There are six general-caused calamities—flight, insubordination, collapse, ruin, disorganization, and rout—that constitute distinct ways of courting defeat and must be carefully noted.
By Sun Tzu, from L'Art de la guerre
Key Arguments
- These calamities arise from command faults rather than natural causes.
- They encompass breakdowns in force ratios, civil-military balance, officer discipline, command authority and clarity, force estimation, and troop selection.
- Sun Tzu explicitly directs generals to note these as “six ways of courting defeat.”
Source Quotes
14. Now an army is exposed to six several calamities, not arising from natural causes, but from faults for which the general is responsible. These are: (1) Flight; (2) insubordination; (3) collapse; (4) ruin; (5) disorganization; (6) rout.
Now an army is exposed to six several calamities, not arising from natural causes, but from faults for which the general is responsible. These are: (1) Flight; (2) insubordination; (3) collapse; (4) ruin; (5) disorganization; (6) rout. 15.
20. These are six ways of courting defeat, which must be carefully noted by the general who has attained a responsible post. 21.
Key Concepts
- an army is exposed to six several calamities, not arising from natural causes, but from faults for which the general is responsible.
- These are: (1) Flight; (2) insubordination; (3) collapse; (4) ruin; (5) disorganization; (6) rout.
- These are six ways of courting defeat, which must be carefully noted by the general who has attained a responsible post.
Context
x. Terrain (lines 633–713) — taxonomy of command-induced defeats