The Art of War by active 6th century B.C. Sunzi

Feng Hou, with exegetical notes by Kung-sun Hung of the Han dynasty (_d_. 121 B.C.), and said to have been eulogized by the celebrated general Ma Lung (_d_. 300 A.D.). Yet the earliest mention of it is in the _Sung Chih_. Although a forgery, the work is well put together. Considering the high popular estimation in which Chu-ko Liang has always been held, it is not surprising to find more than one work on war ascribed to his pen. Such are (1) the _Shih Liu Ts’e_ (1 _chuan_), preserved in the _Yung Lo Ta Tien;_ (2) _Chiang Yuan_ (1 _chuan_); and (3) _Hsin Shu_ (1 _chuan_), which steals wholesale from Sun Tzŭ. None of these has the slightest claim to be considered genuine. Most of the large Chinese encyclopedias contain extensive sections devoted to the literature of war. The following references may be found useful:— _T’ung Tien_ (circa 800 A.D.), ch. 148-162. _T’ai P’ing Yu Lan_ (983), ch. 270-359. _Wen Hsien Tung K’ao_ (13th cent.), ch. 221. _Yu Hai_ (13th cent.), ch. 140, 141. _San Ts’ai T’u Hui_ (16th cent). _Kuang Po Wu Chih_ (1607), ch. 31, 32. _Ch’ien Ch’io Lei Shu_ (1632), ch. 75. _Yuan Chien Lei Han_ (1710), ch. 206-229. _Ku Chin T’u Shu Chi Ch’eng_ (1726), section XXX, esp. ch. 81-90. _Hsu Wen Hsien T’ung K’ao_ (1784), ch. 121-134. _Huang Ch’ao Ching Shih Wen Pien_ (1826), ch. 76, 77. The bibliographical sections of certain historical works also deserve mention:— _Ch’ien Han Shu_, ch. 30. _Sui Shu_, ch. 32-35. _Chiu T’ang Shu_, ch. 46, 47. _Hsin T’ang Shu_, ch. 57,60. _Sung Shih_, ch. 202-209. _T’ung Chih_ (circa 1150), ch. 68. To these of course must be added the great Catalogue of the Imperial Library:— _Ssu K’u Ch’uan Shu Tsung Mu T’i Yao_ (1790), ch. 99, 100. Footnotes