The Art of War

9. WANG HSI, SUNG DYNASTY (960-1279 A.D.)
[He] is decidedly original in some of his interpretations, but much less judicious than Mei Yao-ch’ên
and on the whole not a very trustworthy guide. He is fond of comparing his own commentary with
that of Ts’ao Kung, but the comparison is not always flattering to him. We learn from Ch’ao Kung-wu
that Wang Hsi revised the ancient text of Sun Tzu, filling up lacunæ and correcting mistakes.
10. HO YEN-HSI, SUNG DYNASTY (960-1279 A.D.)
[There is some controversy over his personal name and biography.] . . . he appears simply as Ho Shih
in the Yü Hai, and [it has been said] that his personal name is unknown. . . . [His] commentary . . .
“contains helpful additions” here and there, but is chiefly remarkable for the copious extracts taken,
in adapted form, from the dynastic histories and other sources.
11. CHANG Yü, LATE SUNG DYNASTY?
The list closes with a commentator of no great originality perhaps, but gifted with admirable powers
of lucid exposition. His commentary is based on that of Ts’ao Kung, whose terse sentences he
contrives to expand and develop in masterly fashion. Without Chang Yü, it is safe to say that much of
Ts’ao Kung’s commentary would have remained cloaked in its pristine obscurity and therefore
valueless. His work . . . finds a niche in the T’ung Chih, [a literary history] which also names him as
the author of the “Lives of Famous Generals.”
It is rather remarkable that the last-named four should all have flourished within so short a space of
time. Ch’ao Kung-wu accounts for it by saying,

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During the early years of the Sung dynasty the Empire enjoyed a long spell of peace, and men
ceased to practise the art of war. But when [Chao] Yüan-hao’s rebellion came (1038-42) and the
frontier generals were defeated time after time, the Court made strenuous enquiry for men
skilled in war, and military topics became the vogue amongst all the high officials. Hence it is
that the commentators of Sun Tzu in our dynasty belong mainly to that period.

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FOR FURTHER READING
The first thing to know about Sun Tzu, author of The Art of War, is that he would be amazed and
horrified to learn that you are reading his book! As Burton Watson, the great translator of classical
Chinese and Japanese literature, points out, it was assumed in ancient China “that anyone to whom the
text was transmitted would receive instruction in its meaning when he received the text.” Writing still
carried the charge of the supernatural, of sacred knowledge. Only a warrior scholar could have
composed this text, and only those who were initiated could have received it. The following list of
books and sources is offered for today’s readers who would like to gain a deeper comprehension of
The Art of War in the fullness of how it should be understood.
When Sun Tzu composed his treatise, wars were dictated by kings and run by elites. The world
over, they were fought for territory or other gain. Education was predicated on knowledge of the
“classics” that, West or East, focused in large part on a literature bound up in tales of war.
Thoroughgoing training in strategy was part of a proper education, and dabbling in military history
was a common hobby of members of the upper classes and informed their rhetorical oratory.
The education of the upper classes continued to emphasize the classics and war through the late
nineteenth century, when our translator, Lionel Giles, began his singular work in England. While he
labored to bridge the vast differences in history, language, and customs between his readers and Sun
Tzu, Giles was in important respects working from a similar mind-set: He was well-read in the
classics of Greece and Rome, deeply trained in military history, and aware of the foibles of
contemporary politics and policies—not to mention being a great sinologist in his own right and the
son of another.
But today, as armchair warriors, we must search Western and Eastern sources for the references that
will bring Sun Tzu’s text to meaningful life. This list of suggested sources, which ranges over a
number of disciplines, includes works written by the founders of Western civilized thought at the time
Sun Tzu was composing The Art of War and works with insights into the lives of those who fight. The
section concludes with a list of Internet sources that lead through hyperlinks to a suite of related
disciplines, and films that offer graphic depictions of the complexities of the ancient Asian warrior
ethic.