User:Lit312/Sun Tzu

This article is about the military strategist Sun Tzu. For the mathematician of the same name, see Sun Tzu (mathematician).

Sun Tzu (ca 6th century BCE) (孫子 pinyin: Sūn Zǐ) was the author of The Art of War, an immensely influential ancient Chinese book on military strategy (for the most part not dealing directly with tactics). He is also one of the earliest realists in international relations theory.

The name Sun Tzu is an honorific title bestowed upon Sun Wu (孫武, Sūn Wǔ), the author's name. The word Wu, meaning "martial" or "military", is same as the word in "wu shu" or "martial art". Sun Wu also has a courtesy name, Chang Qing (長卿, Cháng Qīng).

Sources on Sun Tzu's life

The only surviving source on the life of Sun Tzu is the biography written in the 2nd century BCE by the historian Sima Qian, who describes him as a general who lived in the state of Wu in the 6th century BCE, and therefore a contemporary of one of the great Chinese thinkers of ancient times—Confucius. However, the biography is not consistent with other sources for the period, and both the form and content of The Art of War suggest it was written between 400 BCE and 320 BCE. There is, however no confirmation of any of this at this time.

Sun Tzu's own work, The Art of War, labeled bing fa or "military strategy", appears to provide a number of direct clues to his life. For example, war chariots described by Sun Tzu were used for a relatively brief period ending in the 4th century BCE, so the inclusion of these into his work dates at least part of the work to that time according to some military analysts.

Some scholars have concluded that Sun Tzu's work was actually authored by unknown Chinese philosophers and that Sun Tzu did not actually exist as a historical figure. This can be seen further in the way that the historicity of Sun Tzu is discussed extensively in the introduction to Lionel Giles' widely available 1910 translation. Giles gives a feeling of the doubt and confusion which has surrounded this subject. There is, in fact, more evidence supporting this "take" on Sun Tzu than the traditional one which was for the most part developed by contemporary military analysts and writers.

The Art of War is used as a basis in many business strategy courses. Sun Tzu’s philosophies in his concepts of warfare and strategies are well suited to today’s business environment. These concepts, such as winning the battle before it begins and the use of espionage in an industrial sense, are easily reevaluated into a successful business application.

In 1972 a set of bamboo engraved texts were discovered in a grave near Linyi in Shandong[1] these have helped in confirming the text which was already known and have also added new sections [2]. This text has been dated some time between 134-118 BCE. [3] and so rules out older theories that parts of the text had been written much later.

Sun Bin, also known as Sun the Mutilated, allegedly a crippled descendent of Sun Tzu, also wrote a text known as the Art of War although possibly a more accurate title might be the Art of Warfare since this was more directly concerned with the practical matters of warfare. [4] At least one translator has gone with the title The Lost Art of War, owing to the extensive period of time during which this book was, quite literally, lost. There is however no coincidence between the content or writing style in Sun Bin and Sun Tzu.

See also

• famous military writers
• Thirty-Six Strategies, another Chinese strategy book
• The Art of War
• Philosophy of war

External links

• The Art of War translated by Lionel Giles (1910), Project Gutenberg edition with considerable (but dated) text on Sun Tzu
• The Art of War, Chinese original at Project Gutenberg
• The Art of War, By Sun Tzu
• Sun Tzu and the Art of Business by Mark McNeilly

Category:Chinese thinkers Category:Military writers Category:Taoists