Basic_Principles_Common_to_Most_of_the_Ancient_Asian_Military_Texts

There are cultural characteristic of war, but there isn’t a defined distinctive way of war between Non-westerns, Asian or Chinese ways of war. The differences between Non-western and the Western are more ideology based. The multi-cultural landscapes in Asia gave way to many different styles and beliefs on war. The development of asymmetric strategy and tactics took divergent paths in the East and West. Depending upon which theorist one analyzes, each aspect gives a fundamental direction of war. The basic principals of war were still evident. The fact that battles were no less evident in China as in ancient Mediterranean or Medieval Europe shows the different styles but the same principals. The primary principals of war are: Win without fighting, avoid strength and attack weakness, speed and preparation, shaping the enemy, character-based leadership and deception and foreknowledge, win at the lowest possible cost. Developing first in the East, asymmetric methods have dominated Eastern military theory. In the East, strategists developed concepts along a much different line than their Western counterparts. Eastern warfare, from its earliest beginnings in Sun-Tzu’s, Art of War, written in the fifth century B.C., to the more recent work of Mao Zedong and Vo Nguyen Giap, has emphasized defeating an adversary with minimal direct combat. In distinctive contrast, Western theorists have given emphasis to the significance of a direct confrontation between opposing armies. Western warfare developed a distinct bias in favor of the decisive battle described in Carl von Clausewitz On War. Conflict in the West has, however, seen the development of strategic and tactical doctrine similar to those dominated Eastern military thought. The Art of War was revolutionary in principles and Sun-Tzu was the first strategist to develop a systematic theory on warfare, which encourage radically altering warfare, and rejecting conventional tactics. Sun-Tzu’s The Art of War, the writings of Wu-Tzu, Ssu-ma Fa’s The Methods of the Ssu-ma, Questions and Replies Between T-ang T’ai-tsung and Li Wei-kung, Three Strategies of Huang Shih-kung, and T’ai Kung’s Six Secret Teachings were compiled by scholars of the Sung Dynasty as the Seven Military Classics. The military strategist closely defended for their military secrets and was not available for all the military personnel to comprehend. They were available to a few professors of the classics, and controlled by a number of high officials and the emperor himself. The Art of War, which was well known in the West, played a prominent role in the development of later Eastern and Western theory. Often credited with providing inspiration to modern asymmetric warfare, The Art of War actually addresses conflict between states. Asymmetry, for which Sun-Tzu believed, speed and preparation enables conventional military forces to overcome their adversaries with the least loss of life and wealth. Unlike Western theorists, who believed slow destruction was the key aspect of warfare. Sun-Tzu’s emphasis on preservation, through asymmetric means, required military commanders to proceed with a level of skill unnecessary in Western conflict. He considered the moral, intellectual and random aspects of the war more important than the physical side. Sun Tzu was convinced that careful planning based on deception and foreknowledge information of the opposition would play an important role to a rapid military end. His views can still be regarded as modern. Even then, he stated that war was of great political importance to the state. The western theorists obtain history from a peculiar array of sources, including Greek poetry to vase painting, as well as historical records, which was vastly different from the east. The description of what actually took place on the battlefield gives a glimpse of how war was perceived. One main theorist, Jomini who founded linear warfare, set out to establish a set of universal principles of war, to make a scientific study of war, concepts such as theatre of operations and zone of operation as well as others. Jomini’s strategy developed a set of limited rules for the conduct of war and he concluded that strategy is the key to warfare and is, governed by universal principles. The key element of speed and preparation in war is to have the greater mass at the decisive point of battle. Clausewitz concentrated on the human elements of war. His theory On War is relevant to asymmetric conflict like Sun Tzu. Clausewitz understood better than his counterparts the impact of partisan war on conventional armies. In On War Clausewitz gave attention to asymmetric conflict. He is perhaps most well known for saying, “War is merely the continuation of policy by other means.” Clausewitz and Sun Tzu share a belief in the dominance of politics in war and in devising an appropriate strategy to protect the national interests. Clausewitz stated "As many troops as possible should be brought into the engagement at the decisive point.... This is one of the first principle of strategy" also, "The best strategy is always to be very strong; first in general, and then at the decisive point.... There is no higher and simpler law of strategy than that of keeping one's forces concentrated" Another important principal shared by East and West theorist, is their desire to win at the lowest possible cost. Since this involve taking minimum risks for maximum gains, the theories are dominated by the constant search for low-cost victories and force multipliers. The Chinese took warfare approach to the country as a whole, and a complete need to understand the cost of war and what the effect it would have on the country. The principles of defense over offense in Asia are shown in the use of the Great wall. These principals of avoid strength and attack weakness is illustrated where the enemy must maneuver their troops to overcome an obstacle, which is playing to the strength of the army “strategy aimed to achieve victory without battle”. Chinese writing stressed these principles and credits the military’s ability and it’s proper place in the socio-political hierarchy of those with military skills to show character-based leadership. War is both a science and an art, reflecting a dual nature, and is more than just a simple combination of the two. While war is a human action linked to the social nature of human beings and is similar to other social interactions, except that the fundamental interaction or operation involves combat and the threat of death and destruction. The source of the duality is human nature, and the human influence of political leaders, populations, commanders, and armies, which can never be adequately measured or predicted. Sun-Tzu played a major role in the development of Mao’s “mobile guerrilla warfare,” and in many ways Clausewitz and Jomini belong to a modern paradigm of war theory, shaped by the enlightenment and the social, political, and economic turmoil. Sun Tzu and Clausewitz studies of war have the most influential because they understood and gave importance to the human, chaotic, and unpredictable aspects of war. Human nature is the one constant in warfare through the ages. No theory can stand the test of time that does not adequately address the human nature of war.