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Iain
16th December 2000, 07:46
I was wondering, what does everybody here consider to be the most faithful translation of the seven military classics from a generalist point of view?


Iain Richardson

Neil Hawkins
18th December 2000, 09:12
Sorry Iain I don't have an answer for you. Joe is having connection problems but I did ask him your question via e-mail, here's his response...


As for the question, what does Iain consider the seven military classics? Sun Tzu? Sun Bin? Kautilya's Artha Sastra? Clausewitz?

If Sun Tzu, my favorite remains the Griffiths translation. As a Marine general with experience fighting the Japanese, Chinese, and Koreans, he had some hands-on insight.

Joe

Neil

Iain
18th December 2000, 16:50
Thanks for the info! By the way, the stuff I was refeing to was a book called 'The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China'. It's by a Bloke called Ralph D. Sawyer and It amounts to a pretty interesting read. I was just wondering if and what I was missing out on in terms of the quality of the translation. Thanks again for your input.

Iain Richardson.

Neil Hawkins
19th December 2000, 01:13
More from Joe...


For Iain, suggest he see Ralph D. Sawyer, "Chinese Warfare: The Paradox of the Unlearned Lesson," *American Diplomacy*, http://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/amdipl_13/china_sawyer3.html. So far as I know, Sawyer is generally respected, but if he wants some additional input, try a "Ralph Sawyer China" search on Google and see what turns up.

Neil


[Edited by Neil Hawkins on 12-18-2000 at 07:18 PM]

Iain
19th December 2000, 22:21
Awesome! thanks again for your help!

Iain Richardson