Over two-thousand years ago during a time of war in China a warrior-philosopher emerged and compiled together a book about warfare and strategy. The warrior-philosophers name was Sun-Tzu, and the book he wrote was called the Art of War. The Art of War (also known as Sun Zi Bing Fa in Chinese) is a gathering of various wartime strategies and how to win battles. He wrote about basic war strategies and what was required in a leader. Sun Tzu was an important figure in history because of the strategies he gave for generals and the glimpse of world history he let historians see about ancient China.

            Sun Tzu was born in China around 544B.C.E. He was a great heroic war general for King Wu Helu. After many victories over other kingdoms he compiled together what he knew from firsthand experience and wrote the Art of War. His skills as a general were legendary and his strategies were ingenious. After conquering the state of Chu, Sun Tzu disappeared to live a peaceful quiet life. He died around the year of 496 B.C.E.

            The book The Art of War itself was written in a time of war and unrest known as the Spring and Autumn period. Many small individual kingdoms were scattered all across the nation.  There were few very large kingdoms and each of them was in a state of tension with each other. High mountains, rivers, and valleys separated some areas. There was peace but it didn’t last. China broke into all out warfare that lasted for hundreds of years. This period of time was called the Era of the Warring States that lasted from 476 B.C.E to 221 B.C.E. The book was inspired by Sun Tzu’s own experiences in this time of death and chaos.  The book’s contents explain strategies, army movement, army morality, tactics, and how to battle. Despite the name of the book Sun Tzu actually talks more about winning a battle without fighting than actually fighting. The book offers ways to defend, attack, and trick your opponent so that you gain the advantage and get the upper hand.

            The Art of War gives historians an idea of what China was like in The Era of the Warring States. The strategies Sun Tzu uses and writes about in this book tell about the ideas and feelings people had about the constant warring in this time. By examining his strategies of fighting, which involves very little actual fighting, we can tell that Sun Tzu was a peace loving man and that sheer intimidation and fear can demoralize an opponent enough to win a battle. The way he demoralizes his opponents can speak a lot about the personalities and thought process of one of the regular soldiers fighting on the front lines thus leading to the ideas and fears that people during the time had.

            A single quote in this book stood out to me. It was about how all war is based on deception and that the point of war is to deceive the opponent so he is surprised. “All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when far away, we must make him believe we are near. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.” This doesn’t sound too different from what some people do in our time right now. Socially speaking one sometimes must act the opposite of what they really want so that another person gets a false sense of what’s really going on For example: When one likes someone, to keep the gossipers away from the truth they may stay around another person a lot so it gives a false impression.

            Sun Tzu was an important historical figure. He gave generals and soldiers a way to fight by giving tactics as well as giving historians a glimpse of China by showing the thought process of the soldiers in China. By showing us how and what scares soldiers (who were also common peasants) and what happens when a person is scared Sun Tzu gives an idea of what human nature is like. When we understand our own faults we can learn to better the human race as a whole.

I Am going to turn this in. Please post any helpful suggestions or points thank you.