| Description |
1 online resource (xii, 214 pages) : illustrations |
| Contents |
Cover -- Half-title -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Chronology -- Introduction: Sun Tzu in the West -- What Translations of The Art of War Can't Do -- Aim and Scope -- Organization of the Book -- A Note on the Translation, Pronunciation, and Definition -- 1. The System of Chinese Strategic Thought -- Chinese Strategic Thought: Assumptions -- The Chinese Use of Paradox/Contradiction -- The Horizontal Dimension of Chinese Strategic Thought -- 1. The School of Strategy (quan mou) -- 2. The School of Operations and Tactics (hsing and shih) -- 3. The School of Yin and Yang -- 4. The School of Technology -- Sun Tzu and the Four Schools -- The Four Schools and Modern Strategy -- The Four Schools and a General Theory of Strategy -- The Vertical Dimension of Chinese Strategic Thought -- Heaven and Earth: A Necessary Step toward the Tao -- The Tao: The Whole System as One -- Conclusion -- 2. The Genesis of The Art of War -- The State of Qi (Ch'i) and Sun Tzu -- Tai Gong (T'ai Kung) -- The Culture of Qi -- Guan Zhong and Qi's Rise to Hegemony -- Sun Tzu and his Zeitgeist -- The Rise of Deception as the Key Principle of Warfare -- Toward a New Form of Warfare -- Bifurcation of Officials and Generals in the State -- Lao Tzu -- Conclusion -- 3. From Sun Tzu and Lao Tzu: The Completion of Chinese Strategic Thought -- 'Tao Te Ching' as a Strategic Text -- From Sun Tzu to Lao Tzu: The Origin -- From Sun Tzu to Lao Tzu: The Transformation -- The Taoist Methodology -- The Water Metaphors and the Condition-Consequence Approach -- From the Water Metaphor to the Theory of Tao -- The Taoist Worldview -- The Taoist Statecraft and Grand Strategy -- Conclusion -- 4. Deciphering Sun Tzu -- Clausewitz and Sun Tzu: Their Views on the Complexities of War -- Trinitarian Analysis: Sun Tzu's Version -- Certain to Win |
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"Know thy Self, Know thy Enemy" -- "Master of the Enemy's Fate" -- Controlling the Negative Feedback -- Controlling the Positive Feedback -- A Theory of Control -- 5. The Successors of Sun Tzu in the West -- Basil H. Liddell Hart: Rediscovering Sun Tzu -- "The Indirect Approach" -- The Condition-Consequence Approach -- Grand Strategy -- John Boyd: The American Sun Tzu -- Theme -- Strategy -- Conclusion -- 6. On Chinese Strategic Culture -- Chinese Strategic Culture as a Western Construct -- From Mao's Way of War to the Taoist Way of War -- Johnston and Scobell: One or Two Strategic Culture(s)? -- Chinese Strategic Culture and Chinese Strategic Thought -- Conclusion -- Theorizing War: Chinese and Western Thought -- Toward a General Theory of Strategy: Cases of Mao and Boyd -- Understanding Chinese Strategic Thought as a Philosophical and Cultural Undertaking -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index |
| Summary |
As the People's Republic's seemingly inexorable rise to economic and military power continues, never has the need for a better grasp of Chinese strategic thought by the West been more acute. In Deciphering Sun Tzu, Derek Yuen seeks to reclaim for the reader the hidden contours and lost Chinese and Taoist contexts of Sun Tzu's renowned treatise The Art of War, a literary classic and arguably one of the most influential books ever written. He also explains its historical, philosophical, strategic, and cross-cultural significance. His comprehensive analysis of Sun Tzu, based on a close reading of the Chinese sources, also reconstructs the philosophy, Taoist methodology and worldview that effectively form the cornerstones of Chinese strategic thinking, which are arguably as relevant today as at any moment in history. Yuen's innovative reading and analysis of Sun Tzu within and from a Chinese context is a new way of approaching the strategic master's main concepts, which he compares with those of Clausewitz, Liddell-Hart and other Western strategists. Deciphering Sun Tzu offers illuminating analysis and contextualization of The Art of War in a manner that has long been sought by Western readers and opens new means of getting to grips with Chinese strategic thought |
| Notes |
Published in the United Kingdom in 2014 by C. Hurst & Co |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Notes |
Print version record |
| Subject |
Sunzi, active 6th century B.C. Sunzi bing fa -- Criticism and interpretation
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| SUBJECT |
Sunzi bing fa (Sunzi) fast |
| Subject |
Military art and science -- China -- Early works to 1800
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HISTORY -- Military -- Other.
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TECHNOLOGY & ENGINEERING -- Military Science.
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Military art and science
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China
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| Genre/Form |
Criticism, interpretation, etc.
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Early works
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| Author |
Sunzi, active 6th century B.C.
Sunzi bing fa. English.
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| ISBN |
9780190257118 |
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0190257113 |
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