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Translation History Overview
History in China
First
Western Translation
English Translation Overview
Early English Translations
Early Popular Versions
Modern Versions
Early English Translations of Sun Tzu
The "public domain" versions of Sun Tzu's The Art
of War that are available today are all based on these early
translations. These versions were in turn based on various fragmentary Chinese sources.
These versions included a number of rather flagrant mistakes in translation.
 The first English translation of The Art of War is less
than a hundred years old. Captain E. F. Calthrop published the first English translation in
1905. Lionel Giles, an assistant curator at the British Museum and a well-known
sinologist
and translator, attacked this early translation, and he published his own version in 1910. This Giles version, though itself from a fragmentary manuscript, is still
used broadly today as the basis for the popular "Clavell" Art of War version.
 Both of these versions were greatly improved by the work of Samuel Griffith on The Art of War, who published his Art of War
in 1963, including a number of historical Chinese commentaries on the text. Not the least of
Griffith’s strengths was his experience in the military and knowledge of military history as a
brigadier general in the U.S. Marine Corps. However, this was also his version's
greatest flaw. Griffith did not really believe or understand all of Sun Tzu and
would often explain away Sun Tzu's direct statements without making it clear
that this was his commentary and not what Sun Tzu wrote. Griffith was also not
much of a writer.
By our standards today, much of Griffith’s language is awkward and dated. To read more about the Griffith
Art of War translation,
click here.
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