Sun Tzu's Art of War stresses on choosing the appropriate general (i.e. leader/talents) whether it's in an army or any other organisation.

He stresses on 5 good "General's trait or character" as "智" (Wit/Intelligent)、信 (Loyalty)、仁 (Benevolence/Love)、勇 (Courage)、严 (Strictness).

Not many generals can fit all of the above character.

Which of the above character do you think is the most important?

For who? As a king, I would say loyalty. As his prisoner, I would say benevolence. As he himself, I would say intelligence.

Actually, in this context, Xin does not mean loyalty. Rather it is trustworthiness. However, as far as the chinese are concerned, it doesn't mean the words coming out of your mouth. Rather, it is the judgement and action you make that matters. So a better translation for Xin is impartiality + reliability.

If you must narrow it down to one single Wude, I would think that Xin is indeed the most important. A jiang's core identity is about the leadership of his men and servitude to his lord. The value of a jiang is in his ability to perform his duties. In both instances, he is only capable of performing his duties if he has the trust. This is because jiang are by definition the people who are empowered in one of the most basic levels of power - violent force. His men gives him power by letting him command them to their deaths, which is the foundation of his leadership. Only through the ability to make his men follow his orders can he fullfill his role as their commander. His lord empowers him by giving him the means to do anything, including turning rebel. His loyalty is actually secondary because unless you have the power to enact on it, your loyalty doesn't mean anything. Therefore, only through trusting him with his military force can a jiang really serve his lord in any meaningful way.

If you use your power to be a rebel, idiot or tyrant, it just means you are a bad jiang. But in order to be a jiang in the first place, you need to have Xin.

The next one does I would think it should be Yan. Same reason. It is the strigency in which instills disicipline into your men. And that discipline is what gives you the power to put them to use to fulfill your duty.

Agree with Wujiang. The component of trustworthiness is important. When there is trustworthiness, there is accountability.

The angle that one looks at the five good "General's trait or character" determines what he/she want to see.

Trustworthiness is the most essential trait for a General. Intelligence and Wisdom are also somewhat essential.

智" (Wit/Intelligent), You need this foremost to be able to know your surroundings, your choices and to be able to convince your soldiers to follow you. You must be able to assess a situation accurately in a split second and have the intelligence to know what to do and how to make your soldiers obey. The rest of the attributes follow or rather form a supporting circle around the center. The other four are each important in its own way but are all just a corner post to the central most important trait of 智

信 (Loyalty、trustworthiness)
You must be careful of your words and actions to create the feeling of trustworthiness. It takes wit and intelligence to use the correct words to inspire both your emperors trust and the trust of your troops.

勇 (Courage) Courage is not just on the field of battle, but in the knowing how to speak when the time is right. And having the bravery to do it. You need to have your wits about you or your courage can be foolishly reckless

仁 (Benevolence/Love) and 严 (Strictness).
Both of these attributes are equally important and must be balanced carefully. If you already have 智 and 信 you should know how to use 仁and 严 If you lack either one of these last attributes you will never gain the 信 of either your Emperor or your troops.

Which of the five do the generals of CHF have?