The opening chapter emphasizes the importance of evaluation and planning prior to battle. In so doing, it examines the fundamental criteria for determining victory or defeat. Also stressed at the outset is the need to attack the enemy when he is least prepared and to do what he least expects.
Warfare3 is a great affair of the state.4
The field of life and death,
The way of preservation and extinction.
It cannot be left unexamined.5
Therefore,
Measure it in terms of five factors,
Weigh it by means of seven assessments,6
and seek out its circumstances.
The first factor is the Way,7
The fourth is Generalship,
The fifth is Method.
The Way is that which causes the people to be of the same mind with their superior.10
Therefore,
They are committed to die with him,
They are committed to live with him,
Heaven comprises yin and yang,12 cold and heat,13 the ordering of time.14
Earth comprises distant or near, precipitous or gentle, broad or narrow,15 positions conducive to death or life.16
Generalship comprises knowledge, trustworthiness, humaneness, bravery, and sternness.
Method comprises organization of units, official channels, and control of matériel.
The general must be informed about all five of these factors, but only he who truly understands them will be victorious, while those who fail to understand them will be defeated. Therefore, when weighing warfare by means of seven assessments and seeking out its circumstances, one should ask:
Which side’s ruler possesses the Way?
Which side’s general is more capable?
Which side possesses the advantages of Heaven and Earth?
Which side exercises its rules and methods more rigorously?
Which side has the stronger army?
Which side has officers and troops that are more highly trained?
Which side is more transparent in dispensing rewards and punishments?
Through these considerations, I can foretell victory or defeat.
If you17 will heed my assessments and act on them, you will certainly be victorious, and I shall remain here; if you will not heed my assessments and act on them, you will certainly be defeated, and I shall leave.18
When an advantageous assessment has been heeded, one must create for it a favorable configuration to assist the war effort externally.19 A favorable configuration is one that signifies the creation of power20 in accordance with advantage.
Warfare is21 a way of deception.22
Therefore,
When one is capable, give the appearance of23 being incapable.
When one is active, give the appearance of being inactive.
When one is near, give the appearance of being far.
When one is far, give the appearance of being near.
When one’s opponents are greedy for advantage, tempt them.
When one’s opponents are in chaos, seize them.
When one’s opponents are secure, prepare for them.
When one’s opponents are strong, evade them.
When one’s opponents are angry, aggravate them.
When one’s opponents are humble, make them arrogant.
When one’s opponents are at ease, make them weary.
When one’s opponents are friendly to each other, divide them.
Attack them when they are unprepared;
Come forth when they are not expecting you to do so.24
Herein lies the victoriousness of the strategist, which cannot be divulged beforehand.
Now, he who is victorious in the temple computations25 before battle is the one who receives more counting rods. He who is not victorious in the temple computations before battle is the one who receives fewer counting rods. The one with more counting rods wins,26 and the one with fewer counting rods loses. How much less chance of winning is there for someone who receives no counting rods at all!
Through our observation of these calculations, victory and defeat are apparent.