Strategic Assessments Doing Battle Planning a Siege Formation Force Emptiness and Fullness Armed Struggle Adaptations Maneuvering Armies Terrain Nine Grounds Fire Attack On the Use of Spies

Sun Tzu's Art of War was written 2500 year ago by Sun Wu, a militarist and strategist. It summarizes practical war experience at and before the end of the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 B.C.) in the form of military theory treatise, laying a theoretical basis and good tradition for Chinese classical military sciences. It occupies a significant position in the history of Chinese and foreign military and strategy. This work has only 13 chapters with over 5000 Chinese characters, but it is an immortal masterpiece famous in the world. It is not only a model work covering Chinese thinking of military management, but also a magnificent book dealing with Chinese management philosophy.

Over hundreds and thousands of years, Sun Tzu's Art of War has been widely recommended and has produced world-wide impact. The mystery is that it suggests a series of ideas of "clever combat" compatible with objective law. The so-called "clever combat" refers to wining the greatest victory in the best way. In the modern economic society, it implies the victory of defeating competitors and occupying market by means of the most effective measures.

As for modern businessmen, what they can absorb directly from Sun Tzu's Art of War is its thinking of strategy covering the following essentials:

1. Complete triumph strategy: subduing the enemy's troops without any fighting. This thinking is very much recommended by modern western strategist. The so-called "subduing the enemy's troops without any fighting" is realized while two armies pit against each other, it is actually a kind of deterrent strategy;

2. Strategy of combing deterrent with attack: by diplomacy, dividing and disintegrating the enemy, consolidating and expanding our own alliance, so as to isolate the enemy and cut off the enemy from their relief troops, to ultimately subdue the enemy;

3. Strategy of winning a first victory: he who is well prepared will be victorious;

4. Deception strategy: attacking him where he is unprepared, appearing where you are not expected;

5. Strategy of striving for seizing the initiative;

6. Strategy of turning disadvantages into advantages;

7. Speedy victory strategy: launching a speedy and sudden attack;

8. Strategy of victory with ease: attacking the enemy's weak points;

9. Certain victory strategy: we can concentrate our forces, while the enemy's must be divided, hence we shall be able to use many to attack the enemy's few, and attack an inferior force with a superior one;

10. Strategy of psychological combat. Avoiding strength: first, avoiding the enemy for the time being when he is strong and striking the enemy when he is tired; second, disintegrating the enemy's morale to shake the army's morale. Psychological attack: seizing the hearts of the enemy's generals, disordering and controlling their thinking, so as to make them in disorder.

Sun Tzu' Art of War is the treasure of Oriental culture. Sun Tzu's Art of War full of strategy ideas reveals physiologically a general law governing army management and corporate management, strategy for art of war and operational strategy, and so enjoys wide-range applicability and great vitality. Market competition is a competition of products and services, and a competition of human wisdom at a deeper level. One can have full assurance of success with best strategy.