2010.05.14
To Whom It May Concern:Sun Tzu originally wrote Sun-tzu ping-fa around 500BC. For centuries, thirteen chapters that it composed held the secret to understanding the very roots of conflict and resolution; its knowledge was known only to the highest of Chinese and Japanese scholars and military generals. Now translations of Sun Tzu’s work fill the pages of The Art of War. Translator Thomas Cleary takes the time to read over Master Sun’s work and carefully translate his words. In addition to Master Sun, Cleary also selects eleven interpreters to provide commentaries in this translation. Most of the commentators were high ranking military officers of the Chinese military – often famous for some war or fight. Others were just famous Chinese writers and some with no known history or information excluding their commentary on The Art of War. Interpreters generally lived during the first to twelfth centuries.
The Art of War is densely packed with quotes of Master Sun. He says:
Planning should be secret, attack should be swift. When an army takes its objective like a hawk striking its prey, and battles like a river broken through a dam, its opponents will scatter before the army tires. This is the use of the momentum of an army.
By reading Master Sun’s work, one will find that he repeats this focus on objectivity. Generals need to assess a situation with a dispassionate perspective, yet carefully calculate his actions. Sun Tzu is well known for saying, “to win without fighting is best.” Commentator Zhuge says:
Those who are skilled in combat do not become angered; those who are skilled at winning do not become afraid. Thus the wise win before they fight, while the ignorant fight to win.
Sun Tzu believes war is either life or death. The first words in The Art of War are, “Millitary action is important to the nation – it is the ground of death and life, the path of survival and destruction, so it is imperative to examine it.” Master Sun has strong views of the layout of war. War is a means to an end – what that end is varies from political to economic. But in the end if you battle – battle till the death, you should either come out victorious and alive, or defeated and dead. This was a philosophy the Japanese used in fighting World War II (kamikaze suicide bombers). Of course, that is not to mention The Art of War solely influenced the Japanese philosophy. Strong Japanese culture on honor describe that it is best to die honorably than be taken prisoner.
Most wars during the medieval times of Europe generally attacked opponents head-on in a battlefront. For the most part, the goal was to show which army was most courageous and strongest. But fighting costs lives, supplies, and money – something that Master Sun’s army could not actually afford. However, Master Sun could care less about fame and glory; he only wants to win. Sun applauds those generals who can outwit his enemy, rather than outfight them.
Fighting also requires deception. Knowing while being unknown, this concept is repeated multiple times as one of the successes in battle. Zhuge uses inspiration from the Tao-te Ching, The Art of War (Sun-tzu ping-fa), and The Masters of Huainan and traditions from Taoist and Confucian philosophy to explain deception:
A skilled attack is one against which opponents do not know how to defend; a skilled defense is one which opponents do not know how to attack. Therefore those skilled in defense are not so because of fortress walls.
This is why high walls and deep moats do not guarantee security, while strong armor and effective weapons do not guarantee strength. If opponents want to hold firm, attack where they are unprepared; if opponents want to establish a battlefront, appear where they do not expect you.
Here Commentator Zhuge explains that relying on advanced technology and weaponry alone will not guarantee success in battle. Even the best of defenses cannot protect an army from all circumstances. The last sentence about attacking where they are unprepared and they do not expect you is better explained in another quote that I may use later.
The secret to this art of invisibility – this idea of knowing while being unknown – is precisely the interior detachment cultivated by Taoists for attaining impersonal views of objective reality.
[M]easure (military action) in terms of five things, use these assessments to make comparisons, and thus find out what the conditions are. The five things are the way, the weather, the terrain, the leadership, and discipline. –Sun Tzu
Interpreter Zhang Yu (Sung Dynasty, 960—1278) comments that discipline means that regulations are strict and clear.
Zhang Yu is only known for his commentary on The Art of War (and a collection of biographies of military leaders). Interestingly, Yu appears to interpret Master Sun’s work in a similar way that I do. The text of this translation is organized so that Master Sun’s original, translated line is printed in bold typeface. Following are the comments of some (or all) the interpreters; some quotations may only have one commentary, while others may have all eleven comment. As I read Sun Tzu’s philosophies, I interpret and comment in my mind. I notice as I read Zhang Yu’s interpretations, I agree in almost all situations or see similar points of view.
I know that as The Art of War continues, I will be able to find more insight on the understanding of conflict and strategic battle. As I mentioned in the first Literature Circle letter, The Art of War is not only a text on military strategy, it is a book on the understanding of conflict.
