Sun Tzu Decoded
Chapter 13 · Espionage · 用間

Passage 13-5

鄕間者, 因其鄕人而用之. 內間者, 因其官人而用之. 反間者, 因其敵間而用之. 死間者, 爲誑事于外, 令吾聞知之, 而傳于敵間也. 生間者, 反報也.

Local spies: recruited from the enemy’s population Internal spies: recruited from the enemy’s officials Double agents: enemy spies turned to serve us Expendable spies: fed false information to transmit to the enemy Living spies: return alive with intelligence

What does this passage really mean for modern strategy?

Ask Sun →

Explore Further

These passages from other chapters connect to the themes in Passage 13-5:

Invincibility First Passage 4-1 孫子曰: 昔之善戰者, 先爲不可勝, 以侍敵之可勝. 不可勝... The Shuai-Jan Serpent Passage 11-31 夫霸王之兵, 伐大國則其衆不得聚, 威加於敵, 則其交不得合... Know Enemy, Know Self Passage 3-13 故曰, 知彼知己, 百戰不殆; 不知彼而知己, 一勝一負, ... Victory Without Fighting Passage 3-3 是故, 百戰百勝, 非善之善者也; 不戰而屈人之兵, 善之善...

More from Chapter 13: Espionage (用間)

Passage 13-1: Sun Tzu said: Raising an army of one hundred thousand and campaigning a thousand... Passage 13-2: To stand in confrontation for years, striving for victory in a single day, yet b... Passage 13-3: The reason wise rulers and brilliant generals move and conquer, achieving succes... Passage 13-4: There are five types of spy: local, internal, double, expendable, and living. Wh... Passage 13-6: In military affairs, no one is closer than spies, no rewards greater, no busines... Passage 13-7: To attack an army, besiege a city, or assassinate an individual—first learn the ... Passage 13-8: Identify enemy spies sent against us. Win them over with benefits, guide and acc... Passage 13-9: Through double agents, gain intelligence that allows expendable spies to deliver... Passage 13-10: The ruler must understand all five types of spies. The key lies with double agen... Passage 13-11: In ancient times, the rise of Yin was aided by Yi Zhi, who was in Xia. The rise ... Passage 13-12: Only wise rulers and brilliant generals who employ the highly intelligent as spi...