Thread by @JohnF_Sullivan

To avoid a Bankrupt understanding of Sun Tzu, consider Chapter 11

The problematic 11th chapter of the Art of War is critical to understanding the overall text’s purpose and intent, yet most simply gloss over it. Here is why I think it deserves a closer reading …

This chapter has often confounded readers of the text. It is by far the longest chapter in the book, and its organization is often chaotic, with some sections simply corrupted repetitions, and other topics drifting aimlessly into non-sequiturs.

Moreover, given the descriptions of various terrains found in chapters 8, 9 and 10, this chapter is often thought of as simply a summary of the information already covered in previous sections of the book. Chapter 11, though, is unique and worthy of more careful analysis.

More than any other section of the book, this chapter follows a close approximation of modern operational design. The sequence of terrains (zones) outlines Sun Tzu's vision for how an offensive operation should ideally unfold in terms of both time and space, from the initial

invasion across the enemy border to the culminating decisive battle that will achieve victory for one's army.

Terrain does not adequately reflect what Sun Tzu is describing. He is not concerned here with the actual physical properties of the terrains he is listing.

His thinking is aligned more with the more modern military term of “zone.”

The heart of the chapter is a DESCRIPTION and corresponding recommend ACTION for each of the zones Sun Tzu expects to encounter. Here is a brief synopsis:

Later in the chapter this pattern will be confusingly duplicated, but this time it is corrupted. It adds a 10th “zone” 絕 (Isolated) and not all of the other zone descriptions are included. My theory is that the chapter naturally concludes shortly before this section of the text.

What comes after is questionably added material, including reworked passages, duplications, and other passages (such as the one mentioning hegemons) that don’t necessarily fit into the original text.

Going back to the original 9 zones then, what is clear is that while the first eight are meant to be either endured, avoided, or temporarily exploited, it is only in the last, death ground (死地) that one has any expectation of obtaining victory.

The takeaway from this is that there are two main elements to Sun Tzu's operational concept: drive deeply into the enemy's territory and then intentionally seek " death ground " for your soldiers before initiating the attack.

As I’ve mentioned before, the concept of reliance on “death ground” to achieve victory is Sun Tzu’s primary original idea. Chapter 11 helps visualize how it fits into the text’s overall theoretical structure.

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