The Art of War

The Art of War, literally The Laws of War by Master Sun is the most famous ancient Chinese treatise, dedicated to a military strategy and policy, written by Sun Tzu. The treatise by Sun Tzu influenced crucially on a whole military art of the East. Although it is the first treatise on the military art, it includes clearly expressed common principles of strategy as well as tactics. A special place in a military theoretical literature belongs to comments on Sun Tzu, the earliest of which appeared in the Han era (206-220 AD), and the new ones are still being created...

The traditional story of Lao-Tzu is that he was a 6th-century B.C.E. philosopher and teacher in China. Indeed, his very name means 'Old Master.' Lao-Tzu was a keeper of records for the Zhou Dynasty while he also taught philosophy to any who would listen. One of these, purportedly, was the giant of Chinese philosophy, Confucius, who in his own writings speaks of meeting with Lao-Tzu.

The Art of War is divided into 13 chapters:

Laying Plans

Waging War

Attack by Stratagem

Tactical Dispositions

Use of Energy

Weak Points and Strong

Maneuvering an Army

Variation of Tactics

The Army on the March

Classification of Terrain

The Nine Situations

Attack by Fire

Use of Spies