Sun Tzu
From World's Chinese Wiki
Sun Tzu, also known as Sun Zi (Chinese: 孫子; pinyin: Sūn Zǐ; c. 544 – 496 BC) was the Chinese author of The Art of War (Chinese: 兵法), an immensely influential ancient Chinese book on military strategy. His book has been translated into many languages and found many applications in modern times.
The name Sun Tzu ("Master Sun") is an honorific title bestowed upon Sun Wu (孫武; Sūn Wǔ), the author's name. The character wu, means "military", is the same as the character in wu shu, or martial art.
As a Historical Figure
The only surviving source on the life of Sun Tzu is the biography written in the 2nd century BC, during the Han Dynasty by the historian Sima Qian, who describes him as a general who lived in the state of Wu in the 6th century BC, and therefore a contemporary of one of the great Chinese thinkers of ancient times—Confucius. According to history records, Lord Helü of Wu hired Sun Zi as a general approximately 512 BC after finishing his military treatise, the Bing Fa (The Art of War). After his hiring, the State of Wu, previously considered a semi-barbaric state, went on to become the most powerful state of the period by conquering State of Chu, one of the most powerful states in the Spring and Autumn Period. Sun Zi suddenly disappeared when Lord Helu finally conquered State of Chu. Therefore his date of death remained unknown.
In 1972 a set of bamboo engraved texts were discovered in a grave near Linyi in Shandong. These have helped to confirm parts of the text which were already known and have also added new sections. This version has been dated to between 134–118 BC, and so rules out older theories that parts of the text had been written much later.
Sun Bin, a crippled descendant of Sun Tzu, also wrote a text known as the Art of War. A more accurate title might be the Art of Warfare since this was more directly concerned with the practical matters of warfare, rather than military strategy. There is, however, no commonality between the content or writing style in Sun Bin and Sun Tzu.
The Art of War has been one of the most popular combat collections in history. Ancient Chinese have long viewed this book as one of the entrance test materials, and it is one of the most important collections of books in the Chinese literature. It is said that Mao Zedong and Joseph Stalin both read this book while in war.