Chinese Classics: Timeless Literary Selections: The Seven Military Classics

Author: Tan Guoqing
Publisher:
Publish 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 Qi Shu (Seven Military Classics) is the highest classic of Chinese military studies. It encompasses the essence of seven ancient military strategies, integrating military tactics, political tactics, wisdom of talent, leadership cultivation, diplomatic maneuvering, and persuasive speaking. It is considered the most authoritative and representative military strategy in 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 Qi Shu was compiled in the fourth month of the third year of Emperor Shenzong's Yuanfeng era (April 1080). Under the imperial order, Zhu Fu, the Supervisor of the Imperial Academy, and He Qufei, the Doctor of Military Studies, were tasked with organizing and reviewing the military strategies of previous dynasties. Through meticulous selection, the of the were honored, and the finest military strategies were immortalized. In the end, seven works—The Art of War by Sun Tzu, The Art of War by Wu Tzu, The Methods of Sima, The Art of War by Yu Lie, The Six Stratagems, The Six Wives, and The Questions and Answers Between Emperor Taizong and Li Hui Gong—were selected and compiled into a book, which was published to the world.
Thereafter, it was repeatedly printed and copied, never ceasing to be revered by generations of military strategists. It became the crystallization of human life-and-death struggles over millennia and a treasure trove of strategic planning.