Thesis Statement on the Art of War Chapter 1
The Art of State of war (Sunzi bingf a) is a 5th-century BCE military machine treatise written by the Chinese strategist Sun-Tzu (aka Sunzi or Dominicus Wu). Roofing all aspects of warfare, it seeks to advise commanders on how to prepare, mobilise, attack, defend, and treat the vanquished. I of the most influential texts in history, it has been used by military strategists for over 2,000 years and admired by leaders from Napoleon to Mao Zedong.
Sunday-Tzu
Biographical details concerning Sunday-Tzu are scarce. He was said to have lived effectually 500 BCE, been born in the state of Qi but acted equally a commander in the southern state of Wu. Traditionally, his famous piece of work, The Art of War, was thought to have been written in the later stages of the Warring States Flow (481-221 BCE), but since the discovery of an older version of the text written on bamboo strips in a tomb at Yinqueshan in southern Shandong, the composition date has been put back to the fifth century BCE. Some of the content also places the text in this period while, at the same time, some scholars differ in opinion and point to the sophisticated linguistic communication and other matters of military development inside the text as evidence information technology was compiled subsequently. The traditional text version was edited by the third-century CE military dictator Cao Cao. English translations of the text are often included in an anthology titled the Seven Military Classics, which as well includes works past other authors such equally the Half dozen Secret Strategies and Wei Liaozi.
Structure & Themes
The Art of War is divided into 13 chapters or pian which cover unlike aspects of warfare from planning to affairs. The work is not shy on the use of charade which runs through many of the suggested stratagems. All the same, the book is not a glorification of warfare, and an important signal, raised several times in the work, is that bodily gainsay only results from the failure of other strategies to defeat the enemy and is always an undesirable waste of men and resources.
The Art of War is often cited as the get-to source for those engaging in guerrilla warfare.
As much of the communication relates to deploying troops with imagination and daring based on a good prior knowledge of the terrain and enemy, withdrawals and counter-offensives, and the importance of psychology, The Art of State of war is ofttimes cited as the go-to source for those engaging in guerrilla warfare. For this reason, Sun Tzu's ideas have continued to be relevant to the acquit of war no matter the developments in technology or increase in the destructive power of weapons. Wherever soldiers come face to face up with the enemy Sunday-Tzu's ideas may be applied.
An important concept in the text and those treatises which followed is qi (or shih), which is the 'breath' or essence of life in Chinese thought. Its relevance to warfare is that commanders must energise the qi of their ain troops while at the aforementioned time bleed information technology from the enemy. Thus, the psychology of warfare is recognised every bit a vital factor in the overall success of campaigns.
The Fine art of War by Sun-Tzu
The Art of War was not admired past all. Followers of Confucianism took exception to the utilise of deception which they considered as contrary to gentlemanly bear. Another critic was Han Fei Tzu, an influential philosopher and counselor to King Cheng of the Ch'in state during the Warring States Period. Fei Tzu idea that the work neglected discipline as an important chemical element in an regular army'south success and was not convinced by the argument that the limitation of war's destructive consequences should e'er be in the thoughts of a commander.
Text Summary
Affiliate 1: Initial Estimations
The book opens with the following statement: "Warfare is the greatest affair of land, the basis of life and death, the Style [Tao] to survival or extinction. It must be thoroughly pondered and analysed" (Sawyer, 2007, 157). Next, we are told a commander who seeks victory must consider v principles or areas: Tao thought, yin and yang, terrain, wise and courageous generals, and the laws of warfare and subject.
Chapter 2: Waging State of war
The importance of supplies and logistics to an army are expressed. Weapons will tiresome, food will run out and soldiers tire and so that, "No country has e'er profited from protracted warfare" (ibid, 159). If possible, provisions should be caused from the enemy. Captured soldiers should be treated well and encouraged to join the army of their victors.
"The highest realisation of warfare is to assault the enemy's plans" (The Art of War)
Chapter three: Planning Offensives
A commander should limit the destruction inflicted on the enemy: "The highest realisation of warfare is to attack the enemy'south plans; next is to assault their alliances; next to assail their ground forces; and the everyman is to attack their fortified cities" (ibid, 161). Siege warfare is costly and time-consuming and so should be a last resort. Five factors will influence victory: knowing when to fight or retreat, knowing how to deploy both minor and large armies, knowing how to motivate all levels of troops, grooming (fifty-fifty for the unexpected), and having a ruler who does not interfere with a talented commander. The importance of knowing 1'southward enemy is stressed.
Affiliate iv: Military Disposition
Planning and preparation are again stressed. Commanders must know when to attack and when to defend. They must ever measure, guess, calculate, and weigh the strength of their enemy, then victory will exist assured.
Chapter 5: Strategic Military Power
Here Lord's day-Tzu discusses the necessity of managing one's troops in all situations:
…in battle 1 engages with the orthodox and gains victory through the unorthodox…One who employs strategic power [shih] commands men in battle as if he were rolling logs and stones…Thus the strategic power [shih] of one who excels at employing men in warfare is comparable to rolling round boulders down a thousand-fathom mountain. (ibid, 165)
Chapter 6: Vacuity & Substance
The enemy should be forced to react or exist provoked into reaction, always following the initiative of the eventual victor. Ane should occupy the battlefield first, becoming familiar with information technology and the dispositions of the enemy. A commander should not brand it obvious where he is attacking but probe and find the enemy'southward weakness, monitoring and assessing their ability to respond to attacks in various places: "Thus the superlative of armed services deployment approaches the formless. If it is formless, and then fifty-fifty the deepest spy cannot discern it or the wise make plans against information technology" (ibid, 168).
Chapter 7: War machine Gainsay
On the difficulties of moving an army in the field and ensuring troops are kept together and not separated from each other or their supplies:
Thus the regular army is established by deceit, moves for advantage, and changes through segmenting and reuniting. Thus its speed is like the current of air, its slowness like the forest; its invasion and plundering like a fire; unmoving, information technology is like the mountains. It is as difficult to know as the darkness; in motility it is like thunder. (ibid, 169)
The army tin can be made more than cohesive by ensuring all are motivated to fight and will receive their rewards. It can too be ameliorate managed as a unit of measurement on the battlefield by the use of fires, flags, and drums.
Affiliate 8: Nine Changes
Sun-Tzu identifies ix action points that a commander should follow, which include using the terrain to ane's reward, not pressing the enemy or attacking their cities in all situations. The commander must always counterbalance the advantages of gain and the dangers of losses with every action he takes.
Chapter 9: Manoeuvring the Regular army
A commander should occupy high footing when he can and he should not remain near rivers, gorges, forests or marshlands. Such places are prime number locations for ambush. There then follows a list of points on how to spot what the enemy is upwardly to, from troop movements to their level of hunger.
Chariot, Terracotta Army
Chapter 10: Configurations of Terrain
Dominicus-Tzu identifies the virtually common forms of terrain: attainable (assuasive freedom of troop motion), suspended (where retreat is difficult), stalemated (where motility past both sides brings no item reward), constricted (troops must occupy all of the terrain in order to defend it), sharp (the high ground must be occupied for success), and expansive (where date is not desirable for either side). Weaknesses of armies are identified such as militarily poor officers, generals who do not apply discipline, and insubordinate junior officers.
A commander must know his army and its capabilities very well. In improver,
When the general regards his troops as immature children, they will advance into the deepest valleys with him. When he regards the troops every bit his dear children, they volition exist willing to die with him. (ibid, 177)
Chapter 11: Nine Terrains
Some other 9 types of terrain are identified which will determine a general'due south actions: dispersive (when feudal lords are on their own ground), light (when a commander enters only a brusk fashion into enemy territory), contentious (where either side can gain the reward), traversable (both sides can easily manoeuvre), focal (terrain bordered by potential allies), heavy (where i can assault deep into enemy territory), entrapping (terrain with difficulties similar swamps and ravines), encircled (terrain with a limited access point), and fatal (where a decisive win or loss might occur).
Chapter 12: Incendiary Attacks
Sun-Tzu identifies the unlike targets for incendiary attacks: men, provisions, supply trains, armouries, and formations. Again, preparation, timing, and weather condition conditions must all be considered to maximise the effectiveness of the attack.
Chapter xiii: Employing Spies
The negative effects of warfare on the local population are considered. The importance of knowing the enemy is repeated, and this can be acquired through the utilise of spies. There are several types of spies that tin be usefully employed: locals, expendable, those with a high position in the enemy regime, double agents, and those who return after performing their duty. Spies must be rewarded generously, one should be wary and prepared to exist spied upon oneself, and a good commander tin can use spies to misinform the enemy.
In full general, as for the armies you want to strike, the cities you desire to attack, and the men y'all want to assassinate, you must showtime know the names of the defensive commander, his assistants, staff, door guards, and attendants. Yous must have our spies search out and learn them all. (ibid, 186)
Legacy
The Art of War non simply influenced other like Chinese works on war machine strategy during the Warring States Period when such manuals became common and officers could recite passages by heart but too later writers and commanders. Medieval Japanese commanders consulted it, Napoleon was said to have employed many principles expounded in the book, and the Chinese leader Mao Zedong was a great fan of the work and cited it equally a contributing gene in his victory over Chiang Kai-shek in the civil war of the mid-20th century CE. Ho Chi Minh too employed many of Sun Tzu's principles during the Vietnam State of war later in the same century. As the most famous war machine treatise in Asian history, the work continues to be as popular every bit ever and is often included as essential reading on curriculums worldwide for courses in history and political science.
This article has been reviewed for accuracy, reliability and adherence to academic standards prior to publication.
Source: https://www.worldhistory.org/The_Art_of_War/
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