The Art of War

Somewhere around 500 B.C. General Sun Tzu, originally named Sun Wu, also called Chang Qing, put to writing a collection of essays about how wars should be fought. Sun Tzu was from an ancient Chinese family of Qi, were known as landless aristocrats, a member of the Shi. A landless aristocrat may be someone that lost their land during political consolidations or were lost due to battles. Most Shi of the period travelled as scholars, Sun Tzu worked as a mercenary. In 512 B.C. Sun was hired by the King Helu of Wu as a general. It is believed it was this period that Sun Tzu authored The Art of War.