Utilize the Art of War

Author: Qian Yi (Editor-in-Chief) / Yang Wanli / Cao Zhibiao (Compiler)
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-01-01
Features: Decoding the classic masterpiece, victorious in every competition. The Western countries spent 2,500 years and experienced countless wars before realizing the greatness and wisdom of Sun Tzu; subduing the enemy without fighting. After Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany was deposed, he sighed and said, "If I had read the Art of War twenty years earlier, I would never have suffered the pain of national ruin." Sun Tzu lived in the state of Qi, where internal conflicts were rampant and crises lurked everywhere. In 532 BC, the four powerful families of Tian, Bao, Luan, and Gao in Qi engaged in power struggles and civil unrest. As a branch of the Tian clan, the Sun family feared that if the Tian clan lost power, it would bring misfortune upon themselves. Therefore, they abandoned their homes and fled to the state of Wu. Sun Tzu settled in the border town near the capital of Wu, Gusu (now Suzhou), at that time. Around the same time Sun Tzu fled to Wu, Wu Zixu and Bo Yi of the state of Chu also fled to Wu, seeking to avenge the wrongful killings of their ancestors by the Chu king. At that time, Sun Tzu was living a reclusive life in the border town, farming and studying military strategy, and Wu Zixu happened to be his neighbor. Sun Tzu lived in an era of frequent wars and intense competition among feudal lords. Moreover, his ancestors were renowned generals, and this special era and his unique background provided ample conditions for him to write military treatises. Wu Zixu highly regarded Sun Tzu and deeply admired his military talent and expertise. In 515 BC, a palace coup occurred in Wu. The prince of Wu, Goujian, conspired with Wu Zixu and sent Zuan Zhu to assassinate the king of Wu, Liang, and Goujian then declared himself king, becoming the famous Heli of history. After ascending to the throne, Heli heavily relied on Wu Zixu, who recommended Sun Tzu to him. Sun Tzu submitted thirteen military treatises to the king of Wu, who, after reading them, was so impressed that he decided to appoint Sun Tzu to organize and train the army. From then on, Sun Tzu and Wu Zixu made significant contributions to Wu's ambition to dominate the region. In 506 BC, Wu launched a full-scale attack on Chu with the entire army, appointing Wu Zixu and Sun Tzu as generals. They executed a long-distance encircling strategy, deeply penetrating into Chu's territory, and decisively defeated the Chu army, capturing the capital of Chu, Yingdu (now Jining City in Jingnan County, Hubei). The war Wu launched was, in terms of scale and actual effect, the largest of the Spring and Autumn Period, and some historians have called it the "Great Battle of East Zhou." The thirteen military treatises Sun Tzu presented to the king of Wu became the Art of War that we know today. Some of the ideas proposed in the book, such as "know your enemy and know yourself, and you will never be in danger in a hundred battles," "concentrate your forces to defeat a divided enemy" (i.e., concentrate superior forces to eliminate the enemy), "speed is of the essence in war," "gain the upper hand by surprise," "attack the weak points while avoiding the strong," and "attack where the enemy is unprepared," are the crystallization of Chinese wisdom and remain immensely significant in methodology, capable of guiding people's lives today. Today, the Art of War has been translated into many languages and is a required textbook for many renowned military academies. Many countries have established Sun Tzu Research Associations to study his military thought. With the advent of the era of a unified world market, the operational ideas in the Art of War have gradually been applied to the field of management, becoming an important theoretical basis in the treasure trove of management thought.