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SUNY series in Chinese Philosophy and Culture
Sun Pin: The Art of Warfare
Lost for some 2,000 years and only rediscovered by chance in 1972, Sun The Art of Warfare is now recognized as one of the essential texts of classical Chinese military philosophy. In this new edition, D. C. Lau and Roger T. Ames, eminent scholars of Chinese philosophy and widely respected translators, offer a comprehensive translation of the Sun Pin texts, along with extensive notes and commentary. The publication of this volume returns the work of one of the great military innovators to the canon of Chinese literature.
Sun Pin, believed to be a direct descendant of the distinguished military theorist Sun-tzu, flourished during the mid-fourth century B.C. during China's Warring States era, a period of unprecedented violence. As independent nation states attempted to annihilate each other through incessant and escalating battles, military tactics increased exponentially in sophistication and brutality. In the China of the mid-fourth century B.C., it was not uncommon for as many as 80,000 soldiers to perish in a single defeat. As Lau and Ames write in their introduction, warfare was increasingly a way of life, and a way of death. This was the world that Sun Pin both reflected and deeply influenced through his writings.
Sun Pin, himself a victim of a court intrigue that resulted in the amputation of his legs below the knee, rose above disgrace to become the key adviser of King Wei, the ruler of the state of Ch'i. In his writings, Sun Pin draws on battles he had waged as well as examples from earlier history to explore the nature, the purpose, and the effective conduct of war. Sun Pin, essentially a philosopher of the battlefield, ponders such key concepts as the exemplary ruler, the importance of strategy and morale, and the advantages to be gained from adaptability, display, and discretion. Yet these texts are also clearly intended to be practical and to be used to maximum effect on the battlefield. As Sun Pin writes, for one who has really mastered the way of warfare, his enemy can do nothing to escape death.
This new edition of Sun The Art of Warfare includes not only the sixteen chapters and fragments of the main text recovered at Yin-ch'üeh-shan in 1972, but also fifteen supplementary chapters and three extracts from the encyclopedic tradition. The translation by professors D.C. Lau and Roger T. Ames is admirably clear and fluid, and their comprehensive introduction examining the life and times and the original philosophical contribution of the Sun Pin literature is a brilliant work in its own right.
Sun The Art of Warfare is a timeless text that fuses history, philosophy, military technique, and reflections on the nature of human conflict. At once evocative of an ancient culture and deeply relevant to contemporary concepts of power and leadership, this volume belongs in the libraries of all serious readers.
Sun Pin, believed to be a direct descendant of the distinguished military theorist Sun-tzu, flourished during the mid-fourth century B.C. during China's Warring States era, a period of unprecedented violence. As independent nation states attempted to annihilate each other through incessant and escalating battles, military tactics increased exponentially in sophistication and brutality. In the China of the mid-fourth century B.C., it was not uncommon for as many as 80,000 soldiers to perish in a single defeat. As Lau and Ames write in their introduction, warfare was increasingly a way of life, and a way of death. This was the world that Sun Pin both reflected and deeply influenced through his writings.
Sun Pin, himself a victim of a court intrigue that resulted in the amputation of his legs below the knee, rose above disgrace to become the key adviser of King Wei, the ruler of the state of Ch'i. In his writings, Sun Pin draws on battles he had waged as well as examples from earlier history to explore the nature, the purpose, and the effective conduct of war. Sun Pin, essentially a philosopher of the battlefield, ponders such key concepts as the exemplary ruler, the importance of strategy and morale, and the advantages to be gained from adaptability, display, and discretion. Yet these texts are also clearly intended to be practical and to be used to maximum effect on the battlefield. As Sun Pin writes, for one who has really mastered the way of warfare, his enemy can do nothing to escape death.
This new edition of Sun The Art of Warfare includes not only the sixteen chapters and fragments of the main text recovered at Yin-ch'üeh-shan in 1972, but also fifteen supplementary chapters and three extracts from the encyclopedic tradition. The translation by professors D.C. Lau and Roger T. Ames is admirably clear and fluid, and their comprehensive introduction examining the life and times and the original philosophical contribution of the Sun Pin literature is a brilliant work in its own right.
Sun The Art of Warfare is a timeless text that fuses history, philosophy, military technique, and reflections on the nature of human conflict. At once evocative of an ancient culture and deeply relevant to contemporary concepts of power and leadership, this volume belongs in the libraries of all serious readers.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
March 29, 2017
A work of military strategy by Sun Bin (or Sun Tzu II) which was discovered in a damaged condition in 1972. This is very much in the same vein as The Art of War by Sun Tzu, and revisits a lot of the general strategy outlined there.
There is a lot added by Thomas Cleary, who not only carried out the translation but also offers commentary on practically every statement.
Hard to rate a work like this, where a lot of it is presented as a pretty self explanatory or straight forward statements, which are readily applicable to a certain setup, but when it comes to applying "The lost art of war" across, say, a military campaign, there are way more statements than there are direct directions. Maybe it takes a more keen military strategist's mind than I have on offer.
There is plenty of filler here, for example, in chapter 29, page 125:
Concentrate when there is a reason to concentrate, spread out when there is reason to spread out; fill up when there is reason for fullness, empty out when there is reason for emptiness.
Helpful? Not really.
Still, there are plenty of statements which assist in awareness of strategy, so I guess the worth of this book is to be determined by the way the reader can take the strategy and apply it.
Middling at 3 stars, as I don't think it improves on The Art of War by Sun Tzu.
There is a lot added by Thomas Cleary, who not only carried out the translation but also offers commentary on practically every statement.
Hard to rate a work like this, where a lot of it is presented as a pretty self explanatory or straight forward statements, which are readily applicable to a certain setup, but when it comes to applying "The lost art of war" across, say, a military campaign, there are way more statements than there are direct directions. Maybe it takes a more keen military strategist's mind than I have on offer.
There is plenty of filler here, for example, in chapter 29, page 125:
Concentrate when there is a reason to concentrate, spread out when there is reason to spread out; fill up when there is reason for fullness, empty out when there is reason for emptiness.
Helpful? Not really.
Still, there are plenty of statements which assist in awareness of strategy, so I guess the worth of this book is to be determined by the way the reader can take the strategy and apply it.
Middling at 3 stars, as I don't think it improves on The Art of War by Sun Tzu.
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August 12, 2015Haluk Hepkon'un kitabın sunuş yazısına taşıdığı "Belki de bu yüzden Sun Bin'i okumadan Sun Tzu'yu incelemenin bir eksiklik olduğuna inanılmaktadır," iddiası, abartı bile sayılamayacak kadar desteksiz bir iddiadır. Hepkon, ya bu kitabı ya da Sun Tzu'yu okumamış, yahut gerçek dışı iddialara değer vererek bir pazarlama cümlesini metnine sıkıştırmış, başka bir açıklama bulamıyorum. Kitap ise bana sorarsanız sadece askerî tarihle ilgilenen "askerlere" hitap edecek cinsten; üç sayfalık son bölümü harici neredeyse hiç felsefe yok, yalnızca somut savaş stratejilerinden bahsediliyor. Sun Tzu'yla kıyaslanması söz konusu edilemez. Onun dışında, Çince aslı yerine Almanca bir kopyasından dilimize kazandırılmasını anlarım, bazı metinlerde bu bazen daha iyi bile sonuç verebilir ancak kitapta çok fazla dipnot eksikliği var, metinde pek çok defa okur fenersiz bırakılmış, anlayamayacağı nice sözler kitaba hiçbir açıklama olmaksızın basılmış. Kitabın arka kapak yazısı da içeriğini gizlemek amacıyla yazılmış gibi. Özetle, kitap bir hayal kırıklığı oldu, kitabın içeriğini dürüstçe yansıtabilen bir arka kapak yazısı olsaydı hiç satın almazdım.
January 29, 2021
Ridiculously repetitive. I also don't see how any of this is relevant.
August 12, 2017
This book tried to revive the original strategy book of Sun Bin, or Sun Tzu II or the scared Sun. While I found the content to be not so different from Sun Tzu's the art of war, there are some new things though. Sadly there were many parts missing from the original strategy book.
July 7, 2018
No lo disfrute para nada, eso de que le faltaran frangementos y capítulos no ayuda a engarcharse. Prefiero mil veces El Arte de la guerra de Sun Tzu.
November 12, 2019
Want insight into war and strategy from ancient China? No, this work should not be confused with Sun Tzu’s Art of War; it sounds similar but its Sun Pin’s The Art of Warfare. While there are similarities this is a separate military text from Chinese classical writings. Lesser known than the other work that I mentioned, I picked this work up to read it not just only for surveying strategic insight but also to see what I can gleam from the work in terms of Ancient China’s use of weapons of warfare and how their armies and military unit was organized. This was work was compiled, edited, translated and explained by both Roger T. Ames and D.C. Lau in a superb academic manner.
There is a lengthy introduction running over a hundred page, but it is much needed to historically situate this military text. Discussion in the introduction include an overview of the work and also comparison and contrast between Sun Tzu’s famous work along with an analysis of the philosophical terminology in Sun Pin’s The Art of Warfare. I found all of this very helpful and insightful. The meat of the book is the text of The Art of Warfare. This is translated in three parts with the part one giving us the sixteen chapter text recovered from the Yin –Ch’ueh-Shan Han Dynasty Strips while part two is on the fifteen supplemental chapters recovered from the Yin –Ch’ueh-Shan Han Dynasty Strips. Part three then translates from text recovered from later commentarial, historical and encyclopedic sources. The appendix was also interesting for history buff with discussion of the excavation of the tombs in which the text was found and also discussion of dating these bamboo strip manuscripts.
Students of military history, strategy and Chinese history would find this work fascinating. I enjoyed i
There is a lengthy introduction running over a hundred page, but it is much needed to historically situate this military text. Discussion in the introduction include an overview of the work and also comparison and contrast between Sun Tzu’s famous work along with an analysis of the philosophical terminology in Sun Pin’s The Art of Warfare. I found all of this very helpful and insightful. The meat of the book is the text of The Art of Warfare. This is translated in three parts with the part one giving us the sixteen chapter text recovered from the Yin –Ch’ueh-Shan Han Dynasty Strips while part two is on the fifteen supplemental chapters recovered from the Yin –Ch’ueh-Shan Han Dynasty Strips. Part three then translates from text recovered from later commentarial, historical and encyclopedic sources. The appendix was also interesting for history buff with discussion of the excavation of the tombs in which the text was found and also discussion of dating these bamboo strip manuscripts.
Students of military history, strategy and Chinese history would find this work fascinating. I enjoyed i
October 11, 2017
جائت مقدمه الكتاب للتعريف عن سن تزو... وكيف ألف الكتاب فيها... و كيف اشتهر بين المتخصصين في العلوم الاستراتيجية ... جاء الكتاب في شكل جمل أو فقرات إشارية ذات مغزى تكتيكي عام ... يمكن تطبيقها في عالم الاقتصاد والتجاره و السياسه والرياضة... اعجبني الكتاب كثيرا ... اغلب الارشادات يمكن اعتمادها في ازمنة مختلفة ... "القرار الأقل صوابا في وقت الحاجة إلى الحسم، أصوب من القرار النموذجي بعد ضياع الفرصة" ... "لن نكون قادرين على أن نحقق السبق والتقدم، إذا لم نعتمد على أدلاء محليين، من نفس البلاد التي نمر بها" ... "بعيدا عن العوامل الطبيعية، هناك ست كوارث قد تصيب الجيش من قبل قائده، وهي: الهروب، التمرد وعصيان الأوامر، التدهور والانهيار، الدمار، الفوضى، الهزيمة" ... علي مدي 13 فصلا يقوم سن تزو بتقديم هذه الارشادات منذ قرون مضت.. لتزال قائمه ليومنا هذا ..
March 29, 2013
A should-read book on office politics which will happen to you and around you whether you participate in politics or not.
November 10, 2022
I find it even more interesting since the original. There are many references though which makes it great to read alongside it.
January 11, 2026
Brilliant
This isn’t just The Art of War — this is war as pure intellect.
Sun Bin reads like a human war machine. His strategies are unlike anything I’ve ever encountered. It feels as if he’s playing chess with his enemies: he knows the rules of the game, anticipates every move, and turns his opponents into unwilling participants in his carefully designed theater of defeat. He aligns the battlefield like a stage, then watches events unfold exactly as he intended.
What truly amazed me is how deeply he understands human psychology. Predicting behavior with this level of precision requires more than intelligence — it requires an intimate understanding of fear, ego, ambition, pride, and weakness. At times it even feels as if he enjoys the intellectual dance of outmaneuvering other generals.
The closest comparison I can think of is Machiavelli’s The Prince — the same sharp, unapologetic intelligence, the same willingness to look at power and conflict without moral illusion. These books may appear to target rulers, generals, or people in authority, but in reality their principles apply to everyday life: decision-making, leadership, negotiation, self-protection, and strategic thinking. They don’t promote dirty play — they teach you how to remain effective when the world itself plays dirty.
What makes Sun Bin even more impressive is that despite being a master of warfare, he deeply understands the value of peace. To me, that reflects true strength and confidence. Knowing how to dominate a battlefield while still respecting restraint and balance is the mindset of a real winner.
The structure of the book is also refreshing. Instead of dry rules followed by lifeless explanations, the strategies are grounded in real historical events. Each principle is proven through lived experience. This shows that Sun Bin didn’t merely read history — he analyzed it, absorbed it, and distilled it into wisdom. When he fights, he doesn’t fight as one man alone; he fights with the accumulated intelligence of generations before him. That is what truly makes him stand out.
The sheer number of strategies he deploys is mind-blowing. Every decision is calculated, every move deliberate. His respect for the enemy is also striking: he never underestimates his opponent and never overestimates himself. That balance alone reflects profound wisdom.
This is not a book you read once and move on from. You read it, reflect, reread, and uncover deeper layers each time. His mind is endlessly fascinating.
The only real downside is that some sections feel fragmented or scrambled — understandable given that the text was reconstructed from surviving fragments — but occasionally it interrupts the reading flow. A bit of background knowledge about historical figures also helps, otherwise some references may feel confusing.
Still, none of that diminishes the brilliance of this work.
A true master of his craft.
This isn’t just The Art of War — this is war as pure intellect.
Sun Bin reads like a human war machine. His strategies are unlike anything I’ve ever encountered. It feels as if he’s playing chess with his enemies: he knows the rules of the game, anticipates every move, and turns his opponents into unwilling participants in his carefully designed theater of defeat. He aligns the battlefield like a stage, then watches events unfold exactly as he intended.
What truly amazed me is how deeply he understands human psychology. Predicting behavior with this level of precision requires more than intelligence — it requires an intimate understanding of fear, ego, ambition, pride, and weakness. At times it even feels as if he enjoys the intellectual dance of outmaneuvering other generals.
The closest comparison I can think of is Machiavelli’s The Prince — the same sharp, unapologetic intelligence, the same willingness to look at power and conflict without moral illusion. These books may appear to target rulers, generals, or people in authority, but in reality their principles apply to everyday life: decision-making, leadership, negotiation, self-protection, and strategic thinking. They don’t promote dirty play — they teach you how to remain effective when the world itself plays dirty.
What makes Sun Bin even more impressive is that despite being a master of warfare, he deeply understands the value of peace. To me, that reflects true strength and confidence. Knowing how to dominate a battlefield while still respecting restraint and balance is the mindset of a real winner.
The structure of the book is also refreshing. Instead of dry rules followed by lifeless explanations, the strategies are grounded in real historical events. Each principle is proven through lived experience. This shows that Sun Bin didn’t merely read history — he analyzed it, absorbed it, and distilled it into wisdom. When he fights, he doesn’t fight as one man alone; he fights with the accumulated intelligence of generations before him. That is what truly makes him stand out.
The sheer number of strategies he deploys is mind-blowing. Every decision is calculated, every move deliberate. His respect for the enemy is also striking: he never underestimates his opponent and never overestimates himself. That balance alone reflects profound wisdom.
This is not a book you read once and move on from. You read it, reflect, reread, and uncover deeper layers each time. His mind is endlessly fascinating.
The only real downside is that some sections feel fragmented or scrambled — understandable given that the text was reconstructed from surviving fragments — but occasionally it interrupts the reading flow. A bit of background knowledge about historical figures also helps, otherwise some references may feel confusing.
Still, none of that diminishes the brilliance of this work.
A true master of his craft.
September 23, 2018
The Art of War by Sun Tzu is an attempt to lay down affirmative positivistic guidelines for war. He lays down the forms of terrain, the ways of attack, rules for commanders, and the vital employment of spies. The guidelines are succinct and commanding, with an assortments of dos and don'ts according to the particular situation. Its a rather powerful book in some ways, but in others I imagine this is a text that requires punishing instruction to fully understand. Clausewitz was intuitively understandable, even when the narrative was at times chaotic and tediously overdone. Sun Tzu is not, at least not until you drill its terminology firmly in your head.
I used to read The Art of War a lot when I was younger, and it is still rather difficult to internalize. There's also the fact that some of the terminology and advice is under-explored, which draws into question the degree to which it should be internalized. Regardless, its an important text, and should probably be read if you have a spare hour or so.
Score?
91/100 | A-
I used to read The Art of War a lot when I was younger, and it is still rather difficult to internalize. There's also the fact that some of the terminology and advice is under-explored, which draws into question the degree to which it should be internalized. Regardless, its an important text, and should probably be read if you have a spare hour or so.
Score?
91/100 | A-
August 10, 2025
The Art of War II, or The Lost Art of War, is a treasure for those into strategy books. Sun Bin, the author, is believed to be a relative of Sun Tzu, the creator of the great classic The Art of War.
Today, up-to-date translations provide a whole different meaning to chapters of the original, and a better bet at this one.
A must-read.
Today, up-to-date translations provide a whole different meaning to chapters of the original, and a better bet at this one.
A must-read.
August 25, 2017
Okunmaya değer olarak içeriği olmayan; strateji olarak sadece sunuş yazısında bulunan satış stratejisini bulabileceğiniz; felsefe olarak da, kitap satsın da nasıl satarsa satsın anlayışında bir kitap.
Zamanınızı boşa harcamayın ...
Zamanınızı boşa harcamayın ...
April 10, 2020
very similar to the art of war, the commentary is by far the best part. the bit on how a company can be like a sword was the most helpful. knowing what a vanguard and a rear guard kinda do was a great metaphor for sales and estimating and then the PM's to finish it up.
December 29, 2022
لا أنصح به كتاب ناقص وسئ ومعلوماته عفى الزمن عنها
October 14, 2023
3/5 ⭐️
Interesante, aunque la guerra sea la cosa más inútil del mundo.
Interesante, aunque la guerra sea la cosa más inútil del mundo.
May 16, 2024
ثم ان بني البشر الذين لم تكن لهم مخالب حرب او اذناب قتال طبيعية كتلك التي لبعض فصائل الحيوانات صنعوا لانفسهم ادوات يخوضون بها القتال فكان ذلك من طبع الحكمة
ص 95
ص 95
January 4, 2025
Kırmızı kedi yayınevi Türkçe çevirisi çok başarısız. Açıklamalar ve referanslar yok. Dipnot yok. Çince kavramlar olduğu gibi bırakılmış. Büyük olasılıkla Çince’den de çevrilmemiş. Yazık olmuş.
June 14, 2022
Libro esencial de estrategia militar china del periodo de los Reinos Combatientes, además de ser un documento histórico de gran relevancia, perdido hasta hace apenas unas décadas cuando se hayó un ejemplar en la excavación de una tumba de la dinastía Han. La edición es bastante académica, bilingüe, y con un estudio introductorio, no es una lectura dominguera ni para aficionados, pues la traducción de D.C. Lau y R.T. Ames es de enfoque filológico-filosófico, por lo que absténganse los lectores ocasionales que esperan encontrar una estrategia para la vida cotidiana, empresarial, financiera u alguna otra trivialidad. Aunque de forma popular han llegado a muchas estanterías sacados de su contexto original, Sun Pin (Sun Bin) y Sun Tzu (Sunzi) son dos autores con un contexto histórico muy preciso al igual que sus obras. Es sumamente interesante que se los traduzca y reinterprete de formas tan dispares más de dos milenios después de muertos, pero hay que tener en cuenta que en estas reinterpretaciones se los aleja de su propósito y significado originales. En la edición de Lau y Ames se busca lo contrario con Sun Bin, se intenta/n encontrar su/s significado/s primigenio/s. En el trabajo compilatorio ambos traductores además de incluir naturalmente los hallazgos de hace unas décadas también incluyen las citas, menciones y comentarios de la obra de Sun Bin en fuentes posteriores. Hay que anotar que la traducción de D.C. Lau y R.T. Ames tiene dos ediciones diferentes, la original, publicada por Ballantine Books, es en cartoné, está en wade-giles, contiene varias láminas en color y además los textos en chino y en inglés están enfrentados. Esta edición ya no se edita desde hace mucho pero es la más recomendable. La última re-edición, de State University of New York Press está en Pinyin, es en rústica, carece de las láminas en color y para ahorrar páginas los textos ya no están enfrentados. Para los estudiosos del tema es recomendable contrastar esta traducción e interpretación con la edición de Sawyer, de enfoque más militar.
July 25, 2012
War has taken such a strange turn in these days. Drones instead of soldiers, countries with nuclear warheads that are so primitive you expect to see Christ riding over the hill on a donkey. Not sure how much these "principles" apply anymore.
August 20, 2007
tertarik habis baca legend of the dragon son
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April 27, 2008Buku Ini tentang seni perang sun Tzu yang Hilang. dan buku ini dikarang oleh sun tzu II (sun Bin). muridnya Sun wu (sun tzu I).
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April 27, 2008Bukunya bagus Bwt strategi...
tapi ngebacanya gak bisa sekali...
harus berulang2 biar bisa memahami...
agak berimajinasi dikit lebih mantap tu..
tapi ngebacanya gak bisa sekali...
harus berulang2 biar bisa memahami...
agak berimajinasi dikit lebih mantap tu..
September 21, 2012
Pretty interesting read, I have read a lot of Sun Tzu but never Sun Bin, they both are very similar with some smaller differences on the emphasis of war.
September 7, 2012
There are a variety of sources and interpretations of the Art of War. I think this one falls a little short. I didn't enjoy reading it as much as I expected.
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August 5, 2014so much incomplete
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February 5, 2018كتاب جميل و يوضح للقارئ الرؤيه الصائبه التي تدار بها الحروب من خلال سونبين
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June 15, 2018This class of books are awesome i couldn't put it down.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews