Sun Tzu Tips

When the force of the flames has reached its height, follow it up with an attack, if that is practicable; if not, stay where you are.

Moor your craft higher up than the enemy, and facing the sun.

Ground the possession of which imports great advantage to either side, is contentious ground.

If, on the other hand, in the midst of difficulties we are always ready to seize an advantage, we may extricate ourselves from misfortune.

Numerical weakness comes from having to prepare against possible attacks; numerical strength, from compelling our adversary to make these preparations against us.

A clever general, therefore, avoids an army when its spirit is keen, but attacks it when it is sluggish and inclined to return. This is the art of studying moods.

He burns his boats and breaks his cooking-pots; like a shepherd driving a flock of sheep, he drives his men this way and that, and none knows whither he is going.

Sun Tzŭ said: In the operations of war, where there are in the field a thousand swift chariots, as many heavy chariots, and a hundred thousand mail-clad soldiers,

The rising of birds in their flight is the sign of an ambuscade.

A whole army may be robbed of its spirit;

It is a military axiom not to advance uphill against the enemy, nor to oppose him when he comes downhill.

Now, when your weapons are dulled, your ardour damped, your strength exhausted and your treasure spent, other chieftains will spring up to take advantage of your extremity. Then no man, however wise, will be able to avert the consequences that must ensue.

The clever combatant looks to the effect of combined energy, and does not require too much from individuals.

He who knows these things, and in fighting puts his knowledge into practice, will win his battles. He who knows them not, nor practises them, will surely be defeated.

Rapidity is the essence of war:

Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and know yourself, your victory will not stand in doubt; if you know Heaven and know Earth, you may make your victory complete.

Thus the energy developed by good fighting men is as the momentum of a round stone rolled down a mountain thousands of feet in height. So much on the subject of energy.

Though the enemy be stronger in numbers, we may prevent him from fighting. Scheme so as to discover his plans and the likelihood of their success.

Hence the enlightened ruler is heedful, and the good general full of caution. This is the way to keep a country at peace and an army intact.

Ground which can be abandoned but is hard to re-occupy is called entangling.

With regard to ground of this nature, be before the enemy in occupying the raised and sunny spots, and carefully guard your line of supplies.

Carefully study the well-being of your men,

Do not pursue an enemy who simulates flight; do not attack soldiers whose temper is keen.

Success in warfare is gained by carefully accommodating ourselves to the enemy’s purpose.

Sun Tzŭ said: In war, the general receives his commands from the sovereign, collects his army and concentrates his forces.

Reduce the hostile chiefs by inflicting damage on them;

When you surround an army, leave an outlet free.

There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.

It is the business of a general to be quiet and thus ensure secrecy; upright and just, and thus maintain order.

If you are anxious to fight, you should not go to meet the invader near a river which he has to cross.

The direct and the indirect lead on to each other in turn. It is like moving in a circle—you never come to an end. Who can exhaust the possibilities of their combination?

Knowing the place and the time of the coming battle, we may concentrate from the greatest distances in order to fight.

Thus it may be known that the leader of armies is the arbiter of the people’s fate, the man on whom it depends whether the nation shall be in peace or in peril.

If forced to fight in a salt-marsh, you should have water and grass near you, and get your back to a clump of trees.

In making tactical dispositions, the highest pitch you can attain is to conceal them;

If there is disturbance in the camp, the general’s authority is weak. If the banners and flags are shifted about, sedition is afoot. If the officers are angry, it means that the men are weary.

Having doomed spies, doing certain things openly for purposes of deception, and allowing our own spies to know of them and report them to the enemy.

Now an army is exposed to six several calamities, not arising from natural causes, but from faults for which the general is responsible. These are: (1) Flight; (2) insubordination; (3) collapse; (4) ruin; (5) disorganisation; (6) rout.

That the impact of your army may be like a grindstone dashed against an egg—this is effected by the science of weak points and strong.

There are roads which must not be followed,

If birds gather on any spot, it is unoccupied.

Thus, to take a long and circuitous route, after enticing the enemy out of the way, and though starting after him, to contrive to reach the goal before him, shows knowledge of the artifice of deviation.

The skilful soldier does not raise a second levy, neither are his supply-waggons loaded more than twice.

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

Anger may in time change to gladness; vexation may be succeeded by content.

In dry, level country, take up an easily accessible position with rising ground to your right and on your rear,

To muster his host and bring it into danger:—this may be termed the business of the general.

The host thus forming a single united body, is it impossible either for the brave to advance alone, or for the cowardly to retreat alone.

The principle on which to manage an army is to set up one standard of courage which all must reach.

If we do not wish to fight, we can prevent the enemy from engaging us even though the lines of our encampment be merely traced out on the ground. All we need do is to throw something odd and unaccountable in his way.

The end and aim of spying in all its five varieties is knowledge of the enemy; and this knowledge can only be derived, in the first instance, from the converted spy.

If it is possible to make an assault with fire from without, do not wait for it to break out within, but deliver your attack at a favourable moment.

If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.

If in training soldiers commands are habitually enforced, the army will be well-disciplined; if not, its discipline will be bad.

With his forces intact he will dispute the mastery of the Empire, and thus, without losing a man, his triumph will be complete.

No ruler should put troops into the field merely to gratify his own spleen; no general should fight a battle simply out of pique.

Of old, the rise of the Yin dynasty

If soldiers are punished before they have grown attached to you, they will not prove submissive; and, unless submissive, then will be practically useless. If, when the soldiers have become attached to you, punishments are not enforced, they will still be useless.

Hence that general is skilful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skilful in defence whose opponent does not know what to attack.

If those who are sent to draw water begin by drinking themselves, the army is suffering from thirst.