More than two thousand years ago, a Chinese strategist known as Sun Tzu wrote one of the enduring classics of military theory. Most likely written during a period of Chinese history referred to as the ‘Warring States’ period, Sun Tzu’s The Art of War has continued to be studied by military strategists for millennia. Even today, The Art of War is required reading for Naval Officer Candidates. At nearly the same time in the fourth century B.C., the Greek city-states were facing invasion from the mighty Persian army. Vastly outnumbered, the Greeks eventually triumphed by defeating their enemies at Plataea, but not before fighting one of history’s greatest military stands at Thermopylae. By using Sun Tzu’s classic text to analyze the battles of Thermopylae and Plataea, it is possible to gain a better understanding not only of the battles themselves, but also of the reasons why The Art of War has remained such an influential and respected text over the centuries. Whether or not Sun Tzu existed and actually wrote The Art of War is still a debate among scholars. There is very little solid evidence that can be used to place Sun Tzu in a specific time period or to independently verify details of his life. Scholars have most often been forced to rely on analysis of The Art of War itself, studying its depictions of battle strategy in order to determine when its author lived and worked. The types of armies depicted in The Art of War tend to support the theory that Sun Tzu’s strategy was developed during the Warring States period of Chinese history and that the text was written by a single author who possessed a large amount of personal and professional experience in military matters. The Warring States period was, much as the tit... ... middle of paper ... ...s Sun Tzu is likely have lived and written his work and though the Warring States of China were thousands of miles away, The Art of War can easily be applied to the strategy used by both sides of the war. Sun Tzu’s work does not only apply to a limited time and a limited style of warfare, it is a work that can be used to describe hostile engagements anywhere in the world and at any time in history. Works Cited Griffith, Samuel B. Sun Tzu: The Art of War (Oxford, 1963) Hanson, Victor Davis. The Wars of the Ancient Greeks. Hanson, Victor Davis 1999 Lendon, J. E. Soldiers & Ghosts A History of Battle in Classical Antiquity. Yale U 2005 How, W.W. “Arms, Tactics, and Strategy in the Persian War” Journal of Hellenic Studies 43.2 (1923) pp 117-132 Wallacker, Benjamin E. “Two Concepts in Early Chinese Military Thought” Language 42.2 (Apr.-Jun. 1996) pp 295-299
During 221 BC, China went through a time called the Warring States Period. Emperor Shi Huangdi rose to power during this time and defeated his enemies and consolidated rule in China. Emperor Shi Huangdi was the first person to unify China in all of history. The emperor was able to use legalist policies to increases his power over his people. Shi Huangdi philosophy of legalism says that all people are evil, and harsh laws must be made to keep them in line. If people are left alone, they will act badly. During the Warring States Period
Tim O’Brien states in his novel The Things They Carried, “The truths are contradictory. It can be argued, for instance, that war is grotesque. But in truth war is also beauty. For all its horror, you can’t help but gape at the awful majesty of combat” (77). This profound statement captures not only his perspective of war from his experience in Vietnam but a collective truth about war across the ages. It is not called the art of combat without reason: this truth transcends time and can be found in the art produced and poetry written during the years of World War I. George Trakl creates beautiful images of the war in his poem “Grodek” but juxtaposes them with the harsh realities of war. Paul Nash, a World War I artist, invokes similar images in his paintings We are Making a New World and The Ypres Salient at Night. Guilaume Apollinaire’s writes about the beautiful atrocity that is war in his poem “Gala.”
The battles of Philippi remain one of the best examples of how audacity on the battlefield can influence history. The battles are the climax of the civil war following the assassination of Gaius Julius Caesar in 44 BCE by a band of prominent political figures of Rome; (led by Marcus Junius Brutus (Brutus) and Gaius Cassius Longina (Cassius)) who will be referred to in this paper as ‘the Liberators’. The Battles that occurred on the Macedonian plains from the 1st-21st of October 42 BCE will clearly show that no matter the period of history the battlefield considerations of Political, Military, Economic, Social, and Physical Environment can be exploited to achieve victory.
The wars, the victories, the defeats and deaths arose from the warrior’s duty to the Buddhist Law. These warriors lived their duty and this is reflected through the tales that illustrate actions that include loyalty and respect towards other warriors.
...the Battle of Thermopylae as an example of the power of a patriotic army defending native soil. The performance of the defenders at the battle of Thermopylae is also used as an example of the advantages of training, equipment, and good use of terrain as force multipliers and has become a symbol of courage against overwhelming odds.The fame of Thermopylae is thus principally derived, not from its effect on the outcome of the war, but for the inspirational example it set. Thermopylae is famous because of the heroism of the doomed rearguard, who, despite facing certain death, remained at the pass. Ever since, the events of Thermopylae have been the source of effusive praise from many sources; e.g. "...the fairest sister-victories which the Sun has ever seen, yet they would never dare to compare their combined glory with the glorious defeat of King Leonidas and his men.
Tranquil disposition of a gentleman became the standard profile of Wang Xizhi’s calligraphy, an alternative characterization built upon the trope of a “brave warrior” (252). In the medieval rhetorical scheme of binary oppositions, the “brave warrior” is often juxtaposed with the “gentleman.” This is complementary opposition between the brave warrior and the gentleman that constitutes the dual roles in the description of Wang Xizhi’s calligraphy. In context to Tang calligraphic discourse that tends to cast Wang’s calligraphy in a graceful disposition, the view of his writing strikes one as refreshingly perverse in its characterization of Wang’s calligraphy in terms of the “warrior” trope (253). The colophon, which was also attributed to Wang in the Tang period, emphasizes the analogy, between the arts of calligraphy and war. In the essay it mentioned, “Brush is knife; ink, armature; water and inkstone…” comparing the art brush to a knife (253). Also, the twist and turns of the brush represents the killings and slaying of war. Even if we dismiss the attribution, we nonetheless can regard the colophon as part of the discursive formation associated with image of Wang Xizhi in the Tang period. 253. There’s a strong, forceful
"The Internet Classics Archive | The Art of War by Sun Tzu." The Internet Classics Archive | The Art of War by Sun Tzu. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Mar. 2014. .
The military history of the ancient world is dominated by Greece and Rome, and for understandable reasons. These nations’ development and rise to power was primarily the result of their use and perception of the military. Both had longstanding traditions of heroic warfare, and both had overcome seemingly impossible odds in their infancy, but had grown to control empires spanning most of the world they knew. Military successes made the nations wealthy and powerful, and strife from within served only to enable more powerful military minds to unite their people to achieve even greater military successes. Greece and Rome were not simply advanced with their militaries, though. These nations were only able to exist in their geopolitical environments because they saw the military through the
The historiography of the military history has changed over the years from the start of the military. At the beginning of Ancient time’s military history was more about what kings had done in battle, especially with complex, society that had some kind of written language like Egypt and Mayan Mesoamerica . It was not
The government often romanticizes war, giving the illusion that it is part of a heroic tale. However, within the last century, new war tactics show the devastation of war, emphasized by the modernist movement. Okinawa: The Bloodiest Battle of All by William Manchester is an essay speaking of the scars that war leaves and how flawed the fairy tale of war is, using several literary terms to support his thesis.
Like everyone else’s life, Sun Yat-Sen’s life was met with both accomplishments and failures. For example, he inspired and organized the movement that overthrew the Manchu dynasty in 1911. This revolution of 1911 marked not only the end of the corrupt Qing dynasty, which was making China go backwards in
After twenty-five hundred years, Sun Tzu’s The Art of War still reigns supreme. In that long span of time, numerous empires have risen, expanded and collapsed. Wars have reached and ravaged almost every point on the planet. Humans have evolved from using swords and spears to using machine guns and missiles. Parts of the world have been colonized and have risen to prominence where once people thought there was no land. The Art of War has withstood all of this and stayed the most important source of military strategy for over two millennia. No other military document, and in fact few other written books at all, have come close to lasting this long. If ever asked: Can something as old as The Art of War remain relevant today, when it’s subject matter has changed so drastically in so long a time? The answer for now, and maybe forever, is a resounding ‘yes’.
Sun Tzu was a Chinese military general but most importantly a philosopher that lived in the 6th century BC. He is the author of The Art of War, a book about military strategy. The Art of war contains thirteen chapters all delivering keys to military strategy for success. It is a famous work of art that is used nowadays in many fields including business, sport and diplomacy. Business leaders develop strategies inspired form Sun Tzu ideas to reach their goals.
The Battle of Salamis is said to be one of the most important battles in all of history. It was a naval battle fought between the massive Persian army and smaller Greek army in the Bay of Salamis in 480 BCE. This battle was one of the many battles that were a part of the Greco-Persian war. This paper will explore the events leading up to the battle, the battle itself, including advantages and disadvantages both sides had on one and other, and finally will discuss the affects the result of this battle had on each side. Surprisingly, the much smaller Greek army defeated the Persians at the Battle of Salamis. How did this happen, one may ask? Although the Persians appeared to have the military advantage in this battle, particularly in terms of sheer size and numbers, the Greeks successfully defeated them with the help of their leaders, tactics, and many Persian blunders.
Samuel B. Griffith’s translation of “Sun Tzu: The Art of War” is an inside look at military practices of today. I did not find one technique that is not or would not be utilized in modern military maneuver, leadership, or training. The most astounding fact is that the Art of War was written well over two thousand years ago, even at the most conservative date. Although most of the techniques in this text are already in practice today, the value of “The Art of War” is a never-ending treasure chest of knowledge, and it deserves a place as a required reading for anyone seeking knowledge about war fighting or the history of war.