The thesis analyzes the meaning of the following three sentences in the "Sun Tzu’s Art of War":"what is valued in war is a quick victory
not prolonged operations"
" if double to the enemy
try to divide him; if equally matched
be capable of fighting with him"
" decide your line of action according to the situation on enemy side"
thus has cleared the doubts in the academics. The author argues that the precise meaning of the first sentence is that speediness can make up for ingenuousness
and that ingenuous speediness is better than genius prolongation. In the second sentence
the author maintains that "if double to the enemy
try to divide him" applies to the stratagem of use of force
and that "if equally matched
be capable of fighting with him" outlines the ability the army is supposed to possess. The last sentence
the author thinks
means that the command of army should dialectically combine the principle of use of army and flexibility.