The Art of War by: Sun Tzu Review Part 13: The Use of Spies
Hello everyone, this is the last part of my Art of War review. It has been extremely fun, and enjoyable to write this series. I can't believe it's almost over. Anyway, let's get into the review. (Please note that this was one of the toughest chapters to summarize as most of the topics are hard to connect with real life because they are mostly used in war).
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Art of War original text
cmp2020 commentary
The Use of Spies
1. Sun Tzu said: Raising a host of a hundred thousand men and marching them great distances entails a heavy loss on the people and a drain on the resources of the State. The daily expenditure will amount to a thousand ounces of silver. There will be commotion at home and abroad, and men will drop down exhausted on the highways. As many as seven hundred thousand families will be impeded in their labor.
launching a large campaign is hard on both you and your supporters. It is expensive and exhausting. (Real world example: For one company to buy another puts a lot of strain on the employees, the executives, and the shareholders).
2. Hostile armies may face each other for years, striving for the victory which is decided in a single day. This being so, to remain in ignorance of the enemy's condition simply because one grudges the outlay of a hundred ounces of silver in honors and emoluments, is the height of inhumanity.
Anyone who wants to be successful in a field should understand all aspects of it, even the aspects they don't appreciate. This way, they can feel sympathy for those who work in those fields, and be prepared for anything. (Real world example: A musician who wants to be successful should learn aspects of the business which are not related to music what so ever [Intellectual property, marketing, editing, etc. . .]).
3. One who acts thus is no leader of men, no present help to his sovereign , no master of victory.
If you're not preparing yourself, you will experience failure, and the disappointment of your supporters. (Real world example: The cousin in this story).
4. Thus, what enables the wise sovereign and the good general to strike and conquer, and achieve things beyond the reach of ordinary men, is foreknowledge.
Therefore, success is caused by preparation.
5. Now this foreknowledge cannot be elicited from spirits; it cannot be obtained inductively from experience, nor by any deductive calculation.
6. Knowledge of the enemy's dispositions can only be obtained from other men.
To be successful, you have to study the circumstances of your situation. You cannot improvise based on passed experience, or mathematical models. (Real world example: Just because you have an A in your history class doesn't mean you shouldn't study).
7. Hence the use of spies, of whom there are five classes: (1) local spies; (2) inward spies; (3) converted spies; (4) doomed spies; (5) surviving spies.
This is why you gather information, of which there are five methods of gathering: (1)Gathering information about your surroundings; (2) Getting information about your competitor; (3) Gaining access to your competitor's plans and information; (4) Releasing information in order to mislead your competitor; (5) Working with someone who used to work for your competitor.
8. When these five kinds of spy are all at work, none can discover the secret system. This is called "divine manipulation of the threads." It is the sovereign's most precious faculty.
When these kinds of programs are in play, you will gain more information than your competitor. (Real world example: In football, (1) using the defense's lineup to decide what play to run. (2) Linemen on the offense, yelling "Gap" to inform that there is a gap the running back could use, or yelling "blitz" if a linebacker is blitzing towards a certain area. (3) Using a syncopated snap count to get the defense to jump off sides (4) A linemen yelling a play that is not really being run to trick the defense into thinking that that play is being used. (5) A football player changes schools, and tells his new team the old team's play book).
9. Having local spies means employing the services of the inhabitants of a district.
Gathering information about your surroundings. (Real world example: See number 8).
10. Having inward spies, making use of officials of the enemy.
Getting information about your competitor. (Real world example: See number 8).
11. Having converted spies, getting hold of the enemy's spies and using them for our own purposes.
Gaining access to your competitor's plans and information. (Real world example: See number 8).
12. Having doomed spies, doing certain things openly for purposes of deception, and allowing our spies to know of them and report them to the enemy.
Releasing information in order to mislead your competitor. (Real world example: See number 8).
13. Surviving spies, finally, are those who bring back news from the enemy's camp.
Working with someone who used to work for your competitor. (Real world example: See number 8).
14. Hence it is that with none in the whole army are more intimate relations to be maintained than with spies. None should be more liberally rewarded. In no other business should greater secrecy be preserved.
The people needed for information gathering should be highly honored and well rewarded. (Real world example: Usually the winning team of the super bowl gives the quarter back the MVP award because they have to decide on every single play which play to use, and learn to read the defense and trust their team).
15. Spies cannot be usefully employed without a certain intuitive sagacity.
16. They cannot be properly managed without benevolence and straightforwardness.
To gather information you need to have sound judgement, good intentions, and straightforwardness. (Real world example: Joe Kenda when he was a detective, always used sound judgement, and benevolence when he gathered information before arresting suspects. He was fair, and waited until enough evidence was gathered to prove a suspects involvement in a crime).
17. Without subtle ingenuity of mind, one cannot make certain the truth of their reports.
Without being able to decide things quietly, you cannot decipher the truth. (Real world example: A jury needs to think quietly when deliberating a court case).
18. Be subtle! Be subtle! and use your spies for every kind of business.
Quietly gather information in every situation you are in. (Real world example: A cop must do this, to make sure that the suspect they arrest is actually guilty).
19. If a secret piece of news is divulged by a spy before the time is ripe, he must be put to death together with the man whom the secret was told.
Don't use information that does not apply to your situation. (Real world example: If in Math class you know George Washington was the first president, but you don't know what 2+2= you don't put George Washington was the first president as the answer).
20. Whether the object be to crush an army, to storm a city, or to assassinate an individual, it is always necessary to begin by finding out the names of the attendants, the aides-de-camp, and door-keepers and sentries of the general in command. Our spies must be commissioned to ascertain these.
Figure out who is making the decisions for your competitors before you worry about what the decisions are. (Real world example: If you are a UFC fighter and you know who your opponent's trainer is, you can predict what general moves and style they will use).
21. The enemy's spies who have come to spy on us must be sought out, tempted with bribes, led away and comfortably housed. Thus they will become converted spies and available for our service.
You must seek people who are gathering information about you, and try to convince them to gather information about your competitor for you.
22. It is through the information brought by the converted spy that we are able to acquire and employ local and inward spies.
Using information about your enemy that you gathered by gaining access to their plans, you can figure out the situation, and learn more about your competitor through your surroundings.
23. It is owing to his information, again, that we can cause the doomed spy to carry false tidings to the enemy.
You conform your false information to be consistent with what you know about your competitor. (Real world example: If the defense in football lines up like they are expecting a pass, the offensive lineman can shout a passing play "by accident.")
24. Lastly, it is by his information that the surviving spy can be used on appointed occasions.
You can then use the information given to the enemy to formulate a plan based on the information insiders have given you.
25. The end and aim of spying in all its five varieties is knowledge of the enemy; and this knowledge can only be derived, in the first instance, from the converted spy. Hence it is essential that the converted spy be treated with the utmost liberality.
The goal is to gather information in all of these circumstances, so treat those who accomplish this goal with respect.
26. Of old, the rise of the Yin dynasty was due to I Chih who had served under the Hsia. Likewise, the rise of the Chou dynasty was due to Lu Ya had served under the Yin.
Yep what he said ^
27. Hence it is only the enlightened ruler and the wise general who will use the highest intelligence of the army for purposes of spying, and thereby they achieve the great results. Spies are a most important element in water, because on them depends an army's ability to move.
Use those who you trust, to gather information, and mislead your competitors. This will advance you closer towards your goals.
Part 6a: Weak Points and Strong
Part 6b: Weak Points and Strong
Part 7b: Maneuvering
Part 8: Variation in Tactics
Part 9a: The Army on the March
Part 9b: The Army on the March
Thanks for reading this! Tomorrow I will be uploading every single part combined into one article so you don't have to click different links to read through the whole series. Please let me know if you enjoyed this series, and let me know if the idea I stated in yesterday's conclusion is good for my next (summer) series. As always, feedback is appreciated, and remember to check back later!
Also remember to check for: My weekly 7 post, and My Art of War Review
You worked very hard on this series. Congratulations for completing it! It was a big job, and well done. And thank you for once again prompting me to read Sun Tzu's masterpiece.
No problem, thanks for helping me to decipher the meaning behind some 3,000 year old Chinese man's strategy.