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Book Published: 1910

Author: Sun-Tzu

Translator: Giles, Lionel

An excerpt from the translator's introductionThroughout the nineteenth century, which saw a wonderful development in the study of Chinese literature, no translator ventured to tackle Sun Tzu, although his work was known to be highly valued in China. oldest and best compendium of military science. It was; not until the year 1905 that the first English translation by Capt. E. F. Calthrop, R.F.A., appeared at Tokyo under the title "Sonshi" (the Japanese form of Sun Tzu). Unfortunately, it was evident that the translator's knowledge of Chinese was far too scanty to fit him to grapple( with the manifold difficulties of Sun Tzu. He himself plainly acknowledges that without the aid of two Japanes< gentlemen "the accompanying translation would have been impossible." We can only wonder, then, that with their help it should have been so excessively bad. It is not merely a question of downright blunders, from which non< can hope to be wholly exempt. Omissions were frequent hard passages that were willfully distorted or slurred over. Such offenses are less pardonable. They would not be tolerated ( in any edition of a Greek or Latin classic, and a similar standard of honesty ought to be insisted upon in translations from Chinese.