The inner life
The Art of War
Direct answer
The Art of War is a Chinese treatise on strategy in thirteen short chapters, credited to the general Sun Tzu and compiled around the fifth to fourth century BCE.
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At a glance
- Also called
- sun tzu art of war, sunzi bingfa, sun tzu
- Found in
- Consciousness & Spiritual Psychology
- Related
- The 48 Laws of Power, The Prince, Pyrrhic Victory, Soft Power
The Art of War is a Chinese treatise on strategy in thirteen short chapters, credited to the general Sun Tzu and compiled around the fifth to fourth century BCE.
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What is The Art of War about?
The book treats war as a matter of the gravest cost to a state, to be entered only after calculation and ended quickly. Its central teaching is that the best victory is won without fighting: by breaking the plans and alliances of the enemy before his army. It prizes knowledge, of the ground, of the weather, of the opponent and of oneself, and it treats deception, speed and spies as the ordinary tools of a commander.
The Art of War’s sayings are compact enough to travel, and since the twentieth century it has been applied to business, sport and law. The translation counts for much: the text is terse and old, and many lines quoted online under Sun Tzu's name are not in it. Read whole, it is a counsel of caution more than of aggression.
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What sets The Art of War apart
Brevity and order distinguish it. The thirteen chapters, about six thousand characters in all, move from reckoning and the cost of campaigns through terrain and fire to a last chapter on spies, and the argument is ranked: attack the strategy of the enemy first, his alliances second, his army third and his walled cities only when nothing else serves. That ranking, with force as the last and worst resort, is what later readers took as its philosophy, and it sets the book apart from manuals that glory in battle.
- Chinese title: Sunzi bingfa, Master Sun's Art of War
- Length: thirteen chapters, about six thousand characters
- Traditional author: Sun Wu, general of Wu, about 500 BCE
- Earliest copy: bamboo strips from Yinqueshan, Shandong, found 1972
- First European version: French, by J. J. M. Amiot, 1772
- Classic English version: Lionel Giles, 1910
Often mistaken for something else: Clausewitz's On War (1832) analyses war as the continuation of policy and expects decisive battle; The Art of War advises winning before battle is joined.
The story behind The Art of War
Tradition names the author as Sun Wu, a general of the state of Wu in the late sixth century BCE; most scholars place the text in the Warring States period that followed, and some doubt a single author. Bamboo strips bearing it were found in a Han tomb at Yinqueshan in Shandong in 1972. The Jesuit Jean Joseph Marie Amiot made the first European translation, into French, in 1772, and Lionel Giles published a standard English version in 1910.
Why The Art of War matters
The Art of War is the oldest of the books this art rests on, and the source of the idea that the highest skill is to win without a fight.
How to read The Art of War
Readers go to it for habits of assessment: weigh the cost, know both sides, choose the ground, and prefer the outcome that needs no battle.
The Art of War in practice: an example
A reader facing a dispute at work counts the cost of winning it before starting, which is the lesson of its opening chapters.
Where readings of The Art of War go wrong
The Art of War was written for generals of ancient states; its praise of deception is no licence for deceiving colleagues or partners.
Sources and editorial method
This entry summarizes the tradition in the Almanac's own words; where no source is listed, it is an editorial summary rather than a primary text, and symbolic readings are named as the tradition's, not as fact.
- Source
- The Great Almanac Dictionary
- Category
- Consciousness & Spiritual Psychology
- Aliases
- art of war, sun tzu art of war, the art of war summary, sunzi bingfa, sun tzu
- Last updated
- 2026-09-26
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Common questions
What is The Art of War about?
It is a manual of strategy for commanders. It teaches careful assessment before any campaign, the place of deception and intelligence, and above all that subduing an enemy without battle is the highest skill.
Who wrote The Art of War?
It is credited to Sun Tzu, Master Sun, identified by tradition with the general Sun Wu of about 500 BCE. Scholars generally date the text somewhat later, and it may have been compiled by more than one hand.
What is the most famous teaching of The Art of War?
That supreme excellence lies in breaking the resistance of the enemy without fighting. Close behind is the line that one who knows the enemy and knows himself need not fear the result of a hundred battles.
