The art of war
About this ebook
This book include Sun Tzu’s biography and his
works.
The famous
military treatise, “The Art of War” written by Sun Tzu depicts a philosophy of
war for managing conflicts and winning battles. Some modern philosophers
believe that apart from the writings of the author, it also contains commentary
and clarifications from later military philosophers, such as Li Quan and Du Mu.
This masterpiece, since its first publication, has been translated and
distributed internationally, and was frequently referred and used by generals
and theorists. There are numerous theories concerned with the completion of the
text but it has been archeological proved that the Art of War was composed by
at least the early Han dynasty. Since it is nearly impossible to predict the
correct date of its completion, the differing theories regarding the work's
author(s) and date of completion will never resolve. It was one of the six
survived major works written before the unification of China in the 2nd century
BC. In the late 1st millennium AD, during the Song Dynasty, these six major
works were combined with a Tang Dynasty text into a collection also known as
the Seven Military Classics. Being the central part of the collection, “The Art
of War” formed the bases of orthodox military theory in China. The language
used in the book can be distinguishable from a Western text on warfare and
strategy. It was said that the text had recurrent mentions such as a leader
must be “serene and inscrutable” and capable of comprehending “unfathomable
plans”, which was confusing for Western readers who lack the awareness of the
East Asian context. These statements will make clear sense if studied with
Taoist thought and practice.
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About the author
Sun Tzu is the reputed author of The Art of War (Ping-fa), which some consider to be the best single book ever written on the subject. Of Sun Wu himself (Tzu is an honorific particle, meaning "master"), little is known beyond his birth in the state of Ch'i and service to King Ho-lu of Wu; he was a military specialist active during the turbulent late Chou dynasty. Recent excavations of ancient manuscripts of Sun Tzu in China have confirmed the great antiquity of the text attributed to him. Long studied in Asia, Sun Tzu's work became known in the West only in the late eighteenth century and was not properly translated until the twentieth.
The exact birth of Sun Tzu is still uncertain, due to unreliability of the oldest available sources. The official chronicle of the State of Lu, The Spring and Autumn Annals states that Sun Tzu was born in Qi whereas The Records of the Grand Historian or Shiji states that Sun Tzu was a native of Wu. Both sources agrees on the fact that he was born in the late Spring and Autumn Period of China (722–481 BC), where he was a general and strategist, serving under the king of Wu, King Helü. His victories at the wars inspired Sun Tzu to write “The Art of War”. In the subsequent Warring States Period (475-221 BC), “The Art of War” became the most widely read military treatise. Warring States Period was period of constant war fought between seven nations (Zhao, Qi, Qin, Chu, Han, Wei and Yan) to gain control over the vast expanse of fertile territory in Eastern China. Sun Tzu proved his theories were effective on the battlefield as he had a successful military career. Sun Tzu’s descendant, Sun Bin, also became a famous scholar of the military arts.
