Welcome to the Historical Fiction Online forums: a friendly place to discuss, review and discover historical fiction.
If this is your first visit, please be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above.
You will have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed.
To start viewing posts, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Sun Tzu Question

Post Reply
User avatar
wendy
Compulsive Reader
Posts: 592
Joined: September 2010
Location: Charlotte, North Carolina
Contact:

Sun Tzu Question

Post by wendy » Fri March 11th, 2011, 1:44 pm

Does anyone happen to know when officers at West Point started reading Sun Tzu's THE ART OF WAR? It was translated into English in 1905 - US seem to use the Giles version of 1910.
Wendy K. Perriman
Fire on Dark Water (Penguin, 2011)
http://www.wendyperriman.com
http://www.FireOnDarkWater.com

annis
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 4585
Joined: August 2008

Post by annis » Sat March 12th, 2011, 10:57 pm

This is an interesting one. The Art of War apparently only became a standard part of the US military syllabus following the Vietnam War. This was a direct response to the fact that Sun Tzu's principles were used successfully by North Vietnamese commanders to defeat American forces during that war.

"Though available since 1910, the study of Sun Tzu on the Art of War did not gain prominence in English speaking militaries until Vietnamese military leaders, to include Gen. Vo Nguyan Giap, used principles characteristic of Sun Tzu to defeat American forces in Vietnam in the 1960s and 1970s. Gen. Giap, known to have studied T. E. Lawrence and his military methods, was also known to have studied Sun Tzu."

And something I didn't know- T E Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) may well have been the first Western commander to study and use Sun Tzu's book, though it is also thought that Napoleon might have read it.

Article here:
http://www.artofwarsuntzu.com/1stChapter.pdf
Last edited by annis on Mon March 14th, 2011, 7:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
wendy
Compulsive Reader
Posts: 592
Joined: September 2010
Location: Charlotte, North Carolina
Contact:

Post by wendy » Mon March 14th, 2011, 10:38 am

Thanks Annis. I didn't know about Lawrence either. I'd really like the answer on this one so I've e-mailed the library at West Point. I'll post any response I receive.
Wendy K. Perriman
Fire on Dark Water (Penguin, 2011)
http://www.wendyperriman.com
http://www.FireOnDarkWater.com

User avatar
wendy
Compulsive Reader
Posts: 592
Joined: September 2010
Location: Charlotte, North Carolina
Contact:

Post by wendy » Mon March 14th, 2011, 5:28 pm

Just heard back from USMA West Point - they purchased a copy of the French version on Feb. 8, 1869 for the library.
I guessed it might be there - so happy that it is!
Wendy K. Perriman
Fire on Dark Water (Penguin, 2011)
http://www.wendyperriman.com
http://www.FireOnDarkWater.com

annis
Bibliomaniac
Posts: 4585
Joined: August 2008

Post by annis » Mon March 14th, 2011, 5:49 pm

How amazing that they have such detailed records, though very useful for you :)

Post Reply

Return to “Questions and Research”