The Art of War
When Thales was pondering over the originating principle of nature in Miletus, a man in the East was writing a book, the global popularity of which in the centuries to come went well beyond his wildest imagination. The man's name was Sun Wu, (more commonly known as Sun Zi or Sun Tzu, meaning "Master Sun") and the book is none other than "The Art of War", which together with Clausewitz's On War is widely acclaimed to be the most influential treatises on military strategy in history.
During the turbulent Eastern Zhou dynasty (770 B.C. - 256 B.C.), China was politically fragmented with dozens of states competing for dominance. Constant wars turned out to be fertile ground for cultivating ambitious military strategists, and Sun Zi was among the best of them. His masterpiece "The Art of War" was developed largely based on his experience serving as a general in the kingdom of Wu (today's Jiangsu Province, see our map of Chinese states in the Spring and Autumn period) under the king "He Lu".
Sun Zi once told the king of Wu that anyone can be trained to become a good soldier. To test his theory, the king picked a couple hundreds of women from his palace and challenged Sun Zi to train them into soldiers. Sun Zi divided them into two group, each led by one of the king's two favorite concubines, and instructed them to perform some formational maneuvers following his command. When Sun Zi gave the first command "Turn to the right!", the two concubines found the whole thing amusing and simply giggled, which triggered all the women to giggle as well. In response, Sun Zi said that the general, in this case himself, was responsible for ensuring that soldiers understood the commands given to them. Then, he reiterated the command, and again the concubines giggled. Sun Zi then announced that if the soldiers understood the commands given to them but did not obey, it was their fault and severe punishment would be warranted. He thus ordered the two leading concubines to be executed for disobeying direct orders. The king was startled and hastily came over to plea for the lives of his favorite concubines. Sun Zi rejected the king and had the two executed anyways. He later explained to the king that, once a general was appointed, it was his solemn duty to do whatever it takes to fulfill his mission, even if it means disagreeing with the king. Thereafter no single sound was uttered by the remaining women and they completed all commands given by Sun Zi flawlessly.
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| Sun Zi |
During the turbulent Eastern Zhou dynasty (770 B.C. - 256 B.C.), China was politically fragmented with dozens of states competing for dominance. Constant wars turned out to be fertile ground for cultivating ambitious military strategists, and Sun Zi was among the best of them. His masterpiece "The Art of War" was developed largely based on his experience serving as a general in the kingdom of Wu (today's Jiangsu Province, see our map of Chinese states in the Spring and Autumn period) under the king "He Lu".
Sun Zi once told the king of Wu that anyone can be trained to become a good soldier. To test his theory, the king picked a couple hundreds of women from his palace and challenged Sun Zi to train them into soldiers. Sun Zi divided them into two group, each led by one of the king's two favorite concubines, and instructed them to perform some formational maneuvers following his command. When Sun Zi gave the first command "Turn to the right!", the two concubines found the whole thing amusing and simply giggled, which triggered all the women to giggle as well. In response, Sun Zi said that the general, in this case himself, was responsible for ensuring that soldiers understood the commands given to them. Then, he reiterated the command, and again the concubines giggled. Sun Zi then announced that if the soldiers understood the commands given to them but did not obey, it was their fault and severe punishment would be warranted. He thus ordered the two leading concubines to be executed for disobeying direct orders. The king was startled and hastily came over to plea for the lives of his favorite concubines. Sun Zi rejected the king and had the two executed anyways. He later explained to the king that, once a general was appointed, it was his solemn duty to do whatever it takes to fulfill his mission, even if it means disagreeing with the king. Thereafter no single sound was uttered by the remaining women and they completed all commands given by Sun Zi flawlessly.
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Please leave any comments or suggestions below. If you are shy of doing so, we can always be reached at ourlittlegallery2018@gmail.com. We'd love to hear from you!
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