The Art of War, The Art of War of Sun Bin, Appendix Thirty-Six Stratagems

Author: Sun Wu (Spring and Autumn Period), Sun Bin (Warring States Period)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2000-10-01
Features: The Art of War in three volumes, written by Sun Wu of the Spring and Autumn Period. This book has thirteen chapters passed down to this day, totaling over 7,200 characters. The famous strategic and tactical viewpoints proposed by the author, such as "Know your enemy and know yourself, and you need not fear the result of a hundred battles" and "Attack where the enemy is unprepared and take them by surprise," have become guiding principles in military strategy for over two thousand years. The book summarizes the military writings of the Qin dynasty and is known as the "Holy Classic of Military Studies" and the "World's Ancient Military Texts." It is also the earliest extant military treatise in China. The annotations in the text were written by Cao Cao. Our publishing house used the Song Dynasty Edition of the Art of War with Annotations from Eleven Scholars as the base and incorporated modern research findings for punctuation and organization.
The Art of War of Sun Bin, written by Sun Bin of the Warring States Period, originally had ninety-eight chapters and four volumes of illustrations, with only thirty chapters surviving today, divided into two parts. Like the Art of War, it is a highly esteemed military treatise in Chinese history. Its military viewpoints, such as "Exercise caution in war," "Act only when fully prepared," and "Victory is not diminished by one," have had a profound influence on later military strategists. Chapters marked with〔〕 were added by the bamboo slip restoration team.
The 36 Stratagems, a military text, with the author and publication date unknown. The book is divided into six sets, each containing six stratagems, and is an ancient classic that embodies a simple form of military dialectics.