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Did anyone else watch the program about Sun Tzu's “The Art of War” broadcast on the History Channel last week? It was great! I absolutely enjoyed watching it, it was riveting.For those who didn't see it, they applied Sun Tzu's military theory to wars over the course of history and concluded that when his theories were not applied, wars were lost while those wars in which they were applied, were more succesful. Anyone want to discuss?
Yes but he wrote so many entries, and aren't some of them vague? I wonder if the producers weren't hyping Sun Tzu.
I did not see the program but have read several different translations of Sun-Tzu. One of the things to remember about him is that all of his work is written so broadly that it can be twisted to fit almost anything. It is also important to remember that only the pithy sayings are original, all the expansion in the text came later to expand and explain the original tenets of warfare as laid down by Sun-Tzu.
Ahh so the translations really are more modern day than what he originally wrote? Is it possible to know exactly what he wrote? Translated properly of course.
The translations are not more modern day, they are just different in what they emphasize and the specific words they choose to illuminate concepts. The general meaning is the same but there are subtle differences.There are several different translations out there. The generally accepted version now is the Cleary Translation. The problem with reading works in another language is that nothing ever translates exactly except for the most basic words and even then not always. Translations ALWAYS depend on the translator. It sounds clich? but it is true that the best way to read something is in its native language. However, it is difficult to learn hundreds of languages, the most languages I have heard of someone learning is 16. So the only viable option is to look for good translations. That is why there are standard translations of most of the significant works foreign language works into English. It lets everybody work from a common base of understanding.
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