The art of war — Sun Tzu

This is the third review of Hooked on the book. This time I will be commenting on the book “The art of war” by Sun Tzu.

This book is kind of a special one. It is an ancient Chinese military treatise from the Late Spring and Autumn Period, around V century BC. The author is thought to be Sun Tzu (“Master Sun”, also spelled Sunzi), a great and renowned military strategist whose existence is questionable. Despite of that this book is considered to be the most influential strategy text in East Asian warfare. It is also known to have had an important influence in both Eastern and Western military thinking, business tactics, legal strategy & lifestyles.

The author

As it is a historic and traditional text it is believed that different parts of the text might correspond to different moments in history. Sun Tzu life it is said that happened in the VI century BC, however The art of war earliest parts is thought to be written 100 years later. As it usually happens with historical manuscripts, different version and editions are made by different people as time goes by. This is the case of this book and still the authorship is not clear. However, it is clear it is still a reference in modern days to our society, therefore its content should be what we focus on and not otherwise.

The context

This book describes a military reunion in which generals and different senior military and security Chinese officials take part. They will share their ideas and explain how to behave and what measures to take in the different stages and levels of a war.

This content might seem very far away from everyday life however, it must be understood in a metaphoric sense, so the ideas of the text can be applied in current competitive situations, business, education, or simply in life.

This book is not to read all at once. From my experience I would recommend to read 5 to 10 minutes and leave it a side, to reflect on what you have read during your day. The next time you continue you will have lived what you read and in this way you will interiorize better the text.

The 13 chapters

1. Laying Plans: Explores the five fundamental factors (the Way, seasons, terrain, leadership, and management) and seven elements that determine the outcomes of military engagements.
2. Waging War: The economy of warfare and winning decisive engagements quickly. Successful military campaigns require limited cost.
3. Attack by Stratagem: Strength as unity, not size. Five factors to win the war: Attack, Strategy, Alliances, Army and Cities.
4. Tactical Dispositions: The importance of defending existing positions. The importance of recognizing strategic opportunities, and not to create opportunities for the enemy.
5. Use of Energy: Creativity and timing in building momentum.
6. Weak Points and Strong: The relative weakness of the enemy and how to use it as an opportunity. The importance of how to respond to changes.
7. Maneuvering an Army: The dangers of direct conflict and how to win these confrontations.
8. Variation of Tactics: The need for flexibility and how to respond to shifting circumstances successfully.
9. The Army on the March: How to move in different situations in enemy territories and evaluating other’s intentions
10. Classification of Terrain: The three general areas of resistance (distance, dangers and barriers) and the different pros and cons that arise from them.
11. The Nine Situations: common stage in a campaign. From scattering to deadly and where to focus.
12. Attack by Fire: The general use of weapons. The use of the environment as a weapon. The five targets for attack, the five types of environmental attack and the appropriate responses.
13. Use of Spies: Developing good information sources, and specifies the five types of intelligence sources and how to best manage each of them.

Quotes I liked

• The art of war is based in deceive.
• In war, the big goal is victory and to the long campaigns
• It is fundamental to be victorious, to know when to wait and catch the enemy unprepared.
• The skilled military will only start a combat when he has achieved victory. The one destined to lose will start by initiating the battle and then will look for the triumph.
• Hiding the order underneath the caos is just an organizational issue; hiding bravery underneath cowardice shows a latent energy and masking strength under weakness appearance is the result of a series of tactical decisions.
• In war, strong must be avoided and weak must be attacked.
• It is needed to reflect and deliberate before taking any action.
• The most skilled military chiefs consider both the advantages and disadvantages
• Peace proposals that not carrie an arrangement indicate a conspiracy.
• If you know your enemy and yourself, you will sure win. But if you know the sky and the earth you will achieve a full victory.
• It is necessary to prohibit the bad omens and keep away the superstitious doubts. This way disasters will not be feared.
• To attack we have to count with enough resources. The material to start a fire must be always ready.
• The aim of espionage is to get to know the enemy.

Conclusion

From this book I have retained that strategy is more important than I thought. It will give you leverage if well used to achieve your goals, whatever those are. This book talks about warfare but I read it in my mind as the battle I am in is the world we live in and the victory is to overcome myself and make progress.

I think I would not recommend this book to everyone, just because of its format ( chapters with separate and not always connected bullet points). However for those who enjoy to be philosophical and enjoy questioning and reflecting upon what is read, then this book is for you.

Thank you for reading as always!