Sun Tsu's art of war

For the last four months, The Jakarta Post has been deluged by articles concerning ethnic Chinese in Indonesia, their position, their rights and their duties. The two groups, the ethnic Chinese and the pribumi (indigenous) were like two opposing groups waging a war of words, with attacks and counterattacks, with cunning and strategy. In this respect it is interesting to look up Sun Tsu's book about the art of war, which is also applicable for business.

Sun Tsu lived in the kingdom of Wu, surrounded by the kingdom of Chu in the west, the kingdoms of Chi and Jin in the north and the kingdom of Yue in the south. They were all enemies of Wu. He lived in the Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC to 481 BC).

In his book, Sun Tsu stated: * Don't fight a war against an enemy who has a larger army than you. You will loose the battle. Negotiate instead, to avoid war. * Don't use anger in war. An angry general will jump into a war without proper preparations, resulting in a protracted war, exhausting his soldiers and losing the war. A protracted war leads to high costs and loss of human morale. So don't prolong wars, fight for a fast victory or negotiate. * Sun Tsu advised to put the enemy in an awkward position, like pushing the enemy with their back to a river. The enemy will not be able to retreat and will surrender eventually. This last statement was later criticized by Han Hsin, who said, an enemy in an awkward position will fight for his survival and will win the war as was proven by the annihilation of the kingdom of Wu by the kingdom of Yue, despite the presence of Sun Tsu. * Have a thorough knowledge of forecasting the outcome of the battle. You have to know yourself and your enemy. When you know yourself but not your enemy, you will be defeated after gaining a victory. When you know neither yourself nor your enemy, you will lose every battle.

SUMARSONO SASTROWARDOYO

Bogor, West Java