Application of Ancient Chinese Strategic Thinking in Modern Times

学校代码： 10246
学 号： 15210110128




硕 士 学 位 论 文
（学术学位）


势概念及对中国古代战略思想的
现代运用的评估：以重读《孙子兵法》、
《三国演义》和《孟子》为视角

The Concept Shi 势 and the Evaluation of the Application
of Ancient Chinese Strategic Thinking in Modern Times:
From the Perspective of Rereading of the Art of War of
Sunzi, the Romance of Three Kingdoms and Mengzi


院 系： Chinese Language and Literature
专 业： Chinese Language and Culture
姓 名： Tran Thuy Linh 陈水灵
指 导 教 师： Zhang Xushu 张旭曙 副教授
完 成 日 期： 2017年 05 月 28 日




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, 指导小组成员名单



朱国华 Zhu Guohua 教授

陆扬 Lu Yang 教授

张岩冰 Zhang Yanbing 副教授




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,Table of Contents
Abstract...................................................................................................................................................................4
Introduction ..........................................................................................................................................................5
A short history of Shi 势 ...............................................................................................................................................6
Related literature review.............................................................................................................................................9
Research questions .....................................................................................................................................................11
Summary and Methodology ....................................................................................................................................11
Chapter 1: The concept Shi 势 in the Art of War of Sunzi............................................................... 13
Chapter 2: The concept of Shi 势 in the Romance of Three Kingdoms ..................................... 18
Chapter 3: The concept of Shi 势 in Mengzi.......................................................................................... 25
3.1 天时－地利－⼈和 as strategic advantage Shi 势...................................................................................26
3.2 The way of the King ⺩道 versus the way of the Hegemon 霸道 .....................................................29
Chapter 4: Chinese strategic thinking versus Western strategic thinking in light of Shi 势
.................................................................................................................................................................................. 34
4.1 Weiqi 围棋 versus Chess....................................................................................................................................34
4.2 Chinese leaders’ strategy versus American leaders’ strategy...........................................................36
4.3 Vietnam’s way of war versus the US way of war ....................................................................................39
Chapter 5: A review of the South China Sea disputes based on the concept Shi 势 ............ 45
5.1 Background .............................................................................................................................................................45
5.2 Vietnam’s Shi 势versus China’s Shi 势 in the South China Sea disputes.......................................47
Chapter 6: Conclusion and Discussion.................................................................................................... 64
Bibliography....................................................................................................................................................... 68
Acknowledgement........................................................................................................................................... 72




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, Abstract

This research explores the concept Shi 势 and evaluates the application of
ancient Chinese strategic thinking in modern times. The first three chapters are
dedicated to identify the characteristics of Chinese Shi 势 strategic thinking from the
perspective of Rereading of three famous Chinese classics: the Art of War of Sunzi, the
Romance of Three Kingdoms and Mengzi. In the Art of War of Sunzi, Shi 势 that is
created by the interaction between the normal way Zheng 正 and extraordinary way Qi
奇 represents favorable situation or potential. Shi 势 strategy requires the highest level of
flexibility and adaptability to the changes of circumstances. A skilled commander must
know how to make use of Shi 势 to seek the victory. The Romance of Three Kingdoms
focuses on illustrating how power blocs make alliances to build up their Shi 势. By
applying Shi 势 strategy, weak states should avoid direct confrontation with stronger
opponents. Instead of acting single-handedly, they should find allies and work together to
resist their enemies. In reverse, strong states should take divisive measures to weaken
the alliance of small states. Nonetheless, nations must never overlook the temporality of
such kind of coalition because the ultimate goal of each nation is to protect its own
national interest. Through the contrast between the way of the King ⺩道 and the way of
the Hegemon 霸道, Mengzi emphasizes that virtues De 德 and harmony among people
⼈和 play a crucial role in sustaining Shi 势 of a nation. The chapter four sheds light on
differences between Chinese strategic thinking and Western strategic thinking in light of
Shi 势. Through a series of comparative analysis between two strategic games Weiqi 围
棋 and Chess, Chinese and American leaders’ strategies, Vietnam’s way of war and
the US way of war, it can be deduced that while Chinese Shi 势 – based strategists
pursuit long-term benefits, American Li 利 – based strategists seek short-term benefits.
Chinese Shi 势 strategists prefer to use strategies, stratagems and diplomacy to conquer
the enemy rather than the use of force adopted by Western strategists. The chapter five
presents a review of the South China Sea disputes based on the concept Shi 势. It can
be observed that China’s Shi 势 strategy on the South China Sea is progressively
achieving successes. By means of economic interdependence and political pressure, on
the one hand, it gained the support of several South China Sea non–claimants, on the
other hand, it compelled claimants such as the Philippines and Vietnam to make
concessions and bilateral negotiations with an inferior position. In the final chapter, the



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