Friday, July 27, 2018

ON WAR ; The Best Phrases of "THE ART of WAR"

SOURCE:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/237127499808464/permalink/955878351266705/











The Best Phrases of "THE ART of WAR"
                               of 
                        TZUN TZU
                              BY   
                     Daniel Moreno

                                 [  https://youtu.be/31j43R77tOc   ]



Sun Tzu - The Art of War ~ Short Documentary(History Channel)


                   [ https://youtu.be/maOFYVR8B40 ]




The Art of War - Sun Tzu - An Animated                           Book Summary



                      [  https://youtu.be/qBduuL-DZ24  ]




   THE COMPLETE "ART OF WAR "

 GOOGLE TO OPEN THE PDF FILE

 http://www.anzishaprize.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Tzu-Sun_-von-Clausewitz-General-Carl_-Machiavelli-Niccolo_-Jomini-Baron-de-The-Complete-Art-of-War-Start-Publishing-LLC-2013.pdf
              The Complete Art of War 

 [A]    The Art of War   BySun zu translated by Lionel Giles              
              
 [B]   On War                   By Carl von Clausewitz translated by Colonel J.J. Graham                                                   

 [C]    The Art of War     By Niccolò Machiavelli 
[D]    The Art of War     By Baron De Jomini translated by G.H. Mendell, and W.P. Craighill


THE ART OF WAR is the best and most famous treaty of strategy in the world, which has become a book of worship in the world of economy and business. It proposes valid principles both in the world of military strategy and in the world of business or politics. Despite its age (2500 years) is a terribly modern book that will help to reflect on any type of problem and to pose the necessary strategies to attack it,

Now the tactics of combat are taking to another field, that of the businesses. Many officials of the Asian armies had to return to the civil life and chose to form their own companies. Without studies in business, they had to resort to what they knew, the administration of military units, directing their companies as armies, applying the knowledge mainly learned in the Art of War.


His purpose was to deliver wisdom to the future generals so that they could obtain victory by defeating the enemy in the easiest way possible, so it is based on rather psychological tactics, since its fundamental principle is that "every war is a deception".


From this single idea it is clear the importance of marketing to position a product before selling it. The product must be sold before manufacturing, knowing the needs of potential customers, "get the victory before entering battle." Therefore the market is a battlefield, where information is key before fighting, knowing the strengths and weaknesses of the opponent or as Sun Zu said: "know yourself and know your enemy."


The book describes military tactics and recommendations for victory, not only in battle, but in a long-term contest. In the early nineteenth century, many economists saw Sun Tzu as a business guru, since the military tactics he describes are also applicable to the economic and commercial world and, by extension, to most aspects of life. This book inspired great historical figures such as Napoleon, Machiavelli, Mao Tse Tung, Che Guevara, Montgomery, Marchall, etc.

I am going to present a well synthesized summary that I found on the internet. Many key phrases of the modern manuals of business management are practically literal quotations from the work of Sun Tzu (changing, for example, army by company, or armament by resources) Sun Tzu's collection of essays does not exceed 100 pages, distributed in 13 chapters, with a very condensed exposition. In a few pages he presents suggestions on: philosophies, strategies, tactics, organizational recommendations on war, among others.

Then I leave a brief summary with the best sentences of each chapter:
Seen as the best strategy book of all time, written dating from the fourth century before our era, and applied its wisdom to this day, mainly in the corporate world, but its application goes beyond the militia and business, can be used in daily life, of course, knowing how to interpret the concept.



★CHAPTER 1: About the evaluation

War is of vital importance to the State; it is the domain of life or death, the road to survival or the loss of the Empire: it is forced to handle it well. Not reflect seriously on everything that concerns you is to give proof of a guilty indifference in regard to the conservation or loss of what is most dear to us;  and this should not happen between us.

 The art of war is based on deception. Therefore, when it is capable of attacking, it must appear incapacitated; when the troops move, appear inactive. If he is close to the enemy, he must make him believe that he is far away; if it is far away, pretend that it is close.

 Hit the enemy when it is messy. Prepare against him when he is safe everywhere. Avoid during a time when it is stronger. If your opponent has a choleric temper, try to irritate him. If he is arrogant, try to encourage their selfishness.

 If the enemy troops are well prepared after a reorganization, try to disarrange them. If they are united, sowing dissension among their ranks. Attack the enemy when he is not ready, and appear when he does not wait for you. These are the keys to victory for the strategist.



★CHAPTER 2: On the initiation of actions

If you are besieging a town, you will exhaust your strength. If you keep your army for a long time in the campaign, your supplies will be exhausted.

 I have heard of military operations that have been clumsy and sudden, but I have never seen any expert in the art of war maintain the campaign for long.

 Be as quick as the thunder that resounds before you have been able to cover your ears, fast as the lightning that shines before you have been able to blink.

 An intelligent general fights to deprive the enemy of their food. Each serving of food taken from the enemy equals twenty that you supply to yourself.

 If you use the enemy to defeat the enemy, you will be powerful wherever you go.

 The most important thing in a military operation is victory and not persistence. The latter is not beneficial. An army is like fire: if you do not turn it off, it will consume itself.




★CHAPTER 3: On the propositions of victory and defeat

It is better to keep an enemy intact than to destroy it.

 Those who succeed in rendering the armies of others helpless without fighting are the best masters of the Art of War.

 Never attack by anger and in a hurry. It is advisable to take time in planning and coordinating the plan.
A true master of martial arts defeats other enemy forces without battle, conquers other cities without besieging them and destroys other armies without spending much time.

 Complete victory occurs when the army does not fight, the city is not besieged, the destruction does not last for a long time, and in each case the enemy is defeated by the use of strategy.

 If you know others and you know yourself, not in a hundred battles you will be in danger; If you do not know others, but you know yourself, you will lose a battle and gain another; If you do not know others or know yourself, you will be in danger in every battle.




★CHÁRTER 4: About the measure in the disposition of the means

Invincibility is in oneself, vulnerability in the adversary.

 Invincibility is a question of defense, vulnerability, a matter of attack. While you have not observed vulnerabilities in the battle order of the adversaries, hide your own attack formation, and prepare to be invincible, in order to preserve yourself. When opponents have vulnerable battle orders, it's time to go out and attack them.
The defense is for times of scarcity, the attack for times of abundance.

 In situations of defense, you silence the voices and erase the traces, hidden as ghosts and spirits underground, invisible to everyone. In situations of attack, your movement is fast and your shout, swift as thunder and lightning, for which you can not prepare, even if they come from heaven.

 Everyone praises victory in battle, but what is truly desirable is to be able to see the world of the subtle and realize the world of the occult, to the point of being able to achieve victory where there is no form.
If you are able to see the subtle and to real
When you are able to see the subtle, it is easy to win.

 A victorious army wins first and starts the battle later; A defeated army fights first and tries to gain victory later.



★CHAPTER 5: On the firmness

The experts are able to defeat the enemy by creating a favorable perception in them, thus obtaining victory without the need to exercise their strength.

 Disorder comes from order, cowardice arises from courage, weakness arises from force.

If you want to pretend disorder to convince your adversaries and distract them, you must first organize the order, because only then can you create an artificial disorder. If you want to feign cowardice to know the strategy of the adversaries, first you have to be extremely brave, because only then can you act as timid in an artificial way. If you want to feign weakness to induce arrogance in your enemies, you must first be extremely strong because only then can you pretend to be weak.

 When an army has the force of impetus, even the shy one becomes brave, when he loses the force of impetus, even the brave one becomes timid. Nothing is fixed in the laws of war: these are developed on the basis of impetus.

 It moves the enemies with the prospect of triumph, so that they fall into the ambush.



★CHAPTER 6: About the full and the empty

The good warriors make the adversaries come to them, and in no way do they allow themselves to be attracted outside their strength.

 If you make the adversaries come to you to fight, their strength will always be empty. If you do not go out to fight, your strength will always be full. This is the art of emptying others and filling yourself.

 Appears in critical places and attacks where they least expect it, causing them to come to the rescue.
Be extremely subtle, discreet, to the point of having no form. Be completely mysterious and confidential, to the point of being silent. In this way you can direct the fate of your opponents.

 It arrives like the wind, move like the lightning, and the adversaries can not defeat you.

 When the adversaries arrive to attack you, do not fight with them, but you establish a strategic change to confuse them and fill them with uncertainty.

 Make the adversaries see what is ordinary for you as extraordinary; make them see as ordinary what is extraordinary for you.

 If you make the adversaries not know the place and date of the battle, you can always win.

 Do something for or against opponents to get their attention, so that you can attract them to discover their habits of attack and defense behavior.

 Everyone knows the form by which he was the winner, but nobody knows the way by which he secured victory.

 An army does not have constant formation, just as water does not have a constant form: genius is the ability to obtain victory by changing and adapting according to the enemy.



★CHAPTER 7: On direct and indirect confrontation

The difficulty of armed struggle is to close long distances and turn problems into advantages.
If you ignore the plans of your rivals, you can not make precise alliances.

 Only when you know every detail of the terrain condition can you maneuver and war.

 A military force is established by strategy in the sense that you distract the enemy so that he can not know what your real situation is and can not impose his supremacy.

 When a military force moves quickly it is like the wind; when it goes slowly it is like the forest; It is voracious as fire and motionless as mountains. It is fast as the wind in the sense that it arrives without warning and disappears like lightning. It's like a forest because it has an order. It is voracious as the fire that devastates a plain without leaving behind a blade of grass. It is immobile like a mountain when it is quartered. It is as difficult to know as the darkness; its movement is like thunder that resounds.

 The first one who makes the movement is the "guest", the last one is the "host". The "guest" has it difficult, the "host has it easy".

 Do not chase the enemies when they pretend a retreat, nor attack expert troops.



★CHAPTER 8: About the nine changes

There are routes that you should not use, armies that are not to be attacked, cities that should not be surrounded, lands over which you should not fight, and civil rulers' orders that should not be obeyed.

 Generals who know the possible variables to take advantage of the terrain know how to handle the armed forces.

The considerations of the intelligent person always include objectively analyzing the benefit and harm. When you consider the benefit, your action expands; When you consider the damage, your problems can be solved.

 Tires the enemies keeping them busy and not letting them breathe.

 Good generals: they commit themselves to death, but they do not cling to the hope of survival; they act according to the events, in a rational and realistic way, without being carried away by emotions or being subject to being confused. When they see a good opportunity, they are like tigers, other wise they close their doors. Their action and their non-action are matters of strategy, and they can not be pleased or angry.



★CHAPTER 9: About the distribution of means

Military maneuvers are the result of plans and strategies in the most advantageous way to win. They determine the mobility and effectiveness of the troops.

 When you fight on a mountain, it attacks from the top down and not the other way around.

 An army prefers a high ground and avoids low ground, appreciates light and detests darkness.

 If the emissaries of the enemy utter humble words while he increases his war preparations, this means that he will advance. When high-sounding words are pronounced and advanced ostentatiously, it is a sign that the enemy is going to retreat. If your emissaries come with humble words, send spies to observe the enemy and you will see that your preparations for war are increasing.

 If the enemy sees an advantage but does not take advantage of it, he is tired.

 If there are murmurs, lack of discipline and the soldiers talk a lot to each other, it means that the loyalty of the troops has been lost. Murmurs describe the expression of true feelings; lack of discipline indicates problems with superiors. When the command has lost the loyalty of the troops, the soldiers speak frankly to each other about the problems with their superiors.

 The emissaries who come with a conciliatory attitude indicate that the enemy wants a truce.

 If the enemy troops face you with ardor, but they delay the moment of entering into combat without leaving the land, you must observe them carefully. They are preparing a surprise attack.

 The enemy who acts in isolation, who lacks strategy and takes lightly his adversaries, will inevitably end up being defeated.

 If your plan does not contain a strategy of withdrawal or after the attack, but you rely exclusively on the strength of your soldiers, and take your opponents lightly without assessing their condition, you will surely fall prisoner.
When the orders are given clearly, simply and consistently to the troops, they accept them. When the orders are confusing, contradictory and changing, the troops do not accept them or understand them. When the orders are reasonable, fair, simple, clear and consistent, there is a reciprocal satisfaction between the leader and the group.




★CHAPTER 10: About the topology

In order to defeat the enemy, the entire military command must have only one intention and all military forces must cooperate.

 When the laws of war signal a sure victory it is clearly appropriate to engage in battle, even if the government has given orders not to attack. If the laws of war do not indicate a certain victory, it is appropriate not to enter into battle, even if the government has given the order to attack.

 Those who know martial arts do not waste time when they make their movements, nor do they exhaust themselves when they attack. Because of this it is said that when you know yourself and know others, victory is not a danger; When you know heaven and earth, victory is inexhaustible.



★CHAPTER 11: On the nine kinds of land

The speed of action is the essential factor of the condition of military force, taking advantage of the mistakes of the adversaries, moving along roads that do not wait and attacking when they are not on guard.

 In an invasion, as a rule, the more invaders enter the territory of others, the stronger they become, to the point that the native government can no longer expel them.

 May the movements of your troops and the preparation of your plans be unfathomable.

 Prohibit auguries to avoid doubts

 A skillfully prepared military operation must be like a speeding snake that counterattacks with its tail when someone attacks it by the head, it strikes back with its head when someone attacks it by the tail and it counterattacks with head and tail, when someone attacks it by the middle .

 It is up to the general to be quiet, reserved, fair and methodical.

 Change your actions and revise your plans, so that no one can recognize them.

 You can win when no one can understand at any time what your intentions are.

 The main deception that is valued in military operations is not directed only to enemies, but begins with the troops themselves, to make them follow you without knowing where they are going.

 Use your soldiers only in combat, without communicating your strategy. Let them know the benefits that await them, but do not tell them about the potential damages. If the true is said, your plan will fail. If the soldiers begin to worry, they will become hesitant and fearful.

 The task of a military operation is to pretend to accommodate the enemy's intentions. If you concentrate totally on this one, you can kill your general even if you are miles away. This is called expertly meet the target.
★CHAPTER 12: On the art of attacking by fire

It is not enough to know how to attack others with fire, it is necessary to know how to prevent others from attacking you.

 A government should not mobilize an army out of anger, and military leaders should not provoke war over anger.

 Act when it is beneficial; otherwise, give up. Anger can turn into joy, and anger can become pleasure, but a destroyed people can  not be reborn, and death can not become life. Consequently, an enlightened government pays attention to all this, and a good military command takes it into account. This is the way to keep the nation safe and keep its army intact.



★CHAPTER 13: On concord and discord

Information can not be obtained from ghosts or spirits, nor can it be taken by analogy, nor discovered by calculations. It must be obtained from people; people who know the situation of the adversary.

If spies are not treated well, they can become renegades and work for the enemy.

You can not get the truth from the spies without subtlety.

Each issue requires prior knowledge.

Whenever you are going to attack and fight, you must first know the talents of the enemy's servers, and thus you can face them according to their abilities.

A brilliant ruler or a wise general who can use the most intelligent for espionage, can be sure of victory.

Espionage is essential for military operations, and armies depend on it to carry out their actions. It will not be advantageous for the army to act without knowing the enemy's situation, and knowing the enemy's situation is not possible without espionage.




FURTHER READING





The Art of War
For other uses, see The Art of War (disambiguation).
The Art of War
Bamboo book - closed - UCR.jpg
Author(trad.) Sun Tzu
CountryChina
LanguageChinese
SubjectMilitary strategy and tactics
Publication date
5th century BC
TextThe Art of War at Wikisource
The Art of War
Traditional Chinese孫子兵法
Simplified Chinese孙子兵法
Literal meaning"Master Sun's Military Methods"
Chinese military texts
Part of a series on
War
The Art of War is an ancient Chinese military treatise dating from the Spring and Autumn period. The work, which is attributed to the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu ("Master Sun", also spelled Sunzi), is composed of 13 chapters. Each one is devoted to a distinct aspect of warfare and how that applies to military strategy and tactics. For almost 1,500 years it was the lead text in an anthology that would be formalised as the Seven Military Classics by Emperor Shenzong of Song in 1080. The Art of War remains the most influential strategy text in East Asian warfare.[1] It has a profound influence on both Eastern and Western military thinking, business tactics, legal strategy and beyond.
The book was first translated and published into French in 1772 (re-published in 1782) by the French Jesuit Jean Joseph Marie Amiot and a partial translation into English was attempted by British officer Everard Ferguson Calthrop in 1905 under the title The Book of War. The first annotated English translation was completed and published by Lionel Giles in 1910.[2] Numerous military and political leaders such as the Chinese communist revolutionary Mao Zedong, Japanese daimyo Takeda Shingen, and American military general Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr. have drawn inspiration from the book.

History[edit]

Text and commentaries[edit]

The Art of War is traditionally attributed to a military general from the late 6th century BC known as "Master Sun" (Sunzi or Sun Tzu), though its earliest parts probably date to at least 100 years later.[3] Sima Qian's 1st century BC work Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji), the first of China's 24 dynastic histories, records an early Chinese tradition stating that a text on military matters was written by a "Sun Wu" from the State of Qi, and that this text had been read and studied by King Helü of Wu (r. 514–495 BC).[4] This text was traditionally identified with the received Master Sun's Art of War. The conventional view—which is still widely held in China—was that Sun Wu was a military theorist from the end of the Spring and Autumn period (776–471 BC) who fled his home state of Qi to the southeastern kingdom of Wu, where he is said to have impressed the king with his ability to train even dainty palace ladies in warfare and to have made Wu's armies powerful enough to challenge their western rivals in the state of Chu.[5]
The prominent strategist, poet, and warlord Cao Cao in the early 3rd century AD authored the earliest known commentary to the Art of War.[4] Cao's preface makes clear that he edited the text and removed certain passages, but the extent of his changes were unclear historically.[4] The Art of War appears throughout the bibliographical catalogs of the Chinese dynastic histories, but listings of its divisions and size varied widely.[4] In the early 20th century, the Chinese writer and reformer Liang Qichao theorized that the text was actually written in the 4th century BC by Sunzi's purported descendant Sun Bin, as a number of historical sources mention a military treatise he wrote.[4]

Authorship[edit]

Around the 12th century, some scholars began to doubt the historical existence of Sunzi, primarily on the grounds that he is not mentioned in the historical classic The Commentary of Zuo (Zuo zhuan 左傳), which mentions most of the notable figures from the Spring and Autumn period.[4] The name "Sun Wu" (孫武) does not appear in any text prior to the Records of the Grand Historian,[6] and has been suspected to be a made-up descriptive cognomen meaning "the fugitive warrior": the surname "Sun" is glossed as the related term "fugitive" (xùn 遜), while "Wu" is the ancient Chinese virtue of "martial, valiant" (wǔ 武), which corresponds to Sunzi's role as the hero's doppelgänger in the story of Wu Zixu.[7] Unlike Sun Wu, Sun Bin appears to have been an actual person who was a genuine authority on military matters, and may have been the inspiration for the creation of the historical figure "Sunzi" through a form of euhemerism.[7]

Yinqueshan tomb discovery[edit]

In 1972, the Yinqueshan Han slips were discovered in two Han dynasty (206 BC – AD 220) tombs near the city of Linyi in Shandong Province.[8] Among the many bamboo slip writings contained in the tombs, which had been sealed around 134 and 118 BC, respectively were two separate texts, one attributed to "Sunzi", corresponding to the received text, and another attributed to Sun Bin, which explains and expands upon the earlier The Art of War by Sunzi.[9] The Sun Bin text's material overlaps with much of the "Sunzi" text, and the two may be "a single, continuously developing intellectual tradition united under the Sun name".[10] This discovery showed that much of the historical confusion was due to the fact that there were two texts that could have been referred to as "Master Sun's Art of War", not one.[9] The content of the earlier text is about one-third of the chapters of the modern The Art of War, and their text matches very closely.[8] It is now generally accepted that the earlier The Art of War was completed sometime between 500 and 450 BC.[9]

The 13 chapters[edit]

The Art of War is divided into 13 chapters (or piān); the collection is referred to as being one zhuàn ("whole" or alternatively "chronicle").
The Art of War chapter names in translations by Giles, Wing, Sawyer, and Chow-Hou
ChapterLionel Giles (1910)R.L. Wing (1988)Ralph D. Sawyer (1996)Chow-Hou Wee (2003)
ILaying PlansThe CalculationsInitial EstimationsDetail Assessment and Planning
(Chinese: 始計)
IIWaging WarThe ChallengeWaging WarWaging War
(Chinese: 作戰)
IIIAttack by StratagemThe Plan of AttackPlanning OffensivesStrategic Attack
(Chinese: 謀攻)
IVTactical DispositionsPositioningMilitary DispositionDisposition of the Army
(Chinese: 軍形)
VUse of EnergyDirectingStrategic Military PowerForces
(Chinese: 兵勢)
VIWeak Points and StrongIllusion and RealityVacuity and SubstanceWeaknesses and Strengths
(Chinese: 虛實)
VIIManeuvering an ArmyEngaging The ForceMilitary CombatMilitary Maneuvers
(Chinese: 軍爭)
VIIIVariation of TacticsThe Nine VariationsNine ChangesVariations and Adaptability
(Chinese: 九變)
IXThe Army on the MarchMoving The ForceManeuvering the ArmyMovement and Development of Troops
(Chinese: 行軍)
XClassification of TerrainSituational PositioningConfigurations of TerrainTerrain
(Chinese: 地形)
XIThe Nine SituationsThe Nine SituationsNine TerrainsThe Nine Battlegrounds
(Chinese: 九地)
XIIAttack by FireThe Fiery AttackIncendiary AttacksAttacking with Fire
(Chinese: 火攻)
XIIIUse of SpiesThe Use of IntelligenceEmploying SpiesIntelligence and Espionage
(Chinese: 用間)

Chapter summary[edit]


The beginning of The Art of War in a classical bamboo book from the reign of the Qianlong Emperor
  1. Detail Assessment and Planning (Chinese: 始計) explores the five fundamental factors (the Way, seasons, terrain, leadership, and management) and seven elements that determine the outcomes of military engagements. By thinking, assessing and comparing these points, a commander can calculate his chances of victory. Habitual deviation from these calculations will ensure failure via improper action. The text stresses that war is a very grave matter for the state and must not be commenced without due consideration.
  2. Waging War (Chinese: 作戰) explains how to understand the economy of warfare and how success requires winning decisive engagements quickly. This section advises that successful military campaigns require limiting the cost of competition and conflict.
  3. Strategic Attack (Chinese: 謀攻) defines the source of strength as unity, not size, and discusses the five factors that are needed to succeed in any war. In order of importance, these critical factors are: Attack, Strategy, Alliances, Army and Cities.
  4. Disposition of the Army (Chinese: 軍形) explains the importance of defending existing positions until a commander is capable of advancing from those positions in safety. It teaches commanders the importance of recognizing strategic opportunities, and teaches not to create opportunities for the enemy.
  5. Forces (Chinese: 兵勢) explains the use of creativity and timing in building an army's momentum.
  6. Weaknesses and Strengths (Chinese: 虛實) explains how an army's opportunities come from the openings in the environment caused by the relative weakness of the enemy and how to respond to changes in the fluid battlefield over a given area.
  7. Military Maneuvers (Chinese: 軍爭) explains the dangers of direct conflict and how to win those confrontations when they are forced upon the commander.
  8. Variations and Adaptability (Chinese: 九變) focuses on the need for flexibility in an army's responses. It explains how to respond to shifting circumstances successfully.
  9. Movement and Development of Troops (Chinese: 行軍) describes the different situations in which an army finds itself as it moves through new enemy territories, and how to respond to these situations. Much of this section focuses on evaluating the intentions of others.
  10. Terrain (Chinese: 地形) looks at the three general areas of resistance (distance, dangers and barriers) and the six types of ground positions that arise from them. Each of these six field positions offers certain advantages and disadvantages.
  11. The Nine Battlegrounds (Chinese: 九地) describes the nine common situations (or stages) in a campaign, from scattering to deadly, and the specific focus that a commander will need in order to successfully navigate them.
  12. Attacking with Fire (Chinese: 火攻) explains the general use of weapons and the specific use of the environment as a weapon. This section examines the five targets for attack, the five types of environmental attack and the appropriate responses to such attacks.
  13. Intelligence and Espionage (Chinese: 用間) focuses on the importance of developing good information sources, and specifies the five types of intelligence sources and how to best manage each of them.

Quotations[edit]

Chinese[edit]

Verses from the book occur in modern daily Chinese idioms and phrases, such as the last verse of Chapter 3:
故曰：知彼知己，百戰不殆；不知彼而知己，一勝一負；不知彼，不知己，每戰必殆。
So it is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be put at risk even in a hundred battles.
If you only know yourself, but not your opponent, you may win or may lose.
If you know neither yourself nor your enemy, you will always endanger yourself.
This has been more tersely interpreted and condensed into the Chinese modern proverb:
知己知彼，百戰不殆。 (Zhī jǐ zhī bǐ, bǎi zhàn bù dài.)
If you know both yourself and your enemy, you can win numerous (literally, "a hundred") battles without jeopardy.

English[edit]

Common examples can also be found in English use, such as verse 18 in Chapter 1:
兵者，詭道也。故能而示之不能，用而示之不用，近而示之遠，遠而示之近。
All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when we are able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.
This has been abbreviated to its most basic form and condensed into the English modern proverb:
All warfare is based on deception.

Cultural impact[edit]

Military and intelligence applications[edit]

Across East Asia, The Art of War was part of the syllabus for potential candidates of military service examinations.
During the Sengoku period, the Japanese daimyō named Takeda Shingen (1521–1573) is said to have become almost invincible in all battles without relying on guns, because he studied The Art of War.[11] The book even gave him the inspiration for his famous battle standard "Fūrinkazan" (Wind, Forest, Fire and Mountain), meaning fast as the wind, silent as a forest, ferocious as fire and immovable as a mountain.
The translator Samuel B. Griffith offers a chapter on "Sun Tzu and Mao Tse-Tung" where The Art of War is cited as influencing Mao's On Guerrilla Warfare, On the Protracted War and Strategic Problems of China's Revolutionary War, and includes Mao's quote: "We must not belittle the saying in the book of Sun Wu Tzu, the great military expert of ancient China, 'Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a thousand battles without disaster."[11]
During the Vietnam War, some Vietcong officers extensively studied The Art of War and reportedly could recite entire passages from memory.
General Võ Nguyên Giáp successfully implemented tactics described in The Art of War during the Battle of Dien Bien Phu ending major French involvement in Indochina and leading to the accords which partitioned Vietnam into North and South. General Võ, later the main PVA military commander in the Vietnam War, was an avid student and practitioner of Sun Tzu's ideas.[12] America's defeat there, more than any other event, brought Sun Tzu to the attention of leaders of American military theory.[12][13][14]
Finnish Field Marshal Mannerheim and general Aksel Airo were avid readers of Art of War. They both read it in French; Airo kept the French translation of the book on his bedside table in his quarters.[citation needed]
The Department of the Army in the United States, through its Command and General Staff College, lists The Art of War as one example of a book that may be kept at a military unit's library.[15]
The Art of War is listed on the Marine Corps Professional Reading Program (formerly known as the Commandant's Reading List). It is recommended reading for all United States Military Intelligence personnel.[16]
According to some authors, the strategy of deception from The Art of War was studied and widely used by the KGB: "I will force the enemy to take our strength for weakness, and our weakness for strength, and thus will turn his strength into weakness".[17] The book is widely cited by KGB officers in charge of disinformation operations in Vladimir Volkoff's novel Le Montage.

Application outside the military[edit]

The Art of War has been applied to many fields well outside of the military. Much of the text is about how to fight wars without actually having to do battle: It gives tips on how to outsmart one's opponent so that physical battle is not necessary. As such, it has found application as a training guide for many competitive endeavors that do not involve actual combat.
The Art of War is mentioned as an influence in the earliest known Chinese collection of stories about fraud (mostly in the realm of commerce), Zhang Yingyu's The Book of Swindles (Du pian xin shu 杜騙新書, ca. 1617), which dates to the late Ming dynasty.[18]
Many business books have applied the lessons taken from the book to office politics and corporate business strategy.[19][20][21] Many Japanese companies make the book required reading for their key executives.[22] The book is also popular among Western business circles citing its utilitarian value regarding management practices. Many entrepreneurs and corporate executives have turned to it for inspiration and advice on how to succeed in competitive business situations. The book has also been applied to the field of education.[23]
The Art of War has been the subject of legal books[24] and legal articles on the trial process, including negotiation tactics and trial strategy.[25][26][27][28]
The Art of War has also been applied in the world of sports. National Football League coach Bill Belichick is known to have read the book and used its lessons to gain insights in preparing for games.[29] Australian cricket as well as Brazilian association football coaches Luiz Felipe Scolari and Carlos Alberto Parreira are known to have embraced the text. Scolari made the Brazilian World Cup squad of 2002 study the ancient work during their successful campaign.[30]
The Art of War is often quoted while developing tactics and/or strategy in Electronic Sports. Particularly, one of the fundamental books about e-sports, "Play To Win" by Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate David Sirlin, is actually just an analysis about possible applications of the ideas from The Art of War in modern Electronic Sports.
The Art of War was released in 2014 as an e-book companion alongside the Art of War DLC for Europa Universalis IV, a PC strategy game by Paradox Development Studios, with a foreword by Thomas Johansson.

Notable translations[edit]


Running Press miniature editionof the 1994 Ralph D. Sawyer translation, printed in 2003
The book has been translated into Assamese by Utpal Datta and published by Asom Sahitya Sabha.
The book was translated into Manchu as ᠴᠣᠣᡥᠠᡳ
ᠪᠠᡳᡨᠠ
ᠪᡝ
ᡤᡳᠰᡠᡵᡝᠩᡤᡝ Wylie: Tchauhai paita be gisurengge,[31][32] Möllendorff: Coohai baita de gisurengge, Discourse on the art of War.[33]
The first Manchu translations of Chinese works were the Liu-t'ao 六韜, Su-shu 素書, and San-lueh 三略 – all Chinese military texts dedicated to the arts of war due to the Manchu interests in the topic, like Sun-Tzu's work The Art of War.[34][35] The military related texts which were translated into Manchu from Chinese were translated by Dahai.[36] Manchu translations of Chinese texts included the Ming penal code and military texts were performed by Dahai.[37] These translations were requested of Dahai by Nurhaci.[38] The military text Wu-tzu was translated into Manchu along with Sun-Tzu's work The Art of War.[39] Chinese history, Chinese law, and Chinese military theory classical texts were translated into Manchu during the rule of Hong Taiji in Mukden with Manchus placing significance upon military and governance related Chinese texts.[40] A Manchu translation was made of the military themed Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms.[41][42] Chinese literature, military theory and legal texts were translated into Manchu by Dahai and Erdeni.[43] The translations were ordered in 1629.[44][45] The translation of the military texts San-lüeh, Su-shu, and the Ta Ming hui-tien (the Ming law) done by Dahai was ordered by Nurhaci.[46] While it was mainly administrative and ethical guidance which made up most of San-lüeh and Su Shu, military science was indeed found in the Liu-t'ao and Chinese military manuals were eagerly translated by the Manchus and the Manchus were also attracted to the military content in Romance of the Three Kingdoms which is why it was translated.[47]

Another Manchu translation was made by Aisin Gioro Qiying.[48]


Citations


  1. Jump up^ Smith (1999), p. 216.
  2. Jump up^ Giles, Lionel The Art of War by Sun Tzu – Special Edition. Special Edition Books. 2007. p. 62.
  3. Jump up^ Lewis (1999), p. 604.
  4. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f Gawlikowski & Loewe (1993), p. 447.
  5. Jump up^ Mair (2007), pp. 12–13.
  6. Jump up^ Mair (2007), p. 9.
  7. ^ Jump up to:a b Mair (2007), p. 10.
  8. ^ Jump up to:a b Gawlikowski & Loewe (1993), p. 448.
  9. ^ Jump up to:a b c Gawlikowski & Loewe (1993), p. 449.
  10. Jump up^ Mark Edward Lewis (2005), quoted in Mair (2007), p. 18.
  11. ^ Jump up to:a b Griffith, Samuel B. The Illustrated Art of War. 2005. Oxford University Press. pp. 17, 141–43.
  12. ^ Jump up to:a b McCready, Douglas. Learning from Sun Tzu, Military Review, May–June 2003."Archived copy". Archived from the originalon 2011-10-11. Retrieved 2009-12-19.
  13. Jump up^ Interview with Dr. William Duiker, Conversation with Sonshi
  14. Jump up^ Forbes, Andrew ; Henley, David (2012). The Illustrated Art of War: Sun Tzu. Chiang Mai: Cognoscenti Books. ASIN B00B91XX8U
  15. Jump up^ Army, U. S. (1985). Military History and Professional Development. U. S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas: Combat Studies Institute. 85-CSI-21 85.
  16. Jump up^ Marine Corps Professional Reading Program
  17. Jump up^ Yevgenia Albats and Catherine A. Fitzpatrick. The State Within a State: The KGB and Its Hold on Russia – Past, Present, and Future. 1994. ISBN 0-374-52738-5, chapter Who was behind perestroika?
  18. Jump up^ https://cup.columbia.edu/search-results?keyword=book+of+swindles
  19. Jump up^ Michaelson, Gerald. "Sun Tzu: The Art of War for Managers; 50 Strategic Rules." Avon, MA: Adams Media, 2001
  20. Jump up^ McNeilly, Mark. "Sun Tzu and the Art of Business : Six Strategic Principles for Managers. New York:Oxford University Press, 1996.
  21. Jump up^ Krause, Donald G. "The Art of War for Executives: Ancient Knowledge for Today's Business Professional." New York: Berkley Publishing Group, 1995.
  22. Jump up^ Kammerer, Peter. "The Art of Negotiation." South China Morning Post (April 21, 2006) p. 15
  23. Jump up^ Jeffrey, D (2010). "A Teacher Diary Study to Apply Ancient Art of War Strategies to Professional Development". The International Journal of Learning. 7 (3): 21–36.
  24. Jump up^ Barnhizer, David. The Warrior Lawyer: Powerful Strategies for Winning Legal Battles Irvington-on-Hudson, NY: Bridge Street Books, 1997.
  25. Jump up^ Balch, Christopher D., "The Art of War and the Art of Trial Advocacy: Is There Common Ground?" (1991), 42 Mercer L. Rev. 861–73
  26. Jump up^ Beirne, Martin D. and Scott D. Marrs, The Art of War and Public Relations: Strategies for Successful Litigation [1]
  27. Jump up^ Pribetic, Antonin I., "The Trial Warrior: Applying Sun Tzu's The Art of War to Trial Advocacy" April 21, 2007, [2]
  28. Jump up^ Solomon, Samuel H., "The Art of War: Pursuing Electronic Evidence as Your Corporate Opportunity" [3]
  29. Jump up^ "Put crafty Belichick's patriot games down to the fine art of war". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2005-02-04.
  30. Jump up^ Winter, Henry (June 29, 2006). "Mind games reach new high as Scolari studies art of war". Irish Independent.
  31. Jump up^ Shou-p'ing Wu Ko (1855). Translation (by A. Wylie) of the Ts'ing wan k'e mung, a Chinese grammar of the Manchu Tartar language (by Woo Kĭh Show-ping, revised and ed. by Ching Ming-yuen Pei-ho) with intr. notes on Manchu literature. p. 39.
  32. Jump up^ http://library.umac.mo/ebooks/b31043252.pdf
  33. Jump up^ Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. North China Branch, Shanghai (1890). Journal of the North China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. Kelly & Walsh. pp. 40–.
  34. Jump up^ Early China. Society for the Study of Early China. 1975. p. 53.
  35. Jump up^ Durrant, Stephen (1977). “Manchu Translations of Chou Dynasty Texts”. Early China 3. [Cambridge University Press, Society for the Study of Early China]: 52–54. https://www.jstor.org/stable/23351361.
  36. Jump up^ Sin-wai Chan (2009). A Chronology of Translation in China and the West: From the Legendary Period to 2004. Chinese University Press. pp. 60–61. ISBN 978-962-996-355-2.
  37. Jump up^ Peter C Perdue (30 June 2009). China Marches West: The Qing Conquest of Central Eurasia. Harvard University Press. pp. 122–. ISBN 978-0-674-04202-5.
  38. Jump up^ Frederic Wakeman Jr. (1985). The Great Enterprise: The Manchu Reconstruction of Imperial Order in Seventeenth-century China. University of California Press. pp. 44–. ISBN 978-0-520-04804-1.
  39. Jump up^ Early China. Society for the Study of Early China. 1977. p. 53.
  40. Jump up^ Claudine Salmon (13 November 2013). Literary Migrations: Traditional Chinese Fiction in Asia (17th-20th Centuries). Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. pp. 94–. ISBN 978-981-4414-32-6.
  41. Jump up^ Cultural Hybridity in Manchu Bannermen Tales (zidishu). ProQuest. 2007. pp. 25–. ISBN 978-0-549-44084-0.
  42. Jump up^ West, Andrew. "The Textual History of Sanguo Yanyi: The Manchu Translation". Retrieved 11 October 2016.
  43. Jump up^ Arthur W. Hummel (1991). Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing period: 1644–1912. SMC publ. p. vi. ISBN 978-957-638-066-2.
  44. Jump up^ Shou-p'ing Wu Ko (1855). Translation (by A. Wylie) of the Ts'ing wan k'e mung, a Chinese grammar of the Manchu Tartar language (by Woo Kĭh Show-ping, revised and ed. by Ching Ming-yuen Pei-ho) with intr. notes on Manchu literature. pp. xxxvi–.
  45. Jump up^ Translation of the Ts'ing wan k'e mung, a Chinese Grammar of the Manchu Tartar Language; with introductory notes on Manchu Literature: (translated by A. Wylie.). Mission Press. 1855. pp. xxxvi–.
  46. Jump up^ http://www.dartmouth.edu/~qing/WEB/DAHAI.html
  47. Jump up^ Durrant, Stephen. 1979. “Sino-manchu Translations at the Mukden Court”. Journal of the American Oriental Society 99 (4). American Oriental Society: 653–61. doi:10.2307/601450. https://www.jstor.org/stable/601450?seq=2 pp. 654–56.
  48. Jump up^ Soldierly Methods: Vade Mecum for an Iconoclastic Translation of Sun Zi bingfa (Art of War). p. 82




SEE ALSO

Concepts

Books




Sources

  • Gawlikowski, Krzysztof; Loewe, Michael (1993). "Sun tzu ping fa 孫子兵法". In Loewe, Michael. Early Chinese Texts: A Bibliographical Guide. Berkeley: Society for the Study of Early China; Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley. pp. 446–55. ISBN 1-55729-043-1.
  • Graff, David A. (2002). Medieval Chinese Warfare, 300-900. Warfare and History. London: Routledge. ISBN 0415239559.
  • Griffith, Samuel (2005). Sun Tzu: The Illustrated Art of War. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 019518999X.
  • Lewis, Mark Edward (1999). "Warring States Political History". In Loewe, Michael; Shaughnessy, Edward. The Cambridge History of Ancient China. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 587–650. ISBN 0-521-47030-7.
  • Mair, Victor H. (2007). The Art of War: Sun Zi's Military Methods. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-13382-1.
  • Smith, Kidder (1999). "The Military Texts: The Sunzi". In de Bary, Wm. Theodore. Sources of Chinese Tradition: From Earliest Times to 1600, Volume 1 (2nd ed.). New York: Columbia University Press. pp. 213–24. ISBN 978-0-231-10938-3.
  • Вєдєнєєв, Д. В.; Гавриленко, О. А.; Кубіцький, С. О. (2017). Остроухова, В. В., ed. Еволюція воєнного мистецтва: у 2 ч.

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