Sūnzǐ （孙子）— Ancestor of the Chinese Military

Sūnzǐ (also called Sūnwǔ 孙武)，born in Qíguó (齐国 now Shandong Province) and worked as a general in Wúguó ( 吴国 now Jiangsu Province) during the Spring & Autumn Period (about 2,500 years ago), is famous on the scroll of fame not only in China but also all over the world for his book “the Art of War” (Sūnzǐ Bīng Fǎ 孙子兵法) . Although his theory was about strategic offenses and management of military affairs, his strategic principles and regulations affect the management of the world, not only in military, enterprises but also in economic operations. There is a very famous saying in his book, “知己知彼，百战不殆 zhī jǐ zhī bǐ, bǎi zhàn bú dài"，which means if you know clearly both yourself and your enemy, you won’t be defeated even for 100 battles.

Sūnzǐ was not only a military writer, he was an excellent general as well. Here is an interesting story about how Sūnzǐ trained women soldiers. Once, after reading Sūnzǐ’s books, the king of Wúguó enjoyed Sūnzǐ’s theory, but he didn’t believe it was practical and he doubted whether Sūnzǐ had ability in military instruction, management and operations. So he let Sūnzǐ train a group of 180 women soldiers who were composed of maids of honor and belles in the palace. Sūnzǐ divided these girls into two teams, appointing the two most beautiful ones, who were loved by the king, as the team leaders and showing them how to practice drills. But as Sūnzǐ gave his order, the girls stood there motionlessly. They not only kept motionless, but were giggling and laughing. Then Sūnzǐ ordered his men to take the two leaders out and kill them. The king was about to interfere, but was stopped immediately by Sūnzǐ . The other girls were really shocked and no one dared to disobey Sūnzǐ’s order any more. In the next drills, they followed Sūnzǐ’s instructions and practiced seriously and did their jobs very well.

The king was angry about Sūnzǐ’s killing his favorites but he had to accept the fact that Sūnzǐ was also a master of military management. He put Sūnzǐ in the important post of instructing and training the army. Under the guidance of Sūnzǐ, Wúguó’s troops were trained very well and Wúguó was getting stronger and stronger. At the end of the Spring & Autumn Period, Wúguó became the overlord among all seigneurs.

Today, Sūnzǐ’s book, “The Art of War” is still widely recognized in the military and in business strategy. The United States West Point Military Academy uses it as one of the required subjects. A famous Japanese banker read the book so seriously that he used Sūnzǐ’s theory in a contest of banking purchases and won the competition. Many Chinese entrepreneurs concentrate on their management by using Sūnzǐ’s Five Morals — 智、信、仁、勇、严 zhì，xìn，rén，yǒng，yán (Wisdom, Trust, Humanity, Gallantry and Strictness) as their doctrine, which can effectively strengthen those Chinese enterprises in their position in the global economy. Sūnzǐ is regarded as a military ancestor of China. His book “the Art of War” is not only a valuable heritage of the Chinese people but has become one of China’s contributions to the world.