Original text:

Gou Jian said to his countrymen, "I don't know my strength, but I bear a grudge against a big country and it is my sin to expose the bones of the people in the Central Plains." Please be careful. "So bury the dead, ask the injured, health; If you worry, you will be happy; Sender, usher; Eliminate the evil of the people and make up for their shortcomings. He doesn't eat what he grows or wear his own clothes unless his wife knits them.

If you don't get it from the state for ten years, everyone will have food for three years. Father of the country and brother of the country please say, "Fu Cha used to be ashamed of being a vassal of my king's country, but now he has gone to Yue. Please report." If the fruit is good, China people will persuade. A father encourages his son, a brother encourages his brother, and a woman encourages her husband, saying, "Who is a gentleman and not dead?" "This is the failure of Wu Yu, the failure of Wu Yu, the failure of Wu Yu.

Translation:

Gou Jian said to his compatriots, "I don't know that I am not strong enough. It is my sin to fight against a big country like Wu, resulting in people being displaced and lying dead in vilen. I ask you to allow me to change the policy of governing the country. " So bury the dead, sympathize with the wounded and support the living; Whoever has something on his mind will go to condolence, and whoever has a happy event will go to congratulate; Say goodbye to those who have gone far away, welcome those who have gone home, go to what the people hate and make up for what the people lack.

Don't eat what you haven't cultivated, and don't wear the cloth woven by his wife. In this way, for ten consecutive years, the state did not collect taxes, and the people had enough to eat for three years. The elders of Yue pleaded: "In the past, Fu Cha, the king of Wu, humiliated our monarch in front of the vassal States; Now that Yue has restrained himself, please allow us to avenge you.

"Wu's action began decisively, and the people of Yue encouraged each other. Father encourages his son, brother encourages his brother, and woman encourages her husband, saying, "Who cares about the people like our king? Can't he die for him? "So, we beat Wu again in Mei (an ancient place name near Suzhou) and beat it again in the suburbs of Wu.