Sun Tzu’s ‘The Art of War,’ was written around the 6th century, and is one of the most influential boos on was and military strategy ever written. Among the famous individuals claimed to have read the book include: Napoleon, George Patton, Douglas MacArthur, Mao Zedong, Fidel Castro, and General Paul Van Ripper said that it influenced his planning of Operation Desert Storm.
A famous narrative involving a young Sun Tzu and Ho Lu, King of the Wu state sealed Sun Tzu’s mastery of war in ancient times. In it, the king asks him to test his theory of war, using women from the palace, to which Sun Tzu agreed to. He separated 180 women into two groups, with one woman in charge of each. He ordered a left turn, to which the women only burst into laughter. He blamed himself for not being clear enough, so he gave the command again. Again, laughter. This time he blamed the head officers, and had them beheaded. After that the women answered his every order without hesitation or smile. He then told the king, “Your soldiers, Sire, are now properly drilled and disciplined, and ready for Your Majesty’s inspection. They can be put to any use that their sovereign may desire; bid them go through fire and water, and they will not disobey. The king answered by making him a general. Whether or not this actually happened, Sun Tzu really was a general who won battle after battle, leading King Ho Lu to gain much land and acclaim.
The book is divided into 13 chapters: laying plans, waging war, attack by stratagem, tactical dispositions, energy, weak points and strong, maneuvering, variation in tactics, the army on the march, terrain, the nine situations, attack by fire, the use of spies. He elaborates when an army should attack, when it should retreat, when it should hold ground. It discusses moral, and how to raise your armies and lower your opponents, and many other things that we now view as common warfare, but Sun Tzu put it into such simple terms, that works, that even today in modern warfare people still use The Art of War. Even businesses sometimes use the book to describe how to be successful in what your goals are.a
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