The Art of War
Sun Tzu
1,277 passages indexed from The Art of War (Sun Tzu) — Page 12 of 26
License: Public Domain
The Art of War, passage 1042
When there are means of communication on all four sides, the ground is one of intersecting highways.
The Art of War, passage 249
8. _Earth_ comprises distances, great and small; danger and security; open ground and narrow passes; the chances of life and death.
The Art of War, passage 951
to prevent co-operation between his large and small divisions; to hinder the good troops from rescuing the bad, the officers from rallying their men.
The Art of War, passage 603
Move only if there is a real advantage to be gained.
The Art of War, passage 1148
[Tu Mu suggests as material for making fire: "dry vegetable matter, reeds, brushwood, straw, grease, oil, etc." Here we have the material cause. Chang Yu says: "vessels for hoarding fire, stuff for lighting fires."]
The Art of War, passage 864
15. Other conditions being equal, if one force is hurled against another ten times its size, the result will be the _flight_ of the former.
The Art of War, passage 910
[Li Ch’uan and Ho Shih say "because of the facility for retreating," and the other commentators give similar explanations. Tu Mu remarks: "When your army has crossed the border, you should burn your boats and bridges, in order to make it clear to everybody that you have no hankering after home."]
The Art of War, passage 839
Then you will be able to fight with advantage.
The Art of War, passage 925
9. Ground which is reached through narrow gorges, and from which we can only retire by tortuous paths, so that a small number of the enemy would suffice to crush a large body of our men: this is hemmed in ground.
The Art of War, passage 774
82 of the _Shih Chi_ we read: "T’ien Tan openly said: ‘My only fear is that the Yen army may cut off the noses of their Ch’i prisoners and place them in the front rank to fight against us; that would be the undoing of our city.’ The other side being informed of this speech, at once acted on the suggestion; but those within the city were enraged at seeing their fellow-countrymen thus mutilated, and fearing only lest they should fall into the enemy’s hands, were nerved to defend themselves more obstinately than ever.
The Art of War, passage 1152
for these four are all days of rising wind.
The Art of War, passage 313
[Wang Hsi says high prices occur before the army has left its own territory. Ts’ao Kung understands it of an army that has already crossed the frontier.]
The Art of War, passage 565
the four seasons make way for each other in turn.
The Art of War, passage 1120
[Ch’en Hao’s explanation: "If I manage to seize a favourable position, but the enemy does not appear on the scene, the advantage thus obtained cannot be turned to any practical account.
The Art of War, passage 1179
[Tu Mu quotes the following from the _San Lueh_, ch. 2: "The warlike prince controls his soldiers by his authority, kits them together by good faith, and by rewards makes them serviceable. If faith decays, there will be disruption; if rewards are deficient, commands will not be respected."]
The Art of War, passage 1165
Simultaneously, a glare of light shot up from the city walls, and Huang-fu Sung, sounding his drums, led a rapid charge, which threw the rebels into confusion and put them to headlong flight." [_Hou Han Shu_, ch. 71.] ] ] ] ] ] 10. (5) When you start a fire, be to windward of it. Do not attack from the leeward.
The Art of War, passage 851
[Ts’ao Kung says: "The particular advantage of securing heights and defiles is that your actions cannot then be dictated by the enemy." [For the enunciation of the grand principle alluded to, see VI. § 2]. Chang Yu tells the following anecdote of P’ei Hsing-chien (A.D. 619-682), who was sent on a punitive expedition against the Turkic tribes.
The Art of War, passage 819
41. He who exercises no forethought but makes light of his opponents is sure to be captured by them.
The Art of War, passage 584
6. If you set a fully equipped army in march in order to snatch an advantage, the chances are that you will be too late. On the other hand, to detach a flying column for the purpose involves the sacrifice of its baggage and stores.
The Art of War, passage 132
It is recorded that whenever a council of war was held by Wei on the eve of a far-reaching campaign, he had all his calculations ready; those generals who made use of them did not lose one battle in ten; those who ran counter to them in any particular saw their armies incontinently beaten and put to flight." Ts’ao Kung’s notes on Sun Tzŭ, models of austere brevity, are so thoroughly characteristic of the stern commander known to history, that it is hard indeed to conceive of them as the work of a mere _littérateur_.
The Art of War, passage 995
[Chu was the personal name of Chuan Chu, a native of the Wu State and contemporary with Sun Tzŭ himself, who was employed by Kung-tzu Kuang, better known as Ho Lu Wang, to assassinate his sovereign Wang Liao with a dagger which he secreted in the belly of a fish served up at a banquet. He succeeded in his attempt, but was immediately hacked to pieces by the king’s bodyguard. This was in 515 B.C.
The Art of War, passage 266
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!
The Art of War, passage 133
Sometimes, indeed, owing to extreme compression, they are scarcely intelligible and stand no less in need of a commentary than the text itself. [40]
The Art of War, passage 770
When it branches out in different directions, it shows that parties have been sent to collect firewood. A few clouds of dust moving to and fro signify that the army is encamping.
The Art of War, passage 411
10. To lift an autumn hair is no sign of great strength;
The Art of War, passage 580
The Ch’in general was overjoyed, and attributed his adversary’s tardiness to the fact that the beleaguered city was in the Han State, and thus not actually part of Chao territory. But the spies had no sooner departed than Chao She began a forced march lasting for two days and one night, and arrive on the scene of action with such astonishing rapidity that he was able to occupy a commanding position on the "North hill" before the enemy had got wind of his movements.
The Art of War, passage 793
32. If birds gather on any spot, it is unoccupied.
The Art of War, passage 1003
[That is, as Mei Yao-ch’en says, "Is it possible to make the front and rear of an army each swiftly responsive to attack on the other, just as though they were part of a single living body?"]
The Art of War, passage 885
24. The general who advances without coveting fame and retreats without fearing disgrace,
The Art of War, passage 237
71. Better known as Hsiang Yu [233-202 B.C.].
The Art of War, passage 1211
[Cromwell, one of the greatest and most practical of all cavalry leaders, had officers styled ‘scout masters,’ whose business it was to collect all possible information regarding the enemy, through scouts and spies, etc., and much of his success in war was traceable to the previous knowledge of the enemy’s moves thus gained." [1] ]
The Art of War, passage 1197
2. Hostile armies may face each other for years, striving for the victory which is decided in a single day. This being so, to remain in ignorance of the enemy’s condition simply because one grudges the outlay of a hundred ounces of silver in honours and emoluments,
The Art of War, passage 385
[Literally, “These five things are knowledge of the principle of victory.”]
The Art of War, passage 102
478 to 476 Further attacks by Yüeh on Wu. 475 Kou Chien lays siege to the capital of Wu. 473 Final defeat and extinction of Wu.
The Art of War, passage 1194
Besides, the injunction to ‘forage on the enemy’ only means that when an army is deeply engaged in hostile territory, scarcity of food must be provided against. Hence, without being solely dependent on the enemy for corn, we must forage in order that there may be an uninterrupted flow of supplies. Then, again, there are places like salt deserts where provisions being unobtainable, supplies from home cannot be dispensed with."]
The Art of War, passage 37
Again the girls assented. The words of command having been thus explained, he set up the halberds and battle-axes in order to begin the drill. Then, to the sound of drums, he gave the order "Right turn." But the girls only burst out laughing. Sun Tzŭ said: "If words of command are not clear and distinct, if orders are not thoroughly understood, then the general is to blame."
The Art of War, passage 930
The country is wild, destitute of water and plants; the army is lacking in the necessaries of life, the horses are jaded and the men worn-out, all the resources of strength and skill unavailing, the pass so narrow that a single man defending it can check the onset of ten thousand; all means of offense in the hands of the enemy, all points of vantage already forfeited by ourselves:—in this terrible plight, even though we had the most valiant soldiers and the keenest of weapons, how could they be employed with the slightest effect?" Students of Greek history may be reminded of the awful close to the Sicilian expedition, and the agony of the Athenians under Nicias and Demonsthenes.
The Art of War, passage 526
[Sheridan once explained the reason of General Grant’s victories by saying that "while his opponents were kept fully employed wondering what he was going to do, _he_ was thinking most of what he was going to do himself."]
The Art of War, passage 1119
and subtly contrive to time his arrival on the ground.
The Art of War, passage 1087
56. Bestow rewards without regard to rule,
The Art of War, passage 1172
14. By means of water, an enemy may be intercepted, but not robbed of all his belongings.
The Art of War, passage 662
1. Sun Tzŭ said: In war, the general receives his commands from the sovereign, collects his army and concentrates his forces.
The Art of War, passage 822
43. Therefore soldiers must be treated in the first instance with humanity, but kept under control by means of iron discipline.
The Art of War, passage 199
7. The appellation of Hu Yen, mentioned in ch. 39 under the year 637.
The Art of War, passage 113
If these inferences are approximately correct, there is a certain irony in the fate which decreed that China’s most illustrious man of peace should be contemporary with her greatest writer on war.
The Art of War, passage 367
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.
The Art of War, passage 797
34. When an army feeds its horses with grain and kills its cattle for food,
The Art of War, passage 185
The _Ssu K’u Ch’uan Shu_ (ch. 99, f. 1) remarks that the oldest three treatises on war, _Sun Tzŭ_, _Wu Tzŭ_ and _Ssu-ma Fa_, are, generally speaking, only concerned with things strictly military—the art of producing, collecting, training and drilling troops, and the correct theory with regard to measures of expediency, laying plans, transport of goods and the handling of soldiers—in strong contrast to later works, in which the science of war is usually blended with metaphysics, divination and magical arts in general.
The Art of War, passage 359
[Li Ch’uan, followed by Ho Shih, gives the following paraphrase: "If attackers and attacked are equally matched in strength, only the able general will fight."]
The Art of War, passage 542
22. Though the enemy be stronger in numbers, we may prevent him from fighting. Scheme so as to discover his plans and the likelihood of their success.