Library's review
The enormous recent popularity in America of Sun-tzu's Art of War has heightened awareness of the great Chinese tradition of writing on the theory and practice of war. This tradition has always emphasized that warfare is as much the deployment of spiritual and mental forces as of combat forces, as
While it has brought this tradition greater exposure, the reception of Art of War threatens to overshadow and obscure the other significant texts that followed in its wake. Foremost among these is Military Methods of the Art of War, written in the fourth century B.C. by the purported great-grandson of Sun-tsu, the general Sun Pin. Military Methods is both an extension of the strategic philosophy of the earlier work and a development of a new strategic style-one that enabled Sun Pin to guide the armies of the province of Ch'i to decisive victories over their enemies in the battles of Kuei-ling and Ma-ling.
Long believed lost, the text of Military Methods was recovered from a Han dynasty tomb in 1072. the salvaged original, fragmentary in nature, is divided into thirty-three sections covering such topics as unfavorable terrains, the origins of war, 'guest' and 'host' armies, 'male' and 'female' cities, and the ten strategic uses of cavalry. To bridge the gaps in the original, translator Ralph Sawyer, the leading authority on Chinese military history and its major texts, has provided extensive commentary and notes, as well as a detailed historical introduction.
'If he perceives victory, he engages in battle; if he does not...he remains quiet.'-Sun Pin, on the ideal general
'Ralph Sawyer's translation of Sun Pin...further adds in an important way to our konwledge of the place of warfare in classical Chinese civilization.'-John Keegan
Jacket design by Ziga Design
Contents
Preface
A note on pronunciation and format
Chronology of approximate dynastic periods
Historical introduction
Text and commentary
1 Capture of P'ang Chuan
2 Audience with King Wei
3 The questions of King Wei
4 Ch'en Chi inquires about fortifications
5 Selecting the troops
6 Lunar warfare
7 Eight formations
8 Treasures of terrain
9 Preparation of strategic power
10 Nature of the army
11 Implementing selection
12 Killing officers
13 Expanding 'ch'i'
14 Offices, I
15 Strengthening the army
16 Ten deployments
17 Ten questions
18 Regulating mailed troops
19 Distincition between guest and host
20 Those who excel
21 Five names, five respects
22 The army's lossses
23 The general's righteousness
24 The general's virtues
25 The general's losses
27 Male and female cities
28 Five criteria, nine seizings
29 The dense and diffuse
30 Unorthodox and orthodox
31 Five instructions
32 Employing cavalry
33 Attacking the heart
Notes to the introduction, translations, and commentaries
Bibliography of selected Chinese and Japanese works
Glossary of names and selected Chinese terms
About the book and translator
Indexes
Show More
much a matter of patience and attention as of brute strength. As a result, new generations of readers have found many of its precepts applicable to forms of struggle far from any actual battlefield.While it has brought this tradition greater exposure, the reception of Art of War threatens to overshadow and obscure the other significant texts that followed in its wake. Foremost among these is Military Methods of the Art of War, written in the fourth century B.C. by the purported great-grandson of Sun-tsu, the general Sun Pin. Military Methods is both an extension of the strategic philosophy of the earlier work and a development of a new strategic style-one that enabled Sun Pin to guide the armies of the province of Ch'i to decisive victories over their enemies in the battles of Kuei-ling and Ma-ling.
Long believed lost, the text of Military Methods was recovered from a Han dynasty tomb in 1072. the salvaged original, fragmentary in nature, is divided into thirty-three sections covering such topics as unfavorable terrains, the origins of war, 'guest' and 'host' armies, 'male' and 'female' cities, and the ten strategic uses of cavalry. To bridge the gaps in the original, translator Ralph Sawyer, the leading authority on Chinese military history and its major texts, has provided extensive commentary and notes, as well as a detailed historical introduction.
'If he perceives victory, he engages in battle; if he does not...he remains quiet.'-Sun Pin, on the ideal general
'Ralph Sawyer's translation of Sun Pin...further adds in an important way to our konwledge of the place of warfare in classical Chinese civilization.'-John Keegan
Jacket design by Ziga Design
Contents
Preface
A note on pronunciation and format
Chronology of approximate dynastic periods
Historical introduction
Text and commentary
1 Capture of P'ang Chuan
2 Audience with King Wei
3 The questions of King Wei
4 Ch'en Chi inquires about fortifications
5 Selecting the troops
6 Lunar warfare
7 Eight formations
8 Treasures of terrain
9 Preparation of strategic power
10 Nature of the army
11 Implementing selection
12 Killing officers
13 Expanding 'ch'i'
14 Offices, I
15 Strengthening the army
16 Ten deployments
17 Ten questions
18 Regulating mailed troops
19 Distincition between guest and host
20 Those who excel
21 Five names, five respects
22 The army's lossses
23 The general's righteousness
24 The general's virtues
25 The general's losses
27 Male and female cities
28 Five criteria, nine seizings
29 The dense and diffuse
30 Unorthodox and orthodox
31 Five instructions
32 Employing cavalry
33 Attacking the heart
Notes to the introduction, translations, and commentaries
Bibliography of selected Chinese and Japanese works
Glossary of names and selected Chinese terms
About the book and translator
Indexes
Show Less
ISBN
1586636081 / 9781586636081
Publication
MetroBooks