The Art of War

Around 500 B.C., Sun Tzu wrote The Art of War. It is the oldest military treatise in the world. Commentators over the last 25 centuries have praised Sun Tzu’s work. Particularly with the United States now involved in a protracted war, it is useful to examine Sun Tzu’s wisdom. In The Art of War as translated, each chapter is begun with the preface “Sun Szu said,” a practice which I have followed here.

One
Laying Plans
“Sun Szu said:

…The general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand. Thus do many calculations lead to victory, and a few to defeat.”

Two
Waging War
“Sun Szu said:

…When you engage in actual fighting, if victory is long in coming, the men’s weapons will grow dull and their ardor will be damped. 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.

Now, when your weapons are dulled, your ardor damped, your strength exhausted and your treasure spent, other chieftains will spring up to take advantage of your extremity. Then no man, however wise, will … be able to avert the consequences that must ensue.

Thus, although we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been associated with long delays. There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.

…The captured soldiers should be kindly treated and kept.”


Three
Attack by Stratagem
“Sun Szu 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 profitable. So, too, it is better to capture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to annihilate them.

Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.

Thus the highest form of generalship is to balk the enemy’s plans. The next best is to prevent the junction of the enemy’s forces. The next in order is to attack the enemy’s army in the field. The worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities…

Therefore the skillful leader subdues the enemy’s troops without any fighting; he captures their cities without laying siege to them; he overthrows their kingdom without lengthy operations in the field….

Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself, but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat…”


Six
Weak Points and Strong

“Sun Tzu said:

…Appear at points which the enemy must hasten to defend; march swiftly to places where you are not expected… Hence the general is skillful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skillful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack….

Numerical weakness comes from having to prepare against possible attacks; numerical strength, from compelling our adversary to make these preparations against us….

So in war, the way to avoid what is strong is to strike what is weak.”


Eight
Variation of Tactics
“Sun Szu said:

…There are roads that must not be followed, armies which must not be attacked, towns which must not be besieged, positions which must not be contested, commands of the sovereign which must not be obeyed.

…The art of war teaches us to rely not on the likelihood of the enemy 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.


Eleven
The Nine Situations
“Sun Szu said:

Rapidity is the essence of war; take advantage of the enemy’s unreadiness, make your way by unexpected routes, and attack unguarded spots.

…If our soldiers are not overburdened with money, it is not because they have a distaste for riches; if their lives are not unduly long, it is not because they are disinclined to longevity.

…To be ignorant of any one of the following principles does not befit a warlike prince.

When a warlike prince attacks a powerful state, his generalship shows itself in preventing the concentration of the enemy’s forces. He overawes his opponents, and their allies are prevented from joining against him…. He carries out his own secret designs, keeping his antagonists in awe.”


Twelve
Attack by Fire
“Sun Tzu said:

…Anger may in time change to gladness, vexation may be succeeded by content.

But a kingdom that has once been destroyed can never come again into being; nor can the dead ever be brought back to life.

Hence the enlightened ruler is heedful, and the good general full of caution.”




About the author: William Weissinger was graduated from the University of Chicago Law School in 1982, with honors. Since 1990 he has had a general law practice in the San Juan Islands, focusing on real estate and real-estate litigation, general business law, and estate planning. For more about the author, see sanjuanlaw.com.


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