The Seven Military Classics Of Ancient China (History and Warfare) by Ralph D. Sawyer (PDF)

Description

The Seven Military Classics is one of the most profound studies of warfare ever written, a stanchion in sinological and military history. It presents an Eastern tradition of strategic thought that emphasizes outwitting one’s opponent through speed, stealth, flexibility, and a minimum of force — an approach very different from that stressed in the West. Safeguarded for centuries by the ruling elite of imperial China, even in modern times these writings have been known only to a handful of Western specialists. This volume contains seven separate essays, written between 500 BCE and 700 CE, that preserve the essential tenets of strategy distilled from the experience of the most brilliant warriors of ancient China.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Too often we over-focus on Sun Tzu’s the art of war when thinking about Chinese military theory, and this book brings six additional ancient Chinese theorists to life, along with Sun Tzu’s Art of War. Of particular interest is the quality of the translation of Sun Tzu. In the west, most translations are a derivative of the Gile’s translation from 1910. This version, translated by Ralph Sawyer and his wife is much more accurate!

⭐One of the best volumes on the core of historical eastern strategic thought you can get your hands on, which includes some of the more important texts relating to such in a easily digested format. If you want to learn about strategy you’re going to want to start with this one and then branch out from there depending on where you want to go with it. I’d also recommend the Tao of Spycraft and Tao of Deception to compliment this particular volume before you dive into Clauswitz and the core concepts of Western strategic thought/total warfare.

⭐I, for one, enjoyed this book. I am not here to critic, as a few of these other reviews appear to be. One, the book is easy to understand and follow. Meaning, the translations are well recorded. Two, I have recently been curious in Chinese history of warfare and this book was able to show me much Chinese philosophy towards warfare. I recomend it this book to any follower of military history or Chinese warfare. You get your moneys worth.

⭐Strong points:1. Includes Sun Tzu’s Art of War, as lucid as ever.2. Angles on subterfuge, camouflage, etc.Weak points:1. Somewhat un-traditional angle on Sun Tzu (skewed towards capitalist espionage).2. Some of the works seem to duplicate ideas considerably.Overall, could use some abbreviation.

⭐the book was a very good read thank you

⭐Great book for anyone to read, much deeper then the initial messages of war are also many life lessons to follow. I truly feel better knowing I have the knowledge this writing provides.

⭐Sawyer knows his subject. He is a master of Chinese warfare and culture. He even teaches you how to pronounce some common Chinese words that we in the west always mispronounce.The book is great. It covers a lot — not just The Art of War, though that’s included. It is a complete study of the Chinese strategies of war and I recommend it to those interested in this topic.

⭐If you like big thick boring books this one is for you.

⭐The book is composed of an introduction to Chinese history, followed by a section for each of the 7 military texts. Each text has its own introduction, followed by the translation of the original book, liberally laced with notes and comments, each of which is referenced to original sources. The notes are actually placed at the end of the book so don’t detract from the readability of the main text. The only thing that I did not like about the book was the use of Wade-Giles spellings of Chinese names, places and dynasties. In the modern world all Chinese and most Europeans are using the pinyin spellings, so Wade-Giles spellings are confusing. Compare the pinyin spelling of Beijing to the identically pronounced W-G spelling of Peking and you can see that this can present a problem for less well known names/places.If pinyin had been used I would have given this book the full 5 stars.

⭐Ancient wisdom eh!

⭐Brilliant!

⭐I have to admit to a bit of a nerdgasm on receiving this book. (Some people will never know the joy of a well-written book with notes and a bibliography.) The introduction gives the best historical coverage of pre-imperial China I’ve come across. Even if you plan to eventually read the works in Chinese, this book is still worth buying, and if not, it will considerably change how you view the Confucian classics. If it was written using Pinyin instead of Wade-Giles it would be perfect, but in the 90’s you might still have been accused of being a Communist sympathiser for that.This book would make an excellent present for anyone interested in history.

⭐Das vorliegende Werk ist eine Zusammenstellung einiger der wichtigsten Militärklassiker des alten China. “Die Kunst des Krieges” von Sunzi, der wohl bekannteste Text aus dieser Gruppe von Militärhandbüchern, hat auch heute noch eine enorme Anziehungskraft auf Leserschichten jedweder Couleur. Doch Sunzi steht nicht in einem Vakuum – gerade die Zeit der chinesischen Geschichte vor der Reichseinigung durch die Qin-Dynastie hat einige ähnliche Werke hervorgebracht, die zwar im Westen praktisch unbekannt sind, im Zusammenhang betrachtet aber ein recht deutliches Bild von der damaligen Geisteshaltung geben.Enthalten sind, neben einem allgemeinen Vorwort, Übersetzungen der folgenden Werke:”T’ai Kung’s Six Secret Teachings””The Methods of the Ssu-ma””Sun-tzu’s Art of War””Wu-tzu””Wei Liao-tzu””Three Strategies of Huang Shih-kung””Questions and Replies Between T’ang T’ai-tsung and Li Wei-kung”Zu jedem der Werke ist ein eigenes Vorwort, das den Inhalt erläutert, und sehr viele Endnoten vorhanden – was bei derart alten Texten, die sich oft genug durch ihre Knappheit und einen gewissen Interpretationsspielraum auszeichnen, auch unbedingt vonnöten ist.Die Übersetzungen lesen sich sehr flüssig, verzichten auf Altertümeleien und überkomplexen Satzbau, und sind auch für Laien sehr gut verständlich – doch vorsicht, trotz moderner Übersetzung lesen sich diese Texte eher mühsam und wenig aufregend, und man muss einiges an Energie investieren, wenn man wirklich den hinter den teilweise kryptischen und geschichtlich-literarischen Anspielungen versteckten Sinn entdecken will.Ein Index mit der Zuordnung von Wade-Giles-Bezeichnungen zu den eigentlichen chinesischen Zeichen, einer mit einer Liste von militärischen Prinzipien und wo man sie in den 7 Werken findet, sowie ein allgemeiner Schlagwortindex komplettieren die Zusammenstellung. Das grobe Papier und der labberige Einband werden durch eine gute Bindung gehalten. Die Romanisierung erfolgt leider noch in Wade-Giles und nicht in Pinyin.Wer liest dieses Buch? Gewiss alle, die sich für Militärgeschichte interessieren, oder auch allgemein für die frühe chinesische Philosophie und Soziologie. Wer allerdings etwas anderes als Handbücher für Handhabung von Armeen sucht, wird hier nicht viel Freude haben. Besonders die Idee, diese uralten Militärtexte auf moderne Gegebenheiten und z.B. auf die Wirtschaft oder zwischenmenschliche Beziehungen zu übertragen, halte ich für wenig zielführend und wird weder diesen alten Texten noch dem Ratsuchenden gerecht werden können.

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