（下）如果孙子兵法真的是那么有用的战略的话，为什么中国输掉了二战？ [美国媒体]

If the Art of War by Sun Tzu is a useful masterpiece in strategies, why would China lose in the Second World War? If China had applied the strategies, why would it be still terribly invaded by Japan? If China had not applied them, why?

如果孙子兵法真的是那么有用的战略的话，为什么中国输掉了二战？如果中国使用了这些战略，为什么还被日本侵略？如果没有使用的话，为什么？（下）



Sun Tzu’s advices are like basic instructions: never get distracted when driving. Stay focused when playing football. Series of cliché advices, often ignored, but often made people regret for not heeding it.

孙子的建议是一些基本的指导：开车时不要分散注意力。踢足球时保持精力集中。一系列的陈词滥调的建议，通常被忽视，但是通过人们会因为没有听从而感到后悔。



This principle is applicable in almost everything. You beat the opposing football team’s strategy and game play, rather than practically wrestled them out of ball possessions.

这一原则几乎可以应用在所有事情上。你通过打败对方足球队的战略和布局赢得比赛，而不是在现场和他们肉搏摔跤。

So, all they need to do is just to turn their strength into their weakness, then forcing them to play our strength, using our advantage for our own benefit.

所以我们需要做的就是把对方的优势变成他们的劣势，强迫他们来对抗我们的优势，用我们的优势来给我们自己带来好处。

So, if China had applied the strategies, why would it be still terribly invaded by Japan? If China had not applied them, why?

如果中国应用了这些战略，那还会遭到日本的可怕入侵吗？如果中国没有应用这些战略的话，为什么不应用呢？

Easy, modern warfare are more than just the wisdom of Huang Shigong, Sun Wu Zi (Sun Tzu), Sun Bin, Zhuge Liang, Li Jing, Yue Fei, and so on. And it is not like their wisdom aren’t unknown to the Japanese as well. Japan has been reading Chinese history since long ago. Takeda Shingen is a known reader of Sun Zi’s book, let alone Japanese military officers in World War 2.

很简单，现代战争超越了黄石公，孙子，孙斌，诸葛亮，李进，岳飞等人的智慧。而且日本也未必不知道他们的智慧。日本很久以前就在研究中国历史。武田信玄就研读孙子，更别提二战期间的日本军官了。



To give you a picture of the seriousness of this kind of problem amongst Asians, you need to experience it firsthand.

要想了解亚洲人所面临的这种严重问题，你必须要有亲身经历。

In 21st Century Indonesia, there was this return-to-abacus fad, rumoured to be able to make your children count “faster than a calculator”. For certain cases, it could be true, but in overall, it was a fad, fueled by Chimese nativists, seeing their ancient tool (abacus) getting an enthusiastic revival in the face of western technology (calculator and computer) dominance.

在21世纪的印尼，出现了回归算盘的时尚，称算盘可以让你孩子的算术速度超越计算器。确实有一些这样的例子，但是总体而言这是一种时尚，是中国本土主义者所煽动的，想看到自己的古老工具（算盘）在面对西方技术主宰时能获得复兴。

It is very easy to imagine those old generalissimos discussing Sun Tzu’s Art of War enthusiastically and convincing themselves that they will be able to defeat Japan, by believing in their better understanding of Sun Tzu’s works.

我们很容易想象这些老旧的最高统帅在热情的讨论孙子兵法，认为只要自己更好的理解孙子的作品就可以打败日本人。

It is more or less, a repeat of Boxer rebellion once again. A bunch of kungfu fighters with acrobatic Shaolin-like martial arts skills trying to dodge bullets. This time, a bunch of classicists trying to win modern war using their obsolete understanding of “catch-all” military warfare principles.

这多多少少是义和团运动的重演。一群功夫战士习得杂技式的少林武术就想躲避子弹。这一次是一群古典主义者想要运用他们过时的军事原则来赢得现代战争。

Right now, in a hindsight, we can just easily ask: “do they ever read this?”
We mean this obvious part of Sun Zi’s Art of War:

他们看过孙子兵法里的这一段内容吗：



Too many people think that the principles are infallible. Of course it is, judging from the ambiguous and wordings that are very open to interpretations. Afterall, it is an “art” piece, not a manual or guidebook with detailed exact instructions.

很多人认为这些准则是绝对可靠的。当然了，它模棱两可的措辞让人们可以有不同的解读。毕竟，这是一部“艺术”作品，而不是具备详细指导细节的手册或者指南。

Too many people think that by reading and understanding the book, they will be invincible in warfare, just like they think about instant salvation through the Holy books. Nah, it is not like that in the real world.
There is more to warfare than just Sun Zi’s books.

太多人认为只要熟读这本书，就可以战无不胜，就好像他们认为读了圣经以后就可以立马获得救赎一样。现实世界可不是这样运作的。战争比孙子兵法复杂多了。