Comprehensive Research on the Thirteen Chapters of "The Art of War"

Author: Li Ling
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-04-01
Features: The ancient Chinese classics are as vast as the sea, but books like The Art of War that enjoy worldwide acclaim and leave a lasting charm are probably few. Some military strategists abroad hold The Art of War in high esteem. For example, British strategist Hart considers it not only superior in depth of thought to the renowned 19th-century Western military strategist Carl von Clausewitz, but also increasingly significant as the destructive power of nuclear weapons develops. Some entrepreneurs and businesspeople also understand the concept of "applying knowledge creatively," even directly using The Art of War to manage workers and conduct business—as in battle, the value of its principles sometimes surprises even us. The Art of War, with its 13 chapters and only "five thousand words" (approximately 6,000 characters in the modern edition), is endlessly thought-provoking. Perhaps it, like many classical masterpieces, possesses a "mysterious beauty" that enthralls the human imagination? The longer the passage of time, the more surprising discoveries people make. However, from the perspective of Chinese literature studies, we cannot treat it as a work without "interpretive depth" but must instead demand that we understand its true nature by examining its historical context.