This is a handbook of tactics based on the ancient Chinese military classics. This unique work draws on over two thousand years of experience of warfare to present a distillation of a hundred key strategic principles applicable to modern life, including business and human relations.

One Hundred Unorthodox Strategies was compiled in the fifteenth century, during the Ming Dynasty, as a handbook of tactics based on Chinese military classics. Translated into English for the first time, this unique work draws on over two thousand years of experience in warfare to present a distillation of one hundred key strategic principles. Originally prepared as a text for students aspiring to high political positions in Confucian China, One Hundred Unorthodox Strategies is a compendium of Oriental strategies concisely stated and each individually illustrated with a description of battle from Chinese history. These historical examples shed new light on the often enigmatic formulations of the ancient strategists on subjects such as Strategic Power, Defense, Vacuity, Spirit, and Victory. Acclaimed translator and Chinese military specialist Ralph Sawyer adds his own thoughtful commentary, deepening the reader's understanding of the intricacies of Chinese strategic thought.

The enormous recent popularity in America of Sun-tzu's Art of War has heightened awareness of the great Chinese tradition of writing on theory and practice of war. This tradition has always emphasized that warfare is as much the deployment of spiritual and mental forces as of combat forces, as much a matter of patience and attention as of brute str

This is a handbook of tactics based on the ancient Chinese military classics. This unique work draws on over two thousand years of experience of warfare to present a distillation of a hundred key strategic principles applicable to modern life, including business and human relations.

The "Art of War "is almost certainly the most famous study of strategy ever written and has had an extraordinary influence on the history of warfare. The principles Sun-tzu expounded were utilized brilliantly by such great Asian war leaders as Mao Tse-tung, Giap, and Yamamoto. First translated two hundred years ago by a French missionary, Sun-tzu's "Art of War" has been credited with influencing Napoleon, the German General Staff, and even the planning for Desert Storm. Many Japanese companies make this book required reading for their key executives. And increasingly, Western businesspeople and others are turning to the "Art of War" for inspiration and advice on how to succeed in competitive situations of all kinds. Unlike most editions of Sun-tzu currently available (many simply retreads of older, flawed translations), this superb new translation makes use of the best available classical Chinese manuscripts, including the ancient "tomb text" version discovered by archaeologists at Linyi, China. Ralph Sawyer, an outstanding Western scholar of ancient Chinese warfare and a successful businessman in his own right, places this classic work of strategy in its proper historical context. Sawyer supplies a portrait of Sun-tzu's era and outlines several battles of the period that may have either influenced Sun-tzu or been conducted by him. While appreciative of the philosophical richness of the "Art of War," this edition stresses Sun-tzu's practical origins and presents a translation that is both accurate and accessible.

The enormous recent popularity in America of Sun-tzu's Art of War has heightened awareness of the great Chinese tradition of writing on theory and practice of war. This tradition has always emphasized that warfare is as much the deployment of spiritual and mental forces as of combat forces, as much a matter of patience and attention as of brute strength. As a result, new generations of readers have found many of its precepts applicable to forms of struggle far from any actual battlefield.While it has brought this tradition greater exposure, the reception of Art of War threatens to overshadow and obscure the other significant texts that followed in its wake. Foremost among these is Military Methods of the Art of War, written in the fourth century B.C. by the purported great-grandson of Sun-tzu, the general Sun Pin. Military Methods is both an extension of the strategic philosophy of the earlier work and a development of a new strategic style--one that enabled Sun Pin to guide the armies of the province of Ch'i to decisive victories over their enemies in the battles of Kuei-ling and Ma-ling.Long believed lost, the text of Military Methods was recovered from a Han dynasty tomb in 1972. The salvaged original, fragmentary in nature, is divided into thirty-three sections covering such topics as unfavorable terrains, the origins of war, "guest" and "host" armies, "male" and "female" cities, and the ten strategic uses of cavalry. To bridge the gaps in the original, translator Ralph D. Sawyer, the leading authority on Chinese military history and its major texts, has provided extensive commentary and notes, as well as a detailed historical introduction.

Spying, the "world's second oldest profession," is hardly limited to the traditional great power countries. Intelligence Elsewhere, nevertheless, is the first scholarly volume to deal exclusively with the comparative study of national intelligence outside of the anglosphere and European mainstream. Past studies of intelligence and counterintelligence have tended to focus on countries such as the United States, Great Britain, and Russia, as well as, to a lesser extent, Canada, Australia, France, and Germany. This volume examines the deep historical and cultural origins of intelligence in several countries of critical importance today: India, China, the Arab world, and indeed, Russia, the latter examined from a fresh perspective. The authors then delve into modern intelligence practice in countries with organizations significantly different from the mainstream: Iran, Pakistan, Japan, Finland, Sweden, Indonesia, Argentina, and Ghana. With contributions by leading intelligence experts for each country, the chapters give the reader important insights into intelligence culture, current practice, and security sector reform. As the world morphs into an increasingly multi-polar system, it is more important than ever to understand the national intelligence systems of rising powers and regional powers that differ significantly from those of the US, its NATO allies, and its traditional opponents. This fascinating book shines new light into intelligence practices in regions that, until now, have eluded our understanding.

One Hundred Unorthodox Strategies was compiled in the fifteenth century, during the Ming Dynasty, as a handbook of tactics based on Chinese military classics. Translated into English for the first time, this unique work draws on over two thousand years of experience in warfare to present a distillation of one hundred key strategic principles. Originally prepared as a text for students aspiring to high political positions in Confucian China, One Hundred Unorthodox Strategies is a compendium of Oriental strategies concisely stated and each individually illustrated with a description of battle from Chinese history. These historical examples shed new light on the often enigmatic formulations of the ancient strategists on subjects such as Strategic Power, Defense, Vacuity, Spirit, and Victory. Acclaimed translator and Chinese military specialist Ralph Sawyer adds his own thoughtful commentary, deepening the reader's understanding of the intricacies of Chinese strategic thought.

This volume explores the relationship between culture and the military in Chinese society from early China to the Qing empire, with contributions by eminent scholars aiming to reexamine the relationship between military matters and law, government, historiography, art, philosophy, literature, and politics.

The book critically investigates the perception that, due to the influence of Confucianism, Chinese culture has systematically devalued military matters. There was nothing inherently pacifist about the Chinese governments views of war, and pragmatic approaches even aggressive and expansionist projects often prevailed.

Though it has changed in form, a military elite has existed in China from the beginning of its history, and military service included a large proportion of the population at any given time. Popular literature praised the martial ethos of fighting men. Civil officials attended constantly to military matters on the administrative and financial ends. The seven military classics produced in antiquity continued to be read even into the modern period.

These original essays explore the ways in which intellectual, civilian, and literary elements helped shape the nature of military institutions, theory, and the culture of war. This important contribution bridges two literatures, military and cultural, that seldom appear together in the study of China, and deepens our understanding of war and society in Chinese history.

Conquest and Domination examines the strategy and actors instrumental in the Chou's (Zhou's) astonishing rise from an obscure clan of uncertain location to their surprising conquest of the mighty Shang at the decisive battle of Mu-yeh in 1045 BCE. Based upon traditional historical literature, extensive archaeological materials, and contemporary bronze inscriptions, the first section traces their early migrations and gradual acquisition of power and territory through both political and military means before analyzing the many physical, tactical, and psychological factors that contributed to their success. The second part is devoted to reprising and understanding the rebellion that arose within a few years, with the third chronicling the military activities of the nearly three centuries before the Western Chou's highly melodramatic but ignominious collapse. The final section is devoted to pondering several crucial factors and raising questions about the period's history. Particular emphasis is placed employing the insights that can be gleaned from traditional Chinese military science and understanding the importance of developments from within the subsequent historical perspective.

A decidedly historic figure whose legend was increasingly magnified over the centuries, Zhuge Liang (Chu-ko Liang) has long been regarded as a brilliant strategist, commander, administrator, inventor, practitioner of the esoteric arts, originator of arcane wisdom, military thinker, and a sagacious king maker. His geostrategic insights rescued Liu Pei from extinction, resulting in China's Three Kingdoms period, and his innovative tactics - including the "empty city ploy" -- reportedly resulted in defeating vastly superior, often befuddled foes. His escapades and achievements have become the subject of tales and novels, movies and tv serializations, and he looms large in war games and contemporary media. However, understanding his extensive military writings requires penetrating the myths and stories, discerning Chu-ko Liang's real accomplishments, and acknowledging his shortcomings. In addition to a complete, annotated translation of all his martial works and many of his missives and memorials, Zhuge Liang: Strategy, Achievements, and Writings contains an extensive historical introduction which outlines the military context, examines his strategic thought, and analyzes the numerous campaigns he personally directed after Liu Pei's death. Insights from the Art of War and other classic Chinese military works well familiar to Chu-ko Liang are employed throughout.

Composed by Li Ch'uan (Li Quan), a provincial military official who served in the middle T'ang dynasty, the T'ai-pai Yin-ching revitalized the theoretical study of warfare in China. Remarkably comprehensive, it first focuses upon the human realm, devoting a quarter of its hundred chapters to the grand issues of government, warfare, human society, ethical values, and man's orientation within the universe while pondering the more concrete problems of the nature of command, methods for evaluating men, the role of rewards and punishments, and the implementation of subversive measures. Instead of conquering through combat or achieving the fabled hundred victories in a hundred clashes, Li's aim was victory without combat so as to preserve the state rather than debilitate it in warfare. The remaining seventy-five chapters, not translated here, briefly discuss important battle equipment and techniques before unfolding extensive material on sacrifices and arcane prognosticatory methods. Highly regarded thereafter, the T'ai-pai Yin-ching stands at the beginning of the later military tradition in China and numerous chapters appear in the military compendia produced over the next thousand years. It also continues to be the subject of conscious study as the PRC strives to develop "military science with unique Chinese characteristics."