The Seven Military Classics () were seven important military texts of ancient

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, which also included Sun-tzu's ''

The Art of War ''The Art of War'' is an ancient Chinese military treatise dating from the late Spring and Autumn period (roughly 5th century BC). The work, which is attributed to the ancient Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu ("Master Sun"), is compos ...

''. The texts were

canonized Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of sa ...

under this name during the 11th century AD, and from the time of the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...

, were included in most military '' leishu''. Emperor Shenzong, the sixth emperor of the

, determined which texts would be included in this anthology in 1080. For imperial officers, either some or all of the works were required reading to merit promotion, like the requirement for all bureaucrats to learn and know the work of

Confucius Confucius (; pinyin: ; ; ), born Kong Qiu (), was a Chinese philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. Much of the shared cultural heritage of the Sinosphere originates in the phil ...

. ''The Art of War'' was translated into Tangut with commentary.

List

According to Ralph D. Sawyer and Mei-chün Sawyer, who created one of the latest translations, the Seven Military Classics include the following texts: * Jiang Ziya (Taigong)'s '' Six Secret Teachings'' * '' The Methods of the Sima'' (also known as ''Sima Rangju Art of War'') *

Sun Tzu Sun Tzu (; zh, t=孫子, s=孙子, first= t, p=Sūnzǐ) may have been a Chinese General, military general, strategist, philosopher, and writer who lived during the Eastern Zhou period (771–256 BC). Sun Tzu is traditionally credited as the au ...

's ''

'' *

Wu Qi Wu Qi (, 440–381 BC) was a Chinese military general, philosopher, and politician during the Warring States period. Biography Born in the Wey (state), State of Wey (), he was skilled in leading armies and military strategy. He had served in th ...

's ''

Wuzi The ''Wuzi'' is a classic Chinese work on military strategy attributed to Wu Qi. It is considered one of China's Seven Military Classics. It is said there were two books on the art of war by Wu Qi, but one was lost, hence leaving the ''Wuzi'' ...

'' * ''

Wei Liaozi The ''Wei Liaozi'' ( zh, t=尉繚子) is a text on military strategy, one of the Seven Military Classics of ancient China. It was written during the Warring States period. History and authorship The work is purportedly named after Wei Liao, w ...

'' * '' Three Strategies of Huang Shigong'' * '' Questions and Replies between Tang Taizong and Li Weigong'' There are no other known variations of the Seven Military Classics anthology with alternating members but the constituent works themselves have had many multiple versions, especially ''The Art of War'', which has had at least several dozen different translations to English in the 20th century alone. Despite prominence of military texts in the ''

Yi Zhou shu The ''Yi Zhou Shu'' () is a compendium of Chinese historical documents about the Western Zhou period (1046–771 BCE). Its textual history began with a (4th century BCE) text/compendium known as the ''Zhou Shu'' ("Book of Zhou"), which was possib ...

'', none of the anthology chapters were regarded as classics.

Influence

There were many anthologies with different notations and analyses by scholars throughout the centuries leading up to the present versions in Western publishing. The

Kangxi Emperor The Kangxi Emperor (4 May 165420 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, personal name Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper. His reign of 61 ...

of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

commented on the seven military classics, stating, "I have read all of the seven books, among them there are some materials that are not necessarily right and there are superstitious stuff can be used by bad people." Members of the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

also studied the texts during the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led Nationalist government, government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Armed conflict continued intermitt ...

as well as many European and American military minds. ''The Art of War'' was studied by warring Japanese clans during internal civil wars such as the

Genpei War The was a national civil war between the Taira clan, Taira and Minamoto clan, Minamoto clans during the late Heian period of Japan. It resulted in the downfall of the Taira and the establishment of the Kamakura shogunate under Minamoto no Yori ...

, the

Sengoku Jidai The was the period in History of Japan, Japanese history in which civil wars and social upheavals took place almost continuously in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Kyōtoku incident (1454), Ōnin War (1467), or (1493) are generally chosen as th ...

, and the

Boshin War The , sometimes known as the Japanese Revolution or Japanese Civil War, was a civil war in Japan fought from 1868 to 1869 between forces of the ruling Tokugawa shogunate and a coalition seeking to seize political power in the name of the Impe ...

in Japan. Chinese military works like Su Shu, San Liu, ''Six Secret Teachings'' and ''Art of War'' were translated into Manchu. Manchus used Manchu translations of the Chinese novel ''

Romance of the Three Kingdoms ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' () is a 14th-century historical novel attributed to Luo Guanzhong. It is set in the turbulent years towards the end of the Han dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period in Chinese history, starting in 184 AD and ...

'' to learn military strategy.

References

External links

Read the Seven Military Classics at Internet Archive
{{Confucian texts Chinese classic texts Chinese military texts Series of Chinese books