Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu (;) may have been a Chinese military general, strategist, philosopher, and writer who lived during the Eastern Zhou period (771–256 BC). Sun Tzu is traditionally credited as the author of ''The Art of War'', a Classical Chinese text on military strategy from the Warring States period, though the earliest parts of the work probably date to at least a century after his purported death.

Sun Tzu is revered in Chinese and East Asian culture as a legendary historical and military figure; however, his historical existence is uncertain. The Han dynasty historian Sima Qian and other traditional Chinese historians placed him as a minister to King Helü of Wu and dated his lifetime to 544–496 BC. The name ''Sun Tzu''by which he is more popularly knownis an honorific which means "Master Sun". His birth name was said to be Sun Wu () and he is posthumously known by his courtesy name Changqing (). Traditional accounts state that the general's descendant Sun Bin wrote a treatise on military tactics, also titled ''The Art of War''. Since both Sun Wu and Sun Bin were referred to as "Sun Tzu" in classical Chinese texts, some historians believed them identical, prior to the rediscovery of Sun Bin's treatise in 1972. Provided by Wikipedia