The 2,500-year old treatise The Art of War is an international treasure in the history of military culture. The concepts put forward in this book are not restricted to the military sphere and are upheld by the whole world. How do foreigners perceive this Chinese masterpiece and how do they get to understand the deep and extensive concepts in this book?

Introduced to Japan 1500 years ago

"The Art of War is among the world's first military theoretical masterpieces. Japan was the first to study this book and its research is more comprehensive than others," said Liu Qing, a researcher with the Academy of Military Sciences of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. Recent research shows that The Art of War was passed to Japan in the Wei, Jin and the Southern and Northern Dynasties 1,700 years ago through the Korean Peninsula. In the year 734, for the first time, historical documents made a record of a Japanese student, Kibi no Makibi, who returned to Japan during the Tang Dynasty and started the tradition of research into The Art of War outside China. Since then, Japan has published hundreds of books about The Art of War.

Also, since 1953, South Korea has published hundreds of books on The Art of War in the Korean language. Since the beginning of the 21st century, new books have been published every year. Basic exegeses about The Art of War are very popular in South Korea. Zheng Feishi's four volumes of a novelistic version have been published five times from 1985 to 1997, with 2 million copies in print. Up until now, it has been translated into more than 30 languages and there are upward of 700 to 800 research books and theses published on the martial arts classic, covering all continents excluding Antarctica.

Nonviolent dispute solving

Liu Qing said he believes, at a time centering on peace and development, that military theorists have increasingly tended to make use of the concept of "full success" from The Art of War to curb endless battles and wars, and they suggest nonviolent means to solve international disputes.

Liu said that when he gave classes in a military school in Argentina, students wanted him to analyze the Iraq War by making use of the theories of The Art of War. His answers fully satisfied the students. He said, "At an early stage of the war, the United States successfully made use of the 'use of spies' concept. Saddam Hussein's powerful Republican Guard did not take any tangible actions to resist the U.S. Army until the end of the war. This was a mystery for quite a long time. It was not until after the war the U.S. Army revealed that generals of the Republican Guard had been bribed with millions of U.S. dollars and thus fierce counteractions were nullified. However, the U.S. Army often focuses only on the "attack" theory of The Art of War, but misses another important point: 'Constant postwar efforts,' that is, to consolidate successful achievements of the war. Their ignorance on this point resulted in a rising death toll."

Suitable for business

Liu Qing's overseas students may be divided into two groups: One is military officers and military students and the other is businessmen in commercial management. "In the field of commercial competition, The Art of War has become fashionable as a manual of techniques," Liu said. "When giving classes in Chile and Argentina on its application in business strategies, it was 'standing room only' and outside halls were also always filled with listeners." In his classes in these countries, Liu Qing brought in actual cases, which always stimulated the strong interest of the audience. For example, in South America talking about Japanese cars entering the U.S. market, Liu said that at the beginning, Japanese businesses would rather take losses in transactions in order for young Americans to buy small, oil-saving and money-saving Japanese cars. When these users grew up, Japanese cars naturally held a certain share of the U.S. auto market. The audience marveled at the concept of "winning a battle before it breaks" that this example reflected.

"First, the foreigners were surprised to find Chinese were equipped with such deep and far-reaching outlooks and wisdom. Second, the language used in The Art of War is difficult to understand, but when there are actual case analyses, its concepts are easily understood and accepted by foreigners," Liu said.

A birthday gift

In the 1960s, on a visit to China, famous British Will tactician Field Marshal "Monty" Montgomery suggested to Chairman Mao Zedong that The Art of War should be listed as a textbook in world military schools and colleges. Today, the National Defense University, West Point and many other military schools in the United States list The Art of War as a required book on strategic science and military theory. U.S. expert Mark McNeilly wrote in his Sun Tzu and the Art of Modern War that The Art of War has been integrated with U.S. military theories of land and marine forces.

Liu Qing said that in South America, military officers all have to take classes on The Art of War in school. Take Chile's Air War College for example. The school requires its students to read six books before they formally take classes. The first one is The Art of War. Its concepts are also referred to in after-class exercises, battle analyses and deductions about pictures and tests. Copies of The Art of War are available in many bookstores around Chile, and even on newsstands. In the port city of Valparaiso, a marine lieutenant general and Superintendent of the Merchant Marine Department told Liu Qing that on his birthday two years before, his son had given him The Art of War in English as a birthday gift.