Art of War Chapter – 13.2

There are five kinds of spies: native spies, internal spies, double agents, doomed spies and surviving spies.
When all five operate together, the enemy cannot detect the scheme. This divine strategy is a treasure for a ruler.

Native spies are recruited from local people of the enemy’s land.
Internal spies are selected from the enemy’s officials.
Double agents are the enemy’s own spies turned to our side.
Doomed spies spread false information to deceive the enemy, and they will likely be killed once the lie is exposed.
Surviving spies penetrate enemy lines and return safely to deliver reports.

Note

Sun Tzu categorizes five spy types: native, internal, double, doomed and surviving spies. Deploying all five simultaneously hides intelligence operations perfectly, forming an invaluable secret strategy for rulers.

Sun Tzu (Sun Wu)

A great military strategist and thinker in ancient China, who lived in the late Spring and Autumn Period. He authored The Art of War, the world’s earliest and most influential military classic. His strategic thoughts have been widely applied in military, politics and management worldwide.

Five spies

A complete classification of ancient intelligence personnel.

Covert network

Coordinated use of all spies creates an undetectable intelligence system.

Deception & reporting

Core duties of different types of spies.

故用間有五：有鄉間、有內間、有反間、有死間、有生間。五間俱起，莫知其道，是謂神紀，人君之寶也。鄉間者，因其鄉人而用之。內間者，因其官人而用之。反間者，因其敵間而用之。死間者，為誑事于外，令吾間知之，而傳于敵。生間者，反報也。