Below are a list of key concepts and terms from Sun Tzu's work. These terms are referred to frequently throughout this site.
Compassion (ren)
The third of Sun Tzu's five virtues of the General. Compassion involves caring for others, elevating their humanity, and treating them with respect and dignity.
Courage (yong)
The fourth of Sun Tzu's five virtues of the General. Courage involves acting in the face of uncertainty or risk for something one believes to be true and right.
Credibility (xin)
The second of Sun Tzu's five virtues of the General. Credibility is necessary to build trust with others. A credible leader keeps their word and communicates with honesty and sincerity.
Deception (gui)
One of Sun Tzu's most important, and most controversial, concepts. For Sun Tzu, deception is not simply lying to one's opponents. Rather, it involves controlling what your opponents see and know about you. It works through two complementary processes: concealment and surprise. In life, deception is essential to achieving success. Again, not in the sense of lying to people, but in the sense of concealing your plans and intentions so that you can progress unhampered in your goals.
Discipline (yan)
The last of Sun Tzu's five virtues of a General. Discipline is the ability to stay focused on the tasks that serve one's overall purpose (Tao). It involves holding oneself to high standards of conduct.
Emptiness (xu)
A complex concept, emptiness, for Sun Tzu, refers to two things: the ground which one should seek to occupy, and the weak points of an enemy, where his forces are fewest. For Sun Tzu, one wins not through a test of wills to see who is stronger, but through attacking weakness with strength. In life, emptiness refers to the openings and opportunities where you can move into, secure, or gain advantage. Perhaps it is a unique opportunity to work with an important manager, or a local contest that you know you can excel at. One must always be looking for the opportunities - the openings - in a situation to advance.
Force (shih)
Force, or momentum, refers to the state of the army in which it has accumulated a large enough number of advantages over the enemy so that the result of the competition tips in favor of the army. Creating momentum involves using the strategy of proper-surprising, in which one alternates between standard moves (the proper) and unexpected lines of attack (surprise). In life, force comes from accumulating a number of advantages on your side - skills, knowledge, friends, network contacts, raving fans, etc. - that you have a great likelihood of achieving your goals and succeeding in your endeavors.
Fullness (shí)
The opposite of emptiness. Fullness refers to strength or solidness. As a rule, you never attack where the enemy is full (or solid). You attack where the enemy is weak (empty). As a matter of course, every fullness is temporary. Every strength eventually turns to weakness if one is resistant to adapting. Sometimes winning is a matter of waiting until fullness has emptied out again.
General (Jiang)
The fourth of Sun Tzu's five factors. It refers to the leader of the army, the source of the army's decisions. An effective general has five characteristics, or virtues: care, credibility, courage, wisdom, and discipline. You too must see yourself as a general of your life - the decision-maker - and must hone these virtues as well.
Ground (Di)
The third of Sun Tzu's five factors. It refers to the quality of an army's situation, including its relationship to its physical environment, its enemy, and its allies. It can refer to either the situation the army is currently in, the situation the army wants to be in, or the path between the two. For Sun Tzu, the Ground has a few dimensions: openness, distance, difficulty, security. These describe the quality of the options one has.
Heaven (Tian)
The second of Sun Tzu's five factors. It refers to the climate, the temperature, and the seasons - all factors that are beyond the control of the army, but influence the army's decision-making. Heaven affects whether the weather will be rainy or dry, windy or calm, dark or clear. In your own life, it refers to the cycles that affect your decision-making, including your internal cycles (your good and bad tendencies) and your external ones (the tendencies of the people around you, of the market, of the economy, etc.).
Methods (Fa)
The last of Sun Tzu's five factors. Methods refers to the army's organizational system, its chain of command, logistics, and management of expenses. It also refers to the principles, strategies, and tactics that an army should use to survive and achieve victory. The benefit of the Methods is that it allows the army to be prepared for and responsive to the enemy. In your own life, you need methods that allow you to be prepared and responsive to life's challenges - whether it's losing a job, dealing with conflict with a family member, or managing your health. You need systems, practices, tools that allow you to be ready for anything that comes your way.
Skilled warrior (shàn zhàn zhě)
Sun Tzu's term for generals in the past who were able to achieve subtle, simple, and relatively bloodless victories that ultimately served to make their nation stronger and more secure. By analogy, the skilled warrior of life is one who can overcome challenges and obstacles using Sun Tzu's principles of strategy - cohesion, concealment, and control. In doing this, they can achieve total victory (see below), making themselves more secure and better off than they were before.
Timing (jie)
This factor has to deal with coordinating movements and strikes according to 1) the conditions of Heaven, and 2) the positioning of the enemy. For Sun Tzu, once one is in a position of advantage over the enemy, one must time the right moment to attack so as to surprise and overwhelm the enemy. In life, you must time your movements and actions to maximize effectiveness. Using an advantage at the wrong time can be as self-defeating as trying to achieve something when you are not yet able.
Total victory (quan sheng)
The ultimate goal of strategy. For Sun Tzu, it is not enough to win over the enemy. The goal must be to make winning pay, ideally without battle or bloodshed, so that the nation is stronger, more secure than before. In your own life, not all problems are the same. You have limited time, money, and energy. In general, you want to avoid direct confrontations (because they can be costly) and choose goals and challenges that you calculate will leave you in a better position than before.
The Way (Tao)
The first of Sun Tzu's five factors, and perhaps the most important. It refers to the state of unity and purpose between a ruler and his people. In your own life, the Way translates to how well you understand and live by your purpose - what you want to achieve and why.
Wisdom (zhi)
The first of Sun Tzu's five virtues of the General. Wisdom is the ability to use knowledge to make effective decisions. It involves not simply knowing what action to take, but when to take action.
Compassion (ren)
The third of Sun Tzu's five virtues of the General. Compassion involves caring for others, elevating their humanity, and treating them with respect and dignity.
Courage (yong)
The fourth of Sun Tzu's five virtues of the General. Courage involves acting in the face of uncertainty or risk for something one believes to be true and right.
Credibility (xin)
The second of Sun Tzu's five virtues of the General. Credibility is necessary to build trust with others. A credible leader keeps their word and communicates with honesty and sincerity.
Deception (gui)
One of Sun Tzu's most important, and most controversial, concepts. For Sun Tzu, deception is not simply lying to one's opponents. Rather, it involves controlling what your opponents see and know about you. It works through two complementary processes: concealment and surprise. In life, deception is essential to achieving success. Again, not in the sense of lying to people, but in the sense of concealing your plans and intentions so that you can progress unhampered in your goals.
Discipline (yan)
The last of Sun Tzu's five virtues of a General. Discipline is the ability to stay focused on the tasks that serve one's overall purpose (Tao). It involves holding oneself to high standards of conduct.
Emptiness (xu)
A complex concept, emptiness, for Sun Tzu, refers to two things: the ground which one should seek to occupy, and the weak points of an enemy, where his forces are fewest. For Sun Tzu, one wins not through a test of wills to see who is stronger, but through attacking weakness with strength. In life, emptiness refers to the openings and opportunities where you can move into, secure, or gain advantage. Perhaps it is a unique opportunity to work with an important manager, or a local contest that you know you can excel at. One must always be looking for the opportunities - the openings - in a situation to advance.
Force (shih)
Force, or momentum, refers to the state of the army in which it has accumulated a large enough number of advantages over the enemy so that the result of the competition tips in favor of the army. Creating momentum involves using the strategy of proper-surprising, in which one alternates between standard moves (the proper) and unexpected lines of attack (surprise). In life, force comes from accumulating a number of advantages on your side - skills, knowledge, friends, network contacts, raving fans, etc. - that you have a great likelihood of achieving your goals and succeeding in your endeavors.
Fullness (shí)
The opposite of emptiness. Fullness refers to strength or solidness. As a rule, you never attack where the enemy is full (or solid). You attack where the enemy is weak (empty). As a matter of course, every fullness is temporary. Every strength eventually turns to weakness if one is resistant to adapting. Sometimes winning is a matter of waiting until fullness has emptied out again.
General (Jiang)
The fourth of Sun Tzu's five factors. It refers to the leader of the army, the source of the army's decisions. An effective general has five characteristics, or virtues: care, credibility, courage, wisdom, and discipline. You too must see yourself as a general of your life - the decision-maker - and must hone these virtues as well.
Ground (Di)
The third of Sun Tzu's five factors. It refers to the quality of an army's situation, including its relationship to its physical environment, its enemy, and its allies. It can refer to either the situation the army is currently in, the situation the army wants to be in, or the path between the two. For Sun Tzu, the Ground has a few dimensions: openness, distance, difficulty, security. These describe the quality of the options one has.
Heaven (Tian)
The second of Sun Tzu's five factors. It refers to the climate, the temperature, and the seasons - all factors that are beyond the control of the army, but influence the army's decision-making. Heaven affects whether the weather will be rainy or dry, windy or calm, dark or clear. In your own life, it refers to the cycles that affect your decision-making, including your internal cycles (your good and bad tendencies) and your external ones (the tendencies of the people around you, of the market, of the economy, etc.).
Methods (Fa)
The last of Sun Tzu's five factors. Methods refers to the army's organizational system, its chain of command, logistics, and management of expenses. It also refers to the principles, strategies, and tactics that an army should use to survive and achieve victory. The benefit of the Methods is that it allows the army to be prepared for and responsive to the enemy. In your own life, you need methods that allow you to be prepared and responsive to life's challenges - whether it's losing a job, dealing with conflict with a family member, or managing your health. You need systems, practices, tools that allow you to be ready for anything that comes your way.
Skilled warrior (shàn zhàn zhě)
Sun Tzu's term for generals in the past who were able to achieve subtle, simple, and relatively bloodless victories that ultimately served to make their nation stronger and more secure. By analogy, the skilled warrior of life is one who can overcome challenges and obstacles using Sun Tzu's principles of strategy - cohesion, concealment, and control. In doing this, they can achieve total victory (see below), making themselves more secure and better off than they were before.
Timing (jie)
This factor has to deal with coordinating movements and strikes according to 1) the conditions of Heaven, and 2) the positioning of the enemy. For Sun Tzu, once one is in a position of advantage over the enemy, one must time the right moment to attack so as to surprise and overwhelm the enemy. In life, you must time your movements and actions to maximize effectiveness. Using an advantage at the wrong time can be as self-defeating as trying to achieve something when you are not yet able.
Total victory (quan sheng)
The ultimate goal of strategy. For Sun Tzu, it is not enough to win over the enemy. The goal must be to make winning pay, ideally without battle or bloodshed, so that the nation is stronger, more secure than before. In your own life, not all problems are the same. You have limited time, money, and energy. In general, you want to avoid direct confrontations (because they can be costly) and choose goals and challenges that you calculate will leave you in a better position than before.
The Way (Tao)
The first of Sun Tzu's five factors, and perhaps the most important. It refers to the state of unity and purpose between a ruler and his people. In your own life, the Way translates to how well you understand and live by your purpose - what you want to achieve and why.
Wisdom (zhi)
The first of Sun Tzu's five virtues of the General. Wisdom is the ability to use knowledge to make effective decisions. It involves not simply knowing what action to take, but when to take action.
