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孙武 Sun Wu (circa 535-480 BC) - Winning ways of ancient strategist
By Zhang Ciyun |
April 3, 2011, Sunday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
Living during the late years of the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), Sun Wu, also known as Sun Zi or Sun Tzu, was an ancient Chinese general and military strategist, who was widely believed to be the author of "The Art of War," one of the oldest and most influential books on military strategy in the world.
After nearly 2,500 years, this book remains the most important military treatise in many parts of the world and its theories and philosophy are also widely applied in today's crafty worlds of business and politics as well as sports and online and offline gaming.
However, little is known about this great military strategist's family and his educational background except that he was born in the State of Qi (an area in today's Shandong Province in east China) and his family had lived there for several generations.
In 514 BC, Sun moved to the State of Wu in today's Yangtze River Delta area to serve King Helu there.
After reading some of Sun's treatises on warfare, the king decided to name Sun the general of his military forces. But before that, he wanted to give Sun a test.
The king asked Sun: "I think your theories about war are brilliant, but can you show me that they are also practical? For instance, can you train a group of maids of honor in the imperial palace to become soldiers?"
"Yes, I can, Your Majesty," Sun answered.
After about 180 maids had gathered in front of him, Sun divided them into two teams and named two of the king's favorite maids as team leaders. Then Sun asked the maids if they understood which direction was right and which was left, to which they replied yes with riotous laughter.
So, Sun ordered the two teams of maids first to look right and then left. However, the maids thought it was only a game, so no one paid any attention to the instruction and kept giggling and chatting among themselves.
Sun then told them that the first time they failed to follow the order, it was his own fault because he probably didn't make it very clear about his command. So, he reiterated his command, but the maids still ignored him. So, Sun immediately ordered the execution of the two team leaders. He said, "When the command is clear, it's the team leaders' fault that the maids failed to obey."
The king protested, but Sun said that it was he who was in command and in the military, whoever disobeyed orders must be executed.
After the two maids were killed on the spot, Sun appointed two new team leaders and restarted the training. This time, the two teams of maids drilled without flaw.
In the following years, using his theories and philosophy about warfare, Sun helped the State of Wu win a series of major battles against some of the strongest powers at that time.
"The Art of War" is divided into 13 chapters, with titles such as Detailed Assessment and Planning, Waging War, Weaknesses and Strengths, Variations and Adaptability, the Nine Battlegrounds and Intelligence and Espionage.
Sun's descendant, Sun Bin, was also a famous military strategist, who also wrote a treatise on warfare called "Sun Bin's Art of War."
After discussing all details about almost all aspects of warfare, Sun Wu came to the conclusion: "To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting."
In other words, the best stratagem in any war is "winning without fighting."
After nearly 2,500 years, this book remains the most important military treatise in many parts of the world and its theories and philosophy are also widely applied in today's crafty worlds of business and politics as well as sports and online and offline gaming.
However, little is known about this great military strategist's family and his educational background except that he was born in the State of Qi (an area in today's Shandong Province in east China) and his family had lived there for several generations.
In 514 BC, Sun moved to the State of Wu in today's Yangtze River Delta area to serve King Helu there.
After reading some of Sun's treatises on warfare, the king decided to name Sun the general of his military forces. But before that, he wanted to give Sun a test.
The king asked Sun: "I think your theories about war are brilliant, but can you show me that they are also practical? For instance, can you train a group of maids of honor in the imperial palace to become soldiers?"
"Yes, I can, Your Majesty," Sun answered.
After about 180 maids had gathered in front of him, Sun divided them into two teams and named two of the king's favorite maids as team leaders. Then Sun asked the maids if they understood which direction was right and which was left, to which they replied yes with riotous laughter.
So, Sun ordered the two teams of maids first to look right and then left. However, the maids thought it was only a game, so no one paid any attention to the instruction and kept giggling and chatting among themselves.
Sun then told them that the first time they failed to follow the order, it was his own fault because he probably didn't make it very clear about his command. So, he reiterated his command, but the maids still ignored him. So, Sun immediately ordered the execution of the two team leaders. He said, "When the command is clear, it's the team leaders' fault that the maids failed to obey."
The king protested, but Sun said that it was he who was in command and in the military, whoever disobeyed orders must be executed.
After the two maids were killed on the spot, Sun appointed two new team leaders and restarted the training. This time, the two teams of maids drilled without flaw.
In the following years, using his theories and philosophy about warfare, Sun helped the State of Wu win a series of major battles against some of the strongest powers at that time.
"The Art of War" is divided into 13 chapters, with titles such as Detailed Assessment and Planning, Waging War, Weaknesses and Strengths, Variations and Adaptability, the Nine Battlegrounds and Intelligence and Espionage.
Sun's descendant, Sun Bin, was also a famous military strategist, who also wrote a treatise on warfare called "Sun Bin's Art of War."
After discussing all details about almost all aspects of warfare, Sun Wu came to the conclusion: "To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting."
In other words, the best stratagem in any war is "winning without fighting."
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