Ruminations in a Grass Hut

Ruminations in a Grass Hut PDF Author: Ralph D Sawyer
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 492

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Book Description
Standing at the end of a continuous literate tradition that dates back to Sun-tzu's Art of War, the expansive Ming dynasty Ruminations in a Grass Hut (Ts'ao-lu Ching-lüeh or Cao-lu Jinglüe) not only represents the final formulation of China's indigenous military tactics and highly sophisticated concepts, it remains the subject of conscious PRC study in the quest to develop "military science with unique Chinese characteristics." The book consists of 152 individualized discussions upon subjects as diverse as defense against foreign peoples, spies and military intelligence, assessment, logistics, vacuity and substance, deception, unorthodox warfare, and command and control, all loosely organized into twelve thematic sections. In a sort of modified casebook approach, several battles drawn from the great sweep of China's military history are cited in each chapter to illustrate the subject in application. In themselves, the 600 illustrations provide an extensive introduction to China's historic practice of warfare, as well as a window on its evolution as chariots gave way to cavalry, dagger-axes to swords and sabers, and finally even its powerful bows and crossbows to cannon and muskets in the early Ming. Ralph D. Sawyer, the translator, is a historical scholar and strategic consultant who specializes in Chinese military and intelligence issues. His analytical writings include Ancient Chinese Warfare; Conquest and Domination in Early China: Rise and Demise of the Western Chou; The Tao of Spycraft: Intelligence Theory and Practice in Traditional China; The Tao of Deception: Unorthodox Warfare in Historic and Modern China; Lever of Power: Military Deception in China and the West; and Fire and Water: The Art of Incendiary and Aquatic Warfare in China. His translations, all of which feature extensive historical introductions and detailed notes, include the Seven Military Classics of Ancient China, Sun-tzu's Art of War, Sun Pin Military Methods, One Hundred Unorthodox Strategies: Battle and Tactics of Chinese Warfare, The Tao of War: The Martial Tao Te Ching, Strategies for the Human Realm: Crux of the T'ai-pai Yin-ching, and Zhuge Liang: Strategy, Achievements, and Writings.

Ruminations in a Grass Hut

Ruminations in a Grass Hut PDF Author: Ralph D Sawyer
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 492

Get Book Here

Book Description
Standing at the end of a continuous literate tradition that dates back to Sun-tzu's Art of War, the expansive Ming dynasty Ruminations in a Grass Hut (Ts'ao-lu Ching-lüeh or Cao-lu Jinglüe) not only represents the final formulation of China's indigenous military tactics and highly sophisticated concepts, it remains the subject of conscious PRC study in the quest to develop "military science with unique Chinese characteristics." The book consists of 152 individualized discussions upon subjects as diverse as defense against foreign peoples, spies and military intelligence, assessment, logistics, vacuity and substance, deception, unorthodox warfare, and command and control, all loosely organized into twelve thematic sections. In a sort of modified casebook approach, several battles drawn from the great sweep of China's military history are cited in each chapter to illustrate the subject in application. In themselves, the 600 illustrations provide an extensive introduction to China's historic practice of warfare, as well as a window on its evolution as chariots gave way to cavalry, dagger-axes to swords and sabers, and finally even its powerful bows and crossbows to cannon and muskets in the early Ming. Ralph D. Sawyer, the translator, is a historical scholar and strategic consultant who specializes in Chinese military and intelligence issues. His analytical writings include Ancient Chinese Warfare; Conquest and Domination in Early China: Rise and Demise of the Western Chou; The Tao of Spycraft: Intelligence Theory and Practice in Traditional China; The Tao of Deception: Unorthodox Warfare in Historic and Modern China; Lever of Power: Military Deception in China and the West; and Fire and Water: The Art of Incendiary and Aquatic Warfare in China. His translations, all of which feature extensive historical introductions and detailed notes, include the Seven Military Classics of Ancient China, Sun-tzu's Art of War, Sun Pin Military Methods, One Hundred Unorthodox Strategies: Battle and Tactics of Chinese Warfare, The Tao of War: The Martial Tao Te Ching, Strategies for the Human Realm: Crux of the T'ai-pai Yin-ching, and Zhuge Liang: Strategy, Achievements, and Writings.

The Tao of Deception

The Tao of Deception PDF Author: Ralph D. Sawyer
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0786722231
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 516

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Book Description
The history of China is a history of warfare. Wars have caused dynasties to collapse, fractured the thin fasade of national unity, and brought decades of alien occupation. But throughout Chinese history, its warfare has been guided by principles different from those that governed Europe. Chinese strategists followed the concept, first articulated by Sun-tzu in The Art of War, of qi (ch'i), or unorthodox, warfare. The concept of qi involves creating tactical imbalances in order to achieve victory against even vastly superior forces. Ralph D. Sawyer, translator of The Art of War and one of America's preeminent experts on Chinese military tactics, here offers a comprehensive guide to the ancient practice of unorthodox warfare. He describes, among many other tactics, how Chinese generals have used false rumors to exploit opposing generals' distrust of their subordinates; dressed thousands of women as soldiers to create the illusion of an elite attack force; and sent word of a false surrender to lure enemy troops away from a vital escape route. The Tao of Deception is the book that military tacticians and military historians will turn to as the definitive guide to a new, yet ancient, way of thinking about strategy.

Military Literature in the Medieval Roman World and Beyond

Military Literature in the Medieval Roman World and Beyond PDF Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004696431
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 463

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Book Description
What do the mysterious Roman author Vegetius, the Byzantine emperor Leo VI, and the Chinese general Li Jing all have in common? They are three of the dozens of authors across the medieval Mediterranean world and beyond who wrote works of military literature, sometimes called military handbooks, manuals, or treatises. This book brings together a multidisciplinary international team of scholars who present cutting edge essays on diverse aspects of medieval military literature. While some chapters offer novel approaches to familiar authors like Vegetius, some present research on under-valued topics like Byzantine military illustrations, and others provide holistic studies on subjects like early modern treatises, they all move the discussion of medieval military literature forward. Contributors are Michael B. Charles, Georgios Chatzelis, Pierre Cosme, Maxime Emion, Immacolata Eramo, Michael Fulton, David Graff, John Haldon, Catherine Hof, John Hosler, Savvas Kyriakidis, Łukasz Różycki, Katharina Schoneveld, Georgios Theotokis, Conor Whately, Michael Whitby, and Nadya Williams.

With or Without God, Life's Mysteries Continue, Ruminations on God, Life, Death, Spirits, Reincarnation and the Future of Humankind

With or Without God, Life's Mysteries Continue, Ruminations on God, Life, Death, Spirits, Reincarnation and the Future of Humankind PDF Author: Sondlo Leonard Mhlaba, PhD
Publisher: Strategic Book Publishing & Rights Agency
ISBN: 1609769287
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 199

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Book Description
This book Explores questions about the purpose of life, human mortality, spirituality, God, and life beyond the grave.

Grass Roof, Tin Roof

Grass Roof, Tin Roof PDF Author: Dao Strom
Publisher: HMH
ISBN: 0547972830
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 243

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Book Description
A Vietnamese family flees its war-torn home and resettles in California, in a novel that offers a “brilliant exploration of exile, loss, and identity” (Robert Olen Butler). Told from multiple perspectives and spanning several decades, Grass Roof, Tin Roof begins with the story of Tran, a Vietnamese writer facing government persecution, who flees her homeland during the exodus of 1975 and brings her two children to the West. Here, she marries a Danish American man who has survived a different war. He promises understanding and guidance—but the psychic consequences of his past soon hinder his relationships with the family, as the children, for whom the war is now a distant shadow, struggle to understand the world around them on their own terms. In delicate, innovative prose, Strom’s characters experience the collision of cultures and the spiritual aftermath of war on the most visceral level. Grass Roof, Tin Roof is “an affecting study on the slippery nature of home” (Los Angeles Times). “[Strom] explores the mysteries of loss, culture and identity, with skill, poignancy and imagination.” —Detroit Free Press

Plato's Pigs and Other Ruminations

Plato's Pigs and Other Ruminations PDF Author: M. D. Usher
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108839584
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 283

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Book Description
A pioneering, original work of synthesis that traces modern ideas about systems science and sustainable living back to Classical antiquity.

The Seven Military Classics Of Ancient China

The Seven Military Classics Of Ancient China PDF Author: Ralph D. Sawyer
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 1541674294
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 468

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Book Description
The Seven Military Classics is one of the most profound studies of warfare ever written, a stanchion in sinological and military history. It presents an Eastern tradition of strategic thought that emphasizes outwitting one's opponent through speed, stealth, flexibility, and a minimum of force -- an approach very different from that stressed in the West. Safeguarded for centuries by the ruling elite of imperial China, even in modern times these writings have been known only to a handful of Western specialists. This volume contains seven separate essays, written between 500 BCE and 700 CE, that preserve the essential tenets of strategy distilled from the experience of the most brilliant warriors of ancient China.

Winter Pasture

Winter Pasture PDF Author: Li Juan
Publisher: Thinkingdom
ISBN: 1662600348
Category : Travel
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
Named one of The Washington Post's Best Travel Books of 2021. "Winter Pasture is Li Juan's crowning achievement, shattering the boundaries between nature writing and personal memoir." —Smithsonian Magazine "Li Juan spent minus-20-degree nights with nomadic herders in the Chinese steppes. You’ll want to join her." —Laura Miller, Slate "Deeply moving...full of humor, introspection and glimpses into a vanishing lifestyle." —The New York Times Book Review Winner of the People's Literature Award, WINTER PASTURE has been a bestselling book in China for several years. Li Juan has been widely lauded in the international literary community for her unique contribution to the narrative non-fiction genre. WINTER PASTURE is her crowning achievement, shattering the boundaries between nature writing and personal memoir. Li Juan and her mother own a small convenience store in the Altai Mountains in Northwestern China, where she writes about her life among grasslands and snowy peaks. To her neighbors' surprise, Li decides to join a family of Kazakh herders as they take their 30 boisterous camels, 500 sheep and over 100 cattle and horses to pasture for the winter. The so-called "winter pasture" occurs in a remote region that stretches from the Ulungur River to the Heavenly Mountains. As she journeys across the vast, seemingly endless sand dunes, she helps herd sheep, rides horses, chases after camels, builds an underground home using manure, gathers snow for water, and more. With a keen eye for the understated elegance of the natural world, and a healthy dose of self-deprecating humor, Li vividly captures both the extraordinary hardships and the ordinary preoccupations of the day-to-day of the men and women struggling to get by in this desolate landscape. Her companions include Cuma, the often drunk but mostly responsible father; his teenage daughter, Kama, who feels the burden of the world on her shoulders and dreams of going to college; his reticent wife, a paragon of decorum against all odds, who is simply known as "sister-in-law." In bringing this faraway world to English language readers here for the first time, Li creates an intimate bond with the rugged people, the remote places and the nomadic lifestyle. In the signature style that made her an international sensation, Li Juan transcends the travel memoir genre to deliver an indelible and immersive reading experience on every page.

Book of Spies

Book of Spies PDF Author: Ralph D Sawyer
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 168

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Book Description
The only premodern contemplation of spies ever written apart from Sunzi's brief but incisive Art of War chapter, Jian Shu (Book of Spies) was completed in the last century of the severely weakened Qing dynasty to address pressing defensive needs. The first third of the book ponders the nature of clandestine intelligence gathering, including estrangement and disinformation, two crucial elements in the activist orientation that characterized China's theory and practice from the outset; agent categories and their missions; aspects of historical evolution; and the critical need for their skills despite the misgiving, even condemnation, of Confucian oriented officials. The remainder of the book consists of fifty-three historical exemplifications that show the techniques and their effects in practice. Interspersed with theoretical analysis and drawn from over 2500 years of strife and intrigue, they represent a veritable window on the practice of Chinese spycraft that remains of contemporary interest in the PRC. Ralph D. Sawyer, the translator, is a noted specialist in Chinese strategic and intelligence issues. His books on intelligence include The Tao of Spycraft: Intelligence Theory and Practice in Traditional China; The Tao of Deception: Unorthodox Warfare in Historic and Modern China; and Lever of Power: Military Deception in China and the West. His translation of important military works from China's voluminous tradition include The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China; Sun-tzu Art of War; Sun Pin Military Methods; Strategies for the Human Realm: Crux of the T'ai-pai Yin-ching; Zhuge Liang: Strategy, Achievements, and Writings; Ruminations in a Grass Hut; and One Hundred Unorthodox Strategies: Battle and Tactics of Chinese Warfare.

Wine, Women and Tonga

Wine, Women and Tonga PDF Author: Dr.Sitaleki 'A. Finau
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1493135082
Category : Poetry
Languages : en
Pages : 126

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Book Description
English This is a raw and pragmatic story book of poems in English and Tongan. It is not a critique of where I have been or of those I have been lucky to meet. It is not a literary work demonstrating poetic acumen. It is merely a chronicle of the thought flashes in response to life situations. These are just snippets of the demons and angels that keep this overseas student learning from day to day without being absorbed into host norms while in diaspora. Its the fluctuations to stay afloat and faithful to ones birth and heritage. They have been recorded between books, laughter, and tears. Some of the experiences were frustrating and some choices tormenting. But in the end, there were always challenges, learning and good times. The poems were conceived out of life that now seems too foreign to be me. It is now delivered to all those who made that portion of my life, and to the students who will continue to leave home to seek education in a foreign environment. Tongan Ko e kii tohi maau eni ko e taanga mooni mo aiai mata eni. Oku ikai ko ha fakaanga pe manukia ki ha feituu pe ko ha niihi neu monuia o mau felongoaki. Oku ikai foki ko ha taanga fakapoto eni a ha punake ke fakaali ai e loloto mo e maukupu hono huelo. Ko e kii kalonikali pe eni ia o e ngaahi mautalanoa lolotonga e feangai mo e tuha e moui. Oku masiva eni he laulau kakala holo, mita, olopoto, mo fakanonga kae umaa e vanaiki ha lopapa a tuluta oha kii vai tafe to ki ha taputa a e ngaahi taanga fakahikuongo, huni mo masi ko e oku ne amo, ene, mo lau e ngaahi filo e mafu. Ko e kii kosinga pe eni o e fanga temenio mo e kau angelo ne nau tokangaekina ke ako mau pe e motua taka muli ni, ka oua naa heheia o mole he nanunga fakatuapuleanga lolotonga e taka he vahanoa. Ko e ngaahi fetoloaki ke kei maanu o mateekina e tupuanga mo e tukufakaholo. Ne huvahaa e tohi ni he ako, pokakata, mo e loimataia. Ko e niihi e ngaahi mea ne hokosia ne fakatupu moutafuua pea niihi ne fakamamahi. Ka, i he afangatuku ne iai e fakamoulaloa, pole mai, hinoii he ako mo e taimi fiefia.