The Art Of War By Sun Tzu
"Being endowed with teeth and mounting horns, having claws in front and spurs in back
, coming together when happy, fighting when angry, this is the way of Heaven, it cannot be stopped. Thus those that lack Heavenly weapons provide them themselves."
--Sun Bin
One could argue that conflict is one of the major themes throughout human civilization. On the soil that is now called "China", the rise and fall of dynasties has seen various interest groups fight for control of the land, people and resources for thousands of years. These battles have ranged from individual intrigues to clashes of 100,000 men armies.
These battlefield experiences and personal plots spawned a body of work that sought to grasp the underlying principles of warfare and understand the human combatants.
Throughout history these texts were appreciated, not only by military and political leaders, but also by the intelligentsia.
The writings provided principles and tactics suitable for the battlefield and also embodied philosophical truths and essential wisdom about the human condition. The concepts within could be applied to numerous contexts--the battlefield, business, and the individual art of life.
These bingfa [~BEENG-fah], or works of military strategy, have been, and still are, useful for areas outside armed conflict. They provide not only specific military tactics but they also embody underlying principles and patterns of human behavior. Variations of the strategies can be implemented whenever you are dealing with humans.
Sunzi Bingfa--The Art of War is by far the most famous bingfa. It's interesting to note that it is not just the most highly acclaimed bingfa in the West, it has the same level of esteem in China and Asia. It was regarded to be the best of its kind in ancient times too. In fact, it features prominently in one of the later bingfa, from around 600 A.D., Questions and Replies Between Tang Tai Zhong and Li Jing .
It also features prominently is this work since it's such a seminal text. I've also added parts from other bingfa to flesh out certain themes.
The opening passage of The Art of War states: Warfare is the greatest affair of the state, the basis of life and death, the way of survival or extinction. It must be thoroughly pondered and analyzed.
With an abstracted view of "warfare" as "competition," and the context personalized, the quote above reads:
Competition is the greatest affair of the individual, the basis of life and death, the way of survival or extinction. It must be thoroughly pondered and analyzed.
In addition to Sun Tzu, other strategists have suggested that war, and competition by proxy, is nothing to take lightly. It is something to always keep in mind.
As mentioned in Sima Fa: Even though a state may be vast, those who love warfare will inevitably perish. Even though calm may prevail under Heaven, those who forget warfare will certainly be endangered.
And in Sunbin's Military Methods, it says: One who takes pleasure in the military will perish, and one who finds profit in victory will be insulted. The military is not something to take pleasure in, victory not something
through which to profit.
The material in these bingfa can be viewed as a "mental" martial art. So, the same "rules" apply as with physical martial arts. Use the same amount of discretion when employing the techniques you learn here.
In the following, I talk a lot about the "competition" and your "opponent" and the "enemy."
Please remember that an "enemy" is conceptualized as someone who wants to harm you. Thus, all "enemies" involve conflict, but not all conflicts involve enemies.
Sometimes, the conflict is internal. You are "fighting" with yourself. Or you may get into conflicts with your friends and family about certain courses of action.
Perhaps you have differing opinions or it might be a case of miscommunication. While you might disagree with them, they probably are not trying to harm you, so this does not make them an "enemy".
Some of the strategies might not be appropriate for every conflict. But the overall process should be useful for almost any situation.
In order to gain a clearer grasp of competition and how this understanding can be beneficial, we will focus on one strategic process. The structure of this overall process actually echoes the structure of The Art of War.
In the words of the samurai Miyamoto Musashi, "From one thing know ten thousand."
by: Jonathan Semenick
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