Chinese Cultural Studies: Slightly abridged from: Sun Tzu, The
Art of War, ed. James Clavell, (New York: Delacorte Press,
1983), 9-20, repr. In Mark A. Kishlansky, ed., Sources of World
History, Volume I, (New York: HarperCollins CollegePublishers,
1995), pp. 84-88 A much fuller version, with very useful
introductions and discussions, along with commentaries from
other ancient Chinese writers, is available in Sun Tzu, The Art
of War, trans Samuel B, Griffin, (Oxford: Clarendon, 1963; later
pb editions available), pb. another translation, by Lionel
Giles, was available on the Internet. [Kishlansky introduction]
Although almost nothing is known of the life of Sun-tzu, his
tract, The Art of War, has been one of the most influential
military handbooks in world history. Legend has it that he
served the Wu dynasty after being challenged by the emperor to
make an effective army out of his concubines. Sun-tzu placed the
emperor's two favorites at the head of two different files of
concubines and when they failed to d