Many people know about Sun Tzu from the memes on the internet. These memes often include a funny, untrue quote that ends with – Sun Tzu, The Art of War. I also only knew about Sun Tzu from the mee, but after a little bit of digging, I found that while Sun Tzu has transformed into a meme today, he was a very influential person in the past.
Sun Tzu(544 B.C. – 496 B.C.) was a Chinese military generalist, strategist, philosopher, and writer. His actual name was Sun Wu, but his pen name for the books he wrote was Sun Tzu. Because he studied military science for many years and become of the top experts, he became a military strategist to the King of Wu. The King of Wu managed to win many battles, including the capture of Ying, the capital of Chu, in the Battle of Bajo. This was all thanks to Sun Tzu, who won many battles for the King of Wu.
Sun Tzu’s most influential work was The Art of War. It has 13 chapters, each focusing on a different set of warfare skills. Sun Tzu is emphatic about using intelligence over force to conquer an enemy. The Art of War was an influential work of military strategy that has affected both Western and East Asian philosophy and military thinking. It focuses much more on alternatives to battle and even to war than on the war itself, such as stratagem, delay, the use of spies, the making and keeping of alliances, the uses of deceit, and a willingness to submit, at least temporarily, to more powerful foes. Sun Tzu also stressed the importance of preparation and planning. He believed that victory in war depends on careful planning and preparation before the battle. Sun Tzu wrote, “The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting.” He believed that the best way to win a battle was to avoid it altogether. It has been termed the ‘most prestigious and influential book of strategy today. Having been in existence for over 2,000 years, generations of leaders, war generals, and politicians have benefitted from Sun Tzu’s ideas. It is even used as instructional material at the US Military Academy at West Point!
Sun Tzu’s ideas have had a significant impact not only on military strategy but also on management, leadership, and business. His philosophy has been applied in various fields such as sports, politics, and education. The Art of War has become a must-read for anyone interested in strategy and leadership.
When learning about Sun Tzu and his book, what really interested me is the fact that all leaders and countries across the world used his book. Also, even though the war has changed so much from thousands of years ago due to changes in technologies and weapons, the book still holds a monumental influence on war strategies and techniques used today. To me, this shows that learning from past civilizations, people, and pieces of work can often be beneficial even if the world has changed a lot since then.
This is such a cool blog and I like how you cover Sun Tzu and his relevance even in our time. In my AP Chinese class, we read excerpts out of the Chinese version of the Art of War and it’s so interesting how concepts that were developed thousands of years ago are still so relevant. Even though the culture there was very specific, there are parts of human nature that we cannot let go over. Overall, great blog post!
I really like your analysis of Sun Tzu. He was definitely more influential than people think and is definitely worth exploring. Modern military strategy is also definitely influenced by him a ton.