Steve James wrote:Well, tcc is fundamentally based on Sun Tzu's Art of War. What it doesn't mean is that war is art -if art is mistaken as beauty. Rather, it's how one (army or individual) accomplishes a task.
Steve James wrote:Hmm, I'm not Chinese capable, but the Sun's book is always sold as "The Art of War." If it's a mistranslation, then it's been going on for the last century.
But, have you read those other classics? Do you know which came earliest? What do you like about the others that make them more valuable than Sun Tzu'?
I can find direct references/quotes from Sun Tzu in the (Yang) tcc writings. If there are other references, help a bro out
Tai Chi Chuan doesn't mean "Grand Ultimate Fist" and the "harmony" in "6 harmonies" isn't the character for harmony.
Many translations as Zunzi Bingfa are examples of orientalism. Translators want to give names, terms and book titles a fancy flare without respecting the original meaning.
Steve James wrote:The issue isn't translation; it's interpretation of the term art. Art and method can be synonyms when used as verbs.
Steve James wrote:Well, "method" or way might be a more precise translation of the meaning into English. But, in English, the "art" of war isn't different from the "art" of poetry or the "art" of drawing or "art" of motorcycle racing or "art" of calligraphy.
No one has even suggested that "art" always refers to the Mona Lisa. That's a cultural interpretation. In the European tradition, art is generally useless. You can't do anything with the Mona Lisa or the Pieta or a Picasso except admire them. When there's a utilitarian value, we tend to call it craft, not art.
Whoever was the first to use the translation Art of War, it's unlikely that it was because the writer was thinking of art as in painting or aesthetic beauty. If he did, the translation stuck. It doesn't matter because changing the title wouldn't affect the contents, for one. More importantly from my pov, is that unless I could read the text in Chinese, debates about the meaning in Chinese are useless.
I have to agree with you guys about the Chinese. I disagree completely about the term art in English.
Miyamoto Musashi wrote:In olden times strategy was listed among the Ten Abilities and Seven Arts as
a beneficial practice. It was certainly an art but as a beneficial practice it was not limited to sword-fencing. The true value of sword-fencing cannot be seen within the confines of sword-fencing technique.
If we look at the world we see arts for sale. Men use equipment to sell their own selves. As if with the nut and the flower, the nut has become less than the
flower. In this kind of Way of strategy, both those teaching and those learning the way are concerned with colouring and showing off their technique, trying
to hasten the bloom of the flower. They speak of "This Dojo" and "That Dojo". They are looking for profit. Someone once said "Immature strategy is the cause of grief". That was a true saying.
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