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Sun Zi Bing Fa, also known as Sun Tzu Art of War, was written by the famous strategist Sun Wu, a native of today's Zhongmin County in East China's Shandong Province, during the late Spring and Autumn Period (770-476BC).

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

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 of East China's Shandong Province.

The book features very terse language and philosophic contents, as can bee seen from below.

At the very beginning of the book, it makes clear that "the art of war is of vital importance to the state. It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence under no circumstances can it be neglected." Therefore, says the book, the commanders of a war should carefully compare the conditions of the two parties, and "make calculations before the war to win it." The book suggests that generals should spare no money in using spies to fully learn the states of the enemy and stresses that preparedness is essential for war.

Sun Zi advocates maximizing the victory with minimum cost, via his famous all-round victory theory of "subduing the enemy troops without any fighting." The essence of the theory is to attain one's purposes through a series of unmilitary measures like tactics and diplomacy, based of course on military strength. The all-round victory thought constituted an important part in traditional Chinese strategic culture, and became the ideal goal for later militarists to diligently pursue, up to this very day.

In his book, Sun Zi is fully aware of the importance of initiative in the field. His core war theory is to steer clear of the enemy's main strength and strike its weak point. While the theory is universally known as a principle for war, yet Sun Zi's understanding is not limited to the theory's literal meaning; he also takes into account the strength and weakness in a developmental view.

According Sun Zi, the theory does not mean passively waiting; instead, he argues that subjective initiative should be adequately exerted to create favorable situations in the war. Hence there are a lot of tactics and plans to bait the enemy in the book. Sun Zi thinks that if the commanders could properly use tactics and stratagems in the field, delicately maneuver the enemy troops, then the commanders could make their own troop strong and the enemy's weak.

Sun Zi attaches much importance on the management and training of the army, and considers the skills and number of the soldiers as two basic factors that decide the war. It is not an overstatement to say that Sun Zi was the first militarist in China to put management and training on a strategic height.

The central content of Sun's theory in managing the army is to "order the soldiers with civil, and make them uniform with the martial." The generals must care about and treasure their soldiers, but should also implement strict rules and disciplines. Though Sun Zi's theory in managing the military forces is somewhat primitive, it still boasts innovative significance in opening a new and important field.

In addition, the book also talks about military geomorphology (the study of physical features of the earth's surfaces in relation to geological structures), logistics, and forecast. It is fair to say that this book sets up the basic structure of traditional Chinese military theory.

Author: Jeff