Original Text
Sun Tzu said: In warfare, those who arrive first at the battlefield are poised, at ease, and in command. Those who arrive later are tense and exhausted. Therefore, a skilled commander maneuvers the enemy, rather than being maneuvered by them.
To make the enemy come to our prepared battlefield is the result of luring them with gain; to prevent the enemy from reaching their intended battlefield is to threaten them with harm. Thus, if the enemy is at ease, we disturb them and wear them out; if the enemy has ample supplies, we contrive to starve them; if the enemy is securely entrenched, we provoke and harass them, forcing them to move.
Strike where the enemy cannot rush to aid. Attack under conditions they never expect. March a thousand miles without fatigue because you advance through undefended territory. Your attack is sure to succeed because you target where the enemy is unprepared. Your defense is impregnable because you hold positions the enemy cannot assault. Thus, one skilled in attack makes the enemy unsure how to defend; one skilled in defense makes the enemy unsure how to attack. How subtle! So subtle it leaves no trace. How mysterious! So mysterious it makes no sound. Only then can you become the master of the enemy's fate.
When attacking, the enemy cannot defend because we strike at their weak points. When retreating, the enemy cannot pursue because our movement is too swift for them to catch. Thus, if we seek a decisive battle, the enemy is forced to come out and fight even behind high walls and deep moats, because we attack a vital position they must rescue. If we wish to avoid battle, we can defend even by marking a line on the ground, and the enemy will be unable to engage us, because we have altered their direction of attack.
Therefore, contrive to make the enemy reveal his dispositions while your own remain concealed, so that you can concentrate your forces while the enemy must disperse his. If our forces are concentrated into a single mass and the enemy's are divided into ten parts, we are attacking him with ten times his strength, thus creating an overwhelming local superiority. Once this advantageous situation of striking the many with the few is achieved, the enemy will find it difficult to accomplish anything. The ground for battle with the enemy must not be made known to him beforehand. If he does not know the place of battle, he will have to divide his forces for defense at many points. The more places he defends, the more his forces are scattered, and the fewer troops he can commit to direct engagement with us at the specific location. Thus, if he prepares heavily at the front, the rear will be weak; if he prepares heavily at the rear, the front will be weak; if he prepares heavily on the left, the right will be weak; if he prepares heavily on the right, the left will be weak; if he prepares everywhere, he will be weak everywhere. The enemy's weakness stems from his dispersion; our concentration of strength comes from forcing the enemy to scatter his forces to guard against us.
Thus, if one knows the place and date of battle in advance, even a march of a thousand miles can bring engagement with the enemy. But if the place and time of battle are unknown, a hasty encounter will leave the left wing unable to rescue the right, and the right unable to rescue the left; the vanguard unable to aid the rear, and the rear unable to aid the vanguard. How much more so when the nearest are separated by several miles, and the farthest by tens of miles—how can one respond with ease?
Based on my analysis, although the Yue state has many troops, what benefit does that bring to securing victory in war? Thus, victory can be created. Though the enemy's forces are numerous, they can be dispersed and prevented from effectively joining battle.
Therefore, through careful analysis, one can judge the strengths and weaknesses of the enemy's battle plans; through reconnaissance and espionage, one can understand the patterns of enemy activity; through feigned maneuvers, one can discern the enemy's dispositions and preparedness; through probing attacks, one can ascertain the strengths and weaknesses of the enemy's troop deployments.
When the art of deception is executed with supreme skill, our forces become as invisible, leaving no trace. At this level, even the deepest-planted spy cannot uncover our secrets, and the most cunning enemy commander finds himself helpless. By adapting deceptive tactics to circumstances and winning, even when victory is displayed before all, they cannot grasp its inner workings. People see only the methods by which we defeat the enemy, but not how we apply those methods to achieve victory. Once a victory is won, do not reuse old tactics; instead, adapt flexibly to the situation—the ways of deception are endless.
Thus, the laws of warfare are like the flow of water. Water avoids heights and flows downward; warfare avoids the enemy's strength and strikes at its weak points. Water adapts its course according to the terrain; warfare adapts its strategies according to the enemy's situation. Therefore, warfare has no fixed state or constant pattern, just as water has no fixed shape or direction. Those who can adapt and change their tactics in response to the enemy's developments are truly masters of the art of war. Hence, the five elements—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth—interact and overcome each other, with none permanently dominant; the four seasons rotate and replace each other, with none fixed forever. Days are sometimes long, sometimes short; the moon waxes and wanes.
Commentary
This chapter begins with the mastery of time and space, emphasizing the importance of seizing and maintaining the initiative. The focus is on "defeating the enemy by adapting to their moves," discussing the operational philosophy of "avoiding the strong to strike the weak" and "winning by responding to the enemy's actions" in warfare, without being bound by conventional rules.
Sun Tzu vividly compares military strategy to flowing water, and indeed this is the case. In battle, like water moving according to its nature, one should avoid the high ground and flow downward. Warfare should be based on the enemy's situation—avoid their strong points and strike at their weaknesses. Just as water shapes its course according to the terrain, military tactics should determine the path to victory based on the enemy's conditions. To master the specific methods, one must grasp the following key points.
The first key point is to reveal the enemy's form while concealing your own.
In war, to seize opportunities and defeat the enemy, you must discern their strengths and weaknesses. The more detailed, extensive, and specific your knowledge of the enemy, the more targeted your troop deployments will be. At the same time, you must conceal your own strengths and weaknesses, leaving the opponent in a state of blind confusion. If you can achieve this, it can be said that even before battle begins, the outcome of victory or defeat is already decided.
"Avoid the strong and strike the weak" is the second key point of this chapter.
Understanding the enemy's strengths and weaknesses is not enough; one must also employ the right tactics. Meeting force with force, or hardness with hardness, is not a wise strategy. The wise strategy is to "avoid the strong and strike the weak"—evading the enemy's superior firepower and numbers, and attacking where they are most vulnerable. That is the true path to victory.
"Thus when the enemy is at ease, tire him; when well-fed, starve him; when settled, move him," causing the enemy to "shift from strength to weakness"—this is the most brilliant passage in this chapter and the third key point to be discussed.
The first two points are understood and can be executed by any ordinary military strategist. But this final point is the most difficult—making the enemy obey your command, wearing them down and exhausting them, is truly no easy task. The highest art of command reveals itself precisely in such moments.
Finally, Sun Tzu also emphasizes that "there are no fixed tactics in war, just as water has no fixed shape." This means that in warfare, there are no unchanging methods of combat or immutable strategies for deploying troops. Only commanders who adapt their tactics to the changing circumstances of the enemy and the specific conditions of both sides in the conflict can truly be called the "gods of war" who win every battle.
Example Interpretation
The Counterattack of the Clock Kingdom
"Avoid the strong and strike the weak" and "avoid the heavy and seize the light" share similar meanings, both referring to preserving strength by avoiding direct confrontation with the enemy and finding alternative paths to stage a comeback. When one's own strength is inferior to the opponent's, the best strategy is to avoid the strong and strike the weak. In modern business activities, although it may not always be possible to avoid the "enemy" as on the battlefield, one can leverage their own strengths to target the opponent's weaknesses, adopting tactics such as "what the enemy lacks, I possess; what the enemy has, I excel at."
Switzerland's watchmaking industry has a long history, producing goods of exceptional quality and vast variety. It long dominated the international market, earning worldwide recognition as the "Kingdom of Watches." Originally, all Swiss watches were mechanical. With the rise of the electronics industry, Japan was the first to apply electronic technology to watchmaking, producing quartz electronic watches. These electronic watches were more accurate than mechanical ones, as well as affordable and high-quality. As soon as they appeared on the market, they immediately won customers' favor. Almost overnight, Swiss watches lost their dominant position in the watch industry, replaced by Japanese quartz electronic watches. Swiss watch companies went bankrupt one after another, causing an uproar in the watch industry.
But Switzerland is, after all, a great nation of watchmaking, with a wealth of talent in the industry. At that time, watches around the world were being made thinner—Japanese electronic watches were only 2.5 millimeters thick. Yet the Swiss, with their nimble hands, reduced the thickness of watches to less than 1 millimeter, leaving the rest of the world far behind.
After ten years of arduous effort, Switzerland reclaimed the crown of the watchmaking industry. To secure this crown, Swiss watchmakers have strived to elevate the prestige of Swiss timepieces, leveraging the unique exquisite craftsmanship of Swiss artisans to continuously enhance mechanical watches. In 1986, they utilized the beautiful colors and textures of Alpine granite to develop a one-of-a-kind, brilliantly colorful rock watch. This timepiece embodies both the simplicity of the Stone Age and the romance of the modern era, earning widespread admiration and elevating watchmaking technology to a height that others find hard to surpass.
When two strong forces clash, the one who can avoid the opponent's strengths and strike at their weaknesses gains the initiative. Thus, military strategists throughout history have placed great emphasis on the tactic of avoiding the solid and striking the void, while striving to conceal their own weaknesses and amplify their strengths. A shrewd operator must also discern the solid from the void, deciding when to advance or retreat—avoiding the solid of a saturated market and probing the void of potential demand; steering clear of the solid where competitors have already established a foothold and striking the void they have yet to touch, while exploring the trends of future technological development.