Thomas Cleary is a author and translator of Buddhist, Taoist, Confucian and Muslim classics, and of the Chinese Art of War tradition of strategy and statecraft.
Education
Cleary received a Doctor of Philosophy in East Asian Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University as well as a Juris Doctor from the University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law, but has had minimal involvement with the academic world, claiming that "there is too much oppression in a university setting," and that he wants "to stay independent and reach those who want to learn directly through books" He reserves some praise for his alma mater, though. "a good thing about Harvard was language training was done by native teachers.
Career
He lives in Oakland, California in the United States. He usually translates texts that are not yet available in English. However, he has made some exceptions for books he felt had English translations that were "too limited," such as Sun Tzu"s The Art of War.
You did not find that everywhere."
Cleary"s most widely disseminated translation has been of the Chinese classic The Art of War (Sunzi Bingfa) by Sun Tzu.
In 1993 Cleary published a translation of the Book of Five Rings written by Miyamoto Musashi.
