<span style="text-decoration: underline">TCP 4: The Art of War by Sun Tzu</span>

<em>The Art of War </em>is a military advisement guide written by Sun Tzu in the late 16<sup>th</sup> century B.C.  It contains ma<span style="text-decoration: underline"><!--more--></span><span style="text-decoration: underline"> </span>ny chapters outlining the various factors influencing warfare.  Tzu also stressed key concepts throughout his work which should always be kept in consideration when making decisions in the heat of battle.  If one followed the specifics of the guide and always applied his concepts they may not win every battle, but the war would be theirs.  Despite the extensive list of factors he gave regarding ones position before going to war, he was not an advocate of game plans.  He didn’t think that a long elaborate military plan should be created before war, but that a commander should respond to the enemies’ movements.  When the enemy made a maneuver, he thought the best thing to do was rely on experience and smarts to make a quick decision which would counter the enemy’s movements.  He thought that positioning and deception were keys to battle. He advocated tricking the enemy in every aspect of one’s army.  If there are few troops, make it appear that there are more.  If you have a new weapon, keep it hidden. Etc. According to the book, those who enjoyed these desirable factors and implemented them properly would find themselves the winners of a large battle.

<em>The Art of War</em> was written in the middle of the warring states period.  It was a time during which warlords would fight to annex smaller states and consolidate their power.  After years of this fighting they eventually united into seven states.  Unsurprisingly, they were constantly at war.  Thanks to the large amount of fighting, there were rapid developments in warfare strategy and weaponry.  Iron replaced bronze and Sun Tzu developed his <em>Art of War</em>.  It was a time when survival of the fittest spurred rapid development in the art of war.  A book promising victories and ultimately control of China would have been a dream come true to the regional warlords.

Upon its publication, <em>The Book of War</em> was extremely well received.  Its contents were related to the time period because the Sun Tzu was basing war on his experiences which were modern at the time.  The weapons, landscape, number of soldiers, methods of transportation, etc. were all different but interchangeable meaning that his work is still relevant today.  An impressive feat considering how long the book has been in existence and one that shows how accurate his outlooks on warfare were.

<em>The Book of War</em> is one of the oldest and most successful books on warfare ever written.  It included many specific sections and left little up to chance in calculating who would win a battle or a war.  The amount of wealth required for such battles meant that lords in the warring states time would have wanted to know their chances of winning before committing their resources to a losing battle.  The creation of a work that promised to accurately predict a win or loss was an entirely new idea at the time.

<em>The Art of War</em> was well received.  Copies of it have been found in ancient tombs and everyone in China was at least familiar with the title.  Lords all scrambled for the information in its sheets.  I don’t doubt that they all began changing their war plans as a result of the book and that they adjusted their armies to have qualities which gave them a chance of winning in the words of the book.  This catering of military resources to attain qualities which the book the assigned greatest importance would have changed the face of the “perfect army”.

People today still read and find valuable information in <em>The Art of War</em>.  It was written by a wise and experienced guy who knew everything necessary for a victory in their time period.  Despite its length, there are still many universal truths in <em>The Art of War</em> which make it worth reading today.  It has been read and imitated by famous American leaders, military strategists, and even Nazi party leaders.  It has even been canonized at West Point and assigned to students at Austin Community College.  Clearly it is still a treasure trove of knowledge.

I am amazed that such a detailed book on war was written which took so many details into consideration.  The author of <em>The Art of War</em> really didn’t look at war as a fight of wills but as a calculated test of resources and knowledge.  They thought that the use of resources and everything they had allowed for a calculable argument as to who would win the war.  I bet this lead to both sides trying to hide resources a lot because the enemy would think they weren’t as well prepared for battle, only to lose.  I think that any book which stands true after so many hundreds of years is worth keeping around and teaching to kids.  It should be canonized.  I wonder if people ever believed so strongly in the work that they met on a battlefield, sized up forces, and used the book to see who would win theoretically.  Then they decided not to battle at all because one side had been predicted to win and they believed deeply in the books accuracy.

After two and a half thousand years it is unsurprising that the <em>Art of War</em> is a bit outdated.  Technology has changed the face of war.  Even in the last 30 years, guns, missiles, and airplanes have been created that have completely changed how wars are fought.  At the push of a button, a few powerful men could release nuclear weapons and destroy the world.  There may have been some unspoken rule about attacking hospitals or children and women in ancient China.  Today, bombs can stray off target and take out hospitals or schools.  Suicide bombers do not care who they kill as long as they inflict mass casualties.  War may have become less honorable since the inception of <em>The Art of War </em>so things which Sun Tzu didn’t need to include about behavior of soldiers and generals have been forgotten.

Because of how much war and death has resulted from the last two world wars, people today have been affected by war in ways never thought possible in Ancient China.  At that time a war like World War II would have wiped out the whole population.  Death in battle is perceived differently now because it’s not the same honorable course of action it once was.  We live longer healthier lives so dying is not as appealing.  Also, a much smaller percentage of the world is involved in the military.  We still appreciate the men who die to protect our country, but the percentage of people today who risk their lives in battle is lower than ever before.  Our values are different from those of the ancient Chinese so we receive and interpret it differently.

<em>On War</em> by Clausewitz is a book written by an Austrian soldier who fought against Napoleon and had a lot of knowledge about European history.  He had a lot of military knowledge.  His book is similar to <em>The Art of War</em> because it emphasizes many rules to follow in pursuit of victory.  He didn’t state which methods were best and how to implement them but took other works into consideration and used the dialectic method to defend his opinion on proper military strategy.  He also used many examples in his book to validate his opinions.  He saw warfare on a larger scale than anything Sun Tzu experienced.  While many of his ideas still stand, Clausewitz’s work is more modern.

Modern warfare has left these works antiquated, but that is not to say that all of their ideas are out of date.  I think that they could effectively revise their generalizations about warfare to better represent recent developments.  Despite what new technologies may arise everything is still being operated by humans.  We haven’t changed much since the time of Sun Tzu and this is why his work is still relevant today.  A book which manages to stay relevant for such a long period of time deserves to be saved for future generations.  Most books that people still read which are as old as The Art of War were written by prophets and have founded religions.  A military work that still carries many lessons that has managed to stay around for such a long time needs to be preserved.

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Works Cited:

Hastings, Max. "The 10 best...books about warfare." <em>Observer</em> 14 March 2010: 1-1. Web. 2 May 2011.

Giles, Lionel. "The Art of War." <em>The Internet Classics Archive</em>. Web Atomics, 2009. Web. 2 May 2011.

Gimian, James. "The Art of War." <em>Victory over War</em> (2002): 1-238. Web. 2 May 2011.

Von Clausewitz, Carl. <em>On War</em>. 1st. 1. London: N. Trübner, 1873. 1-187. Print.<!--more-->