Sun Tzu, the author of The Art of War

Businessmen read The Art of War.  Soldiers read The Art of War.  Many people read The Art of War, hoping to learn some useful strategies to apply in corporate world.  Even Donald J Trump recommends reading The Art of War in his book, Think like a Champion.

How many people know about Sun Tze, the author of The Art of War?  Do you even know that Sun Tzu is not a name at all?

When you read The Art of War, you would see that Sun Tzu was recognized as the famous author.  Sun Tzu was not a name at all.  Sun was his family name, but Tzu was a title to honor those people who had contributed to the betterment of human beings in ancient China.  The use of Tzu is similar to the use of Sir.

His real name was Wu, and his style name was Chang Qing.  If you study the history of Warring States period in the history of China, you will see that the history book referred to him as Sun Wu.

So when you read The Art of War, a military classis written two thousands and five hundred years ago, please remember that Sun Tzu means Sir Sun Wu.

In this essay, we will use Sun Tzu to avoid confusion.

Sun Tzu was born around 535 BCE in the state of Qin.  The exact year, month and day of his birth was not known.  He was born during the period in history known as the Warring States. 

That was the time when the emperor of the Zhou Dynasty did not have much power.  The warlords warred constantly for land and money.  The warlords viewed the State as a nation, and they ruled as independent kings.  They had the power to wage wars, to change legislation and to seal treaty.  The people of each State declared loyalty to the State they lived in.

Sun Tzu was born into a rich and powerful family.  Sun Tzu’s father was a government officer serving the king of Qin.  Sun Tzu had the opportunity to learn to read and write, and study ancient writings.  As early as two thousands and five hundred years ago, books on war strategies existed in China.  The younger Sun Tzu took a delight in studying the war strategies book, and studied the past wars.

Due to the frequency of wars, that period of few hundred years is now known as the Warring States.  Hardly a year passed without any war waging among the different states.  Sun Tzu had opportunities to listen to war reports and war stories.  Sun Tzu was keen to study the war strategies used by different generals.

When Sun Tzu was eighteen years old, he left the State of Qin.  Sun Tzu did not want to risk his life embroiled in the internal turmoil among the royal family in the State of Qin.  Sun Tzu decided to serve the King of Wu instead.

When Sun Tzu reached the state of Wu, Sun Tzu befriended Wu Zixu.  Wu Zixu became a trusted advisor to the King of Wu.  He highly recommended Sun Tzu as military advisor.  He knew that the King of Wu was a very ambitious man.  He convinced the King of Wu that Sun Tzu would help him to conquer all the other states, and consolidated his power.  The King of Wu decided to meet Sun Tzu and to test his ability.

By then, Sun Tzu had written part of The Art of War.  The King of Wu read The Art of War and was impressed with the writings.  However, the King of Wu was not convinced of Sun Tzu’s ability to command the army, since Sun Tzu looked like a scholar. 

He decided to test Sun Tzu’s ability to command an army.  He asked Sun Tzu to demonstrate his leadership skill by training three hundred and sixty ladies of court.  Those ladies of court were in fact his concubines.  All the ladies were giggling and treating it as just a game to entertain the King.

Sun Tzu laid down the military laws.  Sun Tzu asked the giggling ladies to acknowledge the laws, and to clarify any doubt.  All the ladies answered that they understand.  Sun Tzu appointed the king of Wu’s favorite concubines as the leaders to head the two platoons of laughing women soldiers. 

Sun Tzu started the training, by giving the command to turn right.  The ladies were talking and giggling, none of them followed the instruction and behaved themselves. 

Sun Tzu was a patient man.  Sun Tzu gave them the benefit of doubt, thinking that they might not understand the military laws.  Sun Tzu repeated the military laws, went through each law slowly.  Sun Tzu asked for acknowledgement of the military laws.  The ladies repeated their acknowledgments.  However, they were still giggling and not following instruction.

Sun Tzu ordered the execution of the two pretty leaders.  The King of Wu had a shock when he heard this.  He could not believe that Sun Tzu dared to kill his favorite concubines. 

The King of Wu begged Sun Tzu to spare them, saying “Let us stop the training, I know and admire your ability.  Please spare the lives of these two ladies.  They are my favorite concubines.  If you kill them, I will have a miserable time.  I will not enjoy my meals or my sleep.”

Sun Tzu refused.  Sun Tzu said, “A general has the right to refuse the king’s order when he is on duty.  A general is responsible for the soldiers under his charge.  He has to do what is best for the army, and fulfilled his duty as the appointed general for the country.”

After the two ladies were beheaded, the rest of the ladies were so obedient that they marched according to order, and became exemplary “soldiers”.

The king of Wu was a reasonable and wise guy, he knew that an outstanding general is more important to a country than two pretty concubines.  He recognized that a man of Sun Tzu’s caliber did not come easily.  He appointed Sun Tzu as the Commander, in charge of all his armies in 512 BCE.

Sun Tzu was a brilliant strategist as well as Commander.  In 506 BCE, Sun Tzu defeated armies from the state of Chu.  Chu was a much powerful state with more than two hundred thousands soldiers.  Sun Tzu led his small army of thirty thousands soldiers and defeated state of Chu, forcing the king of Chu to flee from the capital.

When the king of Wu passed away, his foolish and arrogant son became the new king of Wu. 

Sun Tzu knew that the new king would rather spend his time with his concubines, and not valued his talents.  Sun Tzu left the State of Wu quietly.  Sun Tzu retired to the mountain and spent his remaining time polishing his initial draft of The Art of War. 

The completed the Art of War had thirteen chapters, and this outstanding military classic survived two thousands and five hundreds years to our time.  The Art of War was widely used, and quoted throughout the history of China.  All the later generals read and applied the knowledge in The Art of War.

The Art of War is still a widely quoted strategy book today.  Throughout the world, there is hardly any knowledgeable man in the military or corporate world who does not know anything about The Art of War. 

Lionel Giles translated the Art of War to English as early as 1910.  The copyrights for both the Chinese[1] and English[2] versions have expired, and available for download at Project Gutenberg.

[1] http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/23864

[2] http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/132