Sunzi (lived c. 500 BC)

Chinese military strategist and general. Sunzi is reputed to be the author of the Chinese classic work The Art of War (Ping Fa), the earliest known treatise on war and military science. In analysing the political, psychological, and material factors involved in conflict, his aim was not to encourage war but to avoid mutually destructive aggression. His principles have been applied to modern day decision-making and competitive business situations.

Sunzi's precise dates of birth and death are unknown, but he is believed to have been born into a family of army officers in the state of Ch'i, at a time when ancient China was divided into six or seven warring states (approximately from the fifth to the third century BC). His book, written in thirteen chapters, came to the attention of the king of the state of Wu, who successfully put its theories to the test, and appointed Sunzi a general. The Art of War is a systematic guide to the strategy and tactics of how to defeat one's enemy decisively. Sunzi says the ‘supreme act of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting’ – meaning that conquest is best achieved through superior intelligence, attacking the other side's strategy rather than making a potentially costly full frontal attack. It stresses the importance of accurate information about one's own capabilities, about the opponent's forces, and the battle terrain (‘know the enemy and know yourself’), in order to remove the enemy from a state of harmony to one of chaos.