The Art of War

The Art of War (in simplified Chinese, 孙子兵法; Traditional Chinese, 孫子兵法; Pinyin, Sūn Zǐ Bīngfǎ; Wade-Giles, Sun-Tzu-Ping-Fa; literally, 'Sun Tzu's Art of War') is a book on military tactics and strategy, written by Sun Tzu (« Master Sun"), a famous Chinese military strategist. This is an ancient Chinese military treatise dating from the end of the Spring and Autumn period (approximately 5th century BC). The work consists of thirteen chapters, each devoted to an aspect of warfare and how it applies to military strategy and tactics. For nearly fifteen hundred years it was the main text of an anthology that would be formalized as the Song Emperor Shenzong's Seven Military Classics in 1080. The Art of War remains the most influential strategy text on warfare. of East Asia and has influenced Eastern and Western military thought, as well as business tactics and legal strategy, among other fields.

This book contains a detailed explanation and analysis of the Chinese military, from weapons and strategy to rank and discipline. Sun Tzu also stressed the importance of intelligence agents and espionage to the war effort. Because Sun Tzu has long been considered one of the greatest military tacticians and analysts in history, his teachings and strategies formed the basis of advanced military training for centuries to come.

The book was translated into French and published in 1772 (republished in 1782) by the French Jesuit Joseph-Marie Amiot under the title Art Militaire des Chinois. In 1905, the British officer Everard Ferguson Calthrop attempted a partial translation into English under the title The Book of War. The first annotated English translation was completed and published by Lionel Giles in 1910. Military and political leaders such as Chinese communist revolutionary Mao Zedong, Japanese daimyo Takeda Shingen, and American military general Norman Schwarzkopf have drawn inspiration from the book.

History

Bamboo stools unearthed in 1972 on the Yinque mountain, city of Linyi, Shandong. It includes a copy of "The Art of War", dates from the S. ii a. C.

Text and comments

The Art of War is traditionally attributed to a military general from the turn of the century VI a. known as "Master Sun" (Sūnzǐ or Sun Tzu), although its earliest parts probably date from at least 100 years later. ="font-variant:small-caps;text-transform:lowercase">I a. C., the first of the Twenty-four Dynastic Histories of China, records an ancient Chinese tradition that states that a text on military matters was written by one "Sun Wu" of the State of Qi, and that this text had been read and studied by King Helü of Wu (514-495 BC). This text was traditionally identified with The Art of War of the " Master Sun." The conventional view that is still widely held in China was that Sun Wu was a military theorist from the late Spring and Autumn era (776-471 BCE) who fled from his home state of Qi to the southeastern kingdom of Wu, where she is said to have impressed the king with her ability to train palace ladies in warfare and to have made the armies of Wu powerful enough to challenge their Western rivals in the Chu state.

The prominent tactician, poet, and warlord Cao Cao in the early III century authored the first commentary known from The Art of War. Cao's preface makes it clear that he edited the text and removed certain passages, but the extent of his changes was historically unclear. The Art of War appears in every bibliographical catalog of Chinese dynastic histories, but listings of its divisions and size varied widely. In the early 20th century, the Chinese writer and reformer Liang Qichao theorized that the text was actually written in the IV a. by the supposed descendant of Sunzi Sun Bin (孙膑/sūn bìn), as several historical sources mention a military treatise he wrote, entitled Sun Bin's Art of War.

Authorship

Around the 12th century, some scholars began to doubt the historical existence of Sunzi, mainly because he does not appear in the historical classic Zuo Chronicle (Zuo Zhuan 左傳), which mentions most of the notable figures of the Spring and Autumn period. The name "Sun Wu" (孫武) does not appear in any text prior to the Historical Memoirs, and is suspected to be an invented descriptive name meaning "the fugitive warrior": the surname "Sun& #3. 4; is glossed as the related term "fugitive" (xùn 遜), while "Wu" is the ancient Chinese virtue of "martial, brave" (wǔ武), corresponding to Sūnzǐ's role as the hero's doppelgänger in the Wu Zixu story. Unlike Sun Wu, Sun Bin appears to have been a real person who was a genuine authority on military matters, and may have been the inspiration for the creation of the historical figure "Sūnzǐ" through a form of euhemerism.

Discovery in Yinqueshan

In 1972, bamboo tablets were discovered on Silver Sparrow Mountain (Yinqueshan) in two Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 220) tombs near the city of Linyi in the shandong province. Among the many bamboo scriptures contained in the tombs, sealed around 134 and 118 B.C. respectively, there were two separate texts, one attributed to Sūnzǐ, which corresponded to the received text, and the other attributed to Sun Bin, which explained and expanded on the earlier one. Sun Bin's text material overlaps with much of it. from the Sūnzǐ text, and both can be considered "a single, continually developing intellectual tradition united under the name of Sūnzǐ". This discovery showed that much of the historical confusion stemmed from the fact that there were two texts that could have been referred to as "Master Sun's" Art of War, not one. The content of the above text is approximately one third of the chapters of the modern The Art of War, and its content matches very closely. The former is now generally accepted to have been completed sometime between 500 and 430 BCE. C.

Chapters

The Art of War is divided into 13 chapters (or piān); the collection is called a zhuàn ("everything" or, alternatively, "chronicle").

Summary of the chapters

The beginning of The Art of War in a classic bamboo book of the reign of the emperor of Qianlong.

1. Approximately (Chinese: ₡): explores the five key factors (the road, the seasons, the ground, leadership and management) and the seven elements that determine the results of the military clashes. Thinking, evaluating and comparing these points, a commander can calculate his chances of victory. The usual deviation of these calculations will ensure the failure by an incorrect action. The text emphasizes that war is a very serious matter for the State and should not begin without due consideration.
2. The Leadership of War (Chinese: ÷):): explains how to understand the economy of war and how to achieve success they need to earn relevant commitments quickly. This section warns that the success of military campaigns requires limiting the cost of competition and conflict.
3. The offensive strategy (Chinese:.γ): defines the source of force as unity, not size, and discusses the five factors needed to succeed in any contest. In order of importance, these critical factors are: attack, strategy, alliances, army and cities.
4. Provisions (Chinese: Facilitative): It deals with the importance of defending existing positions until a commander is able to advance from those positions safely. It teaches commanders the importance of recognizing strategic opportunities and not creating opportunities for the enemy.
5. Energy (in Chinese: KING):): explains the use of creativity and time in building the momentum of an army.
6. Weak points and strengths (Chinese:):): deepen how the opportunities of an army come from the openings in the environment caused by the relative weakness of the enemy and how to respond to the changes in the fluid battlefield over a given area.
7. Maniobra (Chinese: ␡): details the dangers of direct conflict and how to win such confrontations when the commander is forced to do so.
8. The nine variables (Chinese: θ):): focuses on the need for flexibility in an army's responses and explains how to respond successfully to changing circumstances.
9. Marches (Chinese: марик): describes the different situations in which an army is found as it crosses new enemy territories, and how to respond to these situations. Much of this section focuses on assessing the intentions of others.
10. The field (Chinese: Årtex): examines the three general areas of resistance (distance, dangers and barriers) and the six types of ground positions that arise from them. Each of these six field positions offers certain advantages and disadvantages.
11. The Nine Field Classes (Chinese): describes the nine common situations (or stages) in a campaign, from dispersal to death, and the specific approach that a commander will need to successfully navigate through them.
12. Fire attack (Chinese: ・million): explains the general use of weapons and the specific use of the environment as a weapon. This section reviews the five targets of the attacks, the five types of environmental attacks and the appropriate responses to these attacks.
13. About the use of spies (Chinese: Ω): focuses on the importance of developing good sources of information, and specifies the five types of intelligence sources and the best way to manage each of them.

Editions

The text preserved by tradition has persisted with fair accuracy. The discovery in 1972 of a copy of the Art of War in a sepulcher in northern China sealed in the year 130 BC made it necessary to partially correct the text of modernizing phraseologies that were later imposed on it. These parts represent about three hundred in particular, which affect 5% of the text, and are not of fundamental importance for translation: differences between a could and a could, or a comma and a semicolon, as well as the addition of links and clarifications. But in some passages there are more faithful and sure readings. In chapter VI it read:

In order to attack and defeat safely, attack where they cannot defend themselves.
To defend themselves and resist firmly, defend yourself where they will not attack.

The second part of which doesn't seem to make much sense. In the text discovered in 1972, the reading appears more sensible: To defend oneself and stand firm, defend yourself where they will certainly attack.

Another error is detected in chapter IV, because where it says Defend yourself and you will have deficiencies. / Attack and you will have a surplus, the text discovered in 1972 is better: Defend yourself and you will have a surplus. / Attack and you will have deficiencies.

Cultural influence

Military and intelligence applications

Throughout East Asia, The Art of War was part of the syllabi of potential candidates for the military service examinations.

During the Sengoku period (c. 1467-1568), the Japanese daimyō named Takeda Shingen (1521-1573) is said to have become nearly invincible in all battles without relying on firearms, because he studied The art of war. The book even gave him the inspiration for his famous battle banner "Fūrinkazan" (Wind, Forest, Fire and Mountain), which means swift as the wind, silent as a forest, fierce as fire and immovable as a mountain.

Translator Samuel B. Griffith offers a chapter on "Sun Tzu and Mao Tse-Tung" where it is cited that The Art of War influenced Mao's works On Guerrilla Warfare, On Protracted Warfare and Strategic Problems of China's Revolutionary War, and includes Mao's quote: "We must not belittle the saying in the book of Sun Wu Tzu, the great military expert of ancient China, Know your enemy and know yourself and you can fight a thousand battles without disaster».

During the Vietnam War, some Viet Cong officers studied The Art of War extensively and could reportedly recite entire passages by heart. General Võ Nguyên Giáp successfully implemented the tactics described in The Art of War during the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, ending significant French involvement in Indochina and leading to the agreements that divided Vietnam into North and south. General Võ, later the PVA's top military commander in the Vietnam War, was an avid student and practitioner of Sun Tzu's ideas. The defeat of the United States there, more than any other event, drew the attention of the leaders of American military theory to the Sun Tzu.

The United States Department of the Army, through its Command and General Staff College, lists The Art of War as an example of a book that might be kept in a library. military unit.

The Art of War is listed on the Marine Corps Professional Reading Program (formerly known as the Commander's Reading List). It is recommended reading for all United States military intelligence personnel.

The Art of War is used as teaching material at the United States Military Academy at West Point, in the Military Strategy course (470), and is also recommended reading for Royal Officer Cadets at the Academy Sandhurst Royal Army. Some notable military leaders have stated the following about Sun Tzu and the art of war:

“I always kept a copy of The Art of War on my desk”, General Douglas MacArthur, 5-Star General and Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers.

“I have read The Art of War by Sun Tzu. It continues to influence both soldiers and politicians", General Colin Powell, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, National Security Adviser and Secretary of State.

According to some authors, the deception strategy of The Art of War was studied and widely used by the KGB: «I will force the enemy to take our strength for weakness, and our weakness for strength, and thus I will turn their strength into weakness." The book is widely quoted by the KGB officers in charge of disinformation operations in Vladimir Volkoff's novel Le Montage,.

Finnish Field Marshal Mannerheim and General Aksel Airo were avid readers of The Art of War. They both read it in French; Airo kept the French translation of the book on her nightstand in his room.

Non-military applications

The work shows the intelligence and freshness of Sun Tzu's essays. In it, Sun Tzu explains in detail the preparations prior to the war: deception strategies, disposition of troops on the battlefield, necessary weapons, battle tanks, and so on. How to be able to defeat the enemy without having to engage in face-to-face confrontation: simply imposing a dominant morality, instilling fear in the enemy in order to achieve the central approach of the book: "to be able to win without actually going into battle".

The supreme thing in the art of war is to subject the enemy without giving him battle.

Some suggest that the teachings contained in The Art of War can be applied outside the military. In recent times, the book has been used as a guide in business administration and leadership programs dedicated to conflict management and corporate culture. Many businessmen say they have found ways to resolve their conflicts in the strategies and tactics described by Sun Tzu.

This strategy book influenced great historical figures such as Napoleon Bonaparte or Mao Tse Tung. Sun Tzu's purpose was to guide military chiefs and rulers in the intelligent planning of a victorious war, so that they would have the necessary tools and analysis to know if the war was appropriate or not.

In modern times the world has been involved in competitions in business, politics, sports and even in the arts and it is necessary to have strategies and preparation to defeat your enemy because the war is not only between two armies, according to Different psychologists and sociologists have concluded that it is through conflict that problems are resolved. The ideal way that Sun Tzu teaches us through the Art of War is to "win without shedding blood".

Annotations

Prior to the discovery by archaeologists of the bamboo scroll version in April 1972, a commonly quoted version of The Art of War was the Annotations of Sun Tzu's Strategies of Cao Cao, the founder of the kingdom of Wei. In the preface, he wrote that the previous notes did not focus on the essential ideas. Other notations mentioned in official history books include Shen You's Military Strategy of Sun Tzu (176-204), Copy of Sun Tzu's Military Strategy by Jia Xu, the Sun Tzu's Military Strategy of Cao Cao and Wang Ling.

The Book of Sui documents seven books named after Sunzi. A Du Mu notation also includes Cao Cao's notation. Li Jing's Art of War is said to have been a review of Master Sun's strategies. The notes of rCao Cao, Du Mu, and Li When were translated into the Tangut language before 1040. A book called Ten Schools of The Art of War Notes was published before 1161.

After the invention of printing The Art of War (with Cao Cao's annotations) was published in a military textbook along with six other strategy books, collectively known as The Seven Military Classics (武經七書/武经七书).

As required-reading military textbooks since the Song Dynasty, The Seven Military Classics had been heavily annotated. Today there are more than 30 different versions of these annotated books.

The two most common traditional Chinese versions of the Art of War (the Complete Specialist Focus and the Military Bible) were the sources for the first English-language translation and others. It was not until the 1970s that these works were compiled, with more recent archaeological discoveries, into a more complete version only in Taipei, Taiwan. The resulting work is known as the Complete Version of Sun Tzu's Art of War.