Sun Tzu was a Chinese general, military strategist, writer and philosopher who lived in the Eastern Zhou period of ancient China. Sun Tzu's victories then inspired him to write The Art of War. The Art of War was one of the most widely read military treatises in the subsequent Warring States period, a time of constant war among seven ancient Chinese states - Zhao, Qi, Qin, Chu, Han, Wei, and Yan - who fought to control the vast expanse of fertile
Background
Sun Tzu was born in 544 B.C. in China. The Spring and Autumn Annals states that Sun Tzu was born in Qi, while Sima Qian's later Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji) states that Sun Tzu was a native of Wu. Both sources agree that Sun Tzu was born in the late Spring and Autumn period. His birth name was Sun Wu and he was known outside of his family by his courtesy name Changqing. According to tradition, Sun Tzu was a member of the shi. The shi were landless Chinese aristocrats who were descendants of nobility who lost their dukedoms during the territorial consolidation of the Spring and Autumn Period.
Career
Sun Tzu worked as a mercenary (similar to a modern military consultant). According to tradition, King Helü of Wu hired Sun Tzu as a general approximately 512 BC after finishing his military famous treatise. What is now known as the The Art of War was entitled Sun Tzu; naming a work after the author was common in China prior to the Qin era. Sun-Tzu served King Ho-Lu of Wu in the Wu-Chu Wars of 512-506 BCE. If Sun-Tzu really did serve Ho-Lu, as is commonly accepted, then the Wu victory at Boju would confirm his importance to Ho-Lu. At the decisive Battle of Boju, Sun-Tzu is said to have led the Wu forces with King Ho-Lu, along with Ho-Lu’s brother Fugai, and defeated the Chu forces through use of his tactics. After his hiring the kingdom of Wu, which had previously been considered a semi-barbaric state, went on to become the most powerful state of the period by conquering Chu, one of the most powerful states in the Spring and Autumn Period.
