Sun Tzu's The Art of War is one of the oldest books on military strategy. It has influenced Eastern military thinking and been applied to business strategies. The book outlines five elements of strategy: path, heaven, earth, leader, and law. It describes strategic concepts like laying plans, waging war, attacking with stratagem, tactical dispositions, and maneuvering. The Art of War has been used in politics, business, and beyond. It teaches that understanding both yourself and your opponent leads to victory in battles and competitive situations.

1. Sun Tzu's Art of War
Entrepreneurship
Vicky Zhao

2. About the author
• Sun Tzu was born into minor nobility in
Shandong province of China.
• Sun Wu was given a good
education and wrote a military
treatise in order to get noticed
and hired by royalty.
• Sun Wu's name was changed to
Sun Tzu on the Art of War as a
sign of his status a master of
philosophy.

3. Introduction
• One of the oldest and most successful books
on military strategy in the world.
• Huge influence on Eastern military thinking,
business tactics, and beyond
• The Art of War has also been applied to
business and managerial strategies

4. Historical Context
• The time of this book: it was written in Chinese
Spring and Autumn period & came into the fore
in the Warring States Period.
• The famous thoughts:
1.Confucius' ideas came to dominated
Chinese Rulers' methods as
“Confucianism”.
2. Sun Tzu's book developed a life of
its own, finding its way into the
hands of Chinese General Centuries

5. Main Ideas
• The book is all about victory.
• How to get what you want
without conflict.
• How to win if conflict arises.
• To describe his strategy, Sun
Tzu describes its five elements:

6. Main ideas
Elements Meaning in the Art of War
Path( 道）
Mutual philosophy & purpose of the group: Even enemies will help each other if
they are together on a boat that is in trouble. Similarly sharing ideas and
identification, bind people together into a useful, cohesive team.
Heaven
（天）
Environmental factors: The prevailing conditions determine what plans you can
undertake. These conditions are too big and general to be controlled by people.
Earth
（地）
Situation: This is similar in effect to environment but on a smaller scale that you
and your opponent can control, if you know how.
Leader
（将）
Leadership: Leadership allows you to make good plans because of your
perception, foresight, emotional intelligence and objectivity. It allows you to
implement your plans because of your control of your troops.
Law （法）
Art, as in "Art of War": This is the skill and ability to implement your strategy.
Preparation and coordination are essential here.

7. Chapter summaryChaptersummary
1. 始计 Laying Plans
2. 作战 Waging War
3. 谋攻 Attack by Stratagem
4. 军形 Tactical Dispositions
5. 兵势 Energy
6. 虚实 Illusion and Reality
7. 军争 Maneuvering

8. Chapter summaryChaptersummary
8 、九变 The Nine Variations
9 、行军 The Army on the March
10 、地形 Terrain
11 、九地 The Nine Situations
12 、火攻 Fiery Attack
13 、用间 The Use of Spies

9. Application
• Military applications: In many East Asian
countries, The Art of War was part of the
syllabus for potential candidates of military
service examinations. Various translations are
available and were used by some European
military institutions, for instance, in Germany
before World War I. In the United States
Marine Corps, it is reportedly required reading
for intelligence personnel and recommended
for all Marines.
• Besides these, all those thoughts in The Art of
War are of great value for us to win an
informationalzed war. This paper shows how
to apply these tactics to informationalized
wars.

10. Application
• Out military applications:
• Politics:It has found use in political campaigning as well;
Republican election strategist Lee Atwater claimed he
traveled everywhere with the book
• Business: Most notably the book has gained
popularity in corporate life; there have been a
variety of business books written that apply
its lessons to "office politics" and corporate
strategy. Many Japanese companies make the
book required reading for their key
executives. The book is also popular among
Western business management, who have
turned to it for inspiration and advice on how
to succeed in competitive business situations.

11. Application
• Others: Some have also
interpreted The Art of War as
providing methods for developing
social strategies, such as
developing social relationships,
maintaining romantic
relationships, and seduction. The
book stresses subtlety and always
making it appear like one is
trying to achieve something other
than one's actual intention.

12. • 故曰：知彼知己，百戰不殆；不知彼而知己，一
勝一負；不知彼，不知己，每戰必殆。
• So it is said that if you know your enemies and know
yourself, you can win a hundred battles without a
single loss.
• If you only know yourself, but not your opponent,
you may win or may lose.
• If you know neither yourself nor your enemy, you
will always endanger yourself.

13. Thank You