Most U.S. political and military leaders are aware of the difference in strategic thinking and international behavior between the United States and China. Many have also studied Sun Tzu’s Art of War and can recite the Chinese master strategist’s famous saying: “Know the enemy and know yourself, in a hundred battles you will never be in peril.” However, few really understand the essence of the difference.

The author introduces a new approach to learning about the different ways of strategic thinking and interaction in Chinese culture. It is through learning the Chinese board game called go. This game is a living refl ection of Chinese philosophy, culture, strategic thinking, warfare, military tactics, and diplomatic bargaining. The author also sheds light on the remarkable connection between go and the strategic concepts in Sun Tzu’s Art of War.

A modest claim is made in this writing that a little knowledge of go will take U.S. leaders a long way in understanding the essence of the Chinese way of war and diplomacy.

DAVID LAI is on the faculty of the U.S. Air War College. He earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Colorado in 1997. Prior to his graduate study at the University of Colorado, Lai was a diplomat in the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Dr. Lai’s teaching and research interests are in international relations theory, war and peace studies, comparative foreign policy, Asian security affairs, and Chinese politics. He has published widely in his teaching and research subject areas and is currently writing on issues related to the China-Taiwan question, U.S.-Asian relations, and Chinese strategic thinking.

Download Learning from the Stones: A Go Approach to Mastering China's Strategic Concept, Shi

FREE, PDF format, 2MB, 41Pages. Provided by E-Asia.

FOREWORD:

Most of the ideas that form of the foundation of American defense policy and military strategy today were once new and untested concepts at the far edge of strategic thought. It took thinkers of vision and creativity to give them life and refi ne them to the point they could be adopted by the defense community and used for strategy and force development. This is a never ending process: new strategic concepts constantly emerge, some fade away, a few pass the tests of suitability, feasibility, and acceptability and make it into the mainstream.

To help with this process of identifying those new and untested strategic concepts that merit further examination, the Strategic Studies Institute is publishing a special series called “Advancing Strategic Thought.” This provides a venue--a safe haven--for creative, innovative, and experimental thinking about national security policy and military strategy.

The following study by David Lai is the inaugural publication in the Advancing Strategic Thought Series. In it, Dr. Lai uses the ancient game of Go as a metaphor for the Chinese approach to strategy. He shows that this is very different than the linear method that underlies American strategy. By better understanding Go, Lai argues, American strategists could better understand Chinese strategy.

The Strategic Studies Institute is pleased to officer this unique and creative analysis as part of the Advancing Strategic Thought Series.

DOUGLAS C. LOVELACE, JR.
Director
Strategic Studies Institute

LEARNING FROM THE STONES: A GO APPROACH TO MASTERING CHINA’S STRATEGIC CONCEPT, SHI

In its July 2002 report to Congress, the China Security Review Commission states, “Chinese strategic thinking and military planning differ markedly from our own, underscoring the need to study such differences more carefully.” The report also warns “the possibilities of miscalculation, miscommunication, and misunderstanding are high, given the substantial differences in each country’s thinking and planning, and require far more attention from U.S. policymakers and the Congress.”

Coincidentally the Department of Defense (DoD) also released its annual report on Chinese military power in July 2002. The Pentagon report calls attention to several knowledge gaps in the U.S. understanding of China’s strategic thinking. Particularly, it mentions a concept, shi, putatively a strategy China uses to exploit the “strategic confi guration of power” to its advantage and maximize its ability to preserve its national independence and develop its comprehensive national power.

The Pentagon report notes:
There is no Western equivalent to the concept of “shi.” Chinese linguists explain it as “the alignment of forces,” the “propensity of things,” or the “potential born of disposition,” that only a skilled strategist can exploit to ensure victory over a superior force. Similarly, only a sophisticated assessment by an adversary can recognize the potential exploitation of “shi.”

Indeed, shi is such an important concept that Sun Tzu, the Chinese grand master of military strategy, uses it for the title of a chapter in his Art of War, the world’s oldest military treasure.3 In this chapter, Sun Tzu has discussed four key aspects of shi. First, it is the idea of qi and zheng. Zheng is the regular way of doing things, or in military terms, the regular order of battle. A commander deploys troops in regular (zheng) ways.

However, the commander must mobilize his troops to engage the enemy in extraordinary (qi) ways. Zheng is, in essence, a given. It is open knowledge to friends and foes. Yet qi is a variable and its variation inexhaustible. The second aspect of shi is about creating an overwhelming force with irresistible unleashing power (a grindstone against eggs, and the strike of a hawk at its prey).

The third aspect of shi is about developing a favorable situation with great potential to achieve the political objectives. Finally, shi is about taking and maintaining the initiative. As Sun Tzu puts it, “those skilled at making the enemy move do so by creating a situation to which he must conform.”

These aspects of shi are also found in Sun Tzu’s discussion of other key concepts in the Art of War such as deception, stratagem, intelligence, deterrence, and so on. Sun Tzu maintains that these key concepts are vital to victory; one must study and master them during peacetime; and it will be too late to consult experts (books or specialists) when grave occasions arise. In essence, Sun Tzu suggests that national leaders, political and military alike, make strategic thinking and employment of tactical skills part of their second nature. ...

Comments (1)

Show/Hide comments

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Add Comment