Wordsworth Editions The Art of War / The Book of Lord Shang

Arrived as expected, contents classical (as expected).

Really nice book. Don't take the book too literally.

El producto ya lo conocía y por eso lo compré, para tener uno para mí. La foto se corresponde exactamente con el original recibido. El paquete llegó antes de tiempo, así como en perfecto estado.

I’ve conquered my entire neighborhood now. Only issue is there isn’t too much guidance on how to govern my neighbors and coerce them into submitting to my rule

This review is about the book of Lord Shang (390-338 BC). He is one of several brilliant Chinese philosophers that lived in the 'Warring States Period' of 476 to 220 BC. These philosophers tried to convince the head of states on how they should think and act to be successful. Several also implemented their theories. as did Lord Shang as prime minister. The historical context is important. During the "Warring State Period" around 100 independent states were continuously at war. A government had no choice but to defend their country and annex other states. To annex was necessary as not annexing meant being annexed. The Qin state was a relatively small state. By adapting the system of Lord Chang the Qin state became the most powerful. The Qin Emperor Qin Shi Huang annexed all of the other states by 221 BC. The emperor is still known for the terracotta soldiers. It is not possible to describe the proposed system with a few sentences. I can only present a few important features. His view of human nature can be illustrated with this slogan " People will strive to become richer and more famous until the lid on their coffin is closed"". People are egoistic and look after their own interest and not of that of the state. The head of a state cannot assume that, if he is virtuous and benevolent, that it will cause others to be the same (the opposite of what Confucius believed). Therefore the government has to establish laws that must be adhered to. And those that break the laws should be punished. There were many other conditions for success, like appointment of people to government positions should be based on proven merits and be without any consideration of being from an aristocratic family, rich, or highly educated, and very important could not be inherited. The same with punishment, to be determined without any consideration of the social status of the person. Loyalty to the state was superior to that of the family (opposed by Confucius). Also important were the standardization in the use of language, tax system, weights and measures, width of carriage and methods of administration. All of these measures were vital to unite a country. Last but not least, a government without having detailed up to date statistical information about the citizens and resources would collapse. These were all very revolutionary concepts at that time, with many of them still valid to day. Law, breaking it and punishment go together. One of the fatal flaws was that another law specified that a person that would inform the government that he knew of someone or a group, that was going to break the law, would be rewarded with title, land and money. The result was that many people fabricated accusations to get rid of rivals and get the rewards. That was the cause why Emperor Qin Shi Huang killed his crown prince as the result of baseless accusations and of tens of thousands more. The second fatal flaw. The appointment of the emperor was not based on proven merit. The position was inherited. Lord Shang, based on the principle of equality in front of the law had punished the crown prince when he had broken a law. As soon as the crown prince became the emperor he fabricated false accusations. Lord Shang was executed by quartering and all of his family members were executed Most of the laws remained in place. These two flaws were among the main causes for the collapse of dynasties, wars and splitting the country. You can learn from the incredible success of the system in conquest and of its fatal flaws.