ABOUT

THE ART OF WAR

By

Sun Tzu

The Art of War (Sunzi bingfa) is a 5th-century BCE military treatise written by the Chinese strategist Sun-Tzu (aka Sunzi or Sun Wu). Covering all aspects of warfare, it seeks to advise commanders on how to prepare, mobilise, attack, defend, and treat the vanquished. One of the most influential texts in history, it has been used by military strategists for over 2,000 years and admired by leaders from Napoleon to Mao Zedong.

SUN-TZU

Biographical details concerning Sun-Tzu are scarce. He was said to have lived around 500 BCE, been born in the state of Qi but acted as a commander in the southern state of Wu. Traditionally, his famous work, The Art of War, was thought to have been written in the later stages of the Warring States Period (481-221 BCE), but since the discovery of an older version of the text written on bamboo strips in a tomb at Yinqueshan in southern Shandong, the composition date has been put back to the 5th century BCE. Some of the content also places the text in this period while, at the same time, some scholars differ in opinion and point to the sophisticated language and other matters of military development within the text as evidence it was compiled later. The traditional text version was edited by the 3rd-century CE military dictator Cao Cao. English translations of the text are often included in an anthology titled the Seven Military Classics, which also includes works by other authors such as the Six Secret Strategies and Wei Liaozi.

STRUCTURE & THEMES

The Art of War is divided into 13 chapters or pian which cover different aspects of warfare from planning to diplomacy. The work is not shy on the use of deception which runs through many of the suggested stratagems. Still, the book is not a glorification of warfare, and an important point, raised several times in the work, is that actual combat only results from the failure of other strategies to defeat the enemy and is always an undesirable waste of men and resources.

As much of the advice relates to deploying troops with imagination and daring based on a good prior knowledge of the terrain and enemy, withdrawals and counter-offensives, and the importance of psychology, The Art of War is often cited as the go-to source for those engaging in guerrilla warfare. For this reason, Sun Tzu’s ideas have continued to be relevant to the conduct of war no matter the developments in technology or increase in the destructive power of weapons. Wherever soldiers come face to face with the enemy Sun-Tzu’s ideas may be applied.

An important concept in the text and those treatises which followed is qi (or shih), which is the 'breath' or essence of life in Chinese thought. Its relevance to warfare is that commanders must energise the qi of their own troops while at the same time drain it from the enemy. Thus, the psychology of warfare is recognised as a vital factor in the overall success of campaigns.

Reference

https://www.ancient.eu/The_Art_of_War/

file information:

File size (Digital) (390KB)

Books (1)

Page count (8.5x11) (138)

Word count (54,705)

Prepare for the ancient wisdom of General Sun Tzu