Deciphering Sun Tzu : how to read 'The art of war' / Derek M. C. Yuen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Yuen, Derek M. C., author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Military art and science--China--Early works to 1800.

Military art and science.

Sunzi, active 6th century B.C. Sunzi bing fa--Criticism and interpretation.

Sunzi.

China.

Sunzi bing fa (Sunzi).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (228 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Oxford, [England] ; : New York, New York, 2014.

Language Note:

English

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.

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

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

4. Deciphering Sun Tzu

Clausewitz and Sun Tzu: Their Views on the Complexities of War

Trinitarian Analysis: Sun Tzu's Version

Certain to Win.

"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

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

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.

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed January 23, 2015).

Contains:

Sunzi, active 6th century B.C. Sunzi bing fa. English.

ISBN:

9780197649695

0197649696

9780190257392

0190257393

9780190257118

0190257113

OCLC:

903975019