Sun Tzu’s deadly demonstration

The historian Sima Qian tells this story about Sun Tzu’s first meeting with King Helü of Wu, around 512 BC. The king had read his thirteen chapters on war and asked whether the methods could be tested on women from the palace.

Sun Tzu agreed. He divided 180 women into two companies and put the king’s two favourite concubines in command. He explained the drill carefully, then gave the order to turn right. The women burst out laughing.

“If orders are not clear, it is the general’s fault,” he said, and explained again. He ordered them to turn left. Again they laughed. “But when orders are clear and are not carried out, it is the fault of the officers.” He ordered the two commanders executed. The king begged him to spare them. Sun Tzu replied that a general in command does not have to accept every order from his sovereign.

The two women were executed and new commanders appointed. After that, the companies drilled in perfect silence. The king was shaken, but he made Sun Tzu his general, and Wu went on to defeat the powerful state of Chu. Whether or not it happened exactly like this, the story makes Sun Tzu’s point: discipline begins with clear instructions, and then with consequences.