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The Art of War

Sun Tzu, c. 5th c. BCE

Held by Standard Ebooks, PG 132read here

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A short Chinese treatise on war in thirteen chapters, attributed to Sun Tzu, covering planning, the cost of war, attack by stratagem, terrain, the use of spies and more. The author treats war as costly and destructive, a last resort, and argues that prolonged fighting drains the state faster than the enemy can. He stresses intelligence and espionage and says the best result is to win without fighting. This edition is Lionel Giles's 1910 English translation with his introduction on Sun Wu and the history of the text.

Where it happens

  1. London Luzac and Company published the Giles translation here in 1910.1
  2. Oxford Oxford University Press published Samuel Griffith's translation in 1963.1
  3. Boston Shambhala published Thomas Cleary's translation here in 1988.1
  4. New York Columbia University Press issued Victor Mair's translation in 2007.1

Through time

  1. 544 BCTraditional birth year of Sun Tzu, who died in 496 BC.2
  2. 220Cao Cao writes the earliest known commentary in the early third century of the Common Era.12
  3. 1080Emperor Shenzong of Song formalises the Seven Military Classics anthology.1
  4. 1772Jean Joseph Marie Amiot produces the first European translation, in French.1
  5. 1910Lionel Giles publishes the first annotated English translation through Luzac and Company.13

Who is in it, and behind it

Sun Tzu author

Traditional author, honorific meaning Master Sun, birth name said to be Sun Wu.12

Lionel Giles translator

British scholar who published the first annotated English translation in 1910.13

King Helü of Wu patron

Ruler whom Han historians say Sun Tzu served as a minister.2

Sima Qian subject

Han dynasty historian who dated Sun Tzu's life to 544 to 496 BC.2

Cao Cao scribe

Strategist and warlord who wrote the earliest known commentary in the early third century.12

Jean Joseph Marie Amiot translator

French Jesuit whose 1772 version was the first in a European language.1

Sun Bin subject

Descendant credited with a separate treatise of the same title, rediscovered in 1972.2

What it is about

War as a costly last resort

Prolonged warfare erodes a state faster than the enemy could.1

Win without fighting

The text prizes breaking resistance by strategy and diplomacy over battle.1

Intelligence and espionage

Foreknowledge from spies matters to the war effort and to preventing war.1

In its own words

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
I. The text's best-known claim about strategy. Read on
There is no instance of a country having benefited from prolonged warfare.
II. The argument against long wars. Read on
supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting.
III. Best result in this book's terms. Read on
If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles
III. The famous line on knowledge of enemy and self. Read on
Let your plans be dark and impenetrable as night, and when you move, fall like a thunderbolt
VII. Speed and secrecy in movement. Read on
foreknowledge . Now this foreknowledge cannot be elicited from spirits; it cannot be obtained inductively from experience, nor by any deductive calculation
XIII. Why spies matter: foreknowledge cannot come from spirits or calculation. Read on

The shape of the book

21 chapters, 23,244 words. Point at a bar.

How it came to be here

The work dates from the late Spring and Autumn period, roughly the fifth century BC, though the earliest parts of the text probably date to at least a century after Sun Tzu. Han historian Sima Qian placed him as a minister to King Helü of Wu, living 544 to 496 BC. Cao Cao wrote the earliest known commentary in the early third century. For almost 1,500 years it led an anthology that Emperor Shenzong of Song formalised as the Seven Military Classics in 1080. Amiot produced the first European translation in 1772, and Giles the first annotated English one in 1910.

Free to read elsewhere

Sources

  1. The Art of War (Wikipedia)
  2. Sun Tzu (Wikipedia)
  3. The Art of War, translated by Lionel Giles (Standard Ebooks)

Text: PG 132 | translator: Lionel Giles. CC0 (Standard Ebooks).

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