SUNY has published Christopher C. Rand, Military Thought in Early China. See here or below for more.
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Provides a systematic and comprehensive survey of writings on military philosophy in early China.
This study of the philosophy of war in early China examines the recurring debate, from antiquity through the Western Han period (202 BCE–8 CE), about how to achieve a proper balance between martial (wu) force and civil (wen) governance in the pursuit of a peaceful state. Rather than focusing solely on Sunzi’s Art of War and other military treatises from the Warring States era (ca. 475–221 BCE), Christopher C. Rand analyzes the evolution of this debate by examining a broad corpus of early Han and pre-Han texts, including works uncovered in archeological excavations during recent decades. What emerges is a framework for understanding early China’s military philosophy as an ongoing negotiation between three major alternatives: militarism, compartmentalism, and syncretism. Military Thought in Early China offers a look into China’s historical experience with a perennial issue that is not only of continuing relevance to modern-day China but also pertinent to other world states seeking to sustain strong and harmonious societies. “With its close engagement with and nuanced interpretation of a truly impressive range of sources, this book illuminates a field that gets too little serious attention.” — Charles Sanft, author of Communication and Cooperation in Early Imperial China: Publicizing the Qin Dynasty Christopher C. Rand is an independent scholar who received his PhD in Chinese history from Harvard University. He is the cotranslator (with Joseph S. M. Lau) of Ts’ao Yü’s The Wilderness. |
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Table of Contents
Preface
Prologue 1. The Emergence of the Wen/Wu Problem The Achievement of Balance 2. The Metaphysics of Generalship The General as Sage 3. The Practical and Meta-Practical Organizational Models 4. The Moral Dimension of War Laozi 5. The Permutations of Western Han Realignment of Solutions Epilogue |
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