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Sun Tzu 
Sun Tzu ("Master Sun"), an honorific title bestowed upon Sūn Wǔ (c. 544 BC - 496 BC), was one of the earliest realists in international relations theory, and the author of The Art of War, an immensely influential Chinese book on military strategy. Historians, however, debate whether Sun Tzu was a real historical figure.
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2. Supposedly born in the state of Qi (today's Huimin County in Shandong) [1] during the Spring and Autumn Period of China (722–481 BC), Sun Tzu descended from a Chinese scholar-military family. He was a farmer by profession and a self-taught philosopher. Because his grandfather was a military general, Sun Tzu enjoyed the unique advantage of having full access to rare military books, and spent a lot of time looking for extraordinary strategies in the ordinary world around him.[2]
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3. Around 532 BC, Sun Tzu, then in his late teens, escaped to Wu (south of today’s Shanghai) after his warrior-father rebelled against the ruling royalty and hid out for 20 years.[2] As a young man, he wrote his Sunzi Bingfa (bing meaning soldier, and fa meaning skill, the combination having been translated throughout the centuries as The Art of War) as a resume, in the hopes of getting a job as King He Lu's (King of Wu) military commander.[2] Thus, Sun Tzu was not a military man when he wrote his art of war treatise.[2]
| Lost History – Sun Tzu & The Art of War (Video credit: tokarski21) |
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4. The Spring and Autumn Annals of Wu and Yue states:
Sun Tzu excelled at military strategy but dwelled in secrecy far away from civilization, so ordinary people did not know of his ability. Wu Tzu-hsu [King Ho-lu’s advisor], himself enlightened, wise, and skilled in discrimination, knew Sun Tzu could penetrate and destroy the enemy. One morning when he was discussing military affairs, he recommended Sun Tzu seven times. King He Lu said: “Since you have found an excuse to advance this shih, I want to have him brought in.” He questioned Sun Tzu about military strategy, and each time he laid out a section of his book. The king could not praise him enough.
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5. King He Lu hired Sun Tzu as his military commander and in 506 BC,[1] Sun defeated the Kingdom of Zhou which had a contingent of 200,000 men, with only 20,000 men. Puffed with arrogance, the king began to ignore Sun Tzu's counsel and was fatally wounded during a battle against the army of Yue in 496 BC. After his death, his son, Fu Chai succeeded him.[1] Like his father, King Fu Chai initially heeded Sun Tzu's counsel but after defeating the Yue army at Fujiao ((now Wu County, Jiangsu) ) in 494 BC and the subsequent surrender of King Goujian in Mount Kuaiji, he began to disregard Sun Tzu's counsel.[1] Sun Tzu subsequently gave up his position on the excuse of returning to Qi to attend to his sick mother and thus, lived a quiet life thereafter.[1] more... at Wikipedia
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