Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    From $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Art of War
    The Art of War
    The Art of War
    Ebook136 pages2 hours

    The Art of War

    By Sun Tzu

    4.5/5

    ()

    Switch to audiobook
    Read preview

    About this ebook

    The Art of War' is an ancient Chinese military treatise written by Sun Tzu, a high-ranking military general, strategist and tactician. The text is composed of 13 chapters, each of which is devoted to one aspect of warfare. It is commonly known to be the definitive work on military strategy and tactics of its time. It has been the most famous and influential of China's Seven Military Classics, and for the last two thousand years it remained the most important military treatise in Asia, where even the common people knew it by name.
    Sun Tzu believed war to be an essential wrongdoing that must be got rid of whenever it can be. The war should be fought fleetingly to reduce economic decline. Sun Tzu harped on the significance of placement in military tactics. The planning to position an army must be dependent on the stipulations in the physical surroundings and the subjective thoughts of various militants in those conditions. He believed that strategy cannot be considered as planning with respect to glancing through a previously decided list. It is better represented by the fact that it needs speedy and suitable reactions to altering situations. Planning gives results in restrained surroundings. But in case of an altering environment, similar plans come in each other's ways and give rise to undesired outcomes. It has had an influence on Eastern and Western military thinking, business tactics, legal strategy and beyond.

    ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
    Sun Tzu, also known as Sun Wu or Sunzi, was an ancient Chinese military strategist believed to be the author of the acclaimed military text, 'The Art of War'. Details about Sun Tzu's background and life are uncertain, although he is believed to have lived C 544-496 BCE. Sun Tzu believed in the use of the military sciences to effect outcomes that would result in peace. Through 'The Art of War', Sun Tzu's theories and strategies have influenced military leaders and campaigns throughout time, including the samurai of ancient and early-modern Japan, and more recently Ho Chi Minh of the Viet Cong and American generals Norman Swarzkopf, Jr. and Colin Powell during the Persian Gulf War in the 1990s.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGeneral Press
    Release dateJan 16, 2020
    ISBN9789380914893
    Author

    Sun Tzu

    Sun Tzu (544 B.C.–496 B.C.) was an ancient Chinese military general, strategist, and philosopher from the Zhou Dynasty, who has had a significant impact on Chinese and Asian history and culture, both as an author of The Art of War as well as through legend.

    Read more from Sun Tzu

    Related to The Art of War

    Related ebooks

    Wars & Military For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • UNLIMITED

      10 Maxims Ancient For Modern Militaries

      May 16, 2019

      Sun Tzu is the ultimate military guru and The Art Of War is the ultimate military self-help book. It consists of 13 chapters containing a total of 385 maxims. Most are common sense, a few are completely inscrutable, while others remain universal trut

      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      How To Fight A War q+a With Dr Mike Martin

      Jan 19, 2023

      War is a complicated and destructive force that has consumed and bedevilled humanity for many thousands of years. Many commanders across history have made terrible decisions on how to conduct warfare, leading to innumerable military and civilian deat

      9 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      A Good Military Leader

      May 19, 2021

      A Good Military Leader
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Art of War

      Aug 7, 2018

      The Art of War
      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Q&A WITH ANDY MCNAB

      Oct 26, 2023

      Q&A WITH ANDY MCNAB
      7 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Erik Prince

      Aug 2, 2019

      Erik Prince
      14 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Line Must Hold

      Nov 25, 2019

      The Line Must Hold
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Final Analysis

      Dec 14, 2021

      Most of my historical knowledge was garnered studying The Adventures of Asterix as a child, before I graduated to Sven Hassel, Sharpe and Horatio Hornblower in my teenage years. Had I sat an exam on the periods these learned texts covered, I would mo

      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Original Grognards

      Mar 7, 2022

      The Original Grognards
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Sun Tzu

      Feb 28, 2020

      Sun Tzu
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Command Performance

      Oct 24, 2023

      Command Performance
      10 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Reconsidering Troop Ratings

      Jan 7, 2022

      It is, of course, human nature to feel comfortable with ideas that are familiar. Indeed, even those who proclaim a desire to see interesting new ideas in their games can find that some interesting new ideas are actually just a bit too interesting. As

      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      U.S. Imperatives On North Korea

      May 14, 2018

      Seven pointers for the U.S. as it prepares for potential negotiations with Kim Jong Un’s regime and South Korea. 1. Listen to the South Koreans. And spend less time focusing on Kim Jong Un. They have a clear-eyed view of him and the dystopian kingdo

      1 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Editorial

      Sep 7, 2021

      The question is, of course, how Wellington knew what was on the other side of the hill; to the lay person it might sound like brilliance or some sort of mystic ability. In war, one does not simply ‘guess’, one gets reports from eyes on the ground. To

      1 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Mixed Messages Of 21st-century Recruitment

      Nov 1, 2018

      “MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES NEED TO BE CAPABLE OF DEALING WITH DEATH AND DISASTER ON A DAILY BASIS” Recent televised attempts by the UK Ministry of Defence to encourage young people to join up are creating a great deal of controversy. In response,

      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Leaving Afghanistan Behind

      Nov 1, 2021

      Leaving Afghanistan Behind
      22 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Casablanca Conference

      Nov 2, 2022

      The Casablanca Conference
      9 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Political Battles

      Sep 1, 2022

      Command: The Politics of Military Operations from Korea to Ukraine by Lawrence Freedman Allen Lane, 608 pages, £30 When Britain’s leading historian of military strategy writes of the influence of politics on postwar global conflict, and includes a ch

      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Ulric Cross 1917-2013

      Oct 26, 2023

      Ulric Cross 1917-2013
      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Fighting For Information

      Sep 7, 2021

      Fighting For Information
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Self-defence Has No Rules

      Jan 29, 2024

      I am a ‘laaitie’ from Belhar in the Western Cape of South Africa. This region forms part of the notorious Cape Flats area, and historically segregated as one of the largest coloured communities originally in the Western Cape. This is where I grew up,

      6 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Art of War

    4.5/5

    37 ratings2 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Such an amazing book to have an overview of tackling life challenges.
    • 5/5
      good good good good good good good good good good

    Book preview

    The Art of War - Sun Tzu

    Contents

    Introduction

    About the Author

    Chapter 1

    Laying Plans

    Chapter 2

    Waging War

    Chapter 3

    Attack by Stratagem

    Chapter 4

    Tactical Dispositions

    Chapter 5

    Energy

    Chapter 6

    Weak Points and Strong

    Chapter 7

    Manoeuvring

    Chapter 8

    Variation of Tactics

    Chapter 9

    The Army on the March

    Chapter 10

    Terrain

    Chapter 11

    The Nine Situations

    Chapter 12

    The Attack by Fire

    Chapter 13

    The Use of Spies

    Introduction

    ‘The Art of War’ is an ancient Chinese military treatise written by Sun Tzu, a high-ranking military general, strategist and tactician. The text is composed of 13 chapters, each of which is devoted to one aspect of warfare. It is commonly known to be the definitive work on military strategy and tactics of its time. It has been the most famous and influential of China’s Seven Military Classics, and for the last two thousand years it remained the most important military treatise in Asia, where even the common people knew it by name.

    Sun Tzu believed war to be an essential wrongdoing that must be got rid of whenever it can be. The war should be fought fleetingly to reduce economic decline. Sun Tzu harped on the significance of placement in military tactics. The planning to position an army must be dependent on the stipulations in the physical surroundings and the subjective thoughts of various militants in those conditions. He believed that strategy cannot be considered as planning with respect to glancing through a previously decided list. It is better represented by the fact that it needs speedy and suitable reactions to altering situations. Planning gives results in restrained surroundings. But in case of an altering environment, similar plans come in each other’s ways and give rise to undesired outcomes. It has had an influence on Eastern and Western military thinking, business tactics, legal strategy and beyond.

    About the Author

    Sun Tzu, also known as Sun Wu or Sunzi, was an ancient Chinese military strategist believed to be the author of the acclaimed military text, ‘The Art of War’. Details about Sun Tzu’s background and life are uncertain, although he is believed to have lived C 544-496 BCE. Sun Tzu believed in the use of the military sciences to effect outcomes that would result in peace. Through ‘The Art of War’, Sun Tzu’s theories and strategies have influenced military leaders and campaigns throughout time, including the samurai of ancient and early-modern Japan, and more recently Ho Chi Minh of the Viet Cong and American generals Norman Swarzkopf, Jr. and Colin Powell during the Persian Gulf War in the 1990s.

    Chapter 1

    Laying Plans

    1. Sun Tzu said: The art of war is of vital importance to the State.

    2. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.

    3. The art of war, then, is governed by five constant factors, to be taken into account in one’s deliberations, when seeking to determine the conditions obtaining in the field.

    4. These are: (1) The Moral Law; (2) Heaven; (3) Earth; (4) The Commander; (5) Method and discipline.

    5, 6. The Moral Law causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler, so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger.

    7. Heaven signifies night and day, cold and heat, times and seasons.

    8. Earth comprises distances, great and small; danger and secu­rity; open ground and narrow passes; the chances of life and death.

    9. The Commander stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerity, benevolence, courage and strictness.

    The five cardinal virtues of the Chinese are

    (1) humanity or benevolence; (2) uprightness of mind; (3) self-respect, self-control, or ‘proper feeling’;

    (4) wisdom; (5) sincerity or good faith.

    10. By Method and discipline are to be understood the marshalling of the army in its proper subdivisions, the grada­tions of rank among the officers, the maintenance of roads by which supplies may reach the army, and the control of military expenditure.

    11. These five heads should be familiar to every general: he who knows them will be victorious; he who knows them will not fail.

    12. Therefore, in your deliberations, when seeking to determine the military conditions, let them be made the basis of a compar­ison, in this wise.

    13. (1) Which of the two sovereigns is imbued with the Moral law?

    (2) Which of the two generals has most ability?

    (3) With whom lie the advantages derived from Heaven and Earth?

    (4) On which side is discipline most rigorously enforced?

    Tu Mu alludes to the remarkable story of Ts‘ao Ts‘ao (A.D. 155-220), who was such a strict disciplinarian that once, in accordance with his own severe regulations against injury to standing crops, he condemned himself to death for having allowed his horse to stay into a field of corn! However, in lieu of losing his head, he was persuaded to satisfy his sense of justice by cutting off his hair. ‘When you lay down a law, see that it is not disobeyed; if it is disobeyed, the offender must be put to death.’

    (5) Which army is the stronger?

    (6) On which side are officers and men more highly trained?

    ‘Without constant practice, the officers will be nervous and undecided when mustering for battle; without constant prac­tice, the general will be wavering and irresolute when the crisis is at hand.’

    (7) In which army is there the greater constancy both in reward and punishment?

    That is, on which side is there the most absolute certainty that merit will be properly rewarded and misdeeds summarily punished?

    14. By means of these seven considerations I can forecast victory or defeat.

    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

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1
    pFad - Phonifier reborn

    Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

    Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


    Alternative Proxies:

    Alternative Proxy

    pFad Proxy

    pFad v3 Proxy

    pFad v4 Proxy