Ancient Chinese Diplomatic Bells

In the centuries before China was unified as an empire, petty kingdoms and warlords struggled for influence in a centuries-long diplomatic chess game. The bells shown here from the Late Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BCE) might have been owned by wealthy aristocrats engaged in such manuvers, and used for ceremonial importance, which would have shown off their power. These years witnessed constant warfare as various noble clans sought to increase their power, and philosophers such as Confucius, Lao Tzu, and Sun Tzu generated many ideas about how the political chaos might be managed. _The Art of War_, long attributed to a general named Sun Tzu, is one of the most important texts from this age. Dealing with how to manage conflict, the author applies Daoism/Taoism with the view to obtaining victory. Keeping to Daoist philosophy, the text urges those engaged in warfare to consider the whole of a conflict when planning strategy. Rather than rushing into battle, it is better to consider that warfare wastes resources that should only be spent artfully, for a strategic purpose. “Therefore the skillful leader subdues the enemy’s troops without any fighting,” reads the book.

Knowledge of the total picture that a general faces is constantly promoted as the backbone of planning and touted as a way to incur the greatest success. “Hence the saying: If you know the enemy and know yourself, your victory will not stand in doubt.” Readers ever since have appreciated the maxims of Sun Tzu, despite the long distance in time and place from the book’s origin.