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Spartan Surfers

c. 5th century BC

Sun Tzu

The name behind The Art of War, a 13-chapter Chinese manual whose real argument is that the best victory is the one you win without a fight.

Read the life25 sourced lines

In one line

Sun Tzu is the traditional author of The Art of War (Sunzi bingfa), the most famous book on strategy ever written. Short, cold and practical, it teaches preparation, knowledge, deception and economy of force, and it insists again and again that war is costly and the wise general wins with as little fighting as possible.

The life

Sun Tzu means "Master Sun." His personal name, according to tradition, was Wu. Almost everything said about him comes from one short biography in Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji, chapter 65), completed around 94 BC, centuries after the events it describes.

Sima Qian says Sun Wu was a man of Qi who came to King Helü of Wu, who reigned from 514 to 496 BC, with his book of thirteen chapters. The king had read them and wanted a demonstration: could Sun Wu train women as soldiers? Sun Wu said he could. The king sent out 180 women from the palace. Sun Wu divided them into two companies, put the king's two favorite concubines in command, and explained the drill. When he gave the signal, the women laughed. He said that if orders are unclear, it is the general's fault; he explained again. When he signaled a second time and they laughed again, he said that if orders are clear and not carried out, it is the officers' fault, and he ordered the two commanders beheaded. The king, watching from a terrace, sent word begging him to spare them. Sun Wu replied that once he had received the command of the army, there were orders from the ruler he did not have to accept. He executed them, appointed the next two, and the women drilled in perfect silence. Sima Qian adds that Helü made him a general, and that Wu went on to defeat the powerful state of Chu and capture its capital.

It is a vivid story, and it may not be true. The Zuo zhuan, the older and detailed chronicle of the period, which describes Wu's war against Chu in 506 BC, never mentions Sun Wu. For this reason many historians doubt he existed as described, or think the figure was built around a real but obscure officer. The book itself refers to warfare on a scale, with large conscript armies and long campaigns, that fits the Warring States period (475 to 221 BC) better than the late 6th century. Most scholars now date its composition to somewhere in the 5th or 4th century BC, likely shaped by more than one hand.

Sima Qian also mentions a descendant, Sun Bin, a strategist of the 4th century BC who wrote his own book on war. For centuries some scholars suspected the two were the same man. In 1972, archaeologists excavating Han dynasty tombs at Yinqueshan in Shandong found bamboo slips holding both texts, the Sunzi and a separate Sun Bin bingfa, settling that they were two different works.

The text we read has thirteen chapters, as Sima Qian said. Its standard form owes much to the warlord and poet Cao Cao (AD 155 to 220), whose commentary is the oldest that survives. A French Jesuit, Jean Joseph Marie Amiot, brought it to Europe in 1772. The first English translation, by Everard Ferguson Calthrop, appeared in 1905; Lionel Giles's more accurate translation of 1910 is the one most people still meet online.

The big ideas

War is a grave matter

The book opens (chapter 1) by saying that war is a matter of life and death for the state, the road to survival or ruin, and must be studied with care. Nothing in The Art of War treats fighting as glorious. Chapter 2 counts the cost of an army in silver and grain, and warns that no country has ever benefited from a long war.

Win without fighting

The book's central claim comes in chapter 3. In Giles's 1910 translation: "Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting." The best strategy attacks the enemy's plans; next best, his alliances; then his army; and worst of all, his walled cities.

Know the enemy, know yourself

Also chapter 3, in Giles: "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." The often-quoted first sentence is only a third of the lesson. Self-knowledge alone leaves you at even odds.

Win first, then fight

Chapter 4 says the victorious army wins first and then seeks battle; the defeated army fights first and then seeks victory. In other words, the outcome is decided by preparation, positioning and judgment before anyone moves. Good fighters first make themselves impossible to defeat, then wait for the enemy to become defeatable.

Deception

"All warfare is based on deception," chapter 1 says, in Giles's version. When able, seem unable; when near, seem far. This is about information, not dishonesty in everyday life: in a contest, don't hand the other side your plans.

Momentum and shape

Chapter 5 is about shi, the potential energy of a situation: a boulder rolled down a mountain, a crossbow drawn. The skilled general looks to the force of the situation rather than demanding too much of individuals. Chapter 6 adds that an army should be like water, which flows away from high ground toward low, and shapes itself to the land. Just as water has no constant shape, war has no constant conditions.

Speed and spies

Speed is "the essence of war," chapter 11 says. And the book closes (chapter 13) with a chapter on spies, arguing that the money spent on good intelligence is tiny compared to the cost of a war fought blind.

What their lines mean for you

At work. The Art of War is used in boardrooms for good reason. Win before you start: do the preparation that makes the meeting a formality. Attack the problem's plan, not its people. And count the cost of any long fight before you begin it.

In training. "Make yourself impossible to defeat first." That is the athlete's version of chapter 4: build the base, fix the weaknesses, then go looking for the win. The opponent's mistakes are not in your control. Your preparation is.

In grief. The book has nothing to say about grief, and that is worth noticing. It is a tool for one kind of problem. Not everything in life is a contest, and a person who treats every loss as a battle to win will exhaust himself.

In anger. Chapter 12 is blunt: a ruler should not raise an army out of anger, nor a general fight out of resentment. Anger can turn back to gladness, but a ruined state cannot be restored, nor the dead brought back to life. Few lines in any book give a better reason to wait before acting.

On the ocean. Chapter 6's water passage reads well to anyone who surfs. Water takes the shape of the ground; the army takes the shape of the enemy. You don't impose a plan on a swell. You read it and move with what it gives you.

With ambition. Sun Tzu's ambition is victory at the lowest price. Choose the battles you can win, avoid the ones you can't, and never mistake activity for progress.

Where people get them wrong

  • "In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity." Often credited to Sun Tzu. It is not in The Art of War. Chapter 5 does discuss order emerging from apparent disorder, but this sentence is modern.
  • "Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer." Not Sun Tzu. It is from the film The Godfather Part II (1974).
  • "Know your enemy." Usually quoted alone. The full passage puts self-knowledge on equal footing and warns that knowing only one side gives you a coin flip.
  • The Art of War glorifies conflict. The book is closer to the opposite. It treats war as a disaster to be ended quickly or avoided entirely, and its highest praise goes to the general who wins with no battle at all.
  • Sun Tzu certainly wrote it in the 6th century BC. The tradition says so; the evidence points to a later date and probably more than one author. That doesn't diminish the book.

Read them yourself

Quotations marked as Giles's are from his 1910 public-domain translation; other renderings in this essay are our own from the Chinese.

Timeline

  • 514 to 496 BC: reign of King Helü of Wu, whom tradition says Sun Wu served
  • 506 BC: Wu defeats Chu at Boju and takes its capital; Sima Qian credits Sun Wu, the older Zuo zhuan does not name him
  • c. 5th to 4th century BC: The Art of War is most likely composed
  • 4th century BC: Sun Bin, said to be his descendant, writes his own book on war
  • c. 94 BC: Sima Qian records the biography in the Records of the Grand Historian
  • c. 2nd century BC: the Yinqueshan tombs are sealed with both the Sunzi and the Sun Bin texts
  • c. AD 200: Cao Cao writes the oldest surviving commentary
  • 1772: Jean Joseph Marie Amiot publishes a French translation in Paris
  • 1905: Everard Ferguson Calthrop publishes the first English translation
  • 1910: Lionel Giles publishes his English translation
  • 1972: the Yinqueshan bamboo slips are excavated

Every line we carry

Each one links to its source, what it means, and the shirt in any of our looks.

  1. All war is deception.

    Sun Tzu's first rule of conflict is that the other side should never see your real position. In competition, clarity about yourself and mystery to your rival is an edge. Keep your plans close until they are moving.

    The Art of War 1 (Laying Plans), our translation from the Chinese

  2. When able, look unable.

    Hide your strength and let opponents underestimate you. Overconfidence on their side is a gift on yours. Quiet competence beats loud display.

    The Art of War 1 (Laying Plans), our translation from the Chinese

  3. Strike where they're unprepared. Appear where they don't expect you.

    The best move hits a gap the other side has not covered. Surprise multiplies whatever force you have. Look for the place no one is watching.

    The Art of War 1 (Laying Plans), our translation from the Chinese

  4. Plan more and win. Plan less and lose. Plan nothing and then what?

    Before battle, Sun Tzu's generals counted every factor in the temple. The side that did the most reckoning usually won. Do your thinking before the contest starts.

    The Art of War 1 (Laying Plans), our translation from the Chinese

  5. I've heard of clumsy speed. I've never seen clever delay.

    A fast, imperfect campaign can succeed; a slow, brilliant one drains everything. Dragging things out is rarely smart. Move while the move still matters.

    The Art of War 2 (Waging War), our translation from the Chinese

  6. To break the enemy without fighting is the highest skill.

    Winning every battle is good; winning without one is better. The best result costs nothing in blood or resources. Look for the path where the fight never has to happen.

    The Art of War 3 (Attack by Stratagem), our translation from the Chinese

  7. Know them and know yourself, and a hundred battles hold no danger.

    Most defeats come from misreading the opponent or, worse, yourself. Honest knowledge of both sides removes the danger. Study the other side and audit your own.

    The Art of War 3 (Attack by Stratagem), our translation from the Chinese

  8. The best attack strikes the plan.

    Before attacking armies or walls, attack the strategy behind them. Disrupt an opponent's thinking and their strength has nowhere to go. Compete at the level of ideas first.

    The Art of War 3 (Attack by Stratagem), our translation from the Chinese

  9. First make yourself unbeatable. Then wait for their opening.

    The old masters secured their own position before thinking about victory. Defense is in your hands; the opening must come from the other side. Build a base you cannot lose from, then be patient.

    The Art of War 4 (Tactical Dispositions), our translation from the Chinese

  10. Being unbeatable is up to you. Being beaten is up to them.

    You control whether you can be beaten; your opponent controls whether they can. Spend your energy on the half that is yours. Fix your own weaknesses and let theirs show themselves.

    The Art of War 4 (Tactical Dispositions), our translation from the Chinese

  11. Winners win first, then fight. Losers fight first, then look for a win.

    Victory is decided by preparation before the contest starts. Those who rush in hoping to figure it out mid-fight usually lose. Do the winning in the planning.

    The Art of War 4 (Tactical Dispositions), our translation from the Chinese

  12. Rushing water moves boulders. That's momentum.

    Water is soft, but water in motion rolls stones. Force comes from momentum as much as mass. Build speed and direction and small things become unstoppable.

    The Art of War 5 (Energy), our translation from the Chinese

  13. Disorder grows out of order, fear out of courage, weakness out of strength.

    Every strength contains the seed of its opposite, and a skilled general can show one while holding the other. Order that relaxes turns to chaos; courage pushed too far tips into fear. Watch the edge where your strengths turn.

    The Art of War 5 (Energy), our translation from the Chinese

  14. Only five notes, yet more melodies than anyone can hear.

    A few basic elements combine into endless variety. Sun Tzu says tactics work the same way. Master the fundamentals and you have more options than you can count.

    The Art of War 5 (Energy), our translation from the Chinese

  15. An army is shaped like water.

    Water has no fixed form; it takes the shape the ground gives it. Sun Tzu wants strategy that flows the same way. Stay fluid enough to fit whatever terrain you meet.

    The Art of War 6 (Weak Points and Strong), our translation from the Chinese

  16. Avoid the solid. Strike the empty.

    Water runs around high ground and into low ground. A good strategist goes around strength and into weakness. Don't fight where your opponent is strongest.

    The Art of War 6 (Weak Points and Strong), our translation from the Chinese

  17. Water shapes its course to the ground. Shape your win to the opponent.

    Water doesn't follow a script; it reads the land. Winning comes from adapting to the specific opponent in front of you. Prepare a method, then let the situation shape it.

    The Art of War 6 (Weak Points and Strong), our translation from the Chinese

  18. War has no fixed shape and no constant form.

    No formula wins every time. The commander who changes with the opponent and still wins is, Sun Tzu says, close to divine. Hold your methods loosely.

    The Art of War 6 (Weak Points and Strong), our translation from the Chinese

  19. The good fighter moves others and isn't moved by them.

    Set the terms of the contest instead of reacting to someone else's. The one who dictates the time and place usually wins. Make others respond to you.

    The Art of War 6 (Weak Points and Strong), our translation from the Chinese

  20. Swift as wind, quiet as forest, fierce as fire, still as mountain.

    Four speeds for four moments: fast when moving, calm when waiting, all-in when attacking, immovable when holding. Mastery is knowing which one the moment needs. Takeda Shingen later flew these words on his banner.

    The Art of War 7 (Maneuvering), our translation from the Chinese

  21. Make the long way the short way, and trouble into advantage.

    The hardest skill in maneuvering is turning a detour into a shortcut and a setback into an edge. The indirect route is often the faster one. Look at each problem for the advantage hidden inside it.

    The Art of War 7 (Maneuvering), our translation from the Chinese

  22. Don't count on them not coming. Count on being ready.

    Hope is not a defense. Rely on your own readiness, not on the other side staying away. Prepare as if the hard day is coming, because it is.

    The Art of War 8 (Variation in Tactics), our translation from the Chinese

  23. Treat your soldiers like your children and they'll follow you into deep valleys.

    People follow leaders who care for them into places they would never go for pay alone. Loyalty is earned in how you treat your team on ordinary days. Look after your people and they will look after the mission.

    The Art of War 10 (Terrain), our translation from the Chinese

  24. Plunge them into deadly ground and they survive.

    With no way out, people find strength they did not know they had. Sun Tzu used this deliberately with his troops. Burning the boats can be how you finally commit.

    The Art of War 11 (The Nine Situations), our translation from the Chinese

  25. Anger turns back to joy. A ruined state never comes back.

    Moods pass but the damage done in them can be permanent. Sun Tzu warns rulers never to start a war out of anger. Wait until the feeling passes before you make the move you can't undo.

    The Art of War 12 (The Attack by Fire), our translation from the Chinese