The Issues I have with Sun Tzu's Art of War's memetic fame.
Feb 13, 2016 23:55:45 GMT
Ahriman999 likes this
Post by samt on Feb 13, 2016 23:55:45 GMT
I have issues with the way Sun Tzu has become popular in western media. It being thought of as a work by a military genius to surpass all others, the prophet of war, etc. The main reason the book is even discussed heavily in western culture is that after the struggles the U.S. encountered during various wars with nations in Eastern Asia, the U.S. wanted to learn more about the enemies they were facing. Hence the introduction and teachings were incorporated into military education to hopefully get the best parts of the philosophy. Another reason being that The Art of War is a relatively easy read with many abstractions since much of it was a poem made for easy memorization. Its the equivalent of a strategy for Dummies book made in the Spring and Autumn China.
Now I personally don't think there is anything wrong with reading it and learning some basics from the books but those who say that it is equivalent to the word of God might need to get out more in all honesty. The reasons being the limitations of the author, abstraction, and out of context use.
Victory manual my ass! It didn't even fully survive the period it was made for.
Limitations
Sun Tzu as shown in his text is widely believed to be a Taoist or at least heavily influenced by Taoism and there you start seeing limits in his ideas. You see Taoism believes in a natural rhythm and order to things in the world that is followed by everyone. This in the context of Spring and Autumn China makes sense since war, planting, harves, edicts, and tax collection will follow the natural and predictable order of the seasons. However as shown by the Qin Dynasty that conquered the patron state of Sun Tzu and other renowned strategy works: Qi, war can be won by a well organized, determined, and adaptable force that supplants said natural order. Qin waged a brutal but rather short conflict in terms of the period, by marching and holding territory while slaughtering those that opposed them. The Qin unlike Sun Tzu didn't really care about aggressive expansion while using the elements and careful plotting to secure their gains in order to minimize damage. They were going to hold it anyways with colonization, forced insertion of culture, harsh punishment, and military occupation. Taking any new technologies and ideas they gained along the way including the writings of Sun Tzu, the Qin were formidable if short lived. One of the key reasons being that unlike Sun Tzu, they believed in giving more free reign to their generals rather than having them under a single command or a clear chain of command. In fact they had multiple war masters at any given time during the period that were given the right to wage war freely but not raise beyond their own personal troops without permission. Sun Tzu would have thought it would mean their war effort was doomed but the Qin of the same period showed that there were many exceptions to the black and white rules he laid down.
Abstraction
Sun Tzu not surprisingly made much of his works rather abstract rather than specific, this was due in part to his Taoist influences that said one must find it not be taught it. While this does make some of his sayings more widely applicable, it also means that it can make rather large sweeping assumptions made by a man from millenia ago. This makes it hard to learn the deeper understanding needed for spur of the moment adjustments that are so common in the planning and executions of strategy. The other issues being that large sweeping assumptions made by him are riddled with exceptions and necessary details that a more straightforward and by the numbers approach would give you. This was one of the reasons why Sun Tzu's book is referenced with multiple other works that supplement or correct it in areas. Hell this is why many nations that use Sun Tzu in their military education provide their own handbook and lectures about campaigns in world military history in addition to The Art of War.
Context
The final and brief point is that context is key and defines the strategies you must use more than Sun Tzu will ever do. Think about it like this, you are not Sun Tzu. Your thoughts and therefore your method of thinking is entirely different compared to him, so while you use similar methods at times you can wildly differ in others. If that doesn't convince anyone, then just look at history. Sun Tzu was far from the greatest military leader and you should look at their methods of strategy, tactics, or even grand strategy (something not that well covered in The Art of War). I would suggest Russian Deep Battle since it is so alien to Sun Tzu's idea of war, it boggles the mind.
Conclusion
Sun Tzu might have been a wise man of his time, but he could not foresee the changes in technology, culture, and thought that would make his work farther and farther removed from reality as time goes on. Rather than only look at his work, look at more treatises and handbooks on strategy so that your broad foundation of knowledge allows you to apply the correct disciplines given the situation.
Now I personally don't think there is anything wrong with reading it and learning some basics from the books but those who say that it is equivalent to the word of God might need to get out more in all honesty. The reasons being the limitations of the author, abstraction, and out of context use.
Victory manual my ass! It didn't even fully survive the period it was made for.
Limitations
Sun Tzu as shown in his text is widely believed to be a Taoist or at least heavily influenced by Taoism and there you start seeing limits in his ideas. You see Taoism believes in a natural rhythm and order to things in the world that is followed by everyone. This in the context of Spring and Autumn China makes sense since war, planting, harves, edicts, and tax collection will follow the natural and predictable order of the seasons. However as shown by the Qin Dynasty that conquered the patron state of Sun Tzu and other renowned strategy works: Qi, war can be won by a well organized, determined, and adaptable force that supplants said natural order. Qin waged a brutal but rather short conflict in terms of the period, by marching and holding territory while slaughtering those that opposed them. The Qin unlike Sun Tzu didn't really care about aggressive expansion while using the elements and careful plotting to secure their gains in order to minimize damage. They were going to hold it anyways with colonization, forced insertion of culture, harsh punishment, and military occupation. Taking any new technologies and ideas they gained along the way including the writings of Sun Tzu, the Qin were formidable if short lived. One of the key reasons being that unlike Sun Tzu, they believed in giving more free reign to their generals rather than having them under a single command or a clear chain of command. In fact they had multiple war masters at any given time during the period that were given the right to wage war freely but not raise beyond their own personal troops without permission. Sun Tzu would have thought it would mean their war effort was doomed but the Qin of the same period showed that there were many exceptions to the black and white rules he laid down.
Abstraction
Sun Tzu not surprisingly made much of his works rather abstract rather than specific, this was due in part to his Taoist influences that said one must find it not be taught it. While this does make some of his sayings more widely applicable, it also means that it can make rather large sweeping assumptions made by a man from millenia ago. This makes it hard to learn the deeper understanding needed for spur of the moment adjustments that are so common in the planning and executions of strategy. The other issues being that large sweeping assumptions made by him are riddled with exceptions and necessary details that a more straightforward and by the numbers approach would give you. This was one of the reasons why Sun Tzu's book is referenced with multiple other works that supplement or correct it in areas. Hell this is why many nations that use Sun Tzu in their military education provide their own handbook and lectures about campaigns in world military history in addition to The Art of War.
Context
The final and brief point is that context is key and defines the strategies you must use more than Sun Tzu will ever do. Think about it like this, you are not Sun Tzu. Your thoughts and therefore your method of thinking is entirely different compared to him, so while you use similar methods at times you can wildly differ in others. If that doesn't convince anyone, then just look at history. Sun Tzu was far from the greatest military leader and you should look at their methods of strategy, tactics, or even grand strategy (something not that well covered in The Art of War). I would suggest Russian Deep Battle since it is so alien to Sun Tzu's idea of war, it boggles the mind.
Conclusion
Sun Tzu might have been a wise man of his time, but he could not foresee the changes in technology, culture, and thought that would make his work farther and farther removed from reality as time goes on. Rather than only look at his work, look at more treatises and handbooks on strategy so that your broad foundation of knowledge allows you to apply the correct disciplines given the situation.