The Art of War has been treasured and passed down for 2,500 years. It is the foundation of all modern military and business strategy. Spreading from China to Europe and the rest of the world, the principles of strategy that it teaches continue to transform our planet. Sun Tzu's work is based on the forms of traditional Chinese science that go back centuries before his birth.

Sun Tzu (544-496 BC) wrote the original text shortly before 510 BC. He is a man of mystery. "Sun Tzu" (Sunzi in Pinyin) means simply "Master Sun" in Chinese. Historically, his name was Sun Wu. He lived and worked as a general before China was united by the first Qin emperor.

His text played a large role in shaping ancient China's history. Its introduction led eventually to the unification of China and, strangely enough, to the virtual elimination of war in the area. 

The area in which Sun Tzu's philosophy is taught most consistently is in the Asian martial arts, where its ideas have been preserved throughout martial arts history. In the original Chinese, Sun Tzu's work is known as Bing-fa, which can be translated as "martial arts."

You can learn about the history of the text in the section of our website discussing its history and translation. Various incomplete versions of The Art of War were preserved in China, and one was brought to the West by the French in the 18th century. Supposedly, Napoleon used its strategy to conquer Europe. Its English translations come from a variety of sources, and their quality varies greatly.