The Art of War
Sun Tzu
1,277 passages indexed from The Art of War (Sun Tzu) — Page 20 of 26
License: Public Domain
The Art of War, passage 723
5. If you are anxious to fight, you should not go to meet the invader near a river which he has to cross.
The Art of War, passage 202
10. "They attached strings to wood to make bows, and sharpened wood to make arrows. The use of bows and arrows is to keep the Empire in awe."
The Art of War, passage 1043
44. When you penetrate deeply into a country, it is serious ground. When you penetrate but a little way, it is facile ground.
The Art of War, passage 431
On the other hand, Tu Mu says: "The question of relative strength having been settled, we can bring the varied resources of cunning into play." Ho Shih seconds this interpretation, but weakens it. However, it points to the third term as being a calculation of numbers.]
The Art of War, passage 3
To my brother Captain Valentine Giles, R.G. in the hope that a work 2400 years old may yet contain lessons worth consideration by the soldier of today this translation is affectionately dedicated.
The Art of War, passage 1171
13. Hence those who use fire as an aid to the attack show intelligence; those who use water as an aid to the attack gain an accession of strength.
The Art of War, passage 377
[Chang Yu says: If he can fight, he advances and takes the offensive; if he cannot fight, he retreats and remains on the defensive. He will invariably conquer who knows whether it is right to take the offensive or the defensive.]
The Art of War, passage 969
[Cf. _supra_, § 13. Li Ch’uan does not venture on a note here.]
The Art of War, passage 172
When the Duke of Chou was minister under Ch’eng Wang, he regulated ceremonies and made music, and venerated the arts of scholarship and learning; yet when the barbarians of the River Huai revolted, [60] he sallied forth and chastised them. When Confucius held office under the Duke of Lu, and a meeting was convened at Chia-ku, [61] he said: "If pacific negotiations are in progress, warlike preparations should have been made beforehand." He rebuked and shamed the Marquis of Ch’i, who cowered under him and dared not proceed to violence. How can it be said that these two great Sages had no knowledge of military matters?
The Art of War, passage 98
The two states, Ch’u and Wu, had been constantly at war for over half a century, [31] whereas the first war between Wu and Yüeh was waged only in 510, [32] and even then was no more than a short interlude sandwiched in the midst of the fierce struggle with Ch’u. Now Ch’u is not mentioned in the 13 chapters at all. The natural inference is that they were written at a time when Yüeh had become the prime antagonist of Wu, that is, after Ch’u had suffered the great humiliation of 506.
The Art of War, passage 873
when there are no fixed duties assigned to officers and men,
The Art of War, passage 118
Thus, until the end of the 18th century, the text in sole possession of the field was one derived from Chi T’ien-pao’s edition, although no actual copy of that important work was known to have survived. That, therefore, is the text of Sun Tzŭ which appears in the War section of the great Imperial encyclopedia printed in 1726, the _Ku Chin T’u Shu Chi Ch’eng_.
The Art of War, passage 522
[The conclusion is perhaps not very obvious, but Chang Yu (after Mei Yao-ch’en) rightly explains it thus: "If the enemy’s dispositions are visible, we can make for him in one body; whereas, our own dispositions being kept secret, the enemy will be obliged to divide his forces in order to guard against attack from every quarter."]
The Art of War, passage 789
29. When the soldiers stand leaning on their spears, they are faint from want of food.
The Art of War, passage 634
Then they fought, and the men of Ch’i were utterly defeated. Questioned afterwards by the Duke as to the meaning of his delay, Ts’ao Kuei replied: "In battle, a courageous spirit is everything. Now the first roll of the drum tends to create this spirit, but with the second it is already on the wane, and after the third it is gone altogether. I attacked when their spirit was gone and ours was at its height. Hence our victory." Wu Tzŭ (chap.
The Art of War, passage 875
and the ranks are formed in a slovenly haphazard manner, the result is utter _disorganisation_.
The Art of War, passage 645
33. It is a military axiom not to advance uphill against the enemy, nor to oppose him when he comes downhill.
The Art of War, passage 1206
[Li Ch’uan says: "Quantities like length, breadth, distance and magnitude, are susceptible of exact mathematical determination; human actions cannot be so calculated."]
The Art of War, passage 463
15. Energy may be likened to the bending of a crossbow; decision, to the releasing of the trigger.
The Art of War, passage 1085
Thus he is able to capture their cities and overthrow their kingdoms.
The Art of War, passage 268
16. While heeding the profit of my counsel, avail yourself also of any helpful circumstances over and beyond the ordinary rules.
The Art of War, passage 406
8. To see victory only when it is within the ken of the common herd is not the acme of excellence.
The Art of War, passage 1125
[Tu Mu says: "Conform to the enemy’s tactics until a favourable opportunity offers; then come forth and engage in a battle that shall prove decisive."]
The Art of War, passage 821
42. If soldiers are punished before they have grown attached to you, they will not prove submissive; and, unless submissive, then will be practically useless. If, when the soldiers have become attached to you, punishments are not enforced, they will still be useless.
The Art of War, passage 436
[That is, cutting up the army into regiments, companies, etc., with subordinate officers in command of each. Tu Mu reminds us of Han Hsin’s famous reply to the first Han Emperor, who once said to him: "How large an army do you think I could lead?" "Not more than 100,000 men, your Majesty." "And you?" asked the Emperor. "Oh!" he answered, "the more the better."]
The Art of War, passage 530
18. Numerical weakness comes from having to prepare against possible attacks; numerical strength, from compelling our adversary to make these preparations against us.
The Art of War, passage 460
When the "Victory" went into action at Trafalgar at hardly more than drifting pace, she was for several minutes exposed to a storm of shot and shell before replying with a single gun. Nelson coolly waited until he was within close range, when the broadside he brought to bear worked fearful havoc on the enemy’s nearest ships.]
The Art of War, passage 738
[Regarding the "Yellow Emperor": Mei Yao-ch’en asks, with some plausibility, whether there is an error in the text as nothing is known of Huang Ti having conquered four other Emperors. The _Shih Chi_ (ch. 1 ad init.) speaks only of his victories over Yen Ti and Ch’ih Yu. In the _Liu T’ao_ it is mentioned that he "fought seventy battles and pacified the Empire." Ts’ao Kung’s explanation is, that the Yellow Emperor was the first to institute the feudal system of vassals princes, each of whom (to the number of four) originally bore the title of Emperor. Li Ch’uan tells us that the art of war originated under Huang Ti, who received it from his Minister Feng Hou.]
The Art of War, passage 1035
[Sun Tzŭ means that after mobilization there should be no delay in aiming a blow at the enemy’s heart. Note how he returns again and again to this point. Among the warring states of ancient China, desertion was no doubt a much more present fear and serious evil than it is in the armies of today.]
The Art of War, passage 1235
[This is the ordinary class of spies, properly so called, forming a regular part of the army. Tu Mu says: "Your surviving spy must be a man of keen intellect, though in outward appearance a fool; of shabby exterior, but with a will of iron.
The Art of War, passage 609
[Cf. _Shih Ching_, IV. 3. iv. 6: "Fierce as a blazing fire which no man can check."]
The Art of War, passage 1276
Spies are a most important element in war, because on them depends an army’s ability to move.
The Art of War, passage 944
14. On hemmed-in ground, resort to stratagem.
The Art of War, passage 903
31. Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and know yourself, your victory will not stand in doubt; if you know Heaven and know Earth, you may make your victory complete.
The Art of War, passage 309
[The Chinese word translated here as "war material" literally means "things to be used", and is meant in the widest sense. It includes all the impedimenta of an army, apart from provisions.]
The Art of War, passage 76
In point of literary style, Sun Tzŭ’s work belongs to the same school as _Kuan Tzŭ_, [22] _Liu T’ao_, [23] and the _Yüeh Yu_ [24] and may have been the production of some private scholar living towards the end of the "Spring and Autumn" or the beginning of the "Warring States" period. [25] The story that his precepts were actually applied by the Wu State, is merely the outcome of big talk on the part of his followers.
The Art of War, passage 611
19. Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt.
The Art of War, passage 1048
[As Tu Mu says, the object is to guard against two possible contingencies: "(1) the desertion of our own troops; (2) a sudden attack on the part of the enemy." Cf. VII. § 17. Mei Yao-ch’en says: "On the march, the regiments should be in close touch; in an encampment, there should be continuity between the fortifications."]
The Art of War, passage 200
8. Wang-tzu Ch’eng-fu, ch. 32, year 607.
The Art of War, passage 1011
33. How to make the best of both strong and weak—that is a question involving the proper use of ground.
The Art of War, passage 1264
[As explained in §§ 22-24. He not only brings information himself, but makes it possible to use the other kinds of spy to advantage.]
The Art of War, passage 92
If we admit, then, that the 13 chapters were the genuine production of a military man living towards the end of the "_Ch’un Ch’iu_" period, are we not bound, in spite of the silence of the _Tso Chuan_, to accept Ssu-ma Ch’ien’s account in its entirety? In view of his high repute as a sober historian, must we not hesitate to assume that the records he drew upon for Sun Wu’s biography were false and untrustworthy? The answer, I fear, must be in the negative.
The Art of War, passage 890
[Cf. I. § 6. In this connection, Tu Mu draws for us an engaging picture of the famous general Wu Ch’i, from whose treatise on war I have frequently had occasion to quote: "He wore the same clothes and ate the same food as the meanest of his soldiers, refused to have either a horse to ride or a mat to sleep on, carried his own surplus rations wrapped in a parcel, and shared every hardship with his men. One of his soldiers was suffering from an abscess, and Wu Ch’i himself sucked out the virus.
The Art of War, passage 810
[Tu Mu says: "If the enemy open friendly relations be sending hostages, it is a sign that they are anxious for an armistice, either because their strength is exhausted or for some other reason." But it hardly needs a Sun Tzŭ to draw such an obvious inference.]
The Art of War, passage 457
13. The quality of decision is like the well-timed swoop of a falcon which enables it to strike and destroy its victim.
The Art of War, passage 30
Indeed, I have been at some pains to put a sword into the hands of future opponents by scrupulously giving either text or reference for every passage translated. A scathing review, even from the pen of the Shanghai critic who despises “mere translations,” would not, I must confess, be altogether unwelcome. For, after all, the worst fate I shall have to dread is that which befell the ingenious paradoxes of George in _The Vicar of Wakefield_.
The Art of War, passage 511
8. Hence that general is skilful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skilful in defence whose opponent does not know what to attack.
The Art of War, passage 740
["High Ground," says Mei Yao-ch’en, "is not only more agreeable and salubrious, but more convenient from a military point of view; low ground is not only damp and unhealthy, but also disadvantageous for fighting."]
The Art of War, passage 1060
But Kao Huan, instead of trying to escape, actually made a shift to block all the remaining outlets himself by driving into them a number of oxen and donkeys roped together. As soon as his officers and men saw that there was nothing for it but to conquer or die, their spirits rose to an extraordinary pitch of exaltation, and they charged with such desperate ferocity that the opposing ranks broke and crumbled under their onslaught.]
The Art of War, passage 927
[The situation, as pictured by Ts’ao Kung, is very similar to the "hemmed-in ground" except that here escape is no longer possible: "A lofty mountain in front, a large river behind, advance impossible, retreat blocked." Ch’en Hao says: "to be on ‘desperate ground’ is like sitting in a leaking boat or crouching in a burning house." Tu Mu quotes from Li Ching a vivid description of the plight of an army thus entrapped: "Suppose an army invading hostile territory without the aid of local guides:—it falls into a fatal snare and is at the enemy’s mercy.