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. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

, 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 com ...

''. The texts were

canonized Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christianity, Christian communion declaring a person worthy of Cult (religious practice), public veneration and enterin ...

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

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

, were included in most military

leishu The ''leishu'' () is a genre of reference books historically compiled in China and other East Asian countries. The term is generally translated as "encyclopedia", although the ''leishu'' are quite different from the modern notion of encyclopedi ...

. For imperial officers, either some or all of the works were required reading to merit promotion, like the requirement for all

bureaucrats A bureaucrat is a member of a bureaucracy and can compose the administration of any organization of any size, although the term usually connotes someone within an institution of government. The term ''bureaucrat'' derives from "bureaucracy", w ...

to learn and know the work of

Confucius Confucius ( ; zh, s=, p=Kǒng Fūzǐ, "Master Kǒng"; or commonly zh, s=, p=Kǒngzǐ, labels=no; – ) was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the Spring and Autumn period who is traditionally considered the paragon of Chinese sages. C ...

. There were many

anthologies In book publishing Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed work ...

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 1654– 20 December 1722), also known by his temple name Emperor Shengzu of Qing, born Xuanye, was the third emperor of the Qing dynasty, and the second Qing emperor to rule over China proper, reigning from 1661 to 1 ...

of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

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 Chinese Communist Party (CCP), officially the Communist Party of China (CPC), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). Under the leadership of Mao Zedong, the CCP emerged victoriou ...

also studied the texts during the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...

as well as many European and American military minds. Emperor Shenzong (宋神宗), the sixth emperor of the

, determined which texts would compose this anthology in 1080.

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 ''Six Secret Teachings'' (), is a treatise on civil and military strategy traditionally attributed to Lü Shang (aka Jiang Ziya), a top general of King Wen of Zhou, founder of the Zhou dynasty, at around the eleventh century BC. Modern histo ...

(六韜)'' * ''

The Methods of the Sima ''The Methods of the Sima'' (, also known as ''The Marshal's Art of War'') is a text discussing laws, regulations, government policies, military organization, military administration, discipline, basic values, tactics, and strategy. It is consi ...

(司馬法)'' (also known as ''Sima Rangju Art of War'') *

Sun Tzu Sun Tzu ( ; zh, t=孫子, s=孙子, first= t, p=Sūnzǐ) was a Chinese military general, strategist, philosopher, and writer who lived during the Eastern Zhou period of 771 to 256 BCE. Sun Tzu is traditionally credited as the author of ''The ...

's ''

(孫子兵法)'' * ''

Wu Qi Wu Qi (, 440–381 BC) was a Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** L ...

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' ...

(吳子)'' * ''

Wei Liaozi The ''Wei Liaozi'' () 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, who is said to have ...

(尉繚子)'' * ''

Three Strategies of Huang Shigong The ''Three Strategies of Huang Shigong'' () is a treatise on military strategy that was historically associated with the Taoist hermit Huang Shigong and Han dynasty general Zhang Liang. Huang Shigong gave this treatise to Zhang Liang, that all ...

(黃石公三略)'' * ''

Questions and Replies between Tang Taizong and Li Weigong ''Questions and Replies between Emperor Taizong of Tang and Li Weigong'' () is a fictional dialogue between Emperor Taizong of Tang, Emperor Taizong (AD 599–649) of the Tang Dynasty and Li Jing (Tang dynasty), Li Jing (571-649 AD), a prominen ...

(唐太宗李衛公問對)'' 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 English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

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 possibl ...

'', none of the anthology chapters were regarded as classics.McNeal, Robin. ''Conquer and Govern''. 2012:124.

References

External links

Read the Seven Military Classics at Internet Archive
Chinese classic texts Chinese military texts Series of Chinese books {{mil-book-stub