China's Classics · Timeless Selections. The Seven Military Classics

Author: Tan Guoqing
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-03-01
Features: Thousands of years of Chinese history have nurtured numerous brilliant military strategists, politicians, strategists, and masters of diplomacy. Chinese military strategy is vast and profound, admired and noted by the world. The world's first military strategy series——《Wujing Qiushi (Seven Military Classics of the State), is the highest classic of Chinese military studies and strategy. It encompasses the essence of seven ancient military strategies, integrating military tactics, political strategy, wisdom of talent, leadership cultivation, diplomatic maneuvering, and rhetoric. It is considered the most authoritative and representative military strategy of ancient times, regarded as the "strategy of strategies." Truly a treasure of China, a pride of the nation, and a great legacy of the world.
The Wujing Qiushi was compiled in the fourth month of the third year of Emperor Shenzong's Yuanfeng era (April 1080). Scholars such as Zhu Fu of the Guozijian and He Qifei, a doctoral scholar of military studies, were commissioned by the emperor to organize and proofread ancient military texts. Sifting through the sands, the credit goes to nameless heroes, while those who achieved fame are the gems of military strategy. Later, seven works—Sunzi, Wuzi, Sima Fa, Wu Liezi, Sanzhao, Lütao, and Tang Taizong Li Weigong Wen Duie—were selected and compiled into a book, which was published to the world. Subsequently, it was repeatedly engraved and printed, copied endlessly, and revered by generations of military strategists. It has become the crystallization of human life-and-death struggles over millennia and a classic of strategic planning.