The Art of War & Other Classics of Eastern Philosophy

By Sun Tzu, Lao Tzu, Confucius and Mencius

The words of the ancient Chinese sages are as timeless as they are wise.

IBPA Benjamin Franklin Gold Award Winner 2017!
The words of ancient Chinese philosophers have influenced other thinkers across the world for more than 2,000 years, and continue to shape our ideas today. The Art of War & Other Classics of Eastern Philosophy includes translations of Sun Tzu's Art of War, Lao-Tzu's Tao Te Ching, the teachings of the master sage Confucius, and the writings of Mencius. From insights on warfare and diplomacy to advice on how to deal with one's neighbors and colleagues, this collection of classical Eastern philosophy will provide readers with countless nuggets of wisdom.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Canterbury Classics
• Release date: Oct 1, 2016
• ISBN: 9781626868205

Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu, also known as Sun Wu or Sunzi, was an ancient Chinese military strategist believed to be the author of the acclaimed military text, The Art of War. Details about Sun Tzu’s background and life are uncertain, although he is believed to have lived c. 544-496 BCE. Through The Art of War, Sun Tzu’s theories and strategies have influenced military leaders and campaigns throughout time, including the samurai of ancient and early-modern Japan, and more recently Ho Chi Minh of the Viet Cong and American generals Norman Swarzkopf, Jr. and Colin Powell during the Persian Gulf War in the 1990s.

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The Art of War

& Other Classics of

Eastern Philosophy

The Art of War

& Other Classics of

Eastern Philosophy

Introduction by Ken Mondschein, PhD

Copyright © 2016 Canterbury Classics

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or

transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other

electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher,

except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other

noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

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Canterbury Classics, Editorial Department, at the above address.

Publisher: Peter Norton Publishing Team: Lori Asbury, Ana Parker, Laura Vignale, Kathryn Chipinka

Editorial Team: JoAnn Padgett, Melinda Allman, Dan Mansfield, Traci Douglas

Production Team: Jonathan Lopes, Rusty von Dyl

Cover and endpaper design by Ray Caramanna

eISBN: 978-1-62686-820-5

eBook edition: September 2016

CONTENTS

Introduction

THE ART OF WAR (WITHOUT COMMENTARY)

I. Laying Plans

II. Waging War

III. Attack by Stratagem

IV. Tactical Dispositions

V. Energy

VI. Weak Points and Strong

VII. Maneuvering

VIII. Variation of Tactics

IX. The Army on the March

X. Terrain

XI. The Nine Situations

XII. The Attack by Fire

XIII. The Use of Spies

THE ART OF WAR (WITH COMMENTARY)

Introduction: Sun Tzŭ and His Book

The Text of Sun Tzŭ

The Commentators

Appreciations of Sun Tzŭ

Apologies for War

Bibliography

I. Laying Plans

II. Waging War

III. Attack by Stratagem

IV. Tactical Dispositions

V. Energy

VI. Weak Points and Strong

VII. Maneuvering

VIII. Variation of Tactics

IX. The Army on the March

X. Terrain

XI. The Nine Situations

XII. The Attack by Fire

XIII. The Use of Spies

THE TAO TE CHING

Part I

I. Embodying the Tao

II. The Nourishment of the Person

III. Keeping the People at Rest

IV. The Fountainless

V. The Use of Emptiness

VI. The Completion of Material Forms

VII. Sheathing the Light

VIII. The Placid and Contented Nature

IX. Fullness and Complacency in Success Contrary to the Tao

X. Possibilities

XI. The Use of What Has No Substantive Existence

XII. The Repression of the Desires

XIII. Loathing Shame

XIV. The Manifestation of Mystery

XV. The Exhibition of the Quality

XVI. Returning to the Root

XVII. The Unadulterated Influence

XVIII. The Decay of Manners

XIX. Returning to the Unadulterated Influence

XX. Being Different from Ordinary Men

XXI. The Empty Heart

XXII. The Increase Granted to Humility

XXIII. Absolute Vacancy

XXIV. Painful Graciousness

XXV. Representations of the Mystery

XXVI. The Quality of Gravity

XXVII. Dexterity in Using the Tao

XXVIII. Returning to Simplicity

XXIX. Taking No Action

XXX. A Caveat Against War

XXXI. Stilling War

XXXII. The Tao with No Name

XXXIII. Discriminating Between (Different) Attributes

XXXIV. The Task of Achievement

XXXV. The Attribute of Benevolence

XXXVI. Minimizing the Light

XXXVII. The Exercise of Government

Part II

XXXVIII. About the Attributes of the Tao

XXXIX. The Origin of the Law

XL. Dispensing with the Use (of Means)

XLI. Sameness and Difference

XLII. The Transformations of the Tao

XLIII. The Universal Use (of the Action in Weakness of the Tao)

XLIV. Cautions

XLV. Great or Overflowing Virtue

XLVI. The Moderating of Desire or Ambition

XLVII. Surveying What Is Far Off

XLVIII. Forgetting Knowledge

XLIX. The Quality of Indulgence

L. The Value Set on Life

LI. The Operation (of the Tao) in Nourishing Things

LII. Returning to the Source

LIII. Increase of Evidence

LIV. The Cultivation (of the Tao) and the Observation (of Its Effects)

LV. The Mysterious Charm

LVI. The Mysterious Excellence

LVII. The Genuine Influence

LVIII. Transformation According to Circumstances

LIX. Guarding the Tao

LX. Occupying the Throne

LXI. The Attribute of Humility

LXII. Practicing the Tao

LXIII. Thinking in the Beginning

LXIV. Guarding the Minute

LXV. Pure, Unlimited Excellence

LXVI. Putting One’s Self Last

LXVII. Three Precious Things

LXVIII. Matching Heaven

LXIX. The Use of the Mysterious (Tao)

LXX. The Difficulty in Being (Rightly) Known

LXXI. The Disease of Knowing

LXXII. Loving One’s Self

LXXIII. Allowing Men to Take Their Course

LXXIV. Restraining Delusion

LXXV. How Greediness Injures

LXXVI. A Warning Against (Trusting in) Strength

LXXVII. The Way of Heaven

LXXVIII. Things to Be Believed

LXXIX. Adherence to Bond or Covenant

LXXX. Standing Alone

LXXXI. The Manifestation of Simplicity

CONFUCIAN ANALECTS

Book I. Hsio R

Book II. Wei Chăng

Book III. Pâ Yîh

Book IV. Lî Zăn

Book V. Kung-yê Ch‘ang

Book VI. Yung Yêy

Book VII. Shû R

Book VIII. T’âi-po

Book IX. Tsze Han

Book X. Hsiang Tang

Book XI. Hsien Tsin

Book XII. Yen Yüan

Book XIII.Tsze-lû

Book XIV. Hsien Wăn

Book XV. Wei Ling Kung

Book XVI. Chî Shih

Book XVII. Yang Ho

Book XVIII. Wei Tsze

Book XIX. Tsze-chang

Book XX. Yâo Yüeh

THE GREAT LEARNING

The Text of Confucius

Commentary of the Philosopher Tsŭng

THE DOCTRINE OF THE MEAN

THE WORKS OF MENCIUS

Book I. King Hûi of Liang

Part I

Part II

Book II. Kung-sun Ch‘âu

Part I

Part II

Book III. T‘ăng Wăn Kung

Part I

Part II

Book IV. Lî Lâu

Part I

Part II

Book V. Wan Chang

Part I

Part II

Book VI. Kâo Tsze

Part I

Part II

Book VII. Tsin Sin

Part I

Part II

INTRODUCTION

The volume you hold in your hands contains some of the foundational texts of a great civilization. For centuries, the Confucian exam system was the means to upward mobility in Imperial China. Passing the test and acquiring status and salary required mastering a canon of books and being able to reiterate their ideas in such forms as the eight-legged essay. Whether these books affected Chinese civilization, or the unique aspects of Chinese civilization were passed on through these texts, or if it was some combination of the two, is a moot question: If one wants to understand Chinese culture and thought—and thus understand a rising power in our modern world—then these texts must likewise be understood. They contain values, strategies, and ways of reasoning; they are in the DNA of a culture. To know the future, we must understand the past.

The first thing we must do is rid ourselves of Western ideas about the nature of this thought system. Confucianism and Taoism are not religions in the way they are understood in the West. Rather, they are a European appellation for a complicated thought system. It is important to understand that what we are presenting in this book are jing, or classics—books from the canon of authoritative texts. Though this volume principally presents The Art of War, the great classic on military strategy that provided guidance to China’s leaders well through the Qing dynasty (1644–1911), it is impossible to understand Sun Tzŭ without understanding the culture from which he came and which canonized his work as a jing. Accordingly, we will first look at Confucius, the most revered sage in the Chinese system of thought, under whose name the entire system is often subsumed, and then continue with Mencius and Lao Tzŭ before turning to Sun Tzŭ and his work.

Life and Teachings of Confucius

K’ung Fu-tzu (in the Wade-Giles system of Romanization) or Kongfuzi (in the modern Pinyin system) is traditionally held to have been born in 551 BCE in the state of Lu, now in Shangdong Province. The name Confucius is a Latinization of his Chinese name, most probably by the sixteenth-century Jesuit missionary Matteo Ricci. At the time of his birth, China was experiencing the Spring and Autumn period of the great Zhou empire, a time of disorder following the collapse of central authority. Rulers fought among themselves and the common people suffered, caught between civil war, heavy taxation, and bandits. Lu was noted for preserving many of the Zhou traditions, and Confucius was no doubt steeped in this knowledge as a young man. At the time, there was no emperor; rather, the region that would become China was composed of petty states, each ruled by its own king. In some ways, it was comparable to the disorder of the European Middle Ages that followed the collapse of the Roman Empire.

From his writings—or, rather, the records of his teachings left by his students and his students’ students—we get the idea of Confucius as a wandering scholar-administrator, traveling from court to court and advising rulers as to how best govern their states. He was not unique in this: The Spring and Autumn period, for all its disorder, was the time of the so-called Hundred Schools of philosophy and an era of tremendous cultural creativity. Other than that, we have little definite information on Confucius’s early life. Sima Qian (c. 145–86 BCE), the great historian of the Han dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE), writes that he came from a noble family that had sunk into poverty, and was forced to take such jobs as working at a stable. His life was fraught with instability and danger. Yet, Sima Qian lived more than four centuries after Confucius, and records of earlier times were scant thanks to the suppression of the Hundred Schools by Qin Shi Huangdi, the ruler who united China from 220 to 210 BCE as the first emperor of the Qin dynasty.

Thus, this everyman depiction of Confucius may have been a romantic legend; certainly, other aspects are fanciful. For instance, Sima Qian also says that Confucius had 3,000 disciples. There are inconsistencies in his biography, as well. Was Confucius always the model of decorum he presents? Did a man who was famously adverse to capital punishment serve as the chief law enforcer of Lu? Did he really delight in the I Ching and other texts that came to be known as the Confucian classics?

We can perhaps gain a truer picture by looking at the gist of what Confucius says. First, he was strongly conservative in his outlook and admired the virtues of the Zhou. His governing philosophy placed great emphasis on hierarchy, morality, and proper relationships. The linchpins of these are yi (ethics) and li (religious rituals): In contrast to the disorder of his own day, Confucius believed everyone on the social ladder must behave properly and dutifully to those above them and those below them. By rectification of names (zhengming), he means that people’s behavior should correspond to the social titles that they possess. Thus, a son who usurped his father’s throne was not using his proper title or displaying proper filial piety. It is only natural that those under him would be corrupt, and the country poorly governed.

Confucius also knew the power of religion to unite people. Likewise, rulers and those under them should perform the proper ceremonies, such as sacrificing to the dead, with the proper religious music. The purpose of this is to bring oneself into harmony with the spiritual and natural world and cultivate virtue (de). Rituals are training in self-abnegation and self-discipline. By properly performing the rituals and keeping right thought and right feeling in his state, proper relations between people will be preserved and the ruler will maintain the Mandate of Heaven—the divine right to rule. Court rituals function to preserve harmony and keep the ruler in harmony with the universe, aligning the microcosm with the macrocosm. Divination, astrological observation, music, etc., are all intended to reinforce this relationship. (This also mirrors animistic tendencies in Western thought: The Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trimegistus, one of the foundational texts of Western mysticism, begins with the admonition that which is above is like that which is below; that which is below is like that which is above.)

Most of all, Confucius is deeply humanistic. People are teachable and perfectible, and it falls upon all of us to improve one another. In his teachings, Confucius emphasizes the cultivated junzi, the superior man or gentleman, who exercises humility and ren, or loving-kindness. Rather than inflicting corporal punishments, malefactors should be encouraged toward goodness by positive examples.

Life and Teachings of Mencius

Mencius (Mengzi) was a follower of Confucius who lived about a century after the latter’s death. (Like Confucius’s name, Mencius is a Latinization by seventeenth-century Jesuits.) The eponymous collection of his sayings and dialogues was posthumously collected by his disciples and edited into a compendium. He was far from a dogmatist, though: He believed that the received texts should be read creatively and usefully.

In Mencius, we can recognize the model of the Confucian as public servant. He served as a minister in the state of Qi, and his works are not just philosophy, but contain practical ideas for administration and on the morality of warfare. Ultimately, he was disappointed: The rulers of his time failed to live up to his ideals, and he retired, disappointed.

Still, Mencius’s writings give an expansion and extension of Confucius’s basic beliefs. For Mencius, there are four central virtues, which guide behavior, perception, and feeling: benevolence, righteousness, wisdom, and propriety. These virtues are to be cultivated through honest study and reflection, and include both active and passive components: One who has a true understanding of propriety will both address others respectfully and themselves disdain to be addressed disrespectfully. Similarly, a truly benevolent ruler will consider his subjects’ well-being when considering any action. Most of all, people must be given the proper environment to cultivate their inherent goodness. This was quite in contrast to the Legalist school of Shi Huangdi’s Qin state, which held that human beings are naturally bad, and must be kept in line with a system of rewards and punishments.

Life and Teachings of Lao Tzŭ

If Confucianism is the first intellectual pillar of Chinese culture, Taoism (Daoism) is the second. (The third, Buddhism, does not enter here.) However, the historicity of Lao Tzŭ (Laozi in the modern Pinyin system of transliteration) is open to debate—if he did exist, he would have lived in the sixth century BCE, well before accurate records were kept.

Sima Qian holds that Lao Tzŭ was born in Chu, a southern state, during the Spring and Autumn period of the Zhou dynasty, and worked as an archivist and historian. He was supposedly Confucius’s elder, and the great sage supposedly consulted Lao Tzŭ on funeral rites. However, Lao Tzŭ did not seek fame or to promulgate his teachings. Later in life, he saw the virtue of the Zhou state diminish and sought to withdraw from China itself. An official at the northern border asked him to write down his philosophy, and the result was The Tao Te Ching (Daodejing).

While Sima Qian’s story is almost certainly a confabulation, and The Tao Te Ching might have been written down at a date later than the one the great historian specifies, Lao Tzŭ’s historicity is irrelevant: The Tao Te Ching, the Classic of the Way and Virtue, has had a profound effect on Chinese (and world) culture. There were active Taoist religious foundations by the time of the late Han dynasty, The Tao Te Ching was part of the civil service examinations since the eighth century CE, royal families traced their lineage back to Lao Tzŭ, and his putative birthday is still celebrated in many Asian countries.

Like the records of Confucius’s thoughts, The Tao Te Ching deals with how people are to behave. Like Confucianism, Taoism emphasizes the essential unity and harmony of heaven and earth, the importance of rituals, and the importance of living a virtuous life. However, unlike Confucianism’s emphasis on social action and clear directives, Taoism’s central work is personal, even mystical; difficult to interpret; and rife with allusions. Furthermore, whereas the Confucian believes in improving human society through striving, the Taoist believes in nonaction. Through unambition, we are raised; through alienation from the body, we achieve long life.

Even language itself—the means by which education takes place—is suspect. The Tao Te Ching states, The Tao [Way] that can be trodden is not the enduring and unchanging Tao. To speak of the Tao is impossible; it can only be expressed through cryptic and metaphysical ideas: being arises from nonbeing; beauty from ugliness; a pot takes its use from its emptiness. Desire is futile; one should empty oneself and live in accordance with nature. Only the endless flow of energy, one thing into another, is constant. The idea of flux may be encapsulated by the story of the Taoist master Chuang Tzu, who, when he awoke from dreaming he was a butterfly, did not know if he was Chuang Tzu dreaming he was a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming he was Chuang Tzu. As the story implies, the distinction is irrelevant.

Part of this accession to natural cycles and living in harmony with the universe is accepting death. Before we are born, we do not exist—why should we then fear the nonexistence that follows death? In its worldview, The Tao Te Ching may be seen to fall equally into the Western categories of religion, philosophy, and mythology.

Yet all of this—and the reams of scholarly papers debating The Tao Te Ching—is only an approximation. The Way is ineffable—an idea that would influence Japanese Zen traditions. Even in practice, there are contradictions: Taoists do not fear death, but there are many schools of alchemy intended to extend life or even grant immortality. Nonaction is an important principle, yet Taoism also speaks of government, but it is a government that does not value and employ men of superior ability who keep the people in a state of contented ignorance. The Taoist idea of vital energy (chi/qui) appears not only in meditative systems, but also as part of traditional systems of martial arts. (Of course, in Chinese thought, human society and the natural world are not separable.)

Sun Tzŭ and The Art of War

The art of war is of vital importance to the State." This seemingly obvious statement has been reiterated throughout history by authorities ranging from St. Augustine to Carl von Clausewitz. However, it was Sun Tzŭ who first made the case that war is part of political science, a discipline that may—and must—be studied and mastered. The Art of War is the world’s oldest military treatise, yet one that remains relevant today, studied by generals, business leaders, sports coaches, and politicians as a general guide on strategy. Furthermore, it is a work of moral philosophy, dealing with the rightness or wrongess of the decision to wage war, as well as the proper and moral way to conduct war—what we would call casus belli and jus in bello.

Whether or not its putative author, Sun Tzŭ (Master Sun), actually existed is a matter of debate. Sima Qian recorded that he was born in the state of Qi and lived from 544 to 496 BCE, during the Spring and Autumn period. However, it is more likely that The Art of War was written during the disordered Warring States period that began in 475 BCE and which was only ended by the Qin ascendency in 221 BCE. Qin Shi Huangdi considered The Art of War an essential text, and so it escaped the book burning of his reign. During the Song dynasty of the eleventh century CE, it was placed at the head of the seven military classics, thus ensuring its place in the canon on jing.

Sima Qian also relates a quite probably spurious anecdote that illuminates Sun Tzŭ’s character: Before hiring the general, the king of Wu tested Sun Tzŭ by commanding him to train his harem of 180 concubines. Sun Tzŭ divided them into two companies and placed the emperor’s two favorites as officers. Yet, when given marching commands, the concubines did nothing but dissolve into helpless giggles. Sun Tzŭ explained that if the soldiers did not understand the commands, then it was his own fault—that is, the fault of the commanding general. However, after patiently explaining again what he wanted, the concubines still would do nothing but laugh. Sun Tzŭ then explained that if the soldiers understood what was required but still did not obey, it was the officers’ fault—and, over the king’s protests, he had the two favorites he had appointed as officers executed, and chose new officers. Needless to say, the concubines now performed military maneuvers flawlessly.

As the various social contexts—as well as the history of commentary—are amply explained by the translator, Lionel Giles, I will restrict my brief remarks. What I wish to add to Giles’s commentary is that Sun Tzŭ is a man writing for a premodern economy, when the state’s capability to make war was limited. War is expensive, as he continually reminds us. Standing armies were expensive and time-consuming to recruit and maintain. Unlike the U.S. military, which is maintained in readiness and can be deployed anywhere at a moment’s notice, an ancient Chinese state’s capacity to make war was dependent on season. Raising an army, as can be seen in the chapter Energy, took time. Best of all is to win without direct confrontation, or, as Sun Tzŭ says, supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting. Making war too expensive for the enemy is best; worst of all possibilities is siege warfare. Much the same was advised by the Roman military writer Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus, which is why in the West we call this sort of delaying strategy Vegetian warfare. However, it is a universal truth of warfare that if you deprive the enemy of the capacity to make war, victory will follow. Thus, the Allied strategic bombing campaign that deprived Nazi Germany of the capacity to make war falls wholly within Sun Tzŭ’s canons of strategy.

Just as Sun Tzŭ’s writing, with its references to chariots and signal fires, cannot be separated from its historical context, neither can it be separated from its unique East Asian social and military context. How else to explain verses such as Which of the two sovereigns is imbued with the Moral law? To Sun Tzŭ, rectitude and good generalship are inseparable. Moral weakness—anger, impatience, cowardice, even oversolicitousness of the welfare of one’s troops—will lead to military weakness. To Sun Tzŭ, the ideal general is also the ideal junzi: If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.

Furthermore, The Art of War can be seen as a Taoist work. All is flux; all is change. Indirect tactics, efficiently applied, are inexhaustible as Heaven and Earth, unending as the flow of rivers and streams; like the sun and moon, they end but to begin anew; like the four seasons, they pass away to return once more. By comprehending the causes and nature of these changes, the general can successfully compete on the battlefield. The axioms of the Tao—the laws of the universe itself—are to be wielded to gain power over one’s foes and to ensure the well-being of the human, political world.

In other words, we can see The Art of War as combining two of the three main streams of ancient Chinese philosophy. Sun Tzŭ’s work cannot be understood otherwise: It is a work not only of military strategy but of supreme psychological insight. It gives not only the means by which to prevail in a conflict but also by which to live one’s life.

Sun Tzŭ’s work has been widely influential in the twentieth century. Mao Zedong, the Chinese Communist leader, was himself a military theorist whose book on guerrilla warfare was inspired by, and written in reaction to, The Art of War. Mao credited the defeat of both the Japanese invasion of China and Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist forces to ideas and theories he had learned from Sun Tzŭ, and Henry Kissinger remarked that the Chinese leader owed more to Sun Tzŭ than to Lenin. Võ Nguyên Giáp, a North Vietnamese general during the Vietnam War, was likewise inspired by The Art of War, and, indeed, the Vietnamese resistance to Japanese, French, and American occupiers can be seen as an application of Sun Tzŭ’s principles. American generals such as Norman Schwarzkopf and Colin Powell have also praised the book, which is on the required reading list at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

We can even see China’s recent foreign policy as following the principles of The Art of War. Modern China views Sun Tzŭ’s classic work as part of its national patrimony, part of a cultural, if not military, expansion. Copies have been given as presents to President George W. Bush and Admiral Michael Mullen, the chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The idea of ancient wisdom is certainly appealing for Westerners: Ever since Gordon Gekko, the antihero of the 1987 film Wall Street, quoted Sun Tzŭ, the market has seen an endless array of Art of War knockoffs aimed at consumers ranging from businesswomen to golfers. Whether on the battlefield or in the boardroom, there seems to be something in the Sun Tzŭ mystique for everyone. However, none of these are the real, true, and original work, which we present to you here with the translator’s in-depth commentary and in the context of other books in the Chinese tradition. Without context and true understanding, even the best information is meaningless.

A History of Translation

The history of translation of the Chinese classics into European languages cannot be separated from missionary activities. The first travelers from the West to the East undertook their epic journeys to spread the European worldview: The Mongols’ unification of the Eurasian landmass allowed men such as William of Rubrick and John of Montecorvino to travel to the court of the Yuan (Mongol) dynasty, where they unsuccessfully pleaded with the Great Khan to adopt Christianity. Later missionaries, such as Francis Xavier, likewise met with limited success, being crippled by both their lack of language skills and their inability—or unwillingness—to understand the culture that surrounded them.

Matteo Ricci marks a turning point in both missionary activity and sinology. Born in Italy in 1552, he became a Jesuit in 1571. Ricci’s approach was far different from that of those who had preceded him: Rather than merely proselytizing, he tried to understand Chinese thought on its own terms and explain Christianity in ways that made sense to the Chinese. Ricci spoke admiringly of Chinese achievements and produced some of the first translations of Chinese classics for the Western world.

The two translators whose work appears in this volume are British: James Legge and Lionel Giles. The history of Great Britain and China in their lifetimes was fraught: The Opium Wars had forced the Chinese to grant extraterritorial concessions to European powers—ports such as Hong Kong and Macau were under European law, not Chinese. Furthermore, China was overpopulated and undergoverned. The result was decades of famine, rebellion, and, ultimately, the collapse of the Imperial government, which would lead to the Revolution of 1911 that overthrew the last Qing emperor.

Legge (1815–1897), the elder of the two translators, was a Scottish missionary and educator. Born in Aberdeenshire and educated at King’s College, he went to the East as a missionary in 1839. His first post was as the head of the Anglo-Chinese college in Malacca; it is during this period that he conceived the project of translating the Chinese classics into English. Legge believed that it was not until Westerners understood the mindset, ideas, and culture of the Chinese that missionary activity could succeed. This project would become his life’s work. After three years in Malacca, Legge moved to Hong Kong in 1844, where he remained until returning to the UK in 1867. In 1876 he became the first professor of Chinese at Oxford University, a post that he retained until his death. He was known for his tireless devotion to his translations and scholarly works on Chinese thought and religion, often rising in the middle of the night to make himself a cup of tea and work at his desk. Legge was also known for his opposition to the opium trade, which had been one of the principal means by which the British had forced an inequitable balance of trade upon the Chinese. (Chinese attempts to stop the opium trade had also given rise to two wars, the second of which resulted in the sacking and burning of the Imperial Summer Palaces in Beijing.)

Lionel Giles (1875–1958) was the fourth son of Herbert Giles, himself a well-known English diplomat and scholar of China who most famously completed what became known as the Wade-Giles system of transliterating Mandarin. The younger Giles was educated in Belgium, Austria, and Scotland, and graduated from Oxford in 1899, afterward becoming an assistant curator at the British Museum and Keeper (librarian) of the Department of Oriental Manuscripts and Printed Books. He published his translation of Sun Tzŭ in 1910, which quickly replaced the inferior and inaccurate works of the British military officer Everard Ferguson Calthrop. In his work, Giles used the Romanization system that his father helped invent, which has since been replaced by the Pinyin system. Readers should therefore be aware that the transliterations in this work are not those currently used by scholars and translators.

Conclusions

In our own era of globalization, China has recovered from the crises of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, civil war and anarchy, foreign imperialism, the Japanese occupation and atrocities during World War II, and the heavy hand of Mao’s Communist government—and is now a world superpower. Understanding this great nation and its people requires understanding its classical literature. Competing successfully, whether in the economic or military realms, likewise requires an idea of the adversary’s strategy and mindset.

We here present to you the works of four of the greatest minds the world has ever known. The Chinese classics are on par with the Bible and Qu’ran for the influence they have had on humanity. It behooves each of us to study them not only for our own self-improvement—and not just to gain advantage, but for their own sake. In doing so, we (much as Confucius taught) realize our own humanity and perfectibility.

Ken Mondschein, PhD

Northampton, Massachusetts

February 24, 2016

The Art

of War

(WITHOUT COMMENTARY)

TRANSLATED FROM THE CHINESE

BY LIONEL GILES, M.A. (1910)

I

LAYING PLANS

1. Sun Tz ŭ said: The art of war is of vital importance to the State.

2. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.

3. The art of war, then, is governed by five constant factors, to be taken into account in one’s deliberations, when seeking to determine the conditions obtaining in the field.

4. These are: (1) The Moral Law; (2) Heaven; (3) Earth; (4) The Commander; (5) Method and discipline.

5, 6. The Moral Law causes the people to be in complete accord with their ruler, so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger.

7. Heaven signifies night and day, cold and heat, times and seasons.

8. Earth comprises distances, great and small; danger and security; open ground and narrow passes; the chances of life and death.

9. The Commander stands for the virtues of wisdom, sincerity, benevolence, courage and strictness.

10. By Method and discipline are to be understood the marshaling of the army in its proper subdivisions, the graduations of rank among the officers, the maintenance of roads by which supplies may reach the army, and the control of military expenditure.

11. These five heads should be familiar to every general: he who knows them will be victorious; he who knows them not will fail.

12. Therefore, in your deliberations, when seeking to determine the military conditions, let them be made the basis of a comparison, in this wise:

13. (1) Which of the two sovereigns is imbued with the Moral law?

(2) Which of the two generals has most ability?

(3) With whom lie the advantages derived from Heaven and Earth?

(4) On which side is discipline most rigorously enforced?

(5) Which army is stronger?

(6) On which side are officers and men more highly trained?

(7) In which army is there the greater constancy both in reward and punishment?

14. By means of these seven considerations I can forecast victory or defeat.

15. The general that hearkens to my counsel and acts upon it, will conquer: let such a one be retained in command! The general that hearkens not to my counsel nor acts upon it, will suffer defeat: let such a one be dismissed!

16. While heeding the profit of my counsel, avail yourself also of any helpful circumstances over and beyond the ordinary rules.

17. According as circumstances are favorable, one should modify one’s plans.

18. All warfare is based on deception.

19. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.

20. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.

21. If he is secure at all points, be prepared for him. If he is in superior strength, evade him.

22. If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.

23. If he is taking his ease, give him no rest. If his forces are united, separate them.

24. Attack him where he is unprepared, appear where you are not expected.

25. These military devices, leading to victory, must not be divulged beforehand.

26. Now the general who wins a battle makes many calculations in his temple ere the battle is fought. The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand. Thus do many calculations lead to victory, and few calculations to defeat: how much more no calculation at all! It is by attention to this point that I can foresee who is likely to win or lose.

II

WAGING WAR

1. Sun Tz ŭ said: In the operations of war, where there are in the field a thousand swift chariots, as many heavy chariots, and a hundred thousand mail-clad soldiers, with provisions enough to carry them a thousand lî, the expenditure at home and at the front, including entertainment of guests, small items such as glue and paint, and sums spent on chariots and armor, will reach the total of a thousand ounces of silver per day. Such is the cost of raising an army of 100,000 men.

2. When you engage in actual fighting, if victory is long in coming, then men’s weapons will grow dull and their ardor will be damped. If you lay siege to a town, you will exhaust your strength.

3. Again, if the campaign is protracted, the resources of the State will not be equal to the strain.

4. Now, when your weapons are dulled, your ardor damped, your strength exhausted and your treasure spent, other chieftains will spring up to take advantage of your extremity. Then no man, however wise, will be able to avert the consequences that must ensue.

5. Thus, though we have heard of stupid haste in war, cleverness has never been seen associated with long delays.

6. There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.

7. It is only one who is thoroughly acquainted with the evils of war that can thoroughly understand the profitable way of carrying it on.

8. The skillful soldier does not raise a second levy, neither are his supply-wagons loaded more than twice.

9. Bring war material with you from home, but forage on the enemy. Thus the army will have food enough for its needs.

10. Poverty of the State exchequer causes an army to be maintained by contributions from a distance. Contributing to maintain an army at a distance causes the people to be impoverished.

11. On the other hand, the proximity of an army causes prices to go up; and high prices cause the people’s substance to be drained away.

12. When their substance is drained away, the peasantry will be afflicted by heavy exactions.

13, 14. With this loss of substance and exhaustion of strength, the homes of the people will be stripped bare, and three-tenths of their income will be dissipated; while government expenses for broken chariots, worn-out horses, breast-plates and helmets, bows and arrows, spears and shields, protective mantelets, draught-oxen and heavy wagons, will amount to four-tenths of its total revenue.

15. Hence a wise general makes a point of foraging on the enemy. One cartload of the enemy’s provisions is equivalent to twenty of one’s own, and likewise a single picul of his provender is equivalent to twenty from one’s own store.

16. Now in order to kill the enemy, our men must be roused to anger; that there may be advantage from defeating the enemy, they must have their rewards.

17. Therefore in chariot fighting, when ten or more chariots have been taken, those should be rewarded who took the first. Our own flags should be substituted for those of the enemy, and the chariots mingled and used in conjunction with ours. The captured soldiers should be kindly treated and kept.

18. This is called, using the conquered foe to augment one’s own strength.

19. In war, then, let your great object be victory, not lengthy campaigns.

20. Thus it may be known that the leader of armies is the arbiter of the people’s fate, the man on whom it depends whether the nation shall be in peace or in peril.

III

ATTACK BY STRATAGEM

1. Sun Tz ŭ said: In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy’s country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good. So, too, it is better to recapture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them.

2. Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.

3. Thus the highest form of generalship is to balk the enemy’s plans; the next best is to prevent the junction of the enemy’s forces; the next in order is to attack the enemy’s army in the field; and the worst policy of all is to besiege walled cities.

4. The rule is, not to besiege walled cities if it can possibly be avoided. The preparation of mantlets, movable shelters, and various implements of war, will take up three whole months; and the piling up of mounds over against the walls will take three months more.

5. The general, unable to control his irritation, will launch his men to the assault like swarming ants, with the result that one-third of his men are slain, while the town still remains untaken. Such are the disastrous effects of a siege.

6. Therefore the skillful leader subdues the enemy’s troops without any fighting; he captures their cities without laying siege to them; he overthrows their kingdom without lengthy operations in the field.

7. With his forces intact he will dispute the mastery of the Empire, and thus, without losing a man, his triumph will be complete. This is the method of attacking by stratagem.

8. It is the rule in war, if our forces are ten to the enemy’s one, to surround him; if five to one, to attack him; if twice as numerous, to divide our army into two.

9. If equally matched, we can offer battle; if slightly inferior in numbers, we can avoid the enemy; if quite unequal in every way, we can flee from him.

10. Hence, though an obstinate fight may be made by a small force, in the end it must be captured by the larger force.

11. Now the general is the bulwark of the State; if the bulwark is complete at all points, the State will be strong; if the bulwark is defective, the State will be weak.

12. There are three ways in which a ruler can bring misfortune upon his army:

13. (1) By commanding the army to advance or to retreat, being ignorant of the fact that it cannot obey. This is called hobbling the army.

14. (2) By attempting to govern an army in the same way as he administers a kingdom, being ignorant of the conditions which obtain in an army. This causes restlessness in the soldier’s minds.

15. (3) By employing the officers of his army without discrimination, through ignorance of the military principle of adaptation to circumstances. This shakes the confidence of the soldiers.

16. But when the army is restless and distrustful, trouble is sure to come from the other feudal princes. This is simply bringing anarchy into the army, and flinging victory away.

17. Thus we may know that there are five essentials for victory:

(1) He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight.

(2) He will win who knows how to handle both superior and inferior forces.

(3) He will win whose army is animated by the same spirit throughout all its ranks.

(4) He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.

(5) He will win who has military capacity and is not interfered with by the sovereign.

18. Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.

IV

TACTICAL DISPOSITIONS

1. Sun Tz ŭ said: The good fighters of old first put themselves beyond the possibility of defeat, and then waited for an opportunity of defeating the enemy.

2. To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.

3. Thus the good fighter is able to secure himself against defeat, but cannot make certain of defeating the enemy.

4. Hence the saying: One may know how to conquer without being able to do it.

5. Security against defeat implies defensive tactics; ability to defeat the enemy means taking the offensive.

6. Standing on the defensive indicates insufficient strength; attacking, a superabundance of strength.

7. The general who is skilled in defense hides in the most secret recesses of the earth; he who is skilled in attack flashes forth from the topmost heights of heaven. Thus on the one hand we have ability to protect ourselves; on the other, a victory that is complete.

8. To see victory only when it is within the ken of the common herd is not the acme of excellence.

9. Neither is it the acme of excellence if you fight and conquer and the whole Empire says, Well done!

10. To lift an autumn hair is no sign of great strength; to see the sun and moon is no sign of sharp sight; to hear the noise of thunder is no sign of a quick ear.

11. What the ancients called a clever fighter is one who not only wins, but excels in winning with ease.

12. Hence his victories bring him neither reputation for wisdom nor credit for courage.

13. He wins his battles by making no mistakes. Making no mistakes is what establishes the certainty of victory, for it means conquering an enemy that is already defeated.

14. Hence the skillful fighter puts himself into a position which makes defeat impossible, and does not miss the moment for defeating the enemy.

15. Thus it is that in war the victorious strategist only seeks battle after the victory has been won, whereas he who is destined to defeat first fights and afterwards looks for victory.

16. The consummate leader cultivates the moral law, and strictly adheres to method and discipline; thus it is in his power to control success.

17. In respect of military method, we have, firstly, Measurement; secondly, Estimation of quantity; thirdly, Calculation; fourthly, Balancing of chances; fifthly, Victory.

18. Measurement owes its existence to Earth; Estimation of quantity to Measurement; Calculation to Estimation of quantity; Balancing of chances to Calculation; and Victory to Balancing of chances.

19. A victorious army opposed to a routed one, is as a pound’s weight placed in the scale against a single grain.

20. The onrush of a conquering force is like the bursting of pent-up waters into a chasm a thousand fathoms deep.

V

ENERGY

1. Sun Tz ŭ said: The control of a large force is the same principle as the control of a few men: it is merely a question of dividing up their numbers.

2. Fighting with a large army under your command is nowise different from fighting with a small one: it is merely a question of instituting signs and signals.

3. To ensure that your whole host may withstand the brunt of the enemy’s attack and remain unshaken—this is effected by maneuvers direct and indirect.

4. That the impact of your army may be like a grindstone dashed against an egg—this is effected by the science of weak points and strong.

5. In all fighting, the direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect methods will be needed in order to secure victory.

6. Indirect tactics, efficiently applied, are inexhaustible as Heaven and Earth, unending as the flow of rivers and streams; like the sun and moon, they end but to begin anew; like the four seasons, they pass away to return once more.

7. There are not more than five musical notes, yet the combinations of these five give rise to more melodies than can ever be heard.

8. There are not more than five primary colors (blue, yellow, red, white, and black), yet in combination they produce more hues than can ever been seen.

9. There are not more than five cardinal tastes (sour, acrid, salt, sweet, bitter), yet combinations of them yield more flavors than can ever be tasted.

10. In battle, there are not more than two methods of attack—the direct and the indirect; yet these two in combination give rise to an endless series of maneuvers.

11. The direct and the indirect lead on to each other in turn. It is like moving in a circle—you never come to an end. Who can exhaust the possibilities of their combination?

12. The onset of troops is like the rush of a torrent which will even roll stones along in its course.

13. The quality of decision is like the well-timed swoop of a falcon which enables it to strike and destroy its victim.

14. Therefore the good fighter will be terrible in his onset, and prompt in his decision.

15. Energy may be likened to the bending of a crossbow; decision, to the releasing of a trigger.

16. Amid the turmoil and tumult of battle, there may be seeming disorder and yet no real disorder at all; amid confusion and chaos, your array may be without head or tail, yet it will be proof against defeat.

17. Simulated disorder postulates perfect discipline, simulated fear postulates courage; simulated weakness postulates strength.

18. Hiding order beneath the cloak of disorder is simply a question of subdivision; concealing courage under a show of timidity presupposes a fund of latent energy; masking strength with weakness is to be effected by tactical dispositions.

19. Thus one who is skillful at keeping the enemy on the move maintains deceitful appearances, according to which the enemy will act. He sacrifices something, that the enemy may snatch at it.

20. By holding out baits, he keeps him on the march; then with a body of picked men he lies in wait for him.

21. The clever combatant looks to the effect of combined energy, and does not require too much from individuals. Hence his ability to pick out the right men and utilize combined energy.

22. When he utilizes combined energy, his fighting men become as it were like unto rolling logs or stones. For it is the nature of a log or stone to remain motionless on level ground, and to move when on a slope; if four-cornered, to come to a standstill, but if round-shaped, to go rolling down.

23. Thus the energy developed by good fighting men is as the momentum of a round stone rolled down a mountain thousands of feet in height. So much on the subject of energy.

VI

WEAK POINTS AND STRONG

1. Sun Tz ŭ said: Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy, will be fresh for the fight; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted.

2. Therefore the clever combatant imposes his will on the enemy, but does not allow the enemy’s will to be imposed on him.

3. By holding out advantages to him, he can cause the enemy to approach of his own accord; or, by inflicting damage, he can make it impossible for the enemy to draw near.

4. If the enemy is taking his ease, he can harass him; if well supplied with food, he can starve him out; if quietly encamped, he can force him to move.

5. Appear at points which the enemy must hasten to defend; march swiftly to places where you are not expected.

6. An army may march great distances without distress, if it marches through country where the enemy is not.

7. You can be sure of succeeding in your attacks if you only attack places which are undefended. You can ensure the safety of your defense if you only hold positions that cannot be attacked.

8. Hence that general is skillful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skillful in defense whose opponent does not know what to attack.

9. O divine art of subtlety and secrecy! Through you we learn to be invisible, through you inaudible; and hence we can hold the enemy’s fate in our hands.

10. You may advance and be absolutely irresistible, if you make for the enemy’s weak points; you may retire and be safe from pursuit if your movements are more rapid than those of the enemy.

11. If we wish to fight, the enemy can be forced to an engagement even though he be sheltered behind a high rampart and a deep ditch. All we need do is attack some other place that he will be obliged to relieve.

12. If we do not wish to fight, we can prevent the enemy from engaging us even though the lines of our encampment be merely traced out on the ground. All we need do is to throw something odd and unaccountable in his way.

13. By discovering the enemy’s dispositions and remaining invisible ourselves, we can keep our forces concentrated, while the enemy’s must be divided.

14. We can form a single united body, while the enemy must split up into fractions. Hence there will be a whole pitted against separate parts of a whole, which means that we shall be many to the enemy’s few.

15. And if we are able thus to attack an inferior force with a superior one, our opponents will be in dire straits.

16. The spot where we intend to fight must not be made known; for then the enemy will have to prepare against a possible attack at several different points; and his forces being thus distributed in many directions, the numbers we shall have to face at any given point will be proportionately few.

17. For should the enemy strengthen his van, he will weaken his rear; should he strengthen his rear, he will weaken his van; should he strengthen his left, he will weaken his right; should he strengthen his right, he will weaken his left. If he sends reinforcements everywhere, he will everywhere be weak.

18. Numerical weakness comes from having to prepare against possible attacks; numerical strength, from compelling our adversary to make these preparations against us.

19. Knowing the place and the time of the coming battle, we may concentrate from the greatest distances in order to fight.

20. But if neither time nor place be known, then the left wing will be impotent to succor the right, the right equally impotent to succor the left, the van unable to relieve the rear, or the rear to support the van. How much more so if the furthest portions of the army are anything under a hundred lî apart, and even the nearest are separated by several lî!

21. Though according to my estimate the soldiers of Yüeh exceed our own in number, that shall advantage them nothing in the matter of victory. I say then that victory can be achieved.

22. Though the enemy be stronger in numbers, we may prevent him from fighting. Scheme so as to discover his plans and the likelihood of their success.

23. Rouse him, and learn the principle of his activity or inactivity. Force him to reveal himself, so as to find out his vulnerable spots.

24. Carefully compare the opposing army with your own, so that you may know where strength is superabundant and where it is deficient.

25. In making tactical dispositions, the highest pitch you can attain is to conceal them; conceal your dispositions, and you will be safe from the prying of the subtlest spies, from the machinations of the wisest brains.

26. How victory may be produced for them out of the enemy’s own tactics—that is what the multitude cannot comprehend.

27. All men can see the tactics whereby I conquer, but what none can see is the strategy out of which victory is evolved.

28. Do not repeat the tactics which have gained you one victory,

Reviews for The Art of War & Other Classics of Eastern Philosophy

[markm2315 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Advice that I found interesting included:

All warfare is based on deception, hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near.

There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.

The captured soldiers should be kindly treated. This is called using the conquered foe to augment one’s own strength.

In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy’s country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good.

It is the rule of war, if our forces are ten to the enemy’s one, to surround him; if five to one, to attack him; if twice as numerous to divide our army into two. If equally matched, we can offer battle; if slightly inferior in numbers, we can avoid the enemy; if quite unequal in every way, we can flee from him.

You can be sure of succeeding in your attacks if you only attack places which are undefended.

Now a soldier’s spirit is keenest in the morning; by noonday it has begun to flag; and in the evening, his mind is bent only on returning to camp.

When there is dust rising in a high column, it is the sign of chariots advancing; when the dust is low, but spread over a wide area, it betokens the approach of infantry. When it branches out in different directions, it shows that parties have been sent to collect firewood. A few clouds of dust moving to and fro signify that the army is encamping.

If those [of the enemy] who are sent to draw water begin by drinking themselves, the army is suffering from thirst.

If birds gather on any spot, it is unoccupied.

If fighting is sure to result in victory, then you must fight, even though the ruler forbid it; if fighting will not result in victory, then you must not fight even at the ruler’s bidding.

No ruler should put troops into the field merely to gratify his own spleen; no general should fight a battle simply out of pique.

Hostile armies may face each other for years, striving for the victory which is decided in a single day. This being so, to remain in ignorance of the enemy’s condition simply because one grudges the outlay of a hundred ounces of silver in honours and emoluments [i.e. for spies], is the height of inhumanity.

[mykl8s · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What I most remember and best learned from this is, find ways not to go to war, find ways not to fight whenever possible.

[whbiii · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Vapid martial homilies.

[cecrow · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I read the 1910 translation by Lionel Giles, available for free on the internet. This edition was complemented with notes offering commentary by a wide range of Chinese near-contemporaries who offered their examples, corollaries, etc. The translator added further illumination throughout which added considerably to what I gleaned. What Sun Tzu seems to offer is the codifying of common sense, but that's easy for me to say. He covers all of his bases thoroughly in his opening chapter, outlining categories of consideration and then throwing in a paragraph noting that other considerations may also come into play, every battle is different, etc. Cynically, I feel this makes it easier to take a stand as the ultimate authority: "The general that hearkens to my counsel and acts upon it will conquer."Sun Tzu is silent on the topic of avoiding war altogether (notwithstanding his advice to conquer without combat), as if the first diplomacy he prefers to resort to is raising an army. He also hasn't much to say about keeping an army supplied, only its necessity. His advice is entirely practical, unconcerned with any concept resembling honour, eschewing pride as weakness. The only advice that puzzled me was his recommendation to face the sun; I thought you would want the sun to shine in your enemy's eyes. Everything points to his having been a man of experience, one who knew cost and consequence. I was more impressed as I read further, finding short precise sentences used to convey enormous meaning, and sometimes in multiple ways.

[jamestomasino · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

For my second reading I decided to try the audiobook version read by Aidan Gillen. His dynamics greatly improved my understanding and appreciation for the short work.

[islandmum84 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Interesting read that applies to different situations in life. I will definitely purchase a hard copy so I can make notes of passages I love and found useful in everyday life and experiences.

[viviennestrauss · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I admit to reading this out of curiosity - why did Dr. Melfi recommend Tony Soprano read this and how did he then apply it. Interesting reading but as I already knew, I would make a lousy general.

[sami7-951065 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A wise warrior avoids the battle or something along these lines. The book is no literary wonder written simply as a series of bullet points. What makes it amazing is the fact that it was written before 2500 years & it is still relevant to our modern day. The set of rules outlined can be applied by any leader in any field.
PS: of course the financial details associated with the armies can be safely discarded.

[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?

[aleph123_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I have other versions of Sun Tzu's Art of War, and the first one I purchased in Italian was actually a new translation published by the Army publisher, as a Chinese officer part of an exchange programme saw that all the Italian versions at the time were actually... translations of translationsI have also read the Sawyer edition, among others, but I picked up this one in a library as it was the only one I saw so far that, beside the translation, included also a rewriting in ChineseInteresting series of books, as they republished classics from Chinese history following the same approach- so, I was curious to see the differences (on the English side- my abilities in Chinese will be enough to read in Chinese... in few years- in modern Chinese)

[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.

[mattmcmanus · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

What a curious book. I listened to a reading of it and so my reading could scarcely be called more than an overview. This short book is definitely one to be read contemplatively and over a long time.

[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.

[robertbruceferguson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Bought at the Upstart Crow bookstore & coffee house in San Diego in 1997.

[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.

[tonifgmamtc · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I can totally see why all military leaders should read this. Quite genius if you're into that type of thing.

[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.

[missizicks · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Reading the book while watching the Olympics was interesting. I thought more about what Sun Tzu was saying in the context of sporting competition. A lot of the same principles apply, replacing an enemy in battle with an opponent in sport.I don't ever plan to go to war, but at least I know I can refer to this book for guidance should I ever feel like it.

[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.

[mattries37315 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Within “The Art of War” are three distinct though similar treatise written across over 2000 years and three different cultures that instruct the reader not only how to succeed in war but also politics and business.The opening treatise is the titular “Art of War”, Sun Tzu gives his readers a concise yet in-depth instruction into the how to achieve victory over one’s enemies. Though less than a hundred pages in length, it has to be read carefully to get the full meaning of what the author intends to convey. Yet when boiled down, the most important lesson is simply to be aware of one’s surroundings and other people’s intentions so as to continually be prepared for all situations.The middle treatise is Machiavelli’s “The Prince”, a how-to course in how to gain and maintain power. The pragmatic program that councils that everything one does must be solely down to maintain one’s, if in the process you must victimize a small minority of your population, so be it, but if some of your actions improve the lives of the majority of your citizens so much the better. Yet, while Machiavelli’s thoughtful approach to studying power politics is the beginning of political theory, “The Prince” is also cutting satire on the Medici who had taken over Florence ending Machiavelli’s civil career. The astute reader realizes that “The Prince” is more than it appears while also achieving its apparent main aim.The final treatise is Frederick the Great’s “Instructions to His Generals”, in which the celebrated Prussian monarch and military commander gave guidance to his general staff about how to fight war through his own failures and achievements. Unlike Machiavelli’s call for unity or Sun Tzu’s broad principles, Frederick main goal is for the betterment of Prussia and for detailed instructions on everything connected with a military campaign. This single-mindedness and painstaking approach is a lesson in and of itself to the reader to keep their focus on the here and now so as to achieve bigger things down the road, not dream of the far-off future while sacrificing the present.While distinct, the three treatise in this book are in fact are three different life experiences on the same thing, achieving success at whatever one attempts.

[mbmackay · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Another translation (Ralph Sawyer) and lots of background history & hints of textual analysis - but fails to grab.Read July 2006

[haidji-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" is a great book.This ancient classic was written over 2,500 years ago by the legendary Chinese general Sun Tzu, being aa timeless masterpiece of interaction of power and politics this book teaches many good lessons to anyone who will ever have to command a group of people, in the workplace, in school, or on the battlefield.The Art of War is an ageless book that teaches human nature and how to deal with difficult situations in life and business.The lessons learned in this book can be allied to relationship, friendship, career and make you a more complete person in general. I I recommend this book to be read by all those who wants to succeed in anything they do, It is not just about lessons in war but can be used and applied for everyday life."The Art of War" is a must read.

[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.