The Art of War is an ancient Chinese military treatise written by Sun Tzu. It is found that The Art of War is not only useful in military scenario after its translations are widely circulated around the globe. The book is considered as a brilliant guidance for providing strategic solutions for problems people meet in all facets of life and recently there are increasing attempts made in adapting The Art of War to solving these problems. Among the English publications of this type, more than half of the adaptations aims to offer ideas for business strategy, which makes it an interesting phenomenon to explore. The process of such adaptations undergoes two layers of transformation – from east to west, and from military to business. This study aims to investigate how such adaptations in English-speaking countries interpret traditional Chinese military culture and transform it into Western business culture. Specifically, the writer conducts a case study on a book series called The Art of War Plus series by Gary Gagliardi. It is found that appropriations occur when concepts in ancient China conflict with the modern western society. For instance, an emperor who dominates the country in ancient China does not exist in Western modern society. When adapting Sun Tzu’s teachings which includes this concept, the author will re-interpret Sun Tzu’s words to avoid the discussion of the emperor’s dominating power. Appropriations are also found when military strategies conflict with modern business ethics. For instances, Sun Tzu talks about using spies in wars which is deemed unethical in modern business world. When adapting concepts related to spies, the author redefines the concept to fit it into modern business ethics.

Authors:
Dolly Liu, Hong Kong Metropolitan University, Hong Kong

About the Presenter(s)
Ms Dolly Liu is a University Assistant Professor/Lecturer at Hong Kong Metropolitan University in Hong Kong

See this presentation on the full schedule – Schedule

Bookmark