The Chapter on Emptiness and Solidity

AnonymousBashu Publishing House · ChinaJul 2024

4.4

Word count: 798 words
Chapters: 5

Summary

The sixth chapter of The Art of War, which mainly discusses how to achieve local superiority over the enemy at a predetermined battleground—using dispersion and concentration, encirclement and maneuver—so as to defeat a larger force with a smaller one.

Editor's review

The Weak and Strong Points is the chapter of The Art of War that focuses on the initiative in attack and defense, its core being to maneuver the opponent through dispersion and concentration, maneuver and encirclement, and to create a situation of our strength against the enemy's weakness on a predetermined battlefield. The principles it sets out—"shape others while remaining formless yourself" and "avoid the strong and strike the weak"—are not only the essence of ancient military thought but can also be transferred to thinking about competitive strategy and resource allocation. This Bashu Publishing House edition presents the chapter on its own, making it easy for readers to focus on a close reading and grasp Sun Tzu's key arguments on the transformation of weakness and strength without reading the whole book. The text is concise yet rich in meaning, and rewards repeated reading. Readers may test it against specific battles or real situations to appreciate that "defeating a larger force with a smaller one" is not simply a matter of numerical superiority but the wisdom of maneuvering the enemy to create local superiority. Readers interested in classical military thought can use this chapter as an entry point and then extend to other chapters of The Art of War.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Classical military enthusiasts who want a close reading of a single chapter of The Art of War and a focus on the thought of weakness and strength
Managers and professionals who need to understand resource allocation and the contest for initiative
Students of literature and history interested in ancient military categories and strategic concepts
General readers who want a short-form introduction to Sun Tzu's thought

Not a good fit for

Beginning readers expecting detailed modern vernacular annotations and battle examples
Pragmatists seeking concrete business steps rather than principled inspiration
Readers who have significant difficulty with the classical Chinese original and lack supporting materials

Reading tips

Read the original text once through, mark words and phrases you do not understand, then work through it sentence by sentence against the annotations
After each paragraph, try to test its principles against a real competitive or negotiation scenario
Read this chapter alongside other chapters of The Art of War to trace the overall thread of the concept of weakness and strength
After reading, restate the core ideas in your own words to check whether you truly understand rather than merely memorizing the text

About the publisher

Bashu Publishing House China · Founded in 1983

Bashu Publishing House is a publisher centered on collating and publishing classical Chinese cultural texts, with its main publishing areas covering classical literature, Eastern philosophy, ancient poetry, and educational classics. Its library currently holds 1,075 titles, including representative works such as Dream of the Red Chamber, the Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Gathering, Renjian Cihua, and Out to the Frontier, involving authors such as Cao Xueqin, Wang Xizhi, Wang Guowei, Wang Changling, Liu Xie, and Yan Yu. These reflect the publisher's focus on literary classics, poetry criticism, and philosophical readings. Its publishing character lies in working around ancient texts and canonical works, with attention to textual collation and presentation. Public information on its more detailed publishing background and series plans is limited; this introduction is based only on the library's book information.

版权信息
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正文四

FAQ

What does The Weak and Strong Points mainly discuss within The Art of War?

This chapter focuses on how to maneuver the enemy through dispersion and concentration, maneuver and encirclement, and to create a situation of our strength against the enemy's weakness on a predetermined battlefield, thereby defeating a larger force with a smaller one. Its core is seizing the initiative on the battlefield, achieving "shape others while remaining formless yourself," avoiding the strong and striking the weak, and keeping the enemy reacting passively.

Can I read this chapter directly without having read the whole of The Art of War?

Yes. This chapter is relatively self-contained and focuses on the question of weakness and strength and the initiative, so reading it alone allows you to grasp an important main line. But if you can combine it with other chapters of the book, such as Attack by Stratagem and Maneuvering, your understanding of Sun Tzu's thought will be more complete.

Does "defeating a larger force with a smaller one" simply mean numerical superiority?

Not entirely. This chapter emphasizes creating local superiority by maneuvering the enemy, forming a situation of our strength against the enemy's weakness at a key point. Numbers are only one dimension; more important are the initiative, concealment of intelligence, and choice of battlefield, so that the enemy is forced to fight under unfavorable conditions.

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About the author

Anonymous Author

Anonymous is not a real personal name but a general Chinese designation for authors whose names are unknown, lost, or unsigned. Neither nationality nor dates of birth and death can be verified, and available public information is limited, so the works attributed to this name are the only basis for description. The collection holds 2,078 works under Anonymous, spanning medicine, classics, historical readings, ancient poetry, classical literature, and philosophy. Representative works include The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon: Lingshu, Mencius, The Book of Documents, Nineteen Old Poems, Complete Song Ci, and The Peacock Flies Southeast. Most of these works took shape through long transmission and editing, emerging either from collective folk creation or from authors whose names were lost over time. In ancient China, the Book of Songs, the Great Learning, and many popular storybooks and plays were signed Anonymous because their authors could not be traced. Anonymous works cross the classics, histories, philosophical writings, medical texts, and poetry; their subjects are broad, and their styles vary from archaic simplicity to clear naturalness, making them important and influential sources for understanding ancient Chinese thought, medicine, and literature.