Sun Tzu (l. c. 500 BCE) was a Chinese military strategist and general best known as the author of the work The Art of War, a treatise on military strategy (also known as The Thirteen Chapters). He was associated (formally or as an inspiration) with The School of the Military, one of the philosophical systems of the Hundred Schools of Thought of the Spring and Autumn Period (c. 772-476 BCE), which advocated military preparedness in maintaining peace and social order. Whether an individual by the name of Sun-Tzu existed at all has been disputed in the same way scholars and historians debate the existence of his supposed contemporary Lao-Tzu (l. c. 500 BCE), the Taoist philosopher. The existence of The Art of War, however, and its profound influence since publication clearly proves that someone existed to produce said work, and tradition holds that the work was written by one Sun-Tzu. His historicity would seem to have been confirmed by the discovery in 1972 CE of his work, as well as that of his apparent descendant, Sun Bin (d. 316 BCE) who wrote another Art of War, in a tomb in Linyi (Shandong province). Scholars who challenge his historicity, however, still claim that this proves nothing as the earlier Art of War could still have been composed by someone other than Sun-Tzu. Sun-Tzu is said to have lived, fought, and composed his work during the Spring and Autumn Period which preceded the Warring States Period (c. 481-221 BCE) during which the Zhou Dynasty (1046-256 BCE) was declining and the states once bound to it fought each other for supremacy and control of China. In the early part of the Spring and Autumn Period, Chinese warfare followed traditional protocol in chivalric behavior before, during, and after an engagement. As the era wore on, however, this adherence to tradition became increasingly frustrating in that no state could gain an advantage over another because each was following exactly the same protocol and employing the same tactics. Sun-Tzu's work sought to break this stalemate by outlining a clear strategy of winning decisively by whatever means were necessary. His concepts may have been derived from earlier philosophies or may have been based on his own experience in battle. Either way, his theories were put into practice by the king of the state of Qin, Ying Sheng (l. 259-210 BCE) who, by following Sun-Tzu's philosophy, conquered the other states through a policy of total war and established the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE), declaring himself Shi Huangdi (r. 221-210 BCE), the first emperor of China. Sun-Tzu's work has been consulted by military figures and business strategists since this time and, in the present day, its lessons on how to achieve one's goals continue to be valued by people of all social classes and occupations.
