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The Art of Warfare
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The most widely read military classic in human history, The Art of Warfare is the seminal work on the philosophy of warfare. But only in 1972, when Chinese archaeologists unearthed a cache of manuscripts in a second-century B.C. tomb in Shangtung province, did scholars have the evidence necessary to extend the boundaries of the text beyond the traditional thirteen-chapter version. In the Silver Sparrow Mountain (Yin ch'üeh-shan) dig, in addition to uncovering a partial copy of the thirteen-chapter text dating over a thousand yers earlier than previously available manuscripts, scholars found five hitherto unknown chapters.
Now Roger T. Ames, one of the leading contemporary interpreters of Chinese philosophy and culture, offers the first English translation of this classic to take full advantage of the newly discovered materials. In addition to an entirely new translation of the thirteen-chapter classic informed by these early documents, Ames has provided a translation of the five new chapters found with the Silver Sparrow Mountain texts. He also has incorporated extensive passages which for centuries had been attributed to Sun-tzu but which can only now be properly included in The Art of Warfare because of their similarity to the five new chapters. In all, Professor Ames's new edition contains more than fifty percent new material. Fluid, crisp, and rigorously faithful to the original, this new text is destined to stand as the definitive version of this cornerstone work of Classical Chinese.
Ames prefaces his translation with an introduction describing the dramatic discovery of the new texts and the painstaking work of Chinese scholars to clean, sort, assemble, and date them. He also includes a critical Chinese text of the entire new version. Ames's close comparison between the traditional and the new texts leads him to conclude that The Art of Warfare is a composite work that evolved over the years, with the five "outer chapters" being representative of a large body of materials added to explain and elaborate upon points in the core text.
The Ames translation and introduction to the complete Sun-tzu: The Art of Warfare is of compelling importance not only to students of Chinese history and literature, but to all readers interested in the art or the philosophy of war.
Now Roger T. Ames, one of the leading contemporary interpreters of Chinese philosophy and culture, offers the first English translation of this classic to take full advantage of the newly discovered materials. In addition to an entirely new translation of the thirteen-chapter classic informed by these early documents, Ames has provided a translation of the five new chapters found with the Silver Sparrow Mountain texts. He also has incorporated extensive passages which for centuries had been attributed to Sun-tzu but which can only now be properly included in The Art of Warfare because of their similarity to the five new chapters. In all, Professor Ames's new edition contains more than fifty percent new material. Fluid, crisp, and rigorously faithful to the original, this new text is destined to stand as the definitive version of this cornerstone work of Classical Chinese.
Ames prefaces his translation with an introduction describing the dramatic discovery of the new texts and the painstaking work of Chinese scholars to clean, sort, assemble, and date them. He also includes a critical Chinese text of the entire new version. Ames's close comparison between the traditional and the new texts leads him to conclude that The Art of Warfare is a composite work that evolved over the years, with the five "outer chapters" being representative of a large body of materials added to explain and elaborate upon points in the core text.
The Ames translation and introduction to the complete Sun-tzu: The Art of Warfare is of compelling importance not only to students of Chinese history and literature, but to all readers interested in the art or the philosophy of war.
336 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1,-0500
This edition
- Format
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336 pages, Hardcover
- Published
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March 2, 1993 by Ballantine Books
- ISBN
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9780345362391
- ASIN
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034536239X
- Language
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English
About the author
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Sun Tzu (traditional Chinese: 孫子; simplified Chinese: 孙子; pinyin: Sūnzǐ) was a Chinese military general, strategist, philosopher, and writer who lived during the Eastern Zhou period (771–256 BC). Sun Tzu is traditionally credited as the author of The Art of War, an influential work of military strategy that has affected both Western and East Asian philosophy and military thought. Sun Tzu is revered in Chinese and East Asian culture as a legendary historical and military figure. His birth name was Sun Wu (traditional Chinese: 孫武; simplified Chinese: 孙武) and he was known outside of his family by his courtesy name Changqing (Chinese: 長卿). The name Sun Tzu—by which he is more popularly known—is an honorific which means "Master Sun".
Sun Tzu mastered the military science of ancient China and created the military doctrine of asymmetrical warfare. According to it, an attack on the enemy should begin only after the enemy has no opportunity to either defend or counterattack. It was used in the wars in the era of the Warring States in ancient China (about 475–221 BC). It differs from the modern interpretation of asymmetric military strategy. The ancient warriors used to call it the Victorious Methods of Warfare (sheng er zhan zhi), but it has the same meaning as the modern asymmetrical military strategy. The ancient professional warriors used it in individual combats against the enemies in the wars. As a result, a variety of armed and unarmed combat combinations have been created for various combat situations as the individual battle plans. Those combat combinations had specific names, descriptions and classifications.
Sun Tzu's historicity is uncertain. The Han dynasty historian Sima Qian and other traditional Chinese historians placed him as a minister to King Helü of Wu and dated his lifetime to 544–496 BC. Modern scholars accepting his historicity place the extant text of The Art of War in the later Warring States period of 475 to 221 BC, based on its style of composition and its descriptions of warfare. Traditional accounts state that the general's descendant Sun Bin wrote a treatise on military tactics, also titled The Art of War. Since both Sun Wu and Sun Bin were referred to as "Sun Tzu" in classical Chinese texts, some historians believed them identical, prior to the rediscovery of Sun Bin's treatise in 1972.
Sun Tzu's work has been praised and employed throughout the arc of East Asian military history since its composition, and eventually earned global attention. During the twentieth century, The Art of War grew in popularity and saw practical use in the Western world as well. It remains influential in many contemporary competitive endeavors across the modern world beyond military strategy and warfare, including espionage, culture, governance, business, and sports.
Sun Tzu mastered the military science of ancient China and created the military doctrine of asymmetrical warfare. According to it, an attack on the enemy should begin only after the enemy has no opportunity to either defend or counterattack. It was used in the wars in the era of the Warring States in ancient China (about 475–221 BC). It differs from the modern interpretation of asymmetric military strategy. The ancient warriors used to call it the Victorious Methods of Warfare (sheng er zhan zhi), but it has the same meaning as the modern asymmetrical military strategy. The ancient professional warriors used it in individual combats against the enemies in the wars. As a result, a variety of armed and unarmed combat combinations have been created for various combat situations as the individual battle plans. Those combat combinations had specific names, descriptions and classifications.
Sun Tzu's historicity is uncertain. The Han dynasty historian Sima Qian and other traditional Chinese historians placed him as a minister to King Helü of Wu and dated his lifetime to 544–496 BC. Modern scholars accepting his historicity place the extant text of The Art of War in the later Warring States period of 475 to 221 BC, based on its style of composition and its descriptions of warfare. Traditional accounts state that the general's descendant Sun Bin wrote a treatise on military tactics, also titled The Art of War. Since both Sun Wu and Sun Bin were referred to as "Sun Tzu" in classical Chinese texts, some historians believed them identical, prior to the rediscovery of Sun Bin's treatise in 1972.
Sun Tzu's work has been praised and employed throughout the arc of East Asian military history since its composition, and eventually earned global attention. During the twentieth century, The Art of War grew in popularity and saw practical use in the Western world as well. It remains influential in many contemporary competitive endeavors across the modern world beyond military strategy and warfare, including espionage, culture, governance, business, and sports.
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