Titans of History

SUN TZU

c. 544 BC–496 BC

Be extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness. Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness. Thereby you can be the director of the opponent’s fate.

Sun Tzu (or Sunzi), was the author of a treatise on war that is still hugely important in military thought, business, politics and the psychology of human relationships.

Little is known about Sun Tzu’s life but he was a contemporary of Confucius. He is believed to have been a general for the state of Wu toward the end of the Spring and Autumn Period (770–476 BC). In The Art of War he distilled his military genius into an organized series of instructions and axioms that covered every aspect of waging a successful war.

One of the most striking things about this work is Sun Tzu’s insistence that although “the art of war is of vital importance to the state,” it is often better to avoid battle, which he views as costly, disruptive and damaging to the population at large:

To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.

Where fighting cannot be avoided, preparation and knowledge of the enemy are all:

If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.

To forsake this advice because it necessitates going to the expense of gathering intelligence is simply wrong:

To remain in ignorance of the enemy’s condition simply because one begrudges the outlay of a hundred ounces of silver … is the height of inhumanity.

As Sun Tzu makes clear in many passages, attention to detail can win the battle before it begins: “making no mistakes is what establishes the certainty of victory, for it means conquering an enemy that is already defeated.” And this, in theory, ought to minimize the damage done by battle:

The best thing of all is to take the enemy’s country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good. So, too, it is better to capture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them.

Though he could be dispassionate and ruthless about war, Sun Tzu stresses the need for violence and bloodshed only as far as is absolutely necessary. Enemy soldiers should be kindly treated and lengthy, destructive campaigns avoided in favor of swift victory. It is Sun Tzu’s mixture of brilliant strategy and tactical analysis with a concern for human welfare that makes him relevant even to this day.