The Art of War by Sun Tzu: Entire Unabridged

The Art of War is of vital importance to the state and is a matter of life and death.

• The art of war is governed by five constant factors: the moral law, heaven, earth, the commander, and method and discipline.

• The moral law causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler.

• Heaven signifies night and day, cold and heat, times and seasons.

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

• The commander stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerity, benevolence, courage, and strictness.

• Method and discipline are to be understood as the marshalling of the army in its proper subdivisions, the graduations of rank among the officers, the maintenance of roads by which supplies may reach the army, and the control of military expenditure.

• These five heads should be familiar to every general, and he who knows them will be victorious.

• In your deliberations when seeking to determine the military conditions, let these five heads be the basis of a comparison.

• The general that hearkens to the council and acts upon it will conquer, while the general that hearkens not to the council nor acts upon it will suffer defeat.

• All warfare is based on deception, and the skilled leader subdues the enemy's troops without any fighting.

• The best thing of all is to take the enemy's country whole and intact, while the worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities.

• The rule is not to besiege walled cities if it can possibly be avoided.

• The preparation of mantlets, movable shelters, and various implements of war will take up three whole months, and the piling up of mounds over against the walls will take three months more.

• The general unable to control his irritation will launch his men to the assault like swarming ants with the result that one third of his men are slain while the town still remains untaken.

• The skilled leader subdues the enemy's troops without any fighting, he captures their cities without laying siege to them, and he overthrows their kingdom without lengthy operations in the field.

• The method of attacking by stratagem is the rule in war, and it is the rule in war if our forces are ten to the enemy's one to surround him, if five to one to attack him, if twice as numerous to divide our army into two, if equally matched we can offer battle, if slightly inferior in numbers we can avoid the enemy, and if quite unequal in every way we can flee from him.

• The general is the bulwark of the state, and if the bulwark is complete at all points the state will be strong, while if the bulwark is defective the state will be weak.

• There are three ways in which a ruler can bring misfortune upon his army: by commanding the army to advance or to retreat being ignorant to the fact that it cannot obey, by attempting to govern an army in the same way as he administers a kingdom being ignorant of the conditions which obtain in an army, and by employing the officers of his army without discrimination through ignorance of the military principle of adaptation to circumstances.

• A skillful soldier does not raise a second levy, neither are his supply wagons loaded more than twice.

• Bring war material with you from home, but forage on the enemy.

• A wise general makes a point of foraging on the enemy.

• The control of a large force is the same principle as the control of a few men.

• Fighting with a large army under your command is no wise different from fighting with a small one.

• The impact of your army may be like a grindstone dashed against an egg, and this is affected by the science of weak points and strong.

• The direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect methods will be needed in order to secure victory.

• Indirect tactics efficiently applied are inexhaustible as heaven and earth and ending as the flow of rivers and streams.

• The onset of troops is like the rush of a torrent, and the quality of decision is like the well-timed swoop of a falcon.

• Energy may be likened to the bending of a crossbow, and decision to the releasing of a trigger.

• The good fighter will be terrible in his onset, and swift in his decision.

• A victorious army has this terrifying momentum.

• It may be known that the way of using a large army under your command to its best advantage is the same principle as the way of using a few men efficiently.

• Thus it is not the numbers of your army that count, but the brave men that you have leading them.

• A small number of soldiers can be very effective if they are skilled and well-led.

• This secret of fighting lies in profiting from the superior maneuverability of your smaller force.

• To avoid what is strong and to strike what is weak is the way of the superior soldier.

• A strong enemy cannot be attacked directly, and an inferior one should not be attacked indirectly.

• In the presence of the enemy a man must appear strong whether he is so or not, and his skill lies in his concealing the sign of his weakness.

• A skilled soldier never misses an opportunity to make an unexpected move, while an inexperienced soldier follows the fixed routine of an encampment.

• A large army under a single commander must move in complete accord with one will, or the army's effectiveness will be diminished.

• Thus it is the nature of a general to be ready to make decisions on the spur of the moment.

• He who cannot adapt himself to the situation and improvise according to what happens, who insists on using the same methods day after day, will meet with defeat.

• This is the root principle of the management of a large army.

• A wise general will use deception to throw the enemy off guard and lure him into a trap.

• Deception and the direct method of attack have their own unique ways.

• When an army has become a menace to its own state, it is best to seek alliances with other states against it.

• The good fighter is able to transform himself and is thus the master of his enemy.

• A skillful general knows the way to the enemy's vital points and when to strike.

• This secret lies in dividing your forces and conquering your enemy in detail.

• In the management of the army every soldier must be in complete accord with the will of his superior.

• This means absolute obedience to the commander in chief, absolute confidence in him, and perfect union between all parts of the army.

• Thus the way to be victorious in war is to make oneself invincible and to use deception against the enemy.

• When an invading army penetrates deeply into enemy territory it will face grave difficulties.

• In the case of an army losing its way in a strange land it is unable to support itself.

• When an army has become isolated it will face difficulties, and its destruction will be near.

• The supreme principle of warfare is to attack the enemy's vital points and destroy his armed forces.

• This involves three types of operation: surprise attacks, defeating the enemy in open combat, and the strategy of alliances.

• In these operations there are different methods of fighting and defeating the enemy.

• When a strong enemy advances it must be resisted by a stronger one, while when a weak enemy retreats it must be pursued by a stronger one.

• These three operations must be studied thoroughly.

• In maneuvering the army may use four different methods: by deploying on open ground, by concealing one's movements and advancing, by feigning retreat and attacking, and by attacking an isolated and superior force.

• These four methods involve a corresponding attitude towards the enemy: an open challenge, an attempt to entice him, a feigned retreat, and a bold advance.

• A skillful general knows the limits of his strength and does not exceed them.

• He also knows how to make use of his allies to reinforce his weak points.

• He never boasts of his own strength, but always knows the vulnerability of the enemy.

• He avoids what is strong and attacks what is weak, weakening the enemy's forces from within.

• This is the strategy of the good fighter, the man who has won his victories and has won the battle.

• A victorious army may move about at will, and an invincible army is the result of good organization and strong morale.

• A skillful general does not strive for the impossible.

• He takes into account the power of resistance of the enemy.

• Thus the strength of a nation's armed forces is as secure as its capital, and the destruction of the enemy at a distance is the supreme goal of military operations.

• It is by winning in detail that ageneral can win the battle.

• The general who knows the art of warfare is like a fire burning in the midst of a forest, and the enemy is like a large tree.

• The fire will burn the tree, and the tree will be destroyed.

• The general who knows the art of warfare is like a hawk in the sky, and the enemy is like a small bird.

• The hawk will swoop down and seize the bird, and the bird will be destroyed.

• The general who knows the art of warfare is like a lion in the jungle, and the enemy is like a deer.

• The lion will pounce on the deer, and the deer will be destroyed.

• The general who knows the art of warfare is like a tiger in the mountains, and the enemy is like a rabbit.

• The tiger will pounce on the rabbit, and the rabbit will be destroyed.

• The general who knows the art of warfare is like a wolf in the wilderness, and the enemy is like a sheep.

• The wolf will pounce on the sheep, and the sheep will be destroyed.

• The general who knows the art of warfare is like a shark in the ocean, and the enemy is like a fish.

• The shark will swallow the fish, and the fish will be destroyed.

• The general who knows the art of warfare is like a hawk in the sky, and the enemy is like a small bird.

• The hawk will swoop down and seize the bird, and the bird will be destroyed.

• The general who knows the art of warfare is like a lion in the jungle, and the enemy is like a deer.

• The lion will pounce on the deer, and the deer will be destroyed.

• The general who knows the art of warfare is like a tiger in the mountains, and the enemy is like a rabbit.

• The tiger will pounce on the rabbit, and the rabbit will be destroyed.

• The general who knows the art of warfare is like a wolf in the wilderness, and the enemy is like a sheep.

• The wolf will pounce on the sheep, and the sheep will be destroyed.

• The general who knows the art of warfare is like a shark in the ocean, and the enemy is like a fish.

• The shark will swallow the fish, and the fish will be destroyed.

• The general who knows the art of warfare is like a hawk in the sky, and the enemy is like a small bird.

• The hawk will swoop down and seize the bird, and the bird will be destroyed.

• The general who knows the art of warfare is like a lion in the jungle, and the enemy is like a deer.

• The lion will pounce on the deer, and the deer will be destroyed.

• The general who knows the art of warfare is like a tiger in the mountains, and the enemy is like a rabbit.

• The tiger will pounce on the rabbit, and the rabbit will be destroyed.

• The general who knows the art of warfare is like a wolf in the wilderness, and the enemy is like a sheep.

• The wolf will pounce on the sheep, and the sheep will be destroyed.

• The general who knows the art of warfare is like a shark in the ocean, and the enemy is like a fish.

• The shark will swallow the fish, and the fish will be destroyed.

• The general who knows the art of warfare is like a hawk in the sky, and the enemy is like a small bird.

• The hawk will swoop down and seize the bird, and the bird will be destroyed.

• The general who knows the art of warfare is like a lion in the jungle, and the enemy is like a deer.

• The lion will pounce on the deer, and the deer will be destroyed.

• The general who knows the art of warfare is like a tiger in the mountains, and the enemy is like a rabbit.

• The tiger will pounce on the rabbit, and the rabbit will be destroyed.

• The general who knows the art of warfare is like a wolf in the wilderness, and the enemy is like a sheep.

• The wolf will pounce on the sheep, and the sheep will be destroyed.

• The general who knows the art of warfare is like a shark in the ocean, and the enemy is like a fish.

• The shark will swallow the fish, and the fish will be destroyed.