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    The Art of War
    The Art of War
    The Art of War
    Ebook273 pages6 hours

    The Art of War

    By Sun Tzu

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    No library is complete without history’s oldest treatise on warfare.

    Dated to about fifth century BC, The Art of War is considered the oldest treatise on war in the world. Attributed to Sun Tzu of the Zhou dynasty, the book is composed of thirteen chapters, each addressing a particular aspect of warfare, such as planning offenses, military combat, and the employment of spies. Influential in Eastern civilization for millennia and in Western culture since its first translation in the 18th century, the teachings of this book have been applied to scenarios as varied as office politics, the Vietnam War, and American football. Now this living military heirloom is available as part of the Word Cloud Classics series in an affordable edition for readers everywhere.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherCanterbury Classics
    Release dateMay 1, 2014
    ISBN9781626861312
    Author

    Sun Tzu

    Sun Tzu (544 B.C.–496 B.C.) was an ancient Chinese military general, strategist, and philosopher from the Zhou Dynasty, who has had a significant impact on Chinese and Asian history and culture, both as an author of The Art of War as well as through legend.

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    Reviews for The Art of War

    4/5

    3,407 ratings48 reviews

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    • 3/5
      you kind of have to read this, yah. so privately canonized.
    • 4/5
      I'm so glad I finally read this historic book. I found it very interesting and understand why it has been adapted to suit other fields -- notably management. And the version of the book I bought is beautiful in itself. Bound in traditional Chinese style, with each page folded in half and only printed on the outside. Hard to rate -- it is what it is as they say -- but I'm rating it highly because it has stood the test of time.
    • 5/5
      An enduring classic, an absolute must-read for every business person and military mind the world over.
    • 3/5
      Art of War itself is pretty cool - aside from the fact that I feel like a dork reading it because most of the people who read Art of War are nineteen-year-old fantasy roleplayers who collect nunchuks - but the version I read, Lionel Giles' 1910 translation, is chock full of typos. That kinda gets on my nerves.
    • 2/5
      During a sermon, the rabbi talked about this book and said that it was really a philosophy on how to live life. When I started reading it, I saw that it really is a book on how to wage war. Definitely not what I expected and definitely not a book I would ever want to read.
    • 4/5
      I read this and let my mind wander a little, but not too much. Invariably whatever I think about mixes with the words, and elegant, clear observations come out. It's like guided meditation.
    • 5/5
      one of the best books I've ever read; just be careful of the translator. There are some really horrendous editions out there. ALWAYS buy the one translated by "CLEARLY" he is very profound in eastern philosophy and tradition
    • 3/5
      Classic, brilliant techniques put so simply. Yet, naturally, reading this as a modern day civilian, I applied it to my modern day battles such as in business, relationships, Los Angeles traffic...the typical. As a naturally paranoid person, I feel it did me more harm than good. In addition, I prefer to (perhaps ignorantly) avoid seeing things as if they are wars. Some things will never change though because I will always act shy and giggle right before I slaughter my enemy.
    • 2/5
      If you're already self-actualized (read: me), this is nothing but a bunch of shih.
    • 5/5
      No wonder the words in this book have such wide applications across a whole massive spectrum of professions to situations.
    • 5/5
      Quite possibly the most influential book on military tactics of all time. I was incredibly surprised by its brevity. A must-read for any historian. 
    • 4/5
      My first "android" book :)
      3 days of boring lectures and you complete a whole book !!!!
      A Sun Tzu's masterpiece on competition in a battlefield.An obstinate struggle to survive,to fight with a person's best spirits and a anecdote of survival in tough times. The book talks about various moves of enemies and optimum strategic judgement according to opponent's strength and weakness.
      Main categories under which the comprehensive book is divided are: Laying plans, waging war, strategic attacks, energy, tactical dispositions, army on march, fire attacks and use of spies.
      A book one of its kind. Precise, short statements without any kind of obfuscation, a provident manifestation of a probable war like situation.Indeed, a complete war time reference manual.
    • 2/5
      Don't like this edition. The history is boring and confusing (chi, Ch'i, ch'i all mean different things) 1 star for the edition and history part.

      The actual Art of War is good. 3 stars.
    • 2/5
      This is a manual and reads like one. Better to take in very small doses, digest and discuss rather than to read continuously.
    • 3/5
      All the guff about it being the greatest management text in history is of course utter nonsense, but it's an interesting read. I preferred and would recommend the Hagakure if you're after samurai warrior philosophy.
    • 5/5
      A subtle and fascinating philosophy on how to wage war. Knowledge of assured victory is key for Sun Tzu. At once it is esoteric and simple giving the reader the opportunity to find new angles and places to learn with each repeated reading. Intense and interesting. (Shambhala translation)
    • 5/5
      I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked up this book, to be honest. I just made a promise to myself I would read more classics and this was a short one to get in so I can reach my reading goal. However, I ended up really, really enjoying it. I'm not a soldier by any stretch of the imagination, but there is good, solid advice in this book that is still relevant thousands of years after it was written. It's worth a read for sure, and it's so short you can get through it quickly. I would recommend it. 5 out of 5 stars.
    • 4/5
      A very quick read of a classic. I had always been meaning to get around to this book, and I did not realize how short it was. The version I have contains more commentary than the actual writing, and I did not bother with the commentary.

      The book is basically a series of maxims that describe how to lead as a general at war. I think its appeal is universal, and many of the ideas can be applied as strategic thinking in other aspects of life. I don't think it was all that profound, but then again, its ideas have been used for centuries. It was nice to be able to read where a lot of them came from.
    • 5/5
      I'm sure I'm not the only person that James Clavell, who wrote the foreward to this edition, introduced to Sun Tzu. I appreciate him for that as much as for his own books. Although ostensibly a book about military strategy, The principles in The Art of War can be applied to any kind of strategic situation. Thanks to centuries of commentary, it now functions as something like a cross between the Torah and the I Ching.
    • 5/5
      This turned out to be a cheap and good translation. If all you want is the straight translation, this is a great edition
    • 5/5
      Love the notion that the greatest leader is one that defeats the challege before it is known that the challenge exists. Here we are obsessed with the hero leader who battles with the mighty demons and after much struggle wins. I see this in schools where the head turns around a failing school and is seen as a great leader. But all too often they miss the greater leadership of the head who intervenes with a timely word here, a school event there keeps the school on track, Much better to read the straight translations rather then the art of war for the board room which often miss the point
    • 2/5
      Pretty dull going, even by audiobook. The narrators were great, though, and there were times that the footnotes saved me.
    • 5/5
      The version I have also has a second section for commentaries on all the passages. It's an incredibly useful and insightful book, and not necessarily just for literal war.
    • 3/5
      Meh. Okay I guess but overall I'm not that impressed.
    • 2/5
      To be honest, I was looking for a straightforward printing of the notes, not a re-hashing and review throughout the ages. This meant a lengthy pass-through of what others thought and believed,etc, etc. When I was finally able to decipher which was part of the book and which were the notes (as I was reading it on a digital device) it became obvious that a lot of the ideas of "war" were things already known to me. Whether it's due to our upbringing in the 20th century and exposure to the various media violences (movies, books, videos, etc) or not could be debated.
    • 5/5
      I have read this several times in a variety of translations. This version is formatted like a poem and is a quick read. Interesting that Sun Tzu echoes many of the issues raised by Thucydides. I remember an Instructor Gunnery during my Regimental Officers Basic Course from the United States artillery beginning every lesson with: "Sun Tzu says...". And, "If a 155 round lands on a tank, the tank is toast". So much in such a short book and it was quite possibly written before Thucydides was born.
    • 1/5
      This book counts as classic even for modern warfare and strategy games. My experience has been unsatisfying and boring - perhaps I didn't delve into deep implications of obvious sounding tactics.
    • 4/5
      New to Sun-Tzu, I found invaluable Ames' commentary on the historical times and the 1970s/1980s discovery of a hitherto unknown version of the classic text and related texts.
    • 5/5
      Tactics and strategies that apply to everyday life. This book is excellent reading to make you think about how to deal with the day to day struggles of life. It helps you position you versus your opponent. Your opponent need not be any one person. It could be a corporation. It could be an establishment. It could be a situation you are facing. I was once told that what you get out of a book is the effort you put into a book. It is my hope that this book can help someone master how they deal with day to day life. Let me know what you think. By the way, how many Enron or Worldcomm employees do you think read this book?

      On another note, I would ask that you do not take this book literally. It is laced with allegory and a ton of symbolism. Please take its contents and apply them to your life for the good of all.
    • 4/5
      A classic! Well worth the read, and looking forward to reading again in the future.

    Book preview

    The Art of War - Sun Tzu

    Word Cloud Classics

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    Copyright ©2014 Canterbury Classics

    All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

    Canterbury Classics

    An imprint of Printers Row Publishing Group

    10350 Barnes Canyon Road, Suite 100, San Diego, CA 92121

    www.canterburyclassicsbooks.com

    Printers Row Publishing Group is a division of Readerlink Distribution Services, LLC.

    Canterbury Classics, A Novel Journal, and Word Cloud Classics are registered trademarks of Readerlink Distribution Services, LLC.

    All correspondence concerning the content of this book should be addressed to Canterbury Classics, Editorial Department, at the above address.

    Publisher: Peter Norton

    Associate Publisher: Ana Parker

    Publishing/Editorial Team: April Farr, Kelly Larsen, Kathryn Chipinka, Aaron Guzman

    Editorial Team: JoAnn Padgett, Melinda Allman

    Production Team: Jonathan Lopes, Rusty von Dyl

    eISBN: 978-1-62686-131-2

    eBook Edition: October 2014

    CONTENTS

    The Art of War (without commentary)

    The Art of War (with commentary)

    EDITOR’S NOTE: Sun Tzŭ’s The Art of War is provided in two formats: the classic translation by Lionel Giles without commentary, followed by the same translation interpolated with Giles’s commentary.

    THE ART OF WAR

    (WITHOUT COMMENTARY)

    TRANSLATED FROM THE CHINESE BY LIONEL GILES, M.A. (1910)

    CONTENTS

    I. Laying Plans

    II. Waging War

    III. Attack by Stratagem

    IV. Tactical Dispositions

    V. Energy

    VI. Weak Points and Strong

    VII. Maneuvering

    VIII. Variation of Tactics

    IX. The Army on the March

    X. Terrain

    XI. The Nine Situations

    XII. The Attack by Fire

    XIII. The Use of Spies

    CHAPTER ONE

    LAYING PLANS

    1. Sun Tzŭ 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 safety 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 deliberations, when seeking to determine the conditions obtaining in the field.

    4. These are: (1) The Moral Law; (2) Heaven; (3) Earth; (4) The Commander; (5) Method and discipline.

    5, 6. The Moral Law causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler, so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger.

    7. Heaven signifies night and day, cold and heat, times and seasons.

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

    9. The Commander stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerity, benevolence, courage and strictness.

    10. 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 maintenance of roads by which supplies may reach the army, and the control of military expenditure.

    11. These five heads should be familiar to every general: he who knows them will be victorious; he who knows them not will fail.

    12. Therefore, in your deliberations, when seeking to determine the military conditions, let them be made the basis of a comparison, in this wise:

    13.(1) Which of the two sovereigns is imbued with the Moral law?

    (2) Which of the two generals has most ability?

    (3) With whom lie the advantages derived from Heaven and Earth?

    (4) On which side is discipline most rigorously enforced?

    (5) Which army is stronger?

    (6) On which side are officers and men more highly trained?

    (7) In which army is there the greater constancy both in reward and punishment?

    14. By means of these seven considerations I can forecast victory or defeat.

    15. The general that hearkens to my counsel and acts upon it, will conquer: let such a one be retained in command! The general that hearkens not to my counsel nor acts upon it, will suffer defeat: let such a one be dismissed!

    16. While heeding the profit of my counsel, avail yourself also of any helpful circumstances over and beyond the ordinary rules.

    17. According as circumstances are favorable, one should modify one’s plans.

    18. All warfare is based on deception.

    19. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem 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.

    20. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.

    21. If he is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him.

    22. If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.

    23. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them.

    24. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.

    25. These military devices, leading to victory, must not be divulged beforehand.

    26. Now 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 few calculations to defeat: how much more no calculation at all! It is by attention to this point that I can foresee who is likely to win or lose.

    CHAPTER TWO

    WAGING WAR

    1. Sun Tzŭ said: In the operations of war, where there are in the field a thousand swift chariots, as many heavy chariots, and a hundred thousand mail-clad soldiers, with provisions enough to carry them a thousand li, the expenditure at home and at the front, including entertainment of guests, small items such as glue and paint, and sums spent on chariots and armor, will reach the total of a thousand ounces of silver per day. Such is the cost of raising an army of 100,000 men.

    2. When you engage in actual fighting, if victory is long in coming, then men’s weapons will grow dull and their ardor will be damped. If you lay siege to a town, you will exhaust your strength.

    3. Again, if the campaign is protracted, the resources of the State will not be equal to the strain.

    4. 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.

    5. Thus, though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays.

    6. There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.

    7. It is only one who is thoroughly acquainted with the evils of war that can thoroughly understand the profitable way of carrying it on.

    8. The skillful soldier does not raise a second levy, neither are his supply-wagons loaded more than twice.

    9. Bring war material with you from home, but forage on the enemy. Thus the army will have food enough for its needs.

    10. 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.

    11. On the other hand, the proximity of an army causes prices to go up; and high prices cause the people’s substance to be drained away.

    12. When their substance is drained away, the peasantry will be afflicted by heavy exactions.

    13, 14. With this loss of substance and exhaustion of strength, the homes of the people will be stripped bare, and three-tenths of their income will be dissipated; while government expenses for broken chariots, worn-out horses, breast-plates and helmets, bows and arrows, spears and shields, protective mantelets, draught-oxen and heavy wagons, will amount to four-tenths of its total revenue.

    15. Hence a wise general makes a point of foraging on the enemy. One cartload of the enemy’s provisions is equivalent to twenty of one’s own, and likewise a single picul of his provender is equivalent to twenty from one’s own store.

    16. 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.

    17. Therefore in chariot fighting, when ten or more chariots have been taken, those should be rewarded who took the first. Our own flags should be substituted for those of the enemy, and the chariots mingled and used in conjunction with ours. The captured soldiers should be kindly treated and kept.

    18. This is called, using the conquered foe to augment one’s own strength.

    19. In war, then, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns.

    20. Thus it may be known that the leader of armies is the arbiter of the people’s fate, the man on whom it depends whether the nation shall be in peace or in peril.

    CHAPTER THREE

    ATTACK BY STRATAGEM

    1. Sun Tzŭ 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.

    3. 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; and the worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities.

    4. The rule is, not to besiege walled cities if it can possibly be avoided. The preparation of mantlets, movable shelters, and various implements of war, will take up three whole months; and the piling up of mounds over against the walls will take three months more.

    5. The general, unable to control his irritation, will launch his men to the assault like swarming ants, with the result that one-third of his men are slain, while the town still remains untaken. Such are the disastrous effects of a siege.

    6. 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.

    7. With his forces intact he will dispute the mastery of the Empire, and thus, without losing a man, his triumph will be complete. This is the method of attacking by stratagem.

    8. 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.

    10. Hence, though an obstinate fight may be made by a small force, in the end it must be captured by the larger force.

    11. Now the general is the bulwark of the State; if the bulwark is complete at all points, the State will be strong; if the bulwark is defective, the State will be weak.

    12. There are three ways in which a ruler can bring misfortune upon his army:

    13. (1) By commanding the army to advance or to retreat, being ignorant of the fact that it cannot obey. This is called hobbling the army.

    14. (2) By attempting to govern an army in the same way as he administers a kingdom, being ignorant of the conditions which obtain in an army. This causes restlessness in the soldier’s minds.

    15. (3) By employing the officers of his army without discrimination, through ignorance of the military principle of adaptation to circumstances. This shakes the confidence of the soldiers.

    16. But when the army is restless and distrustful, trouble is sure to come from the other feudal princes. This is simply bringing anarchy into the army, and flinging victory away.

    17.Thus 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.

    18. 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. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.

    CHAPTER FOUR

    TACTICAL DISPOSITIONS

    1. Sun Tzŭ said: The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited 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.

    3. Thus the good fighter is able to secure himself against defeat, but cannot make certain of defeating the enemy.

    4. Hence the saying: One may know how to conquer without being able to do it.

    5. Security against defeat implies defensive tactics; ability to defeat the enemy means taking the offensive.

    6. Standing on the defensive indicates insufficient strength; attacking, a superabundance of strength.

    7. 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 ourselves; on the other, a victory that is complete.

    8. To see victory only when it is within the ken of the common herd is not the acme of excellence.

    9. Neither is it the acme of excellence if you fight and conquer and the whole Empire says, Well done!

    10. To lift an autumn hair is no sign of great strength; to see the sun and moon is no sign of sharp sight; to hear the noise of thunder is no sign of a quick ear.

    11. What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease.

    12. Hence his victories bring him neither reputation for wisdom nor credit for courage.

    13. He wins his battles by making no mistakes. Making no mistakes is what establishes the certainty of victory, for it means conquering an enemy that is already defeated.

    14. Hence the skillful fighter puts himself into a position which makes defeat impossible, and does not miss the moment for defeating the enemy.

    15. Thus it is that in war the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory.

    16. The consummate leader cultivates the moral law, and strictly adheres to method and discipline; thus it is in his power to control success.

    17. In respect of military method, we have, firstly, Measurement; secondly, Estimation of quantity; thirdly, Calculation; fourthly, Balancing of chances; fifthly, Victory.

    18. Measurement owes its existence to Earth; Estimation of quantity to Measurement; Calculation to Estimation of quantity; Balancing of chances to Calculation; and Victory to Balancing of chances.

    19. A victorious army opposed to a routed one, is as a pound’s weight placed in the scale against a single grain.

    20. The onrush of a conquering force is like the bursting of pentup waters into a chasm a thousand fathoms deep.

    CHAPTER FIVE

    ENERGY

    1. Sun Tzŭ 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.

    3. To ensure that your whole host may withstand the brunt of the enemy’s attack and remain unshaken—this is effected by maneuvers direct and indirect.

    4. That the impact of your army may be like a grindstone dashed against an egg—this is effected by the science of weak points and strong.

    5. In all fighting, the direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect methods will be needed in order to secure victory.

    6. Indirect tactics, efficiently applied, are inexhaustible as Heaven and Earth, unending as the flow of rivers and streams; like the sun and moon, they end but to begin anew; like the four seasons, they pass away to return once more.

    7. There are not more than five musical notes, yet the combinations of these five give rise to more melodies than can ever be heard.

    8. There are not more than five primary colors (blue, yellow, red, white, and black), yet in combination they produce more hues than can ever been seen.

    9. There are not more than five cardinal tastes (sour, acrid, salt, sweet, bitter), yet combinations of them yield more flavors than can ever be tasted.

    10. In battle, there are not more than two methods of attack—the direct and the indirect; yet these two

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