Sun Tzu's The Art of War: Bilingual Edition Complete Chinese and English Text

By Sun Tzu, John Minford and Lionel Giles

Sun Tzu's The Art of War is still one of the world's most influential treatises on strategic thought. Applicable everywhere from the boardroom to the bedroom, from the playing field to the battlefield, its wisdom has never been more highly regarded.

Now available in its complete form, including the Chinese characters and English text, this essential examination of the art of decisive military strategy features extensive commentary and an insightful historical introduction written by Lionel Giles, its original translator. This unique edition provides a clear English translation as well as Chinese names given in modern Hanyu Pinyin, the standard romanization system.

This new edition includes an all-new introduction by scholar of ancient Chinese literature, John Minford, which places Sun Tzu into perspective for modern readers—so they may fully understand his advice and apply it in their daily lives. Sun Tzu's The Art of War arms you with the knowledge that allows all who study this book to gain victory over those who remain ignorant of its sage advice.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
• Release date: Sep 18, 2012
• ISBN: 9781462905126

Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu was a Chinese general and military strategist who lived during the Eastern Zhou period of ancient China. He is credited with writing The Art of War, a study of battlefield tactics with profound insight into human nature that has influenced readers over millennia. Lionel Giles was a British scholar, writer, and philosopher born in 1875. He was assistant curator at the British Museum and is best known for his translations of The Art of War and The Analects of Confucius.

Book preview

PREFACE

The seventh volume of Mémoires concernant l'histoire, les sciences, les arts, les moeurs, les usages, &c., des Chinois¹ is devoted to the Art of War, and contains, amongst other treatises, Les Treize Articles de Sun-tse, translated from the Chinese by a Jesuit Father, Joseph Amiot. Pére Amiot appears to have enjoyed no small reputation as a Sinologue in his day, and the field of his labors was certainly extensive. But his so-called translation of Sun Tzŭ, if placed side by side with the original, is seen at once to be little better than an imposture. It contains a great deal that Sun Tzŭ did not write, and very little indeed of what he did. Here is a fair specimen, taken from the opening sentences of chapter 5:

De Fhabileté dans legouvernement des Troupes. Sun-tse dit: Ayez les noms de tous les Officiers tant généraux que subalternes; inscrivez-les dans un catalogue à part, avec la note des talents & de la ca-pacité de chacun d'eux, afin de pouvoir les employer avec avantage lorsque l'occasion en sera venue. Faites en sorte que tous ceux que vous devez commander soient persuadés que votre principale attention est de les preserver de tout dommage. Les troupes que vous ferez avancer contre l'ennemi doivent etre comme des pierres que vous lanceriez contre des oeufs. De vous à l'ennemi il ne doit y avoir d'autre difference que celle du fort au foible, du vuide au plein. Attaquez à découvert, mais soyez vainqueur en secret. Voilà en peu de mots en quoi consiste l'habileté & toute la perfection meme du gouvernement des troupes.

Throughout the nineteenth century, which saw a wonderful development in the study of Chinese literature, no translator ventured to tackle Sun Tzŭ, although his work was known to be highly valued in China as by far the oldest and best compendium of military science. It was not until the year 1905 that the first English translation, by Capt. E. F. Calthrop, R.F.A., appeared at Tokyo under the title Sonshi (the Japanese form of Sun Tzŭ²). Unfortunately, it was evident that the translator's knowledge of Chinese was far too scanty to fit him to grapple with the manifold difficulties of Sun Tzŭ. He himself plainly acknowledges that without the aid of two Japanese gentlemen the accompanying translation would have been impossible. We can only wonder, then, that with their help it should have been so excessively bad. It is not merely a question of downright blunders, from which none can hope to be wholly exempt. Omissions were frequent; hard passages were willfully distorted or slurred over. Such offences are less pardonable. They would not be tolerated in any edition of a Greek or Latin classic, and a similar standard of honesty ought to be insisted upon in translations from Chinese.

From blemishes of this nature, at least, I believe that the present translation is free. It was not undertaken out of any inflated estimate of my own powers; but I could not help feeling that Sun Tzŭ deserved a better fate than had befallen him, and I knew that, at any rate, I could hardly fail to improve on the work of my predecessors. Towards the end of 1908, a new and revised edition of Capt. Calthrop's translation was published in London, this time, however, without any allusion to his Japanese collaborators. My first three chapters were then already in the printer's hands, so that the criticisms of Capt. Calthrop therein contained must be understood as referring to his earlier edition. In the subsequent chapters I have of course transferred my attention to the second edition. This is on the whole an improvement on the other, though there remains much that cannot pass muster. Some of the grosser blunders have been rectified and lacunae filled up, but on the other hand a certain number of new mistakes appear. The very first sentence of the introduction is startlingly inaccurate; and later on, while mention is made of an army of Japanese commentators on Sun Tzŭ (who are these, by the way?), not a word is vouchsafed about the Chinese commentators, who nevertheless, I venture to assert, form a much more numerous and infinitely more important

Reviews for Sun Tzu's The Art of War

[takeitorleaveit_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

you kind of have to read this, yah. so privately canonized.

[bfertig_2 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This is a manual and reads like one. Better to take in very small doses, digest and discuss rather than to read continuously.

[msaucier818 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very quick read of a classic. I had always been meaning to get around to this book, and I did not realize how short it was. The version I have contains more commentary than the actual writing, and I did not bother with the commentary.

The book is basically a series of maxims that describe how to lead as a general at war. I think its appeal is universal, and many of the ideas can be applied as strategic thinking in other aspects of life. I don't think it was all that profound, but then again, its ideas have been used for centuries. It was nice to be able to read where a lot of them came from.

[dverdecia-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Tactics and strategies that apply to everyday life. This book is excellent reading to make you think about how to deal with the day to day struggles of life. It helps you position you versus your opponent. Your opponent need not be any one person. It could be a corporation. It could be an establishment. It could be a situation you are facing. I was once told that what you get out of a book is the effort you put into a book. It is my hope that this book can help someone master how they deal with day to day life. Let me know what you think. By the way, how many Enron or Worldcomm employees do you think read this book?

On another note, I would ask that you do not take this book literally. It is laced with allegory and a ton of symbolism. Please take its contents and apply them to your life for the good of all.

[chellerystick · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Pretty dull going, even by audiobook. The narrators were great, though, and there were times that the footnotes saved me.

[deldevries · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A classic! Well worth the read, and looking forward to reading again in the future.

[blintnatc · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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[paven-14534 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Interesting if you are going to role play a general or ambitious warrior.

[colie77 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I honestly have no idea why this is always on the list of must-read books. You are basically reading the bullet points of someone's strategic plan to win a battle. Meh. At least it was only an hour and a half.

[spoko_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Many of Sun Tzu's ideas are common-sense enough, but succinctly put here. It's a quick, easy read, so it's not hard to make the case that it's worth the time. But gliding through it effortlessly will make it difficult for the ideas to really stick. So I guess it's also easy to make the case for at least one re-read. I'll probably give it another go myself in the near future, but for now I'm happy with the bits and pieces I've gleaned. It certainly didn't change my life or anything, but then I didn't expect it to.

[cheryl_in_cc_nv · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Tempted to give it four stars because it is so much better than so much other Heinlein. But that's not worth much, actually. I did have to edit the blurb, however.

[jenniferforjoy · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Somewhat hilariously literal. I'm not sure why this is still used as such a popular business and strategy book. Praise for being extremely clear and concise, but criticism for stating the obvious while seeming to be willfully ignorant of external factors with advice along the lines of "Don't make any mistakes and you will win." WELL THANKS. NEVER WOULD'VE THOUGHT OF THAT MYSELF.

[whbiii · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Vapid martial homilies.

[kamgeb · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

During a sermon, the rabbi talked about this book and said that it was really a philosophy on how to live life. When I started reading it, I saw that it really is a book on how to wage war. Definitely not what I expected and definitely not a book I would ever want to read.

[lydia1879 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

“Move not unless you see an advantage, use not your troops unless there is something to be gained, fight not unless the position is critical.”

I read The Art of War by Sun Tzu through an app called Serial Reader, which breaks up longer books, novellas and short stories into manageable pieces that a reader can read in 12 minutes a day. I love to use Serial Reader when I’m waiting for the bus, in the line at the post office, whenever I feel like I have a few moments, but not necessarily long enough to take out a book and find my place.

I also really like Serial Reader because I tend to read things I wouldn’t otherwise read, but so far I’ve really enjoyed all the stories and novels that I’ve read.

I found The Art of War to be surprisingly readable, considering it was written around the 5th century, BCE and has been translated countless times since then. It’s much more philosophical than I had anticipated, and in a way, deeply spiritual.

Of course it’s dry. It is. It is an ancient military self-help book, none of it is relevant to me. There are lots of lists about the different kinds of ground an army might fight on, different types of weather, how to traverse it all.

And yet I found it interesting.

I appreciated that this translator (and, I suppose, author) warned against fighting at all. If you want to occupy a town, best to get the enemy to surrender to you painlessly, so that the town is in tact and nothing is destroyed. Sun Tzu really speaks to the desperation of war, how the last thing anyone wants to do in a war is fight, but if you have to fight, this is what you need to do.

I’m glad I read this text. I often found myself reading it and wondering about all the people, leaders, warriors, stay-at-home mothers who’d read it before, who were reading it with me. What did they learn from it? How did they feel reading it? Was it more relevant to their lives than it was to mine?

That, in and of itself, is a fascinating thing to think about, don’t you think?

[shahnareads · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Defiantly some good tips in here. I can see why other countries armies are so well disciplined if they still use these tactics. Some of them could also work for dealing with people as well. Some handy things in here.

It's easy to read, but he repeats things a lot, and some of the sentence are worded strangely. And then, some lines are written like poetry.

It was a something different, and I'm glad I picked it up.

[lynnb_64 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm so glad I finally read this historic book. I found it very interesting and understand why it has been adapted to suit other fields -- notably management. And the version of the book I bought is beautiful in itself. Bound in traditional Chinese style, with each page folded in half and only printed on the outside. Hard to rate -- it is what it is as they say -- but I'm rating it highly because it has stood the test of time.

[spooks101-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An enduring classic, an absolute must-read for every business person and military mind the world over.

[madepercy-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have read this several times in a variety of translations. This version is formatted like a poem and is a quick read. Interesting that Sun Tzu echoes many of the issues raised by Thucydides. I remember an Instructor Gunnery during my Regimental Officers Basic Course from the United States artillery beginning every lesson with: "Sun Tzu says...". And, "If a 155 round lands on a tank, the tank is toast". So much in such a short book and it was quite possibly written before Thucydides was born.

[beammey · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked up this book, to be honest. I just made a promise to myself I would read more classics and this was a short one to get in so I can reach my reading goal. However, I ended up really, really enjoying it. I'm not a soldier by any stretch of the imagination, but there is good, solid advice in this book that is still relevant thousands of years after it was written. It's worth a read for sure, and it's so short you can get through it quickly. I would recommend it. 5 out of 5 stars.

[jculkin-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read this and let my mind wander a little, but not too much. Invariably whatever I think about mixes with the words, and elegant, clear observations come out. It's like guided meditation.

[michael_rose-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The version I have also has a second section for commentaries on all the passages. It's an incredibly useful and insightful book, and not necessarily just for literal war.

[areadingmachine · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Everyone should read this.

It tells you as much about motivation and human compunction than any other book Ive ever read. This should be required reading for teachers, businessmen, cops, everyone that every has to deal with a group of people in a possibly hostile setting.

[trilliams · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's amazing that this advice is still quite relevant 2500 years after the fact. Some of it, of course, isn't, but that'll happen. The historical allusions in Giles' translation/commentary are pretty useful, though occasionally it gets really deep into Chinese history and you forget who you are and what you're reading. What dynasty are we in again?

[jimocracy · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The original book was interesting but the commentary portion of the book was insightful. I liked hearing perspective on Master Sun's work from other ancient military leaders.

[benuathanasia · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Fascinating. My particular copy (an audiobook) included modern comparisons between each chapter which was horribly annoying. The observations in the book maintain their usefulness to the present.

[saltvand-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I decided to read The Art of War because of references to it in the best/only good general marketing book I read during my commerce education: Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning. I was curious to see why a modern marketing handbook would have references to a classic handbook in ancient warfare, and why The Art of War is such a famous book.

I can see now why the book is famous: it is because its warfare principles are generally applicable to competitive situations - including marketing and politics (maybe office politics too?)

I expected a heavy brick of an analytic strategy book, but it is the opposite: a thin, minimalist poetry book.

It is a piece of art. The pattern of words is aesthetically pleasing and produces vivid imagery of ancient armies moving and camping in harsh terrains; yet the strange scenery and poetic style conveys core strategic principles for competition with great accuracy.

Essentially, The Art of War encourages careful consideration of the dynamics of all situational variables (listing them), and discourages impulsive and dumb warfare, which is any warfare driven by an irrational motive, or which can not be won quickly with minimal loss.

[jvioland_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Very fundamental axioms of strategies put forward by an ancient Chinese general. Influential even today not only in military matters but in the business world as well.

[mgeorge2755 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Quite possibly the most influential book on military tactics of all time. I was incredibly surprised by its brevity. A must-read for any historian. 

[joeyee-4 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Don't like this edition. The history is boring and confusing (chi, Ch'i, ch'i all mean different things) 1 star for the edition and history part.

The actual Art of War is good. 3 stars.