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

Author: Li Ling
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-04-01
Features: Ancient Chinese classics are 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 regarded it as not only surpassing the renowned Western military theorist Carl von Clausewitz in depth of thought but also becoming increasingly significant with the development of destructive nuclear weapons. Some entrepreneurs and businesspeople also understand the principle of "applying knowledge creatively," even directly using The Art of War to manage workers and conduct business—as if in battle. The value of its insights is sometimes so profound that even we ourselves are amazed by it. The Art of War, with its thirteen chapters and only "five thousand words" (about 6,000 characters in the modern edition), is endlessly thought-provoking. Perhaps it, like many classical masterpieces, possesses a "mysterious beauty" that entices the human imagination. The older the age, the more surprising the discoveries people make about it. However, from the perspective of Chinese literature studies, we cannot view it as a poem without "meaning" but must instead demand that we understand its true nature by considering its historical context.