The 13 chapters
The Art of War is divided into 13 chapters (or pian); the collection is referred to as being one zhuàn ("whole" or alternatively "chronicle").
The Art of War chapter names in translations by Giles, Wing, Sawyer, and Chow-Hou
| Chapter |
Lionel Giles (1910) |
R.L. Wing (1988) |
Ralph D. Sawyer (1996) |
Chow-Hou Wee (2003) |
| I |
Laying Plans |
The Calculations |
Initial Estimations |
Detail Assessment and Planning
(Chinese: 始計) |
| II |
Waging War |
The Challenge |
Waging War |
Waging War
(Chinese: 作戰) |
| III |
Attack by Stratagem |
The Plan of Attack |
Planning Offensives |
Strategic Attack
(Chinese: 謀攻) |
| IV |
Tactical Dispositions |
Positioning |
Military Disposition |
Disposition of the Army
(Chinese: 軍形) |
| V |
Use of Energy |
Directing |
Strategic Military Power |
Forces
(Chinese: 兵勢) |
| VI |
Weak Points and Strong |
Illusion and Reality |
Vacuity and Substance |
Weaknesses and Strengths
(Chinese: 虛實) |
| VII |
Maneuvering an Army |
Engaging The Force |
Military Combat |
Military Maneuvers
(Chinese: 軍爭) |
| VIII |
Variation of Tactics |
The Nine Variations |
Nine Changes |
Variations and Adaptability
(Chinese: 九變) |
| IX |
The Army on the March |
Moving The Force |
Maneuvering the Army |
Movement and Development of Troops
(Chinese: 行軍) |
| X |
Classification of Terrain |
Situational Positioning |
Configurations of Terrain |
Terrain
(Chinese: 地形) |
| XI |
The Nine Situations |
The Nine Situations |
Nine Terrains |
The Nine Battlegrounds
(Chinese: 九地) |
| XII |
Attack by Fire |
The Fiery Attack |
Incendiary Attacks |
Attacking with Fire
(Chinese: 火攻) |
| XIII |
Use of Spies |
The Use of Intelligence |
Employing Spies |
Intelligence and Espionage
(Chinese: 用間) |
The beginning of The Art of War
in a classical bamboo book from
the reign of the Qianlong Emperor
Chapter summary
1: Detail Assessment and Planning, explores the five fundamental factors (the Way, seasons, terrain, leadership, and management) and seven elements that determine the outcomes of military engagements. By thinking, assessing and comparing these points, a commander can calculate his chances of victory. Habitual deviation from these calculations will ensure failure via improper action. The text stresses that war is a very grave matter for the state and must not be commenced without due consideration.
2: Waging War, explains how to understand the economy of warfare and how success requires winning decisive engagements quickly. This section advises that successful military campaigns require limiting the cost of competition and conflict.
3: Strategic Attack defines the source of strength as unity, not size, and discusses the five factors that are needed to succeed in any war. In order of importance, these critical factors are: Attack, Strategy, Alliances, Army and Cities.
4: Disposition of the Army explains the importance of defending existing positions until a commander is capable of advancing from those positions in safety. It teaches commanders the importance of recognizing strategic opportunities, and teaches not to create opportunities for the enemy.
5: Forces explains the use of creativity and timing in building an army's momentum.
6: Weaknesses and Strengths explains how an army's opportunities come from the openings in the environment caused by the relative weakness of the enemy and how to respond to changes in the fluid battlefield over a given area.
7: Military Maneuvers explains the dangers of direct conflict and how to win those confrontations when they are forced upon the commander.
8: Variations and Adaptability focuses on the need for flexibility in an army's responses. It explains how to respond to shifting circumstances successfully.
9: Movement and Development of Troops describes the different situations in which an army finds itself as it moves through new enemy territories, and how to respond to these situations. Much of this section focuses on evaluating the intentions of others.
10: Terrain looks at the three general areas of resistance (distance, dangers and barriers) and the six types of ground positions that arise from them. Each of these six field positions offers certain advantages and disadvantages.
11: The Nine Battlegrounds describes the nine common situations (or stages) in a campaign, from scattering to deadly, and the specific focus that a commander will need in order to successfully navigate them.
12: Attacking with Fire explains the general use of weapons and the specific use of the environment as a weapon. This section examines the five targets for attack, the five types of environmental attack and the appropriate responses to such attacks.
13: Intelligence and Espionage focuses on the importance of developing good information sources, and specifies the five types of intelligence sources and how to best manage each of them.
Quotations
Chinese
Verses from the book occur in modern daily Chinese idioms and phrases, such as the last verse of Chapter 3:
故曰：知彼知己，百戰不殆；不知彼而知己，一勝一負；不知彼，不知己，每戰必殆。
So it is said that if you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be put at risk even in a hundred battles.
If you only know yourself, but not your opponent, you may win or may lose.
If you know neither yourself nor your enemy, you will always endanger yourself.
This has been more tersely interpreted and condensed into the Chinese modern proverb:
知己知彼，百戰不殆。 (Zhi ji zhi bi, bai zhàn bù dài.)
If you know both yourself and your enemy, you can win numerous (literally, "a hundred") battles without jeopardy.
English
Common examples can also be found in English use, such as verse 18 in Chapter 1:
兵者，詭道也。故能而示之不能，用而示之不用，近而示之遠，遠而示之近。
All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when we are able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must appear inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.
This has been abbreviated to its most basic form and condensed into the English modern proverb:
All warfare is based on deception.
Art Of War Painting by Jinhyeok Lee
Cultural impact
Military and intelligence applications
Across East Asia, The Art of War was part of the syllabus for potential candidates of military service examinations.
During the Sengoku period, the Japanese daimyo named Takeda Shingen (1521–1573) is said to have become almost invincible in all battles without relying on guns, because he studied The Art of War. The book even gave him the inspiration for his famous battle standard "Furinkazan" (Wind, Forest, Fire and Mountain), meaning fast as the wind, silent as a forest, ferocious as fire and immovable as a mountain.
The translator Samuel B. Griffith offers a chapter on "Sun Tzu and Mao Tse-Tung" where The Art of War is cited as influencing Mao's On Guerrilla Warfare, On the Protracted War and Strategic Problems of China's Revolutionary War, and includes Mao's quote: "We must not belittle the saying in the book of Sun Wu Tzu, the great military expert of ancient China, 'Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a thousand battles without disaster."
During the Vietnam War, some Vietcong officers studied The Art of War and reportedly could recite entire passages from memory.
General Võ Nguyên Giáp successfully implemented tactics described in The Art of War during the Battle of Dien Bien Phu ending major French involvement in Indochina and leading to the accords which partitioned Vietnam into North and South. General Võ, later the main PVA military commander in the Vietnam War, was an avid student and practitioner of Sun Tzu's ideas. America's defeat there, more than any other event, brought Sun Tzu to the attention of leaders of American military theory.
Finnish Field Marshal Mannerheim and general Aksel Airo were avid readers of Art of War. They both read it in French; Airo kept the French translation of the book on his bedside table in his quarters.
The Department of the Army in the United States, through its Command and General Staff College, lists The Art of War as one example of a book that may be kept at a military unit's library.
The Art of War is listed on the Marine Corps Professional Reading Program (formerly known as the Commandant's Reading List). It is recommended reading for all United States Military Intelligence personnel.
According to some authors, the strategy of deception from The Art of War was studied and widely used by the KGB: "I will force the enemy to take our strength for weakness, and our weakness for strength, and thus will turn his strength into weakness". The book is widely cited by KGB officers in charge of disinformation operations in Vladimir Volkoff's novel Le Montage.
Sun Tzu
Application outside the military
The Art of War has been applied to many fields well outside of the military. Much of the text is about how to fight wars without actually having to do battle: It gives tips on how to outsmart one's opponent so that physical battle is not necessary. As such, it has found application as a training guide for many competitive endeavors that do not involve actual combat.
Many business books have applied the lessons taken from the book to office politics and corporate business strategy. Many Japanese companies make the book required reading for their key executives. The book is also popular among Western business circles citing its utilitarian value regarding management practices. Many entrepreneurs and corporate executives have turned to it for inspiration and advice on how to succeed in competitive business situations. The book has also been applied to the field of education.
The Art of War has been the subject of legal books and legal articles on the trial process, including negotiation tactics and trial strategy.
The Art of War has also been applied in the world of sports. National Football League coach Bill Belichick is known to have read the book and used its lessons to gain insights in preparing for games. Australian cricket as well as Brazilian association football coaches Luiz Felipe Scolari and Carlos Alberto Parreira are known to have embraced the text. Scolari made the Brazilian World Cup squad of 2002 study the ancient work during their successful campaign.
The Art of War is often quoted while developing tactics and/or strategy in Electronic Sports. Particularly, one of the fundamental books about e-sports, "Play To Win" by Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate David Sirlin, is actually just an analysis about possible applications of the ideas from The Art of War in modern Electronic Sports.
The Art of War was released in 2014 as an e-book companion alongside the Art of War DLC for Europa Universalis IV, a PC strategy game by Paradox Development Studios, with a forward by Thomas Johansson.
Running Press miniature edition of the 1994 Ralph D. Sawyer
translation, printed in 2003
Notable translations
The Book has been translated into Assamese by UTPAL DATTA and published by ASOM SAHITYA SABHA- the largest and oldest literary organisation of the state.
Sun Tzu on the Art of War. Lionel Giles, trans. London: Luzac and Company. 1910.
The Art of War. Samuel B. Griffith, trans. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 1963. ISBN 0-19-501476-6. Part of the UNESCO Collection of Representative Works.
Sun Tzu, The Art of War. Thomas Cleary, trans. Boston-Shaftsbury: Shambhala. 1987.
The Art of Warfare. Roger Ames, trans. Random House. 1993. ISBN 0-345-36239-X..
The Art of War. John Minford, trans. New York: Viking. 2002. ISBN 0-670-03156-9.
The Art of War: Sunzi's Military Methods. Victor H. Mair, trans. New York: Columbia University Press. 2007. ISBN 978-0-231-13382-1.
The Art of War: Spirituality for Conflict. Thomas Huynh, trans. Skylight Paths Publishing. 2008. ISBN 978-1594732447.
The book was translated into Manchu as ᠴᠣᠣᡥᠠᡳ
ᠪᠠᡳᡨᠠ
ᠪᡝ
ᡤᡳᠰᡠᡵᡝᠩᡤᡝ Wylie: Tchauhai paita be gisurengge, Möllendorff: Coohai baita de gisurengge, Discourse on the art of War.
The first Manchu translations of Chinese works were the Liu-t'ao, Su-shu, and San-lueh – all Chinese military texts dedicated to the arts of war due to the Manchu interests in the topic, like Sun-Tzu's work The Art of War. The military related texts which were translated into Manchu from Chinese were translated by Dahai. Manchu translations of Chinese texts included the Ming penal code and military texts were performed by Dahai. These translations were requested of Dahai by Nurhaci. The military text Wu-tzu was translated into Manchu along with Sun-Tzu's work The Art of War. Chinese history, Chinese law, and Chinese military theory classical texts were translated into Manchu during the rule of Hong Taiji in Mukden with Manchus placing significance upon military and governance related Chinese texts. A Manchu translation was made of the military themed Chinese novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms.
Chinese literature, military theory and legal texts were translated into Manchu by Dahai and Erdeni. The translations were ordered in 1629. The translation of the military texts San-lüeh, Su-shu, and the Ta Ming hui-tien (the Ming law) done by Dahai was ordered by Nurhaci. While it was mainly administrative and ethical guidance which made up most of San-lüeh and Su Shu, military science was indeed found in the Liu-t'ao and Chinese military manuals were eagerly translated by the Manchus and the Manchus were also attracted to the military content in Romance of the Three Kingdoms which is why it was translated.
Another Manchu translation was made by Aisin Gioro Qiying.
Today, however, many people think that there was no Sun Tzu: Instead, they argue, the book is a compilation of generations of Chinese theories and teachings on military strategy.
Whether or not Sun Tzu was a real person, it’s clear that “he” was very wise: The Art of War still resonates with readers today.
The Puzzle as follows : n42 A.BCD w083 F.GHJ
1: Find the marker that has the initials "KJR" on it. This marker has a year of birth and year of passing. Subtract the BIRTH year from the PASSING year.
"A" is the remainder.
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2: Find the marker that has the initials "WAR" on it. This 2018-interred resident's marker has a few letters to their name.
-- B1: Please COUNT the letters in the first name
-- B2: Please COUNT the Middle Initial and Last Name together
"B" is the remainder of Subtracting B1 from B2
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3: Find the marker with the initials "MJR" on it. This resident was interred a few years ago.
-- C1: Please COUNT the letters in the First Name
-- C2: Please COUNT the letters in the Middle Name
"C" is the remainder of Subtracting C2 from C1
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4: At the road, just west of these markers, is a LOT and SECTION imprint in the cement curb.
-- D1: What is the LOT number?
-- D2: What is the SECTION number?
"D" is the SECOND digit of "MJR" passing DAY OF MONTH added to D1
|
5: Please ADD the DATE of PASSING from "MJR"'s marker to the "D2" SECTION number.
This answer is "F".
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6: Return to the "KJR" marker. What is the last digit of their YEAR OF PASSING?
This answer is "G".
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7: What chapter number is the "Variations and Adaptability" in the book, "The Art Of War"?
This answer is "H"
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8: Return to the "MJR" marker.
-- J1: Chapter number of "Disposition of the Army"
-- J1: What is the LAST digit of the YEAR of PASSING for "MJR"?
To find "J", subtract J1 from J2. This answer is "J".
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Simple research at the site, as well as the information contained above, should provide you the answers you seek.
The final container is within St. Hedwig's Cemetery and is *ONLY* available during times the cemetery is open.
Posted hours are at the entry gates at both the North (Warren Rd.) and South (Ford Rd.) Entrances.