Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu (/suːn ˈdzuː, suːn ˈsuː/ soon DZOO, soon SOO;[1][2] Chinese: 孫 子 ; pinyin: Sūnzǐ) was a
Chinese general, military strategist, writer, and philosopher who lived in the Eastern Zhou
period of ancient China. Sun Tzu is traditionally credited as the author of The Art of War, an
influential work of military strategy that has affected both Western and East Asian
philosophy and military thinking. His works focus much more on alternatives to battle, such
as stratagem, delay, the use of spies and alternatives to war itself, the making and keeping of
alliances, the uses of deceit, and a willingness to submit, at least temporarily, to more powerful
foes.

The Art of War is traditionally ascribed to Sun Tzu. It presents a philosophy of war for managing
conflicts and winning battles. It is accepted as a masterpiece on strategy and has been
frequently cited and referred to by generals and theorists since it was first published,
translated, and distributed internationally.[24]

The Art of War

1. Lying Plans

1. Sun Tzu said: The art of war is of vital importance to the State.
2. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safe- ty or to ruin. Hence it is a subject
of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.
3. The art of war, then, is governed by five constant factors, to be taken into account in
one’s delib- erations, when seeking to determine the conditions obtaining in the field.
4. These are:
(1) The Moral Law; The Moral Law causes the people to be in com- plete accord with
their ruler, so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any dan-
ger.

(2) Heaven; Heaven signifies night and day, cold and heat, times and seasons.

(3) Earth; Earth comprises distances, great and small; danger and security; open ground
and narrow passes; the chances of life and death.

(4) The Commander; The Commander stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerely,
benevolence, courage and strict- ness.

(5) Method and discipline. By method and discipline are to be understood the marshaling
of the army in its proper subdivisions, the graduations of rank among the officers, the
mainte- nance of roads by which supplies may reach the army, and the control of military
expenditure.
These five heads should be familiar to every gener- al: he who knows them will be
victorious; he who knows them not will fail.
2. Waging War
If you lay siege to a town, you will exhaust your strength.
Again, if the campaign is protracted, the resources of the State will not be equal to the
strain.
There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.
Poverty of the State exchequer causes an army to be maintained by contributions from a
distance. Contributing to maintain an army at a distance causes the people to be
impoverished.
Now in order to kill the enemy, our men must be roused to anger; that there may be
advantage from defeating the enemy, they must have their rewards.
In war, then, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns.
III Attack by Stratagem
1. Sun Tzu said: In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy’s
country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good. So, too, it is better to
recapture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture a regiment, a detachment or a
company entire than to destroy them.
2. Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme
excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.
Therefore the skillful leader subdues the enemy’s troops without any fighting; he captures
their cities without laying siege to them; he overthrows their king- dom without lengthy
operations in the field.
It is the rule in war, if our forces are ten to the enemy’s one, to surround him; if five to
one, to attack him; if twice as numerous, to divide our army into two.
9. If equally matched, we can offer battle; if slightly inferior in numbers, we can avoid
the enemy; if quite unequal in every way, we can flee from him.
we may know that there are five essentials for victory:
(1) He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.
(2) He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces.
(3) He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks.
(4) He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.
(5) He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign.
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hun- dred
battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also
suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will suc- cumb in every
battle.”
Tactical Disposition
1. Sun Tzu said: The good fighters of old first put them- selves beyond the possibility of
defeat, and then wait- ed for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.
2. To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of
defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.
Security against defeat implies defensive tactics; ability to defeat the enemy means taking
the offensive.
Offensive and Defensive operations
The general who is skilled in defense hides in the most secret recesses of the earth; he
who is skilled in attack flashes forth from the topmost heights of heaven. Thus on the one
hand we have ability to protect our- selves; on the other, a victory that is complete.
V
Energy
1. Sun Tzu said: The control of a large force is the same principle as the control of a few
men: it is merely a question of dividing up their numbers.
2. Fighting with a large army under your command is nowise different from fighting with
a small one: it is merely a question of instituting signs and signals.
As a leader, you should aim to create well-organized units out of your troops. If done
correctly, you can skillfully manage your individual troops into a single force. This unity
can be the factor that helps you overcome a more loosely managed opponent.
In battle, there are not more than two methods of attack—the direct and the indirect; yet
these two in combination give rise to an endless series of maneuvers.
The clever combatant looks to the effect of combined energy, and does not require too
much from individuals. Hence his ability to pick out the right men and utilize combined
energy.
Sun Tzu recommends adopting a pyramid of command. You build your team from the
base at the bottom, which should include individual soldiers. Then, move up each level
by creating larger and larger units. For example, pair, trio, squad, section, platoon,
company, battalion, regiment, group, brigade, and army. At each level, you should be
incorporating a commander to obey his superiors and control his inferiors.
VI
Weak Points and Strong
1. Sun Tzu said: Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy, will be
fresh for the fight; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to bat- tle will arrive
exhausted.
2. Therefore the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the
enemy’s will to be imposed on him.
Appear at points which the enemy must hasten to defend; march swiftly to places where
you are not expected.
Attack undefended points
The spot where we intend to fight must not be made known; for then the enemy will have
to prepare against a possible attack at several different points; and his forces being thus
distributed in many directions, the numbers we shall have to face at any given point will
be proportionately few.
Do not repeat the tactics which have gained you one victory, but let your methods be
regulated by the infinite variety of circumstances.
VII
Maneuvering
Stresses on Deviation.
1. Sun Tzu said: In war, the general receives his com- mands from the sovereign.
Having collected an army and concentrated his forces, he must blend and harmonize the
different elements thereof before pitching his camp.
If you set a fully equipped army in march in order to snatch an advantage, the chances are
that you will be too late.
We are not fit to lead an army on the march unless we are familiar with the face of the
country—its mountains and forests, its pitfalls and precipices, its marshes and swamps.
When you plunder a countryside, let the spoil be divided amongst your men; when you
capture new territory, cut it up into allotments for the benefit of the sol- diery.
21. Ponder and deliberate before you make a move. 22. He will conquer who has learnt
the artifice of deviation. Such is the art of maneuvering.
Do not pursue an enemy who simulates flight; do not attack soldiers whose temper is
keen.
35. Do not swallow bait offered by the enemy. Do not interfere with an army that is
returning home.
36. When you surround an army, leave an outlet free. Do not press a desperate foe too
hard.
37. Such is the art of warfare.

Variation in Tactics
Reduce the hostile chiefs by inflicting damage on them; and make trouble for them, and
keep them constantly engaged; hold out specious allurements, and make them rush to any
given point.
11. The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy’s not coming, but
on our own readiness to receive him; not on the chance of his not attacking, but rather on
the fact that we have made our position unassailable.
There are five dangerous faults which may affect a general:
(1) Recklessness, which leads to destruction;
(2) cowardice, which leads to capture;
(3) a hasty temper, which can be provoked by insults;
(4) a delicacy of honor which is sensitive to shame;
(5) over-solicitude (concern/worry) for his men, which exposes him to worry and trouble.
These are the five besetting sins of a general, ruinous to the conduct of war.
14. When an army is overthrown and its leader slain, the cause will surely be found
among these five dan- gerous faults.

In the March and Terrain deal with geographical situations and Nine Situations
deal with military operations

The Attack by Fire

1. Sun Tzu said: There are five ways of attacking with fire. The first is to burn soldiers in
their camp; the sec- ond is to burn stores; the third is to burn baggage trains; the fourth is
to burn arsenals and magazines; the fifth is to hurl dropping fire amongst the enemy.
2. In order to carry out an attack, we must have means available. The material for raising
fire should always be kept in readiness.
There is a proper season for making attacks with fire, and special days for starting a
conflagration.
4. The proper season is when the weather is very dry.
The Use of Spies
1. Sun Tzu said: Raising a host of a hundred thousand men and marching them great
distances entails heavy loss on the people and a drain on the resources of the State.

Knowledge of the enemy’s dispositions can only be obtained from other men.
7. Hence the use of spies, of whom there are five class- es:
(1) Local spies;
(2) inward spies; (3) converted spies; (4) doomed spies; (5) surviving spies.
Having local spies means employing the services of the inhabitants of a district.
10. Having inward spies, making use of officials of the enemy.
11. Having converted spies, getting hold of the enemy’s spies and using them for our own
purposes.
12. Having doomed spies, doing certain things openly for purposes of deception, and
allowing our spies to know of them and report them to the enemy.
13. Surviving spies, finally, are those who bring back news from the enemy’s camp.