So now let’s get to the outline of Sun Tzu’s

The Art of War.

This is going to be a simplified overview,

outlining the 13 chapters and some basic principles

that we can learn from them, applying them

to a variety of modern fields.

Let’s start with a quick rundown of the

author.

Born Sun Wu around 540 BC.

I say around because a lot of Sun’s history

is disagreed on.

Where he was born is even unclear.

There are conflicting and unreliable stories

here, some even questioning if Sun Wu was

one person or an amalgamation of other notable

men.

You can understand after 2,500 years if things

get lost in translation.

He eventually rose up to become a general,

earning the title of Sun Tzu, meaning Master

Sun, and writing the military guide that we’re

discussing here today.

Regardless what’s true and real about the

man known as Sun Tzu, the book that we’re

talking about is a concrete thing, a real

thing.

It’s been translated many times and we’ll

use the chapter headings from the 1910 translation

from Lionel Giles, a curator at the British

Museum.

He took aim at previous English translations,

saying that omissions were frequent and passages

were skipped because they were difficult to

translate.

So let’s dive into chapter one: Laying Plans.

War is not a pleasant thing, argues Sun Tzu.

It’s serious. It's about survival.

You should think carefully before engaging.

If a general thinks closely about which side
is stronger, has more discipline, which is

better trained and organized, than they can

work out who will and who will lose.

If you look at the two sides and your enemy

has many advantages and many strengths, the

wise move is to avoid conflict.

You can predict your loss and therefore avoid

the loss.

One major factor in this determination is

something called the Way, which is about the

moral stance of a side.

If the general is righteous and virtuous,

he will likely have more command over his men.

Sun Tzu also flips his idea of strategizing

that you should learn all you can about your

opponent, while making your opponent blind

to your true state.

If they can’t gauge your strengths and weaknesses,

it’s harder for them to succeed in battle.

This whole chapter is planning and preparation.

Chapter two is called Waging War.

This gets into some incredible detail that

seems specific but has massive repercussions.

He outlines how many horses you should bring,

how many troops should follow a general.

But what he’s saying is that money and human

lives are not be used recklessly, they are

both finite resources.

If you wage a huge war, it can be taxing on

an army.

They become exhausted, their supplies dwindle.

The key takeaway from this chapter is to strike

quickly.

Your army should never need reinforcements

or new provisions.

Strike quickly, so that the impact on your

treasury will be slight.

Many losses at war are due to the attrition

of people and supplies.

This chapter also talks about using the resources

of your enemy.

Do not destroy supplies you can use, do not

burn food that you can eat, and don’t kill

soldiers that can either give you information

or join your own ranks.

This chapter is all about resources and using

them wisely, not recklessly.

We move onto chapter three Attack by Stratagem.

This begins by reinforcing the idea of not

destroying everything in war.

A city razed to the ground is of little use

to, where it’s more beneficial to strategically

destroy them politically and leave the city

and people intact.

He then gives some very direct strategies

for how to attack based on your army versus another's.

If your forces outnumber the enemy largely,

surround them completely.

If it’s five to one, attack them.

At two to one, divide the enemy and fight

them that way.

If it’s even, fight them head-on, one on

one.

If they outnumber you, hide.

If they outnumber you greatly, escape.

Foolishly fighting a losing battle will end

horribly.

Sun Tzu then outlines five essentials to consider

in your strategy here.

You must know when to fight and when not to,

referencing the strategies I just talked about.

You must know how to deploy an army and where.

You must have united officers and men serving.

You must be prepared for any surprise.

And lastly, you need a general who can make

his own decisions without political leaders

interfering without expertise.

None of them essentials talk about more men

or more technology.

It’s about strategy and preparation.

He said paraphrased, “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 is Tactical Dispositions.

This chapter is all about when to advance

and force a battle.

To attack, you become vulnerable, but to defend

is to become invulnerable.

The idea of ying and yang is played into here,

with an ebb and flow based on your choice

to advance or not.

Sun Tzu even evokes imagery of moving under

the Earth when defending and striking from

the heavens when attacking.

There’s also the focus on a quick and decisive

attack, that some fights may never take place

on a battlefield, if fought correctly.

A skillful general seeks victory, not battle.

A terrible general seeks battle first.

Chapter five is Use of Energy.

Managing a massive army is just as managing

a small one, but Sun Tzu focuses on dividing

them up and knowing each of their purposes.

You must push and pull these units to effectively

attack.
If you see a weak point, pushing a unit into
that point may collapse the army.

If you pull your forces back and bait the

enemy, you can engulf them as they arrive.

Sun Tzu compares this to rivers and streams,

ebbing and flowing.

Every directive to your army is either a direct

action or an indirect, there’s really nothing

else, he affirms.

How you use your army connects to chapter

six, Weak Points and Strong, or strengths

and weaknesses.

In your preparation, you want all the circumstances

to favor you and your army.

If you arrive to battle first, your men rest

and wait, defending their ground.

If you arrive to battle second, your troops

are already tired from marching and now must fight.

Force your opponent into weakness.

A strong army must eat, so how can you starve

them?

An army that is steadfast and unmoveable,

how can you force their hand to make them adjust?

The defender must defend all lines, making

every part weaker, so the general of an army

must make a point to attack only a few points

with all their might.

All of this relies on the plan being secret,

otherwise the defender would defend only those points.

Secrecy is key.

Chapter seven focuses on Maneuvering.

This is the strategy of making commands and

orders of a physical army.

If you force your army to march for 30 miles,

you’ll lose men for all sorts of reasons.

There’s a balance between pushing them to

gain an advantage, and then pushing them too far.
Early I mentioned getting to the battle first.

That’s useful, if your entire army arrives

at all.

He says commanding a force that listens and

obeys is one thing, whereas trying to command

a force that’s disobedient can bring you

to ruin.

There’s a story about Sun Tzu where he’s

challenged to train an army out of concubines,

seemingly impossible.

He gives an order, they laugh and carry on.

He then executed two of the King’s favorite

concubines.

Now, everyone listened and maneuvered exactly

as directed.

In this chapter he’s saying that a force

must listen to the general, because it’s

chaos if they don’t.

He also talks about how to give these orders

here.

If it’s night time, use torches.

If you manage many, use drums when your voice

can’t carry.

This speaks to communicating different in

different circumstances.

Sun Tzu even brings up which troops you should

focus on.

The men who are sharpest need very little

help, but the slow and homesick, the General

can greatly affect and improve morale.

Find weaknesses in your own men, in your structure,

in your processes, and try to avoid them or

strengthen them before you arrive to battle.

Chapter eight is Variation of Tactics.

Circumstances sometimes call for different

tactics and different choices.

There are cities you should not attack, there

are roads you should not take.

In your preparation, you see that some choices

will be catastrophic.

These tactics all come from the general and

there’s five major ways that a general can

fail when deciding tactics.

Being reckless and impatient leads to destruction.

Cowardice and fear leads to eventual capture.

A hasty temper means one can be baited and

provoked.

A high standard of honor means one might be

susceptible and sensitive to shame.

Lastly, an excessive compassion for the troops

might make a general second guess his decisions

and worry about them, as opposed to focusing

on victory alone.

Sun Tzu claims that whenever an army is defeated

or a leader slain, one of these five faults

is to blame.

Chapter nine is about The Army on the March.

He gives some very specific instructions here,

including to camp in high places facing the

sun, to always have the high ground when facing

your opponent but don’t expend your energy

marching uphill needlessly.

When fighting near a stream or river, let

the enemy try to advance all the way through

and expend their energy, as opposed to rushing

to meet them.

How your opponent rushes to face you tells

you of their situation.

If they wait for you to approach, they have

strong defenses and might see some obstacles

for you to overcome.

If they’re approaching, look for signs,

such as trees moving and animals running scared.

High dust in the distance might mean horses,

while low dust might mean walking troops.

Also be aware that you’re giving off these

signals as well, as your army travels.

Classification of Terrain is chapter ten and

literally lays out for the general how to

read the terrain and the benefits of fighting

in each.

Accessible terrain is terrain that anyone

can traverse easily.

The advantage goes to the general who can

secure a high ground before the opponent arrives

and has sufficient supplies to last throughout.

Entangling ground means it’s easy to move

forward, to secure new land, but it’s difficult

to backtrack or retreat.

Make sure your enemy is vulnerable before

moving forward.

In deadlock terrain, or temporizing as the

direct translation, there is no advantage

for either side.

If you can back out and make the enemy advance

into this terrain, you should be able to strike

with advantage.

Enclosed terrain is usually a narrow passage

with very little options.

If you get to this location first, you can

block it or ambush.

If the enemy garrisons this space, only advance

if you’re confident that it’s weakly protected.

If you come upon terrain that is rocky and

has high peaks and low valleys, you should

secure the high peaks first.

If your enemy has the high ground, retreat

and force them to leave these advantages if

they wish to pursue.

In this same chapter, Sun Tzu outlines some

non-natural factors that a General must look
out for, that can cause harm to the army.

If the enemy outnumbers you ten to one, your

army will fly in fear or retreat.

When the army troops are strong-willed and

determined, yet the officers incompetent,

the result will be the troops not listening

to the officers.

If it’s reversed, with strong competent

officers and weak soldiers, the result is

decay and defection.

If the officers act without command from the

General, the army will collapse.

Disorganization occurs when the General can’t

articulate his plans so the army doesn’t

move as one.

When the General chooses to pit a weak army

or a weak detachment against a much stronger

one, the only option is retreat or defeat.

The best Generals know the terrain, know their

army, and know which difficulties they will face.

Here are the keys to success as outlined by

Sun Tzu.

If a ruler says not to fight, but a competent

General sees that victory is clear, they should fight.

The same is true if a ruler says to fight

but defeat is certain, then do not fight.

A good general makes decisions without seeking

fame or fearing blame.

A general cannot be confident if any factor

of the battle is unsure.

If the terrain is unclear, victory is not

certain.

If he does not know his soldiers, victory

is not certain.

He is confident with his movements, as any

doubt can sow doubt in the troops.

Chapter eleven dives into scenarios, called

the Nine Situations.
These are situations that an army might find
themselves in, not entirely reliant on the

physical ground they’re on.

Dispersive ground is when a General fights

in his own homeland, on familiar ground.

You may have the advantage, but damage may

be done to your own supplies and property,

so be wary.

Facile ground is when you’ve broken into

enemy territory, so you should not slow down.

You don’t have the advantage but you haven’t

gained much, so you must fight on.

Contentious ground is when either side can

gain a great advantage by taking a particular

place, so move forward but don’t engage

too aggressively until you have a clear advantage,

otherwise you might lose a key victory.

Open ground means that both armies have complete

freedom, therefore it’s wise to not try

to stop the enemy’s movement, you have no

terrain to support you.

There’s intersecting ground, where multiple

states or constituents have interest, this

is your chance to make allies and not enemies.

When you’re on heavy ground, it means you’ve

made much progress and there are entire cities

behind you, this is your chance to plunder

and restock with so many resources available to you.

You may run into intractable ground, or difficult

ground, which means it is full of marshes

and forests and hard to get through terrain,

in this instance you must keep moving to get

out of that disadvantage.

You must also look out for enclosed or hemmed

in ground, which is twisty and narrow and

leaves you vulnerable.

In these instances, continuously keep an eye

open and remain vigilant.
Lastly we have desperate ground, or some call
it death ground, where you are merely trying

to survive and you must fight with every ounce

of your being.

If your opponent is striking so powerfully,

it also means they are vulnerable there is

still a chance for success here.

Chapter twelve The Attack by Fire focuses

on weapons of war, though weapons at the time

were very different.

He brings up five ways to use fire: Burning

enemy soldiers, destroying supplies, destroying

their supplies that are still in transit,

destroy their weapons and ammo, and destroying

lines of communication and causing chaos.

You should always have your weapons ready

and available for use at a brief notice, as

long as the weather is hot and dry, ideal

for fire to spread.

Sun Tzu then talks about when the fire breaks

out, there’s ways to adapt to it.

If you attack with fire, follow immediately

with an physical attack to capitalize.

If you attack and there’s no response from

the opposing army, it may mean that something

isn’t as it seems.

They may be baiting you, they may have been

prepared, so wait and watch as the fire continues to spread.

When the fire reaches is greatest peak is

when you should attack, do not wait for it

to go out.

If you can start a fire from inside the camp,

that’s beneficial as opposed to trying to

attack from outside.

Always be upwind when starting fires and remember

that nighttime fires likely die quicker than

daytime fires.
If fire seems too risky or destructive, using
water as a weapon, if the terrain allows,

can also be a clever move.

Though here he’s saying fire, I think these

ideas can be transferred to other modern machines

of war as well.

Chapter thirteen brings up another type of

weapon, the Use of Spies.

Early on in these tips, Sun Tzu brought up

the idea of preparation and knowing your enemy.

That’s not always easy, so in this chapter

he emphasizes using men who know the enemy

and sorts them into five types.

Local spies live in the opposing nation or

group, internal spies are actually within

the enemy structure or government, and double

agents are spies sent to find you that you

have turned to your cause instead.

There is a thing called doomed spies (or dead

spies in some translations) that exist to

pass on false information to your enemy.

So they might make your enemy think you are

starving or taking a route that you’re not

actually taking.

And lastly we have live spies, who infiltrate

and then return to your ranks with information

though aren’t from that camp.

Sun Tzu says that these intelligence gatherers

should be the best paid and best treated,

as this wisdom is key to winning a victory,

especially a bloodless one.

Every move that a General makes is based on

this intelligence.

So now we’ve covered the thirteen chapters

and what Sun Tzu had to say about the art of war.

There’s many ways that these tactics can

be used today, especially in business circles.
How you run a business and compete with other
businesses is an obvious parallel.

Intelligence is key, preparation can defeat

seemingly insurmountable odds, and knowing

which battles to fight.

Down in the comments, I want you to share

some ways that you’ve seen some of these

tactics play out in your life, either in work,

in your personal life, or somewhere else.

Hopefully you found this interesting, I hope

it helped you get a grasp on this!