Sun Tzu Sun is his family name, and Tzu is an honorific in classic Chinese, roughly equivalent to Sir, or the Learned Gentleman. His given name is Wu (武). His style name is Changqing (長卿). Sun Tzu is traditionally believed to be the author of The Art of War, sometimes called the Sun Tzu, an [...]

1. Sun Tzu said: Raising a host of a hundred thousand men and marching them great distances entails heavy loss on the people and a drain on the resources of the State. The daily expenditure will amount to a thousand ounces of silver. There will be commotion at home and abroad, and men will drop [...]

1. Sun Tzu said: There are five ways of attacking with fire. The first is to burn soldiers in their camp; the second is to burn stores; the third is to burn baggage trains; the fourth is to burn arsenals and magazines; the fifth is to hurl dropping fire amongst the enemy. 2. In order [...]

1. Sun Tzu said: The art of war recognizes nine varieties of ground: (1) Dispersive ground; (2) facile ground; (3) contentious ground; (4) open ground; (5) ground of intersecting highways; (6) serious ground; (7) difficult ground; (8) hemmed-in ground; (9) desperate ground. 2. When a chieftain is fighting in his own territory, it is dispersive [...]

1. Sun Tzu said: We may distinguish six kinds of terrain, to wit: (1) Accessible ground; (2) entangling ground; (3) temporizing ground; (4) narrow passes; (5) precipitous heights; (6) positions at a great distance from the enemy. 2. Ground which can be freely traversed by both sides is called accessible. 3. With regard to ground [...]

9. THE ARMY ON THE MARCH 1. Sun Tzu said: We come now to the question of encamping the army, and observing signs of the enemy. Pass quickly over mountains, and keep in the neighborhood of valleys. 2. Camp in high places, facing the sun. Do not climb heights in order to fight. So much [...]

8. VARIATION IN TACTICS 1. Sun Tzu said: In war, the general receives his commands from the sovereign, collects his army and concentrates his forces 2. When in difficult country, do not encamp. In country where high roads intersect, join hands with your allies. Do not linger in dangerously isolated positions. In hemmed-in situations, you [...]

1. Sun Tzu said: In war, the general receives his commands from the sovereign. 2. Having collected an army and concentrated his forces, he must blend and harmonize the different elements there of before pitching his camp. 3. After that, comes tactical maneuvering, than which there is nothing more difficult. The difficulty of tactical maneuvering [...]

1. Sun Tzu said: Whoever is first in the field and waits the coming of the enemy, will be fresh for the fight; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted. 2. Therefore the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy’s [...]

1. Sun Tzu said: The control of a large force is the same principle as the control of a few men: it is merely a question of dividing up their numbers. 2. Fighting with a large army under your command is nowise different from fighting with a small one: it is merely a question of [...]