{"id":12211,"date":"2026-04-07T04:01:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T11:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/?p=12211"},"modified":"2026-04-04T12:06:46","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T19:06:46","slug":"an-anti-war-grandma-reads-sun-tsus-the-art-of-war","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/war\/an-anti-war-grandma-reads-sun-tsus-the-art-of-war\/","title":{"rendered":"An Anti-War Grandma Reads Sun Tsu’s The Art of War"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Chinese
The Return Herald, Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I may be an anti-war grandma, but The<\/em> Art of War<\/em> is a classic. So, I figured I should read it. Not because we were at war, which we weren\u2019t when I bought it a year ago, but because I was curious. I wondered why this little Chinese book that was written before the birth of Christ was still so widely read? And how could a 2500-year-old book of military advice still be relevant?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, I was impressed. The Art of War<\/em> was written in thirteen chapters and is based on wars and military strategy stretching back into the mists of time. It may be a small book, but it\u2019s amazing how much wisdom it contains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"the<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Take for example, Chapter One: \u201cLaying Plans.\u201d It begins with the \u201cfive constant factors\u201d that need to be considered before starting a war: The Moral Law, Heaven, Earth, The Commander, Method & Discipline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Heaven <\/mark>and Earth <\/mark>are basic things like day or night, seasons, distances and geography (the Hormuz Strait, for example).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was particularly interested in the first factor: The Moral Law<\/mark>. I\u2019m familiar with Saint Augustine\u2019s \u201cRules for a just war.\u201d What, then, did the Chinese in Sun Tzu\u2019s time consider \u201cThe Moral Law\u201d of warfare? According to him, a war would be moral only if the people were \u201cin complete accord with their ruler, so that they will follow him regardless of their lives, undismayed by any danger.\u201d (That sounds like a good description of the Ukrainian people. The American people and their allies, not so much.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Commander<\/mark>\u201d is the fourth factor. He stands for \u201cthe virtues of wisdom, sincerity, benevolence, courage, and strictness.\u201d Hmm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fifth factor \u201cMethod and Discipline<\/mark>\u201d includes many points. This one is interesting: \u201cAll warfare is based on deception.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s how Chapter One ends: \u201cThe general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other twelve chapters are also fascinating, and useful, I suppose, to military leaders and also for chess players. Even for an anti-war grandma, it was well worth reading.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But like the Miss America candidate who isn\u2019t afraid of being a clich\u00e9, this anti-war grandma would like to choose WORLD PEACE.<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I may be an anti-war grandma, but The Art of War is a classic. So, I figured I should read it. Not because we were at war, which we weren\u2019t when I bought it a year ago, but because I was curious. I wondered why this little Chinese book that was written before the birth […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[87],"tags":[2769,2768,2765,2766,2767],"class_list":["post-12211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-war","tag-chinese-military-wisdom","tag-planning-a-war","tag-sun-tzu","tag-the-art-of-war","tag-the-moral-law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Kn1e-3aX","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2109,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/tiger-tail-soup\/empire-of-the-sun-the-movie-and-the-novel\/","url_meta":{"origin":12211,"position":0},"title":"Empire of the Sun: the Movie and the Novel","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"July 27, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"After twenty-seven years, I still remember the Steven Spielberg movie, Empire of the Sun. 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