Sunzi's Art of War

Sun Zi Bing Fa (Sunzi's Art of War) is the world's earliest military book extant in China. Militarists have paid much attention to the book ever since. It is said that after Napoleon was defeated in war, he regretted that he had not read this book earlier. After the Song Dynasty (960-1279), it was listed as the first book of the Seven Military Classics. At the beginning of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), it was introduced into Japan, and introduced into Europe and America in modern times. It has been translated into several languages.

This book was written by Sun Wu at the end of the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476BC). Sun Wu, born in the Qi State, but moved to the Wu State, and was put in a very important position after he presented his 13 articles on military tactics. It generally thought that Sun Zi Bing Fa was drafted by Sun Wu but accomplished by Sun Bin.

It has 13 articles in total. Ji (Plan) is for planning in the temple, i.e. comparing the conditions between one side and the rival, estimating the possibility to win, and then drawing war plan. This is the outline of the whole book. Zuo Zhan (Operation) is for war mobilization after the plan. Mou Gong (Tactic Attack) is to attack the city with tact instead of only force. Xing (Condition) and Shi (Situation) explain the two basic decisive factors for a battle: Xing (Condition) is for the objective, stable and obvious factors, like the effectiveness of the army and material preparation; and Shi (Situation) is for subjective, changeable and accidental factors, like the allocation of the force and the morale. Xu Shi (Void and Solid) explains the way to make one side much stronger in a certain site by separating and massing, besieging and bypassing, and at last to win with much more predominance. Jun Zhen (Army Competing) explains how to take the decisive occasion in the battle. Jiu Bian (Nine Changes) explains the way to take different strategies and tactics under the different situations. Xing Jun (Marching) explains how to encamp and to observe the enemy in marching. Di Xing (Landform) explains the six different landforms and the tactics accordingly. Jiu Di (Nine Situations) explains the different nine situations graded by the circumstance and the penetration into the enemy, and the tactics accordingly. Huo Gong (Fire Attack) is for attacking supported with fire. Yong Jian (Alienation) explains the arrangement for five different types of spies. The book features a very terse language and philosophic contents. With the above-mentioned reasons, this book influenced many of the later generals in war.

In April 1972, bamboo slips versions of Sun Zi Bing Fa and Sun Bin Bing Fa were discovered in the No.1 Tomb of the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD) in the Yinyue Mountain in Linyi, Shandong Province.