This month, one of the greatest bestsellers in history, El Art of War, by Sun Tzu, first translated by a woman, scholar and translator, the professor at the University of California, Michael Nylan.
Nylan’s flawless version offers a masterful and original testimony to this classic work, balancing overtly military content with thoughtful and thoughtful analysis. Readers will be inspired by Nylan’s authoritative voice. Thanks to her years of academic study, the professor is in a unique position to introduce readers to Sun Tzu’s classic work through her detailed annotations on the culture and intricacies of translation from ancient Chinese into a modern language. .
The old Sun Tzu’s Psychology and Strategy Book it has as much to tell us today as it did when it was first written 2,500 years ago. In a world of constant conflict, your rules for anticipating the ambitions and strategies of our competitors never fail to inspire great leaders.
Michael Nylan, in his suggestive introduction, reveals new and unexpected lessons that can be learned from The Art of War So what can be applied to a wide variety of fields: business, relationships, skill games, academic careers, and medical practices. And it is that the strategy, like the conflict, permeates the very roots of society. Nylan’s translation of The Art of War it is wonderfully sharp and simple. Each prayer is a light that turns on “, He said ‘New York Times’
Simple and sharp translation
There is no denying the importance that The Art of War puts into strategic thinking, as it is applicable to more unexpected contexts such as chess, academic activities, since war is a surprisingly common metaphor in the history of academic studies, as it happens in the Harvard Business School.
We can apply it to business, sexual foreplay, with its exciting “approaches” and its “withdrawals”, as well as certain medical practices, in which a disease, described as an invasion, must be overcome or defeated, as is the case with the current pandemic caused by the coronavirus.
This would explain why The Art of War it is increasingly present in everyday life. Considered one of the most influential texts in history, it has been used by military strategists for a long time. more than 2,000 years and admired by great figures of the stature of Napoleon or Mao Zedong.
In Spain, Emilio Botín, former president of Banco Santander, recognized that it was his bedside book. In addition, the strategy that Apple and Tesla apply in China is based on many of the principles set out in The Art of War.
Why you have to read The Art of War?
As Michael Nylan indicates is his introduction: “The book begins by talking about how to bring together the wills of the elites and those who do not have access to great power, and alludes to the ups and downs of people in all ranks and areas of life, ending with a reflection on success and failure, which places great emphasis on the intelligence work provided specifically by deserters and spies. Its reading is more exciting if possible in the current era in which artificial intelligence and big data they seem to suggest that human beings are more manipulable than we would like to think, while through the Internet an often hostile world unfolds, full of new battlefields ”.
“The invasion of Iraq or Brexit, to take two recent examples, clearly reflect the absence of having addressed long-term planning and the use of trivial stereotypes.” Perhaps the most profound message derived from The Art of War the thing is any victory depends on the knowledge we have of ourselves, at least as much as the knowledge of the obstacles that come from the other party “, he concludes.
Michael Nylan graduated in History from the University of California at Berkeley (1968-70) and at the State University of New York (1970-73) and received a doctorate from the University of Princeton, in the department of Asian Studies (1981). She is currently a professor at the University of California at Berkeley and specializes in ancient China.
He has published numerous books on ancient China and translated well-known titles. Regarding the fact that a woman has translated this classic for the first time, the author wonders: “Does being the first woman to translate The Art of War really make a difference? In all likelihood, as a woman who has made her way into the men’s world for years, I am more attentive to certain realities ”.
I am an author at Global happenings and I mostly cover automobile news. In my time working in the automotive industry, I have developed a keen interest in the latest developments and trends. My writing skills have also allowed me to share my knowledge with others through articles and blog posts.
