According to legend, Sun Tzu was a general or advisor for the King of Wu in the 6th century BC near the start of 300 years of war that ended with the first emperor. The work was embellished for another thousand years and studied not so much for the directions it gave, but for the state of mind it encouraged. It influenced leaders from the American Civil War to Mao's Long March to the latest war in Iraq,. especially the line, all warfare is based on deception. With me to discuss Sun Tzu and the art of war are Artim Barrett, Professor Emeritus of East Asian History at Suez; Hilde de Viet, Professor of Chinese History at Leiden University
Melvyn Bragg and guests discuss the ideas attributed to Sun Tzu (544-496BC, according to tradition), a legendary figure from the beginning of the Iron Age in China, around the time of Confucius. He may have been the historical figure Sun Wu, a military adviser at the court of King Helu of Wu (who reigned between about 514 and 496 BC), one of the kings in power in the Warring States period of Chinese history (6th - 5th century BC). Sun Tzu was credited as the author of The Art of War, a work on military strategy that soon became influential in China and then Japan both for its guidance on conducting and avoiding war and for its approach to strategy generally. After The Art of War was translated into European languages in C18th, its influence spread to military academies around the world.
The image above is of a terracotta warrior from the tomb of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor, who unified China after the Warring States period.
With
Hilde De Weerdt
Professor of Chinese History at Leiden University
Tim Barrett
Professor Emeritus of East Asian History at SOAS, University of London
And
Imre Galambos
Reader in Chinese Studies at the University of Cambridge
Producer: Simon Tillotson.