The Art of War (II)

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.

Genocide

Prompt 03: Human Nature – Who participates in genocide, and why? What does the commonality of genocide lead you to believe about humanity?

The expression genocide did not exist in type prior to 1944. It was not until Polish-Jewish lawyer Raphael Lemkin coined the word to describe Nazi policies of systematic murder. However, genocide describes more than killing of Jews during the Holocaust and it has occurred throughout all periods of human history – far before 1944 and even today in the twenty-first century. Whether it is religious, political, racial, or cultural, genocide is a deliberate and systematic killing of a group associated by some common link. Some of the earliest genocides were recorded around 150 bce during the Third Punic War. And in recent news, the situations of Darfur, Sudan are genocide.

At some point in history, all societies have connection to genocide. What event is usually associated with genocide? Most often the holocaust is linked with genocide. The holocaust was during World War II, where Nazi Germany sponsored the systematic murder of over 11 million people, including 6 million European Jews. Much other genocide has occurred throughout history. In Asia during the thirteenth century, Mongolian Empire founder Genghis Khan had genocidal killings against the territories he conquered. Khan expanded his empire through his violence and killing of his enemies.

The Americas experienced an extensive genocide – most of which is disguised in thousands of social studies textbooks. When Columbus and the other explorers of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries set foot on America, the natives welcomed these conquistadors with honor – as the Native Americans thought the explorers were gods returning to their sacred lands. However, these explorers were in for a different motive – power. Back then, for a country to be powerful, it had at least one of three mechanisms: land, spices, or money. With the Spanish in Central America, Hernán Cortés found the Aztec capital Tenochtitlan with plenty of gold. Eventually, he brought down the capital to take the gold –and did so by killing millions of Aztecs.

With the Spanish in Central America, the Aztec capital Tenōchtitlan was taken and overthrown in 1521 by Hernán Cortés. A similar set of events happened north of Tenōchtitlan in present-day Eastern United States. After Columbus set foot in the Americas in 1492, explorers from many countries in Europe traveled to the East Coast. Soon, they began to colonize and claim territory for their motherland – and started to force Native American tribes out of the region. More people arrived in the Americas and colonies were densely populated. Seeking more land, and more adventurous opportunity, individuals headed to the Wild West (American Old West) to see what the earth had to offer. To no surprise, the English pushed out, and in the process they had to ‘inconvenience’ thousands of Native American tribes. Some wars amongst the indigenous people and the colonizing English broke out because the Native Americans wished not to be forced into small reserves while watching the ‘foreigners’ take over their land, resources, and homes. Records of Indian wars are available from the mid-1500s to the early 1900s – and the summation of all these mini-war battles result in the Indian massacre.

Genocidal killings murder millions of people – and millions of homicides need people to participate. During the holocaust, Adolf Hitler was able to control the information outputted by media and use propaganda to persuade the common people of Germany to enlist in the military and kill off the European Jewish population. On the contrary, in the Rwandan genocide, two divisions – Hutu and Tutsi - did not choose to kill. Neighbors and friends were sometimes told to kill each other. People of all ages participated in genocide. Children as young as 12 years of age were able to pursue direct combat – whether voluntarily or involuntarily, depending on the situation. However, International Human Rights law mandates that the military use of children no younger than 18 years of age take part in direct hostilities - and those of who are between the ages of 15 to 18 years may be enrolled in the military.

What does this mean about humanity?
People will always find ways to differentiate themselves from other people. As mentioned in the Race Video, humans have always divided themselves into groups which they see have a commonality. This relates to a more primitive tribal society and is the basis of genocide-based killings. The killing of others may be just another sign of our primitive past. So have humans, the “most evolved” and sophisticated animals truly surpassed our chimp ancestors? And are our civilizations actually “civil”…?