Your Majesty's wisdom and Qi's strength, no other state in All-Under-Heaven can match it, and now you have turned West to serve Qin; I am quietly embarrassed on your behalf.

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「且夫韓、魏之所以畏秦者，以與秦接界也。兵出而相當，不至十日，而戰勝存亡之機決矣。韓、魏戰而勝秦，則兵半折，四境不守；戰而不勝，以亡隨其後。是故韓、魏之所以重與秦戰而輕為之臣也。

 

The reason that Han and Wei fear Qin is because they share a border. If both sides dispatch troops and they face off against one another, then the fight to decide which will survive will be over within ten days[18]. Even if Han and Wei fight and secure victory over Qin, it will be equivalent to half a loss, as their four borders will be undefended. If they fight and do not win, then extermination will follow immediately after. This being so[19], Han and Wei reason that the danger of battle with Qin outweighs the abjection of serving it.

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「今秦攻齊則不然，倍韓、魏之地，至闈陽晉之道，徑亢父之險，車不得方軌，馬不得並行，百人守險，千人不能過也。秦雖欲深入，則狼顧，恐韓、魏之議其後也。是故恫疑虛猲，高躍而不敢進，則秦不能害齊，亦已明矣。夫不深料秦之不奈我何也，而欲西面事秦，是群臣之計過也。今無臣事秦之名，而有強國之實，臣固願大王之少留計。

 

Now if Qin were to attack Qi, things would be different. It would have its back to the lands of Han and Wei, and to reach the road to Jinyang[20] in Wey[21] it would have to cross the Kangfu Pass[22], which cannot take a standard gauge cart and where horses cannot pass two abreast. If a hundred men hold the pass, then a thousand cannot cross it. If Qin wishes to strike deeply into Qi, it will have to be as alert as a wolf for fear of the discussions going on between Han and Wei to its rear. This being so, Qin is all smoke and no fire, prancing and curveting[23] but not daring to advance. It is thus clear that Qin cannot injure Qi[24]. This failure to accurately evaluate[25] Qin's inability to to take you on - and the plan to turn West and serve Qin's interests - were strategic errors on the part of your private secretaries[26]. You do not yet have the reputation of being subservient to Qin[27] but you do have the appurtenances of a strong state. I therefore[28] hope that Your Majesty will take a moment to plan."

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齊王曰：「寡人不敏，今主君以趙王之教詔之，敬奉社稷以從。」

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The King of Qi said, "We lack finesse[29]. Now we[30] shall follow the King of Zhao's instructions and join his alliance for the greater honour of the spirits of earth and grain." 

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[1] Su Qin was later the principal proponent of the vertical alliance, aimed at bringing together the other states to oppose Qin's expansion.

[2] King Xuan of Qi (319–301 BCE) is best known for receiving advice from Mencius and establishing the Jixia Academy.

[3] Mount Tai is in Shandong.

[4] Mount Langya is in Anhui.

[5] This seems to be the Qingliang River, which flows through Qinghe and would have been a defensive barrier. 

[6] The Bohai Sea is the gulf between Weihai and Dalian.

[7] This may be intended to read "three thousand".

[8] This is a reference to Qi's vassal states, but it is not entirely clear which are included in this group. 

[9] Linzi was the capital of Qi. It is still called Linzi, and is in Shandong.

[10] According to the commentaries 下 here is probably superfluous. 

[11] Reading 已 for 以, per the commentaries. 

[12] The guse was like a guqin, but shorter and with more strings.

[13] The zhu was somewhere between a lute and a zither.

[14] Liubo was a board game.

[15] The precise characters here are unclear, but the general sense is obvious. Cuju had similar rules to modern soccer and was popular throughout Chinese history.

[16] The commentaries suggest 轂 for 擊 here. This does not significantly change the sense. 

[17] Reading 殷 here for 敦, as the commentaries suggest. 

[18] The commentaries disagree regarding the precise reading of this sentence, but the general sense is clear. 

[19] The commentaries disagree regarding the precise reading of this sentence, but the general sense is clear. 

[20] Jinyang was in modern Yuncheng County, Shandong. I have seen versions that seem to read 衞 for 闈, in which case the sentence would read "the road to Jinyang in Wey". 

[21] Reading 衛 for 闈, per the commentaries. 

[22] Kangfu was in modern Rencheng District, Shandong. The area seems to have been a marshy one, with only a narrow raised path upon which to travel.

[23] The commentaries suggest 驕矜 as a possible alternative for 高躍.

[24] According to the commentaries 已 here is superfluous. 

[25] According to the commentaries 深 here is superfluous. 

[26] The commentaries disagree regarding the precise reading of this sentence, but the general sense is clear. 

[27] The commentaries disagree regarding the precise reading of this sentence, but the general sense is clear. 

[28] Reading 故 for 固, per the commentaries. 

[29] According to the commentaries, this may be followed by 僻遠守海，窮道東境之國也，未嘗得聞餘教 ("ours is a distant state, hugging the ocean, humbly occupying the farthest eastern end of all roads; we have never yet received any crumbs of instruction").

[30] The commentaries struggle to interpret this. This is a best guess.