The Art of War
Sun Tzu
1,277 passages indexed from The Art of War (Sun Tzu) — Page 9 of 26
License: Public Domain
The Art of War, passage 599
14. We shall be unable to turn natural advantages to account unless we make use of local guides.
The Art of War, passage 735
10. These are the four useful branches of military knowledge
The Art of War, passage 18
Les troupes que vous ferez avancer contre l’ennemi doivent être comme des pierres que vous lanceriez contre des œufs. De vous à l’ennemi il ne doit y avoir d’autre différence que celle du fort au faible, du vide au plein. Attaquez à découvert, mais soyez vainqueur en secret. Voilà en peu de mots en quoi consiste l’habileté & toute la perfection même du gouvernement des troupes.
The Art of War, passage 272
[The truth of this pithy and profound saying will be admitted by every soldier. Col. Henderson tells us that Wellington, great in so many military qualities, was especially distinguished by "the extraordinary skill with which he concealed his movements and deceived both friend and foe."]
The Art of War, passage 333
the next best is to prevent the junction of the enemy’s forces;
The Art of War, passage 668
["Especially those leading through narrow defiles," says Li Ch’uan, "where an ambush is to be feared."]
The Art of War, passage 547
24. Carefully compare the opposing army with your own, so that you may know where strength is superabundant and where it is deficient.
The Art of War, passage 40
Sun Tzŭ replied: "Having once received His Majesty’s commission to be the general of his forces, there are certain commands of His Majesty which, acting in that capacity, I am unable to accept."
The Art of War, passage 729
[Because of the lack of fresh water, the poor quality of the herbage, and last but not least, because they are low, flat, and exposed to attack.]
The Art of War, passage 154
The following is an extract from the "Impartial Judgments in the Garden of Literature" by Cheng Hou:—
The Art of War, passage 608
18. In raiding and plundering be like fire,
The Art of War, passage 1277
[Chia Lin says that an army without spies is like a man without ears or eyes.]
The Art of War, passage 708
And in the end, relief came through the very man who started out with the distinct resolve no longer to subordinate the interests of the whole to sentiment in favour of a part. An old soldier of one of our generals who failed most conspicuously in this war, tried once, I remember, to defend him to me on the ground that he was always "so good to his men." By this plea, had he but known it, he was only condemning him out of Sun Tzŭ’s mouth.]
The Art of War, passage 1020
The King of Kutcha replied by dispatching his chief commander to succour the place with an army drawn from the kingdoms of Wen-su, Ku-mo, and Wei-t’ou, totaling 50,000 men. Pan Ch’ao summoned his officers and also the King of Khotan to a council of war, and said: ‘Our forces are now outnumbered and unable to make head against the enemy. The best plan, then, is for us to separate and disperse, each in a different direction.
The Art of War, passage 504
7. You can be sure of succeeding in your attacks if you only attack places which are undefended.
The Art of War, passage 49
If Your Majesty has resolved to make a grand attack, you must win over T’ang and Ts’ai, and then you may succeed." Ho Lu followed this advice, [beat Ch’u in five pitched battles and marched into Ying.] [5]
The Art of War, passage 192
Considering the high popular estimation in which Chu-ko Liang has always been held, it is not surprising to find more than one work on war ascribed to his pen. Such are (1) the _Shih Liu Ts’e_ (1 _chuan_), preserved in the _Yung Lo Ta Tien;_ (2) _Chiang Yuan_ (1 _chuan_); and (3) _Hsin Shu_ (1 _chuan_), which steals wholesale from Sun Tzŭ. None of these has the slightest claim to be considered genuine.
The Art of War, passage 754
17. If in the neighbourhood of your camp there should be any hilly country, ponds surrounded by aquatic grass, hollow basins filled with reeds, or woods with thick undergrowth, they must be carefully routed out and searched; for these are places where men in ambush or insidious spies are likely to be lurking.
The Art of War, passage 364
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.
The Art of War, passage 88
§ 1, there is an unmistakable allusion to the ancient system of land-tenure which had already passed away by the time of Mencius, who was anxious to see it revived in a modified form. [30] The only warfare Sun Tzŭ knows is that carried on between the various feudal princes, in which armored chariots play a large part. Their use seems to have entirely died out before the end of the Chou dynasty. He speaks as a man of Wu, a state which ceased to exist as early as 473 B.C.
The Art of War, passage 965
Thus the full fruits of victory will be ours." All came about as he predicted, and Hsiao Hsien was obliged to surrender, nobly stipulating that his people should be spared and he alone suffer the penalty of death.]
The Art of War, passage 340
[It is not quite clear what the Chinese word, here translated as "mantlets", described. Ts’ao Kung simply defines them as "large shields," but we get a better idea of them from Li Ch’uan, who says they were to protect the heads of those who were assaulting the city walls at close quarters. This seems to suggest a sort of Roman _testudo_, ready made. Tu Mu says they were wheeled vehicles used in repelling attacks, but this is denied by Ch’en Hao. See _supra_ II. 14.
The Art of War, passage 832
[Ground which allows you to "stave off" or "delay."]
The Art of War, passage 78
Yeh Shui-hsin represents Ssu-ma Ch’ien as having said that Sun Wu crushed Ch’u and entered Ying. This is not quite correct. No doubt the impression left on the reader’s mind is that he at least shared in these exploits. The fact may or may not be significant; but it is nowhere explicitly stated in the _Shih Chi_ either that Sun Tzŭ was general on the occasion of the taking of Ying, or that he even went there at all. Moreover, as we know that Wu Yuan and Po P’ei both took part in the expedition, and also that its success was largely due to the dash and enterprise of Fu Kai, Ho Lu’s younger brother, it is not easy to see how yet another general could have played a very prominent part in the same campaign.
The Art of War, passage 758
19. When he keeps aloof and tries to provoke a battle, he is anxious for the other side to advance.
The Art of War, passage 263
(7) In which army is there the greater constancy both in reward and punishment?
The Art of War, passage 165
The truth is that, just as in the family the teacher must not spare the rod, and punishments cannot be dispensed with in the State, so military chastisement can never be allowed to fall into abeyance in the Empire. All one can say is that this power will be exercised wisely by some, foolishly by others, and that among those who bear arms some will be loyal and others rebellious. [58]
The Art of War, passage 533
[What Sun Tzŭ evidently has in mind is that nice calculation of distances and that masterly employment of strategy which enable a general to divide his army for the purpose of a long and rapid march, and afterwards to effect a junction at precisely the right spot and the right hour in order to confront the enemy in overwhelming strength. Among many such successful junctions which military history records, one of the most dramatic and decisive was the appearance of Blucher just at the critical moment on the field of Waterloo.]
The Art of War, passage 703
(4) a delicacy of honour which is sensitive to shame;
The Art of War, passage 324
19. In war, then, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns.
The Art of War, passage 44
After that, Ho Lu saw that Sun Tzŭ was one who knew how to handle an army, and finally appointed him general. In the west, he defeated the Ch’u State and forced his way into Ying, the capital; to the north he put fear into the States of Ch’i and Chin, and spread his fame abroad amongst the feudal princes. And Sun Tzŭ shared in the might of the King.
The Art of War, passage 501
5. Appear at points which the enemy must hasten to defend; march swiftly to places where you are not expected.
The Art of War, passage 874
[Tu Mu says: "Neither officers nor men have any regular routine."]
The Art of War, passage 1220
Wei Po’s men raced up on seeing the signal and began climbing the ladders as fast as they could, while others were drawn up by ropes lowered from above. More than a hundred of Lo Shang’s soldiers entered the city in this way, every one of whom was forthwith beheaded. Li Hsiung then charged with all his forces, both inside and outside the city, and routed the enemy completely." [This happened in 303 A.D. I do not know where Ho Shih got the story from.
The Art of War, passage 728
7. In crossing salt-marshes, your sole concern should be to get over them quickly, without any delay.
The Art of War, passage 786
[Every man hastening to his proper place under his own regimental banner.]
The Art of War, passage 400
6. Standing on the defensive indicates insufficient strength; attacking, a superabundance of strength.
The Art of War, passage 574
The difficulty of tactical manœuvering consists in turning the devious into the direct, and misfortune into gain.
The Art of War, passage 1056
On difficult ground, I would keep pushing on along the road.
The Art of War, passage 711
[The contents of this interesting chapter are better indicated in § 1 than by this heading.]
The Art of War, passage 757
[Here begin Sun Tzŭ’s remarks on the reading of signs, much of which is so good that it could almost be included in a modern manual like Gen. Baden-Powell’s "Aids to Scouting."]
The Art of War, passage 957
[According to Tu Mu, "this is a summary of leading principles in warfare," and he adds: "These are the profoundest truths of military science, and the chief business of the general." The following anecdotes, told by Ho Shih, shows the importance attached to speed by two of China’s greatest generals.
The Art of War, passage 454
10. In battle, there are not more than two methods of attack—the direct and the indirect; yet these two in combination give rise to an endless series of manœuvers.
The Art of War, passage 466
[Mei Yao-ch’en says: "The subdivisions of the army having been previously fixed, and the various signals agreed upon, the separating and joining, the dispersing and collecting which will take place in the course of a battle, may give the appearance of disorder when no real disorder is possible. Your formation may be without head or tail, your dispositions all topsy-turvy, and yet a rout of your forces quite out of the question."]
The Art of War, passage 488
[Ts’au Kung calls this "the use of natural or inherent power."]
The Art of War, passage 863
14. Now an army is exposed to six several calamities, not arising from natural causes, but from faults for which the general is responsible. These are: (1) Flight; (2) insubordination; (3) collapse; (4) ruin; (5) disorganisation; (6) rout.
The Art of War, passage 1229
12. Having _doomed spies_, doing certain things openly for purposes of deception, and allowing our own spies to know of them and report them to the enemy.
The Art of War, passage 226
39. This is a discussion of 29 difficult passages in Sun Tzŭ.
The Art of War, passage 150
It is rather remarkable that the last-named four should all have flourished within so short a space of time. Ch’ao Kung-wu accounts for it by saying: "During the early years of the Sung dynasty the Empire enjoyed a long spell of peace, and men ceased to practice the art of war. but when [Chao] Yuan-hao’s rebellion came [1038-42] and the frontier generals were defeated time after time, the Court made strenuous inquiry for men skilled in war, and military topics became the vogue amongst all the high officials. Hence it is that the commentators of Sun Tzŭ in our dynasty belong mainly to that period. [47]
The Art of War, passage 166
The next piece is taken from Tu Mu’s preface to his commentary on Sun Tzŭ:—