TABLE OF CONTENTS
SUN TZU ON THE ART OF WAR
About Sun Tzu himself this is all that Ssu-ma Ch`ien...
I have heard that the ancients used bows...
It is stated in Ssu-ma Ch`ien's history that...
Military writers look upon Sun Wu as the...
But once refer the work to the 5th century or...
The sentence quoted above from VI. ss. 21 hardly strikes...
The Text of Sun Tzu -------------------
Because of the numerous mistakes in the text...
2. MENG SHIH. The commentary which has come...
7. CHIA LIN is known to have lived under...
10. HO YEN-HSI of the Sung dynasty. The...
Sun Wu's saying, that in war one cannot...
Military weapons are the means used by the...
We have seen that the great Chu Hsi held Sun...
Bibliography ------------
7. LI CHING PING FA (not to be confounded...
9. The mistake is natural enough. Native critics refer to a work of...
34. With Wu Yuan himself the case is just the reverse: -- a...
59. Cf. SHIH CHI, ch 47.
[The commentators, I think, make an unnecessary mystery of two...
(6) On which side are officers and men more...
[All commentators, except Chang Yu, say, "When he is...
with provisions enough to carry them a thousand LI,
6. There is no instance of a country having...
12. When their substance is drained away, the...
[The equivalent to an army corps, according to Ssu-ma Fa,...
and the piling up of mounds over against the walls will take three months more.
9. If equally matched, we can offer battle;
15. (3) By employing the officers of...
18. Hence the saying: If you know the...
[I retain the sense found in a similar passage in...
[Ho Shih gives as real instances of strength, sharp...
[It is not easy to distinguish the four terms very...
4. That the impact of your army may be...
14. Therefore the good fighter will be terrible in...
19. Thus one who is skillful at keeping the...
Hence his ability to pick out the right men and utilize combined energy. ...
[Ts`ao Kung sums up very well: "Emerge from the...
[Tu Mu says: "If the enemy is the invading...
[In Frederick the Great's INSTRUCTIONS TO HIS GENERALS we read:...
[Alas for these brave words! The long feud between...
[I.e., everybody can see superficially how a battle is won;...
3. After that, comes tactical maneuvering, than which there...
5. Maneuvering with an army is advantageous; with...
[I think Sun Tzu meant "stores accumulated in depots." ...
21. Ponder and deliberate before you make a move.
This is the art of handling large masses of men. ...
by noonday it has begun to flag; and in the evening, his mind is bent...
[This does not mean that the enemy is to be...
1. Sun Tzu said: In war,...
4. The general who thoroughly understands the advantages that...
10. Reduce the hostile chiefs by inflicting damage on...
(3) a hasty temper, which can be provoked by...
1. Sun Tzu said: We come now to...
5. If you are anxious to fight, you should...
11. All armies prefer high ground to low.
[Chang Yu has the note: "We must also be...
When it branches out in different directions, it shows that parties have been sent...
Violent language and driving forward as if to the attack are signs that he will...
35. The sight of men whispering together in small...
41. He who exercises no forethought but makes light...
(2) entangling ground;
it will be advisable not to stir forth, but rather to retreat, thus enticing the...
[The point is that we must not think of undertaking...
when there are no fixes duties assigned to officers and men,
[A noble presentiment, in few words, of the Chinese ...
27. If we know that our own men are...
4. Ground the possession of which imports great advantage...
[Wang Hsi explains the name by saying that "when an...
12. On open ground, do not try to block...
On desperate ground, fight.
take advantage of the enemy's unreadiness, make your way by unexpected routes, and attack unguarded...
Officers and men alike will put forth their uttermost strength.
But let them once be brought to bay, and they will display the courage of...
31. Hence it is not enough to put one's...
and thus keep them in total ignorance.
[Chang Yu, in a quotation from another work, ...
When there are means of communication on all four sides, the ground is one...
[Meng Shih says: "To make it seem that I...
51. For it is the soldier's disposition to offer...
53. To be ignored of any one of the...
and you will be able to handle a whole army as though you had to...
59. For it is precisely when a force has...
67. Walk in the path defined by rule,
the second is to burn stores;
8. (3) When the force of the flames has...
11. A wind that rises in the daytime lasts...
16. Hence the saying: The enlightened ruler lays...
As many as seven hundred thousand families will be impeded in their labor.
[That is, knowledge of the enemy's dispositions, and what he...
11. Having CONVERTED SPIES, getting hold of the enemy's...
13. SURVIVING SPIES, finally, are those who bring back...
16. They cannot be properly managed without benevolence and...
23. It is owing to his information, again, ...
27. Hence it is only the enlightened ruler and...
