The by Sun Zi:A Classic on Military Theory

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The Art of War is the ultimate gem in the legacy of China’s military tradition. It is a book whose contents are profound, whose narration is comprehensive, and whose logic is tightly constructed. The author Sun Wu lived during the latter period of the Spring and Autumn Period.(The name Sunzi includes the honorific, and means Master Sun.) Sun grew up in a military family, his courtesy name was Changqing, and he was originally from the state of Qi.

He was both a military theorist and a practitioner of war. Carrying his thirteen treatises on the Art of War, he is said to have had an audience with the King of the state of Wu, Heli, around 512BC. At the time, the state of Chu had invaded and carved up the state of Cai. Sun Wu was there to ask for assistance from the state of Wu. The King of Wu promptly appointed Sun Wu general and Sun Wu then led the Wu armies in successful attack against the state of Chu. Su Wu also led armies to attack two countries who would not submit to the authority of the state of Wu, called Xu and Zhongwu. His victories lend credence to the belief that Sun Wu’s military theories are not the result of mere thinking, not just so-called “talking of soldiers on paper,”but the result of actual battle experience. The illustrious military mastermind Sun Wu appears to have been killed in battle in 484 BC.

The Art of War is divided into thirteen chapters. These include essays on Strategy, Making war, Planning attack, Appearances, Actual power or force, False or true: the real situation, Military engagement, Nine transformations, Marching the army, Topography, Nine situations on the ground, Fire attack, and Using spies. These fully cover the theory and practice of the arts of war. The book regards military affairs as being a major consideration to a country. It encourages”knowing yourself and knowing the other, for then you will not be defeated once in one hundred battles.”It stresses understanding all circumstances, having a full analysis of relations with the enemy, of public actions and solo operations, of strengths and weaknesses, of trues and falses or appearances and reality, of attacking and defending, advancing and retreating, all of the contradictory aspects of the two sides to each consideration. Moreover, it assures that by understanding the objective laws of warfare and managing or controlling these laws, one is assured of victory.

“Soldiers have no constant unchanging nature just as water has no constant unchanging shape,”the Art of War advises.”Water can modify depending on the adversary it meets up against, and win over it. This is called ‘ shen’ or being possessed of a godlike nature. Strategic warfare emphasizes the concurrent promotion of the anomalous and the proper or common, in order to keep an advsary off balance.”During the Spring and Autumn Period of history in China “one hundred schools were contending,”and it was under this stimulating environment that this effective military treatise was born. The book’s contents are encyclopedic. They distill the experience and the intelligence of an untold number of people from the period.

Sun Wu was the most outstanding representative of an outstanding group of people. As the military scholar Mao Yuanyi said at the end of the Ming Dynasty(1368-1644) in his work on military preparedness,”Sunzi did not owe anything to those who came before him; whereas those who came after Sunzi could not omit Sunzi in their recognition of who made them.”

The”Number one sword”in thecity of the Art of Warin Binzhou, Shandong. Two swords intersect with each other and stand on the ground, representing peace and ceasing the war.

The appearance of the Art of War had a profound influence on the later development of China’s ancient military arts. It has been revered as the Bible of Military Affairs, the classic for all ages. Among generations of military strategists, not one does not take nourishment from this book and use it in the actual practice of war. The famous politician and military man during the Three Kingdoms period (220-265), Cao Cao, was the first to do a systematic annotation of the Art of War, which made the book considerably easier to use for those who came later. The Art of War is not merely a treasury of strategy for China, but has been famous throughout the world. It was transmitted into Japan in the 8th century and into Europe in the 18th century. Ithas been translated into 29 languages, and is widely read throughout the world. It is said that American army officials were ordered to carry a book of Sunzi’s Art of War with them during the Gulf Warin 1991.

The book is unlike the usual commentary or narrative. Its contents often touch upon meteorology, geography, and all kinds of specific knowledge that affects the conduct of war.

The book is not something that the common man of letters could write. It is also not the reflection of life at one particular time, but rather a summary of experience over time. It is clearly the creation of a number of military experts who were versed in both letters and history.

Even someone with the best background in martial and literary arts would find it impossible to write this book alone. The philosophy reflected in its military affairs comes from the distillation of the actual experience of battle. The philosophy expressed has been through the perfecting and editing of several generations, and to a certain degree one could say that the book could not have been accomplished but for the complex social background and historica circumstances of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. It may well therefore not have been the work of one man, and it cannot have been the work of one short time. The great military theorist Sun Wu undoubtedly played an important role in the process of making sure that the ideas expressed in the book were put down for later generations. We are indebted to him for the Art of War.