History's Battles

Question: 

Did Sun Tzu's book "The Art of War" help win any battles?

Gary's Answer: 

Sun Tzu’s teaching led to the right of the ancient Chinese kingdom of Wu to local dominance during his lifetime. Wu continued to rise after Sun Tzu’s death, reaching its peak about fifteen years later (see this article for a timeline on the major events during the Spring and Autumn Period).

This new way of viewing competition led to a period of consolidation in Chinese history. This was known as the Warring States period. We know that Sun Tzu’s methods were popular because his Sun Ping of Chi was an active player. This period led o the foundation of the Empire of China, where Chin, another kingdom of the period, was able to absorb the rest (see this article on Sun Tzu history).

Before the work was banned to the common people in China, it also led to the founding of the practice of what we now know as the “martial arts”. (See this article).

When the first translations of the work came West, many believe that it led directly to the success of Napoleon. It was first published in France about the time Napoleon was in training and Napoleon was known to carry a book called “The Art of War”, though people of the time believed it was Machiavelli's work of the same name (see this article).

Sun Tzu’s work is currently taught in all major military schools all over the world and has been for over a hundred years. Sun Tzu dealt with the only timeless weapon in competition: the human mind.