Art of War in Ancient China
The overarching vision of history is one of shift in the prevailing
fundamental values forming the guiding principle of the ruler’s
governance of its subject over the three dynastic periods. This
vision of history direct our focus to the fundamental values that
government relied on—benevolence, virtue, righteousness etc—and the
major trend of characterized this historic development is the drastic
decline of virtue.
In the two passages, the different policies of ancient regimes—choice
of location and timing of announcing oath at war, utilization of
weapon’s sharpness, demonstration of execution, and use of reward and
punishment—are used to illustrate the shift in the prevailing
fundamental values the ruler relied on for governance and war.
Accordingly, I organized the information in the 2 passages into a
table. Base on the table, it is evident that the decline in
fundamental value of virtue is the prevailing trend. The narrative of
the decline in manifested values of governance goes back to the
antiquity, the period when virtue of the people is respected and made
manifest by the ruler. The people’s will to fight is sought out from
the people’s goodness, psychology and sprit is not manipulated. Shun
marked the height of virtue as neither reward and punishment is used.
The subsequent regimes give the rise of other prevailing values over
virtue. Hsia’s ruler rectified virtue by the use of weapon, but the
period is marked by height of instruction as reward is used to make
eminent the good; Shang rulers relied solely on righteousness, and the
the sole use of punishment, p...
... middle of paper ...
...heir intentions and await the
conflict.
The shang relied on righteousness, so they first use the sharpness of
weapons.
The Shang carried out executions in the market place to overawe the
evil.
The hsang imposed punishment but did not grant rewards
(height of awesomeness)
Chou (1045-256 B.C.)
King Wu of the Chou waited until the weapons were about to clash and
the swore his oath in order to stimulate the people’s will to fight.
The chou relied on force, so they fully utilized the sharpeness of
their weapons.
Granted rewards in court and carried out executions in the marketplace
to encourage gentlemen and terrify the common man.
Used both rewards and punishment. Virtue declined.
Conclusions about qualities of virtue
Kings of all three dynasty manifested virtue in the same way.
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The Art of War is a treatise written in Ancient China that discusses the most and least effective military strategies for successful warfare according to Sun Tzu, a military general whose existence is still debated to this day. While not every military commander in the history of warfare has read it, the strategies provided can be used as a way to assess said commanders and the effectiveness of their campaigns. In Sun Tzu 's own words, “The general that hearkens to my counsel and acts upon it, will conquer: let such a one be retained in command! The general that hearkens not to my counsel nor acts upon it, will suffer defeat:--let such a one be dismissed!”1 This paper will discuss various iconic battles throughout history and how closely the leading commanders of each army followed the advice of Sun Tzu. Despite the fact that Sun Tzu lived hundreds of years before many of these battles took place, the
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The way the Chinese have conceived of their past, and of themselves, was profoundly shaped by the Shiji. The Shiji, or Historical Records, was a monumental work composed of 130 chapters written during the Han dynasty by Sima Qian. It presented the past from several perspectives: a chronological narrative of political events; topical accounts of key institutions; and biographies of individuals that Qian saw as important. The political narrative began with the Yellow Lord and continued through the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, down to the Han dynasty and Emperor Wudi of Sima Qian's day. Chronological charts with genealogical data and information on government posts came next, such as the calendar, state ritual, the construction of waterworks, and government finance. Thirty chapters were devoted to the ruling houses of the states of the Zhou period, recounting the reigns of successive rulers. These were supplemented by seventy chapters on other important individuals, including not only great officials and generals, but also people not associated with the government, both the famous and infamous including: philosophers, poets, merchants, magicians, and even rebels. Even non-Han people along the frontiers were described in narrative accounts. The emergence of a unified empire out of the warring States of pre-Qin China, the consolidation of the former Han, and the relations between the empire and the surrounding people groups were major themes in the Shiji. Qian’s records also offer insights through his role as a historian and his attempt to resolve a life changing experience he distinguished in his own life. Equally important, Sima Qian, by writing so well on so much, had a profound impact on Chinese thinking about government, pers...
I found The Art of War, by Sun Tzu to be incredibly relevent to today's business environment. Being a Marketing student in the School of Business made Tzu’s razor sharp strategies and philosophies very applicable to the modern day competitive business world. In this cutthroat job industry, getting a job of choice has come to be a match, and many students are not well-informed of how to fight this “war.” In his text, Tzu relays information regarding how to prepare for battle by staying flexible, covering different grounds and prepping for diverse conditions: all which can be applied to a business setting. Each chapter in The Art of War is intended to cover a different section of combat, but from a business student prospective, I believe that Tzu’s attitudes and viewpoints can be a useful, pertinent tool to all young business majors entering the workforce.
The Art of War, by Sun Tzu is a reading that demonstrates how business and war have various correlations. One of the major components of war illustrated is the concept of deception. Deception in war allows generals to acquire a strategic advantage over his adversary through misleading him. Similar to war, many businesses use this same approach in order to maximize profit and eradicate the competition within a market. A society built on such vicious methods can not sustain itself in such an environment for prolong periods of time.
Two and a half millennia ago lived Sun Tzu, possibly the greatest military mind in the history of the world. Sun Tzu was a Chinese philosopher, but that in no way means that his method of thought is applicable only in the East. Twenty-five hundred years after writing, Sun Tzu’s book, The Art of War remains the most important treatise ever written on military strategy. Is it though? Can Sun Tzu’s tactics still be applied to modern military operations, when warfare has changed so much since? At time of writing, Chinese forces were still using weapons like the Qiang (spear) and Ji (halberd). These primarily close-ranged bladed weapons bear no semblance to modern firearms or high explosives whatsoever. In the last century especially, the technology of war has advanced so rapidly that on the surface, it would seem at first like there are practically no similarities between war in the fifth century B.C.E. and war in twenty-first century C.E. After all this time, can The Art of War still hold up, or has it gone the way of chariots and archers?
Sun Tzu was a Chinese military general but most importantly a philosopher that lived in the 6th century BC. He is the author of The Art of War, a book about military strategy. The Art of war contains thirteen chapters all delivering keys to military strategy for success. It is a famous work of art that is used nowadays in many fields including business, sport and diplomacy. Business leaders develop strategies inspired form Sun Tzu ideas to reach their goals.
During the Warring States era, the Chinese population was in need of social and political change. Accordingly, three schools of thought were formed and became a tradition in China: Confucianism, Legalism, and Taoism. These systems focused on virtues and law-based tactics. Sanders et al (2008) points out that “these three systems of thought were written by three distinct prominent writers whose main focus for the Chinese population were philosophy, political and religion development” (p 89,93,97)
The Art of War is one of the most influential pieces of literature in history. It dates back to 5th century, BC. It was written by a chinese general Sun Tzu or »Master Sun«. It hasn 't been translated into another language until 1772, when France wanted to know what was the fuss about.
War has been an aspect of life ever since the earliest civilizations. Whether it be for self-gain, defending your nation or others reasons, it cannot not be avoided in this conflicted world. When that time approaches every military leader must know how to conduct himself with the most efficiency. A leader must have this knowledge so he can lead his troops in a fashion that points towards victory. The critically acclaimed novel, The Art of War, is considered one of the greatest books on military strategy by many, and was written by Sun Tzu, a man who was given the title of one of the greatest military leaders by other military figures, and even though it may be difficult to understand at times, is still a very enjoyable read for anyone interested in military tactics.