Big Picture Knowledge

Sun Tzu's Art of War, Chapter 10, Section 5:12-18

This post continues our project explaining each stanza of Sun Tzu’s work. The English translation and Chinese transliterations are from my award-winning book, The Art of War and The Ancient Chinese Revealed

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This article discusses the last two stanzas of Section 5 of Chapter 10 of The Art of War. These are the last two stanzas of the chapter, and they summarize its basic concepts.

Competitive Know-How

<Make> <know> <war> <is>
You must know how to make war.

Sun Tzu’s system is based on comparison. Strategic positions are what people compare in competitive battles. When people make decisions about whether to support us or oppose us, they make their choices based upon what they see as our position. To win at competition, we must know the five basic elements of our positions—mission, heaven, ground, command, and methods—compare with alternative those of choices. We must know what those judging competitors use as the basis of their competitive comparisons.

<Act> <and> <yet> <no> <confusion>
You can then act without confusion.

If we know what points of comparison are relevant in any given situation, we can know what kind of actions to take to improve our positions. The basic challenge is one of identifying opportunities that are worth our resources.

<Lift> <and> <yet> <no> <limit>
You can attempt anything.

The <lift> here refers to how high we can rise within a competitive arena. If we know all the relevant factors for comparing positions within that area, we can continue to find opportunities and continue to rise.

Painless Success

This next stanza summarizes what is included in our big picture. It summarizes not only this chapter about certain aspects of the ground and the flaws of leaders and their organizations, but Sun Tzu’s entire book up to this point.

<Make> <say>
We say:

This line announces that we are coming to a handful of simple aphorisms that Sun Tzu uses to summarize his system.

<Know> <each> <other> <know> <self>
Know the enemy and know yourself.

The original Chinese of this line is broader than the English translation. We must know ourselves and our opponents, but we must also know everyone else involved: allies, bystanders, and anyone making decisions based upon these comparison.

<Victory> <consequently> <no> <dangerous>
Your victory will be painless.

“Painless” and <no><dangerous> are perhaps best summarized as “less costly.” The idea of competition is to win rewards not to sacrifice resources.

However, our success requires going beyond knowing the people involved.

<Know> <heaven> <know> <earth>
Know the weather and the field.

We must also know the competitive landscape and what changes over time. The nature of the competitive ground determines how easily we can move from one position to another. The changes that are taking place create new opportunities for us.

<Victory> <consequently> <can> <complete>
Your victory will be complete.

If we can see the big picture and use this knowledge wisely, we will be successful. Victory doesn’t go just to the strong. It goes to those who best understand their situation and don’t waste their resources. Winners are those who do not make success more difficult than it needs to be.