Sun-Tzu: The Art of Warfare

by AMES, ROGER T.

• ISBN13: 9780345362391
• ISBN10: 034536239X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1993-03-02
• Publisher: Ballantine Books

Summary

The most widely read military classic in human history, newly translated and revised in accordance with newly discovered materials of unprecedented historical significance. Fluid, crisp and rigorously faithful to the original, this new text is destined to stand as the definitive version of this cornerstone work of Classical Chinese. Of compelling importance not only to students of Chinese history and literature, but to all readers interested in the art or the philosophy of war.

Author Biography

Roger T. Ames is a professor of Chinese philosophy at the University of Hawaii, and the director of its Center for Chinese Studies. He is also editor of the journals Philosophy East & West and China Review International. He is the author of several interpretative studies on classical Confucianism, including Thinking Through Confucius (with David L. Hall). His earlier translation of Sun-Tzu: The Art of Warfare is recognized as a landmark of contemporary Chinese military and philosophical studies.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xiii
Introduction	3	(1)
The ``New'' Sun-tzu	3	(6)
Archaeology: A Revolution in the Study of Early China	9	(4)
The Excavation at Yin-ch'ueh-shan	13	(3)
The ``One or Two `Master Suns''' Debate	16	(16)
Sun Wu as a Historical Person	32	(4)
The Reconstructed Sun-tzu: The Art of Warfare	36	(3)
Analysis of Sun-tzu: The Art of Warfare	39	(58)
Wisdom and Warfare	39	(4)
The Classical Chinese World View: The Uncommon Assumptions	43	(2)
Some Classical Western Assumptions: A ``Two-World'' Theory	45	(4)
Some Classical Chinese Assumptions: A ``This-World'' View	49	(15)
Centripetal Harmony and Authority	64	(3)
Warfare as the Art of Contextualizing	67	(4)
Strategic Advantage (shih)	71	(11)
Strategic Advantage (shih) and Strategic Positioning (hsing)	82	(1)
According with the Enemy (yin)	83	(2)
An Attitude Toward Warfare	85	(2)
The Exemplary Commander	87	(2)
Foreknowledge (chih)	89	(8)
Introduction to the Translations	97	(4)
Sun-tzu: The Art of Warfare: A Translation
Sun-tzu: Part I The Thirteen-Chapter Text	101	(72)
On Assessments	102	(4)
On Waging Battle	106	(4)
Planning the Attack	110	(4)
Strategic Dispositions (hsing)	114	(4)
Strategic Advantage (shih)	118	(4)
Weak Points and Strong Points	122	(6)
Armed Contest	128	(6)
Adapting to the Nine Contingencies (pien)	134	(4)
Deploying the Army	138	(8)
The Terrain	146	(6)
The Nine Kinds of Terrain	152	(12)
The Incendiary Attack	164	(4)
Using Spies	168	(5)
Sun-tzu: Part II Text Recovered from the Yin-ch'ueh-shan Han Dynasty Strips	173	(24)
The Questions of Wu	174	(4)
[The Four Contingencies]	178	(4)
The Yellow Emperor Attacks the Red Emperor	182	(4)
The Disposition [of the Terrain] II	186	(4)
[An Interview with the King of Wu]	190	(7)
Sun-tzu: Part III Text Recovered from Later Works	197	(64)
A Conversation between the King of Wu and Sun Wu	199	(26)
Sun Wu Discusses the Commander	225	(10)
Sun Wu Discusses Deploying the Army	235	(4)
The Prognostications of Sun-tzu	239	(4)
Sun Wu Discusses the ``Eight-Division Formation''	243	(4)
The Classic of the Thirty-two Ramparts	247	(2)
Han Dynasty Bamboo Strips from Ta-t'ung County	249	(6)
Miscellaneous	255	(6)
Appendix	261	(16)
Background to the Excavation at Yin-ch'ueh-shan	261	(5)
Dating the Tombs and Identifying the Occupants	266	(2)
The First Published Reports	268	(3)
The Bamboo Strip Manuscripts and Their Dates	271	(6)
Notes	277	(28)
Bibliography of Works Cited	305	(6)
Index	311