Subject: Sun Tzu

[R1D2]

May the principals of Sun Tzu's tactics be utilized elsewhere? Like in a law firm or P.I. Work? Or even by criminals?
Or was there really a brilliant tactician like Sun Tzu ever alive? Was he a collective amount of different people?
What's your opinion on Sun Tzu?
Post your thoughts please.

 

[KilljoyKlown]

May the principals of Sun Tzu's tactics be utilized elsewhere? Like in a law firm or P.I. Work? Or even by criminals?
Or was there really a brilliant tactician like Sun Tzu ever alive? Was he a collective amount of different people?
What's your opinion on Sun Tzu?
Post your thoughts please.

The complete translation of The Art of War by Sun Tzu in PDF format.

http://www.artofwarsuntzu.com/Art of War PDF.pdf

 

[scheherazade]

How may we ever verify the past, beyond an educated guess? Even in the present time it is challenging to find persons who agree on what is transpiring at the moment, my observation, for each of us tends to be most observant of aspects that are pertinent to our own concerns and interests.

In 1972 some bamboo texts in a Han period tomb were excavated in Yinqueshan 銀雀山, Shandong, among them the Sunzi bingfa and Sun Bin bingfa. This proves that at the beginning of the Han period there was a tradition of a Master Sun from Wu (the Sunzi bingfa), and one from a Master Sun from the state of Qi (the Sun Bin bingfa). The text of the Yinqueshan Sunzi is somewhat differing from the received version, but identical to quotations in Han and Tang period sources. The tomb library also contained wooden slips (mudu 木牘) inscribed with chapters titles of the Sunzi, with six chapters of a first part (shangbian 上編), and seven chapters, the so-called Qishi 七勢 "Seven conditions", as second part (xiabian 下編). There are also five full chapters which are not found in the received version of the Sunzi.
The Sunzi stresses that warfare is essential for the survival of a state, and is therefore a field which is necessarily to be paid attention to. Once defeated in war a country will never rise again. The enlightened ruler therefore has to care for war, and good generals study it in detail and have to be prepared in advance.

http://www.chinaknowledge.de/Literature/Diverse/sunzibingfa.html

 

[Buddha12]

The Sunzi stresses that warfare is essential for the survival of a state, and is therefore a field which is necessarily to be paid attention to. Once defeated in war a country will never rise again.

China was defeated by Mongols but it rose again.

The Mongol invasion of China spanned six decades in the 13th century and involved the defeat of the Jin Dynasty, Western Xia, the Dali Kingdom and the Southern Song, which finally fell in 1279. The Mongol Empire under Genghis Khan started the conquest with small-scale raids into Western Xia in 1205 and 1207. By 1279, the Mongol leader Kublai Khan had established the Yuan Dynasty in China and crushed the last Song resistance, which marked the onset of all of China under the Mongol Yuan rule. This was the first time in history that the whole China was conquered and subsequently ruled by a foreign or non-native ruler, compared with the Manchus (who established the Qing Dynasty) who did so a few centuries later.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...3YDYDQ&usg=AFQjCNEICMdR9TJrEffvNLG0-rG_PgwzHQ

Then the Mongols were defeated so anything can and does happen to countries.

 

[Stoniphi]

I have a copy of the version annotated by Colin Powell, read it as part of my martial arts studies and my pursuit of understanding the Bushido.

In my estimation, the philosophic principles he lays out have broad application to human struggles far beyond the 'art of war'. An excellent read and a very thoughtful piece of literature.