Monday, November 10, 2008

Art of War and 36 Strategies of Ancient China

The Art of War is the name of an ancient Chinese book on military strategy. It was written by Sun Tzu, the earliest international theorist, who was a general by profession and a contemporary of Confucius. He was believed to live in the state of Wu in the 6th century BC.

The book originally contained 6,000 Chinese characters in its traditional form. In its contemporary form it still contains 20,000 modern Chinese characters. Still, Art of War is not regarded as a lengthy book.

The Art of War deals with the art of military strategies and it is probably the most admired work dealing with the philosophy of military. The Diplomats and world politicians refer this book at the time of designing national and international policies. The military academies all over the world can not advance without taking cues from this book written by the great theorist Sun Tzu.

However, not only the politicians, the businessmen and entrepreneurs all over the world consult the book to survive in the challenging situations in their businesses.

Just like the Art of war, the Thirty-Six Strategies are another priceless contribution of ancient China to the rest of the world. These strategies are nothing but a collection of ancient Chinese proverbs. They are in the nature of strategies which are regarded as one of the trickiest in all ages all over the world.

As opposed to the Sun Tzu’s The Art of War that discusses about military organization, leadership, and battlefield tactics, the Thirty-Six Strategies deal with the issues of politics, diplomacy, and most importantly espionage. These strategies include several battlefield tactics. But the unique features of these strategies are: they are applicable more in the areas of psychological warfare. These proverbs help to win over the enemy by undermining his morale, courage and confidence. Sometimes they are used to destroy the sanity of the enemy too.

Here are the examples of some of the most famous strategies:

  • Double cross
  • Frame job
  • Bait and switch
  • Hide the Dagger behind a Smile
  • Kill With a borrowed sword
  • Toss out a brick to attract Jade

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