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A Fighting Philosophy
 Sun
Bin: The Art of Warfare is an essential text
of Chinese military philosophy and of strategy in general. Noted
sinologists Roger T. Ames and
D. C. Lau offer an admirably lucid translation, and provide an
introduction examining the life, times and original philosophical
contributions of Sun Bin. Ames is a professor in UH Manoa’s
philosophy department, specializing in comparative and Chinese
philosophies. (Read
a recent profile on Ames.)
This book, lost for more than two thousand years and rediscovered in 1972, has
not yet reached the prominence of Sunzi's (Sun-tzu) The Art of Warfare, which
is the best-known military treatise in the world. Sun Bin’s work is an indispensable
companion to the work of Sunzi, who is believed to be his ancestor, but deserves
to be better known in its own right, both philosophically and historically.
Sun Bun, advisor to King Wei of the state of Qi, worked and wrote during the
mid-fourth century BCE, during China’s Warring States period. It was a time
of unprecedented violence, without a central authority, when nation-states fought
fiercely against one another. New technologies made fighting more deadly so that
between the mid-fourth and mid-third centuries BCE, the number of battlefield
casualties increased tenfold. Sun Bin’s work is the key to understanding
the physical and intellectual revolution that made such "progress" in
the efficiency of warfare possible.
Sun Bin: The Art of Warfare shows Sun Bin as both practical
tactician and philosopher. He discusses war and rulership not only
as philosophical concepts, but also as practical matters, evidenced
by his battle-tested techniques. This is a fascinating book both
for its reflection on its own time and for its reflection on power,
conflict and leadership for all times.
Sun Bin: The Art of Warfare is available at the UHM bookstore
or from the State
University of New York Press Web site.
—Text taken from the book’s back of cover
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