Never Put Your Enemy in a Corner Art of War

18th century copy of The Art of War on traditional bamboo slits.

"State of war is a matter of vital importance to the state; a matter of life and decease, the road either to survival or ruin. Hence, it is imperative that it exist studied thoroughly."

— Sun Tzu

The Big Volume of State of war.

The Art of War (孫子兵法, Sūn Zǐ Bīng Fǎ) is a short Chinese text on warfare, written by Lord's day Tzu (birth proper name Sun Wu, Tzu/Zi is an honorific pregnant "Master"), believed to take been a general of the nation of Wu during the Spring and Fall Period (722–481 BCE). In it, Sunday gives a basic overview of both strategy and tactics that has given endless generations of armed services leaders and thinkers a basic grounding in military theory.

The text's surprisingly general and generous overlaps with military-minded mutual sense go a long way to explicate its popularity and universality. Sun maintains the importance of knowing one's enemies and oneself, striking at the enemy's weaknesses with overwhelming force, concealing one's ain weaknesses, and the general importance of deception to military operations. Also covered are how to fight on dissimilar types of terrain, the use of fire, and the importance of spies. Perhaps surprisingly, the opening essay stresses the undesirability of going to state of war at all, and how wars should exist brought to a determination every bit quickly and brutally as possible. Different most war machine books then and since, it is not written to be specific to the time and identify of its writing. It contains but one passage that is specific equally to the cost of maintaining troops, for example. Instead, the volume is deliberately very broad, intended to utilise almost any time, any place, for any kind of army. Hence its standing applicability today.

The Art of State of war is easily the best-known military book ever written, and is still i of the most influential. Numerous translations are bachelor, almost of which include at least a few commentaries and annotations (in fact, without the annotations, introductions and footnotes, The Art of War is surprisingly curt) ^note At its cosmos, the book most likely was written on bamboo slips since paper hadn't been invented notwithstanding, and could have been quite a Doorstopper in its own right. It is required reading in many militaries even today, and some Korean and Japanese corporations require their employees to read it and utilise its lessons to the world of commerce. Napoleon is said to accept had a well-used copy in French, and the WWII US general Douglas MacArthur is known to have taken its teachings to heart. It is as well required reading in many executive business courses; make of that what you will. There's even a story in the Comic Book The Question where the eponymous hero and Light-green Arrow fights some bad guys while quoting the volume throughout. Also, Sabaton recorded a Concept Album of aforementioned title based on the volume in 2010.

Due to this connection to the spheres of power, wealth and celebrity, it has an unfortunate tendency to exist treated in mod media equally some sort of magic or occult science close to magic. It is non and never was (ironically, Sun Tzu insults superstition and magic within his ain book, and says to rely on data gathering and calculations instead). Many people have reached the same conclusions as Sun himself, never having read the volume. The strategic successes gained from following the advice outlined by Lord's day two,500 years before the modern age ultimately prove that there is one core lesson to take from the work: failing to think beyond firsthand goals and consequences usually earns you a quick end, and the same for anyone who follows or depends on you.

Sometimes mistaken for The Thirty-Six Stratagems, another piece of ancient Chinese instruction on warfare, which Sun Tzu almost probable did non write himself (although some of the strategems are attributed to him, or espoused in Fine art of State of war), but can be considered as a companion piece.

Information technology is available online in several places; here is a copy with accompanying discussions. This is the 1910 translation (with commentaries) in plaintext, and hither information technology is in a pretty PDF.

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Sun Tzu's The Fine art of State of war provides examples of:

• Ambitious Negotiations: A tactic advocated in the volume, using simulated peace talks to lure an enemy into a trap. (In mod warfare, however, this is a war crime)
• Attack Its Weak Betoken

  VI, xxx: "So, in war, the way is to avoid what is strong and strike at what is weak."

• Battle of Wits: The Handbook. I of the key points Dominicus Tzu emphasizes is the importance of knowing both your own and your enemy's capabilities.
• Belief Makes You Stupid: 1 reason why Sun Zi's theories were so radical was his advocation of non relying on spirits and soothsaying to predict victories in battles. He firmly believes in rational analysis to secure victories.
• Big Book of War: Though it only becomes large when you lot add the commentaries to it. The original Classical Chinese edition fits on half a pamphlet.
• Captain Obvious: "If fighting is sure to result in victory, then you must fight." Despite the text that y'all simply read likely inciting yous to question why Sun Tzu would say something then obvious, the context of the line continues and refers to how a monarch may want you to not fight for whatever reason. The rest of the line as well states that if y'all will clearly lose, don't fight even if your sovereign commands you to.
• Combat Pragmatist: You definitely should be if y'all take this book every bit instance.
• The Chessmaster: The book is basically a manual of how to be one.
• Confusion Fu: The text advocates for a plan flexible plenty to be unpredictable and adjust to changing circumstances equally opportunities present themselves.

  "The perfect plan approaches the Formlessness (or indecipherability) If it is formless then best-informed spy cannot uncover it, nor the wisest plan confronting it."

• Deadpan Snarker: Whilst it is generally downwards to the translation rather than Sun himself, there are some rather witty quips.

  Though we accept heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays.

• Defeat Means Friendship: Sun Tzu encourages the reader to allow prisoners of state of war to alter side. Once they do, they should be treated every bit fellow soldiers alongside with the other soldiers.
  • This seems odd to Western readers, as Europe has a long tradition of parole, bribe and prisoner exchange (at least for the people that "affair"), merely Kill 'Em All was actually only business as usual in premodern People's republic of china.
• Defensive Feint Trap: If the enemy has a strong hold over a defensive position, pretend that you're retreating from him. If he's stupid enough to follow you, you lot'll then either atomic number 82 him into a trap or plough around and attack him once again. If he doesn't follow you, then it'll save y'all more soldiers who will live to fight another day.
• Desperation Assault: "Throw the troops into a position from which there is no escape, and fifty-fifty when faced with death they will non flee." In actuality, Lord's day Tzu was warning against this considering desperation attacks can still exist pretty constructive even if the enemy dies while doing it; that is, if someone dies but takes out a decent chunk of your infantry while doing so, they've even so won since you need fourth dimension and man power to replenish and must potentially terminate your forrad progress. His answer was to always go out an escape road for the enemy, thus allowing them to rout, making them piece of cake targets... and allowing them to run into the ambush you set up on the escape route so you could take them out there.
• Dirty Coward: Cowardice is one of the five weaknesses of the general that can lead into defeat.
• Disturbed Doves: 9, 22: "The ascension of birds in their flight is the sign of an ambuscade. Startled beasts indicate that a sudden attack is coming."
• Don't Make Me Destroy Yous: Sun Tzu said that "supreme excellence" in wartime wasn't winning every battle, merely breaking the enemy'south resistance without fighting. Ane of the brash tactics to this terminate is to intimidate an enemy into give up by maxim that, though you don't want to escalate things, you'll be merciless if you're forced to fight.
• Easy Logistics: Seriously averted. Sun Zi points out that logistics is the factor which brand or break states during wars.
• Executive Meddling: An In-Universe case. Sun Tzu acknowledges the dangers that might come if a head of country without military machine feel or training thinks he'south hot shit and decides to meddle with the generals' plans and make the strategic decisions himself. It's why it's important for the general to stand up to the head of state if he immediately sees the flaws in his plans.
• A Father to His Men: Played With; on a general level, emotional connections betwixt commanders and soldiers is encouraged, since it'll improve the soldiers' fighting spirit. However, being too much a Father to the men is one of the "Five Dangerous Faults of a General". If the commander sacrifices important advantages for the sake of his troops' comfort, then defeat or needlessly prolonged conflict follows. In other words, being too practiced to one's men will get more of them killed in the long-run.
• Feed the Mole: A suggested tactic. In general, Sun Zi approves of using any means to end wars decisively.
• Flaw Exploitation: A very strongly suggested tactic. Sun Zi considered knowing your enemy's weaknesses and exploiting them to accomplish swift victory to be a hallmark of a good full general.
• Foreboding Fleeing Flock: Dominicus Tzu counsels existence warning for this as information technology may point enemy motion.
• The Game of the Book: The Ancient Art of War, which is designed around Sun's observations and features him equally your savviest opponent.
• Geo Furnishings: Sunday Tzu points out how to take advantage of the terrain repeatedly - though surprisingly not and then much in the "Terrain" chapter, only about a tertiary of which actually discusses terrain.
• Glory Hound: Non the best commander you can accept, every bit such commanders may not have a strategy in mind which minimizes casualties and expenses.
• Guile Hero: A truly worthy general volition have the traits of this. A quote from the work reads "All warfare is based on deception."
• Hair-Trigger Atmosphere: Information technology's important for the general not have a short atmosphere and to know how to proceed his head cool, or he might make plush mistakes. If your enemy has this, and then you should provoke him to become him to mess up.
• Accolade Before Reason: Another one of the five weaknesses in generals that tin atomic number 82 to defeat.
• Hope Spot: Encouraged. Leaving an escape road provides numerous chances to dispatch fleeing foes. As well as avoiding loses acquired by enemies fighting to the expiry.
• Earnest For MacGuffin: Nowadays in a prototypical form. Sun Tzu advises that if you capture something which the enemy holds beloved, they will readily acquiesce to your wishes.
• I Shall Taunt You: "If your enemy is choleric, seek to anger him."
• Kansas City Shuffle: The virtually famous line in the book is:

  "All warfare is based on deception".

• Impale It with Fire: There's an unabridged affiliate devoted to the use of fire, although the final part of this affiliate is nearly "don't fight because of anger".
• Know When to Fold Them: If the enemy is too stiff to face without being annihilated, sometimes it's wiser to issues off and call it a day.
• Leeroy Jenkins: Heavily discouraged. It'll just gives your enemies a take a chance for a quick victory, while yous'll lose plenty of manpower also every bit much of your reputation as a tactician.
  • Sun Tzu listed it among v dangerous traits of a full general.

    He who is reckless can be killed.

    — 8th chapter: Nine Changes

  • However, Lord's day Tzu also warns against the opposite of this:

    Thus, though we take heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays.

    — second chapter: Waging State of war

• Martial Pacifist: Perhaps unbelievably considering his reputation, Lord's day Tzu considered that the greatest victory of all was 1 where the fight never happened. He explains it himself, an enemy will but fight if he believes he either has a gamble to win, or you've backed him into a corner and he's fighting for his life. A completely crushing victory provides an enemy with neither. Also, convincing an enemy to surrender without a fight gives you an opportunity to apply his resource for the adjacent fight. In the human'due south own words:

  Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy'southward resistance without fighting.

• Mundane Utility: Not only does it find use in war; the themes and ideas in this volume accept several other applications in everyday life such equally business organization and sports.
• Never Split the Political party: It's safer to remain as a whole rather than splitting up the army in hopes for quicker recon gathering.
  • Unless you outnumber them two to 1, and so it outright tells you to split up, though it's simply because y'all're going to use a flanking tactic.
• Not Afraid to Dice: 'Also much' courage is one of the Five Weaknesses of a leader equally well. A leader who is not afraid of dying is liable to being (easily) killed by his enemies.
• Obfuscating Stupidity: This, along with any other way of getting your enemy to underestimate yous and your forces, is smiled upon by Dominicus Tzu.

  "The perfect plan approaches the Formlessness (or indecipherability) If it is formless then best-informed spy cannot uncover it, nor the wisest plan confronting it."

• Obstructive Bureaucrat: Sun Tzu discusses dealing with these. He favors ignoring them, sending them home and - if they become too obstructive - decapitation.
• Poor Communication Kills: Sun Tzu cautions that issuing orders that aren't absolutely clear invites disaster.

  "If instructions are non clear and commands non explicit, information technology is the commander'southward fault."

• Rape, Pillage, and Burn: Encouraged with restrictions, emphasis on "pillage" and "burn"
  • An regular army on the move should pillage resources captured from the people they're invading to ease logistical bug, and destroy what they can't take if their opponent could use it. He makes the equation that 1 bushel of enemy grain is worth ten of i'southward own, with the nine others beingness consumed to deliver 1 to the ground forces on an offensive campaign.
  • Although in that location actually isn't annihilation specifically said confronting the first role, the communication to maintain strict troop discipline (particularly when yous're winning), and to convince your enemy'due south people that they are ameliorate off with you implies that this should be frowned upon.
• Real Life Writes the Plot: It has been historically proven that much of what the book recommends is essential for success in the long term.
• Robbing the Expressionless: Recommended, to cut down supply lines.
• Schmuck Allurement: If yous have something the enemy wants, lay it down somewhere and get your troops ready to ambush him if he takes it. Also, learn how y'all can avoid taking those baits the enemy lays down for you.
  • Exploiting this as a mode to exam an enemy is also brash- if a fresh enemy doesn't immediately go for the bait, yous're dealing with a clever opponent. If a stupid foe doesn't get for the bait, then there's a good chance that they're exhausted and an easy target for an ambush.
• Soldier vs. Warrior: The Art of War is often taught together with Miyamoto Musashi'due south The Book of V Rings. Sun Tzu'south work is focused on generalship, from grand strategy and logistics to managing one's soldiers. The Volume of Five Rings focuses almost exclusively on personal combat, emphasizing the warrior. Notably, Sun Tzu was a general, while Musashi started as a common pes soldier and topped out as a junior officer.
• Smug Snake: Warned against, as underestimating your opponents can make y'all susceptible to any trickery they throw your way.
• The Spartan Way: The best way to create a fine ground forces. Still, Sun Zi also advocates treating soldiers adequately. The harsh part should merely come in for punishment due to defying orders, as to Dominicus Zi, an army without subject field is no army at all.
• The Spymaster: Spies are of import, and so a full general should be this trope equally well.
  • The introduction to the chapter on spies is a masterpiece of compulsion. Sun Tzu calculates how much protracted war costs a country, then brings up the cost of spies earlier finally accusing generals who don't utilize spies to speed up combat of crimes against humanity.
• Stockholm Syndrome: It advises invoking this trope on POWs equally a affair of standard policy, because information technology works often enough to be worth the effort. Countries that comply with the Geneva convention usually accept this advice to heart, and care for them well.
• Storming the Castle: Strongly discouraged.

  "The preparation of mantlets, movable shelters, and various implements of war, will take upward iii whole months, and the piling upwardly of mounds over against the walls will take three months more. The general, unable to control his irritation, will launch his men to the assail like swarming ants, with the outcome that i third of his men are slain while the town still remains untaken. Such are the disastrous effects of a siege."

• The Strategist: The volume is basically a transmission of how to be 1.
• Swamps Are Evil: You should avoid swamps as much equally possible and if y'all exercise end up in one, go through information technology as apace every bit you tin can. Have your back turned on the trees so that no enemy can attack y'all from behind.
• Take a Third Option: A lot of passages strongly advocate confronting getting caught in situations where you are presented with only a few obvious courses of action.
• To Win Without Fighting: Trope Namer.

  "For to win one hundred victories in ane hundred battles is non the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the tiptop of skill."

• Unwitting Pawn: Arguably the concept of the Doomed Spy, whose sole purpose is for your real spy to reveal him to the enemy, thus allowing your existent spy to gain the enemy's trust and allowing the Doomed Spy to requite the enemy faux data. This is averted if the Doomed Spy knows whats going to happen to him beforehand.
• We Have Reserves: Lord's day Tzu repeatedly drills it into the reader that this is how you lose wars. Baiting the enemy into doing this, on the other paw, is an excellent fashion to defeat a more than numerous enemy while crippling the nation supporting them.
• Xanatos Gambit: Learning to create a win-win situation would be invaluable for any full general and then naturally there's a few words on how to do information technology.
  • See also False Retreat; never really a bad idea because you lot stand to gain no matter what happens.
  • The note on Desperation Attack; if the soldiers run (preferably) they're routed with fewer losses. If they don't run, they're still routed.
  • Another one, when the enemy is begetting downwards on you, assault his weakest marry. Either he'll pull out to aid him, or he'll continue on after yous, in which case no ane will want to ally with someone who abandons them to death. Either yous save yourself or yous weaken whatever alliances the enemy has going for them.
• Xanatos Speed Chess: Don't wait that only one tactic or strategy will help you lot defeat your foes in the long run. As you fight you'll take to learn that "according equally circumstances are favourable, one should modify one's plans."
• Zerg Rush: Discouraged in difficult and long tasks like siege warfare, simply encouraged on open battlefields, peculiarly when it's clear that you outnumber the enemy.

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Source: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/TheArtOfWarSunTzu

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