Ralph Sawyer is an independent historical scholar, lecturer, and consultant, to both government agencies and international conglomerates. He has specialized in Chinese military, technological, and intelligence issues for nearly four decades, most of which have been spent in Taiwan, Korea, Japan, China, and Southeast Asia.
A former Fulbright Fellow, following his undergraduate work at M.I.T., graduate study in Chinese studies at Harvard, and advanced language study at the Stanford Center and with local scholars throughout Asia, Sawyer has continued the traditional Chinese practice of public activity and private scholarship over the decades.
His written works focus on Chinese military history and martial writings while his lectures and strategic consulting emphasize the reformulation and applicability of paradigm lessons and theoretical concepts in modern contexts, including their integration into contemporary PRC doctrine. A Fellow of the Centre for Military and Strategic Studies in Calgary and a Senior Research Fellow with the Warring States Project at the University of Massachusetts, he is a member of numerous professional organizations including the International Institute of Strategic Studies and a frequent presenter at academic conferences.
Sawyer’s most recent work, a study of Chinese unorthodox warfare titled The Tao of Deception, was released this spring. Previous studies include The Tao of Spycraft and Fire and Water. His translations include the Sun-tzu Art of War, already regarded as a classic, Seven Military Classics of Ancient China, as well as Sun Pin Military Methods, One Hundred Unorthodox Strategies, The Tao of War, The Essence of War, and the Ling Ch’i Ching. With his wife, Mei-jun, he is presently completing an archaeologically based volume on early Chinese warfare.