Training guide for competitive endeavours

The Art of War Translated into English by Thomas Cleary, gives tips on how to outsmart one’s opponent so that physical battle is not necessary. So much so that there are business books applying lessons from this to office politics and corporate strategy. An OER review

The Art of War, an ancient Chinese military treatise attributed to Sun Tzu, a high-ranking military general, strategist and tactician, is still perhaps the most prestigious and influential book of strategy in the world today, as eagerly studied in Asia by modern politicians and executives as it has been by military leaders since ancient times.

Compiled more than two thousand years ago by the mysterious warrior-philosopher, The Art of War is a study of the anatomy of organisations in conflict.

The book believed to have been compiled during the late Spring and Autumn period or early Warring States period, is composed of 13 chapters, each of which is devoted to one aspect of warfare. It is commonly known to be the definitive work on military strategy and tactics of its time.

It has been the most famous and influential of China’s Seven Military Classics, and for the last two thousand years it remained the most important military treatise in Asia, where even the common people knew it by name. It has had an influence on Eastern and Western military thinking, business tactics, legal strategy, and beyond.

Translated by Thomas Cleary, the English version presents the classic from the point of view of its background in the great spiritual tradition of Taoism, the origin of psychology, science, and technology in East Asia and the source of the insights into human nature that underlie this most revered of handbooks for success.

Thomas Cleary, in his translation tries to bring out the meaning of the principles of strategy from standard collection of commentaries on Sun Tzu’s text by eleven interpreters. In addition, the translator provides an extensive introduction discussing the content and background of the book.

The book was first translated into the French language in 1772 by French Jesuit Jean Joseph Marie Amiot and a partial translation into English was attempted by British officer Everard Ferguson Calthrop in 1905. Leaders as diverse as Mao Zedong, General Vo Nguyen Giap, Baron Antoine-Henri Jomini, General Douglas MacArthur, and leaders of Imperial Japan have drawn inspiration from the work.

It applies to competition and conflict in general, on every level from the interpersonal to the international. Its aim is invincibility, victory without battle, and unassailable strength through understanding of the physics, politics, and psychology of conflict.

Sun Tzu considered war as a necessary evil that must be avoided whenever possible. It notes that “war is like fire; people who do not lay down their arms will die by their arms. The war should be fought swiftly to avoid economic losses: “No long war ever profited any country: 100 victories in 100 battles is simply ridiculous. Anyone who excels in defeating his enemies triumphs before his enemy’s threat become real”. 

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