The Art of War · Chapter
The Text of Sun Tzǔ explained
This chapter traces the textual history of Sun Tzǔ's Art of War, from its early circulation in the Han dynasty through the discovery of Chi Tʽien-pao's lost edition by Sun Hsing-yen in the 18th century.
What happens
This chapter traces the textual history of Sun Tzǔ's Art of War, from its early circulation in the Han dynasty through the discovery of Chi Tʽien-pao's lost edition by Sun Hsing-yen in the 18th century. It details the challenges of textual corruption, the role of early encyclopedias like the Tʽung Tien and Tʽai Pʽing Yü Lan in preserving fragments, and the scholarly efforts to reconstruct a reliable standard text.
Themes in this chapter
Self-Knowledge and Preparation
The chapter emphasizes the importance of knowing the textual history and preparing a reliable edition for military study.
Leadership and Discipline
The scholarly discipline of textual criticism and the leadership of Sun Hsing-yen in restoring the text reflect this theme.
Characters to notice
- Sun Tzǔ
Author of the Art of War; his text is the subject of the chapter's textual history.
- Ssǔ-ma Chʽien
Early historian who attested to the '13 chapters' being essentially the same as those extant.
- Sun Hsing-yen
Qing scholar who discovered Chi Tʽien-pao's lost edition and produced the standard text.
- Tsʽao Kung
First commentator on Sun Tzǔ; his edition is referenced as a key early source.
- Tu Yu
Compiler of the Tʽung Tien, which contains an early fragmented version of Sun Tzǔ's text.
- Chêng Yu-hsien
Author of the I Shuo, appended to Chi Tʽien-pao's edition and believed lost until rediscovered.
- Capt. E. F. Calthrop
His first edition printed a version of the text that filtered through Japanese channels.
- Chi Tʽien-pao
Compiler of the 10-commentary edition; his work was long lost and later rediscovered by Sun Hsing-yen.
Key passages
“During the Chʽin and Han dynasties Sun Tzǔ’s Art of War was in general use amongst military commanders, but they seem to have treated it as a work of mysterious import, and were unwilling to expound it for the benefit of posterity.”
In the Chʽin and Han periods, Sun Tzǔ's work was widely used by generals, but they regarded it as esoteric and refrained from explaining it to later generations.
Sun Hsing-yen's preface describes the early reception of the text.
“Thus it came about that Wei Wu was the first to write a commentary on it.”
Consequently, Tsʽao Kung (Wei Wu) became the first person to produce a commentary on the Art of War.
Highlights Tsʽao Kung's pioneering role in textual exegesis.
“Fortunately, two versions of Sun Tzǔ , even older than the newly discovered work, were still extant, one buried in the Tʽung Tien , Tu Yu’s great treatise on the Constitution, the other similarly enshrined in the Tʽai Pʽing Yü Lan encyclopedia.”
Luckily, two even older copies of Sun Tzǔ survived, one embedded in Tu Yu's Tʽung Tien and the other in the Tʽai Pʽing Yü Lan encyclopedia.
These early transcripts were crucial for textual reconstruction.