By Chris Gent

Important Locations

Sun Tzu was born in 544 B.C.E in the state of Qi (or Ch’i), as many sources believe. He didn’t travel around and didn’t do any trading with any other countries.

Timeline

There are many disputes on the dates of Sun Tzu’s life. In traditional times, his life is listed from 544 B.C.E to 496 B.C.E. His writing period is 722-481, which is the Spring and Autumn Period and is the period when he wrote the Art of War, OR 476 – 221. Nobody knows the exact dates of his life, as their are no real records of his life.

History

It is said that Sun Tzu (who was born Sun Wu) was born into minor nobility in what is now Shandong in Northern China. He received a good education and wrote a military treatise so royalty would notice him and hire him.

History Cont.

Sun Tzu is famous for writing the book “Art of War”, which contains information about the best strategies and positions for war. It was originally 12 chapters but was then expanded to 82 chapters. Sun Tzu used his tactics when he fought in war, and in one war were he was outnumbered 30,000 to 200,000, he still won because of how well his tactics were executed.

History in my words

Sun Wu was born into minor nobility were he received a good education. To get noticed by the royalty class he decided to write a military treatise, and it worked getting him hired as a General. After fighting in many wars, he decided to write the book “Art of War” which includes strategies and tactics for winning wars, not matter how outnumbered you are. It is said that he won a battle when he was outnumbered by 170,000. One hundred years after his death, his name was changed to Sun Tzu as he was a master of Philosophy.

Bibliography

http://www.artofwar.net/china/suntzu.htm Dec 15, 2009

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_Tzu Dec 15, 2009

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_War Dec 16, 2009

http://www.realestateradiousa.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/suntzu2.jpg Dec 16, 2009

http://www.online-literature.com/suntzu/ Dec 16, 2009