Classics of the Ages - Seven Military Classics

Author: Tan Guoqing, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-03-01
Features: Thousands of years of Chinese history have nurtured numerous brilliant military strategists, politicians, strategists, and masters of rhetoric. Chinese military strategy is vast, profound, and deeply admired by the world. The world's first military strategy series—The Seven Military Classics of Wu Jing—is the highest classic of Chinese military strategy. It encompasses the essence of seven ancient military strategies, integrating military tactics, political tactics, 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 Seven Military Classics of Wu Jing was compiled in the fourth month of the third year of Emperor Shenzong's Yuanfeng era in the Song Dynasty, which corresponds to the year 1080 AD. The Imperial Academy's Officer of the Supervisory Office, Zhu Fu, and the Doctor of Military Studies, He Qufei, were commissioned to organize and proofread military strategies from previous dynasties. Through careful selection, the anonymous heroes behind the effort were honored, while the outstanding works were immortalized. Ultimately, seven military texts—The Art of War by Sun Tzu, The Art of War by Wu Tzu, The Methods of the Marquis of Sima, The Writings of, The Six Secrets of War, The Six Writings of the TAO, and The Questions and Answers Between Emperor Taizong and Li Weigong—were chosen and compiled into a book, which was then published to the world.
Subsequently, it was repeatedly engraved and printed, with copies circulated endlessly, becoming a revered text among generations of military strategists. It stands as the crystallization of human life-and-death struggles over millennia and a timeless treasure trove of strategic planning.