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Sun Tzu
Sun Tzu (Sun-pin or Sun-wu) (pronounced Soon-dzer) (active 400-320 bc), Chinese general, military theorist, and philosopher. Author of the world's first and potentially most long-lived work of military theory, The Art of War, also known as The Thirteen Chapters. Although it is quite possible that Sun-tzu might be a combination of different writers, the author of the pre-eminent translation of the ancient texts into English, the scholarly US Marine Col Samuel B. Griffith, was convinced the structure of the work indicates it was written by a singularly imaginative individual who had considerable practical experience in war. In the 1980s The Art of War was adopted by Tokyo, Wall Street, and the City of London as a text for students of business strategy, and became fashionable dinner-party conversation for the so-called yuppies of the time.
Sun-tzu probably wrote in the period of the Warring States in the 4th century bc. It has been suggested that the work might be by Sun Wu and date from the late 6th century bc, but there are repeated references to crossbows, invented in China in around 400 bc. Furthermore, there is no mention of cavalry, which appeared around 320 bc, only of chariots. We can therefore be tolerably sure this first and most universal work on the art of war dates from 400-320 bc.
Like many great works of military thought, The Art of War is a mixture of profound philosophy and detailed and dated tactical prescriptions. The opening sentence of The Thirteen Chapters is clear enough: war is a matter of vital importance to the state; the province of life and death; the road to survival or ruin. It is mandatory that it be thoroughly studied. Probably its most lasting observation is to do with information warfare. All war is based on deception. Therefore, when capable, feign incapacity; when active, inactivity. When near, make it appear that you are far away; when far away, that you are near. Sun-tzu was the first to enunciate the indirect approach in war; indeed, he coined the phrase. He who was master of both the direct and the indirect approach would be victorious, a reflection of the interaction of regular and partisan forces which was a characteristic of war in Sun-tzu's age. Mao and the Vietnamese followed this tradition. Sun-tzu likened an army to water, for just as flowing water avoids the heights and hastens to the lowlands, so an army avoids strength and strikes weakness.
Sun-tzu was the first to set out what we would now recognize as principles of war: moral influence, weather, terrain, command, and doctrine. The first meant the trust of people in their leaders. By command, he meant the qualities and ability of the general and by doctrine he meant organization, command and control, and logistics.
The first translation of Sun-tzu into a western language was by Father Amiot, a French Jesuit missionary, published in Paris in 1772, but Sun-tzu attracted little attention in France. Had the French studied it, they might have done better in Indochina. Sun-tzu was immensely influential on Mao Tse-tung and on the Soviet military system. Mao's writings evince a clear debt to Sun-tzu. His four slogans coined at Ching Kang Shan bear a remarkable resemblance to several of Sun-tzu's verses. Sun-tzu was translated into Russian in 1860, and several times thereafter, and retranslated into German for the East German Ministry of Defence. Although Sun-tzu was introduced to Japan in the 8th century ad, and extensively studied thereafter, the Japanese understanding of it appears to have been superficial. At Pearl Harbor and in their initial campaign in Malaya the Japanese followed Sun-tzu's precepts, knowingly or unknowingly. But later they showed themselves to be obstinate fighters who were unable to cope with unorthodox methods applied by the Allies, including the Chinese.
Related link(s).
Sun Tzu (Sun-pin or Sun-wu) (pronounced Soon-dzer) (active 400-320 bc), Chinese general, military theorist, and philosopher. Author of the world's first and potentially most long-lived work of military theory, The Art of War, also known as The Thirteen Chapters. Although it is quite possible that Sun-tzu might be a combination of different writers, the author of the pre-eminent translation of the ancient texts into English, the scholarly US Marine Col Samuel B. Griffith, was convinced the structure of the work indicates it was written by a singularly imaginative individual who had considerable practical experience in war. In the 1980s The Art of War was adopted by Tokyo, Wall Street, and the City of London as a text for students of business strategy, and became fashionable dinner-party conversation for the so-called yuppies of the time.
Sun-tzu probably wrote in the period of the Warring States in the 4th century bc. It has been suggested that the work might be by Sun Wu and date from the late 6th century bc, but there are repeated references to crossbows, invented in China in around 400 bc. Furthermore, there is no mention of cavalry, which appeared around 320 bc, only of chariots. We can therefore be tolerably sure this first and most universal work on the art of war dates from 400-320 bc.
Like many great works of military thought, The Art of War is a mixture of profound philosophy and detailed and dated tactical prescriptions. The opening sentence of The Thirteen Chapters is clear enough: war is a matter of vital importance to the state; the province of life and death; the road to survival or ruin. It is mandatory that it be thoroughly studied. Probably its most lasting observation is to do with information warfare. All war is based on deception. Therefore, when capable, feign incapacity; when active, inactivity. When near, make it appear that you are far away; when far away, that you are near. Sun-tzu was the first to enunciate the indirect approach in war; indeed, he coined the phrase. He who was master of both the direct and the indirect approach would be victorious, a reflection of the interaction of regular and partisan forces which was a characteristic of war in Sun-tzu's age. Mao and the Vietnamese followed this tradition. Sun-tzu likened an army to water, for just as flowing water avoids the heights and hastens to the lowlands, so an army avoids strength and strikes weakness.
Sun-tzu was the first to set out what we would now recognize as principles of war: moral influence, weather, terrain, command, and doctrine. The first meant the trust of people in their leaders. By command, he meant the qualities and ability of the general and by doctrine he meant organization, command and control, and logistics.
The first translation of Sun-tzu into a western language was by Father Amiot, a French Jesuit missionary, published in Paris in 1772, but Sun-tzu attracted little attention in France. Had the French studied it, they might have done better in Indochina. Sun-tzu was immensely influential on Mao Tse-tung and on the Soviet military system. Mao's writings evince a clear debt to Sun-tzu. His four slogans coined at Ching Kang Shan bear a remarkable resemblance to several of Sun-tzu's verses. Sun-tzu was translated into Russian in 1860, and several times thereafter, and retranslated into German for the East German Ministry of Defence. Although Sun-tzu was introduced to Japan in the 8th century ad, and extensively studied thereafter, the Japanese understanding of it appears to have been superficial. At Pearl Harbor and in their initial campaign in Malaya the Japanese followed Sun-tzu's precepts, knowingly or unknowingly. But later they showed themselves to be obstinate fighters who were unable to cope with unorthodox methods applied by the Allies, including the Chinese.
Related link(s).
