THE CYCLIC WHOLENESS OF BING, TAO AND LAW IN SUN TZU’S THE ART OF WAR
Abstract
The Art of War by Sun Tzu (Pingyin: Sunzi Bing Fa)
is well-known as one of the oldest writings in Chinese
history attributed to an individual author. It is the most
famous treatise of the Military School (Bingjia), of The
Hundred Schools of Thought of the Pre-Qin and Han period.
However, the text is often misunderstood in the based upon
the misunderstanding of its terms. Readers and scholars
often interpret the text in a pragmatic or utilitarian way,
ignoring its philosophical Taoist subtexts. In the text, the
term translated as war – Bing – is related to two complicated
philosophical terms and concepts: Tao (Dao) and Law (Fa).
Therefore, for fully understanding Sun Tzu’s philosophical
treatise on Bing, this paper will investigate, how changes
of Tao (Dao) and Law (Fa) in relation to Bing occur in a
holistic cycle. Bing, Tao and Law must be coordinated,
otherwise any operation whether military or political will
not be in conformity with the Grand Tao, and will not be
able to achieve its aims.
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