Ancient Chinese military thoughts and inventions as well as famous strategists have contributed a lot to the Chinese military civilization.

Ancient Chinese military thoughts

Based on the reasonable understanding of wars and military problems in the slavery and feudalism societies. ancient Chinese military thoughts experienced a consistent development in the past thousands of years with the advancement of the society.

Sun Zi Art of War

Sun Zi Bing Fa. also known asSun Tzu Art of War. was written by the famous strategist Sun Wu. a native of today`s Zhongmin County in East China`sShandong Province. during the lateSpring and Autumn Period(770-476BC).

Sun Zi Art of Waris the world`s earliest military book extant in China and militarists all over the world have paid much attention to the book (which has been translated into several languages) from its very beginning. At the beginning of theTang Dynasty(618-907). it was introduced into Japan. After the Song Dynasty (960-1279). it was listed as the first book of the Seven Military Classics. The book was introduced into Europe and America in modern times. It is said that after Napoleon was defeated in war. he regretted that he had not earlier read this book.

In April 1972. bamboo slips versions ofSun Zi Bing Fa andSun Bin Bing Fa were discovered in the No.1 Tomb of the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD) in the Yinyue Mountain in Linyi of East China`s Shandong Province.

The book features very terse language and philosophic contents. as can bee seen from below.

At the very beginning of the book. it makes clear that ``the art of war is of vital importance to the state. It is a matter of life and death. a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence under no circumstances can it be neglected.`` Therefore. says the book. the commanders of a war should carefully compare the conditions of the two parties. and ``make calculations before the war to win it.`` The book suggests that generals should spare no money in using spies to fully learn the states of the enemy and stresses that preparedness is essential for war.

Sun Zi advocates maximizing the victory with minimum cost. via his famous all-round victory theory of ``subduing the enemy troops without any fighting.`` The essence of the theory is to attain one`s purposes through a series of unmilitary measures like tactics and diplomacy. based of course on military strength. The all-round victory thought constituted an important part in traditional Chinese strategic culture. and became the ideal goal for later militarists to diligently pursue. up to this very day.

In his book. Sun Zi is fully aware of the importance of initiative in the field. His core war theory is to steer clear of the enemy`s main strength and strike its weak point. While the theory is universally known as a principle for war. yet Sun Zi`s understanding is not limited to the theory`s literal meaning; he also takes into account the strength and weakness in a developmental view.

According Sun Zi. the theory does not mean passively waiting; instead. he argues that subjective initiative should be adequately exerted to create favorable situations in the war. Hence there are a lot of tactics and plans to bait the enemy in the book. Sun Zi thinks that if the commanders could properly use tactics and stratagems in the field. delicately maneuver the enemy troops. then the commanders could make their own troop strong and the enemy`s weak.

Sun Zi attaches much importance on the management and training of the army. and considers the skills and number of the soldiers as two basic factors that decide the war. It is not an overstatement to say that Sun Zi was the first militarist in China to put management and training on a strategic height.

The central content of Sun`s theory in managing the army is to ``order the soldiers with civil. and make them uniform with the martial.`` The generals must care about and treasure their soldiers. but should also implement strict rules and disciplines. Though Sun Zi`s theory in managing the military forces is somewhat primitive. it still boasts innovative significance in opening a new and important field.

In addition. the book also talks about military geomorphology (the study of physical features of the earth`s surfaces in relation to geological structures). logistics. and forecast. It is fair to say that this book sets up the basic structure of traditional Chinese military theory.

Sun Bin Art of War

Sun Bin Bing Fa (Sun Bin Art of War). a famous book on military tactics in ancient China. was another masterpiece of the Sun Zi School afterSun Zi Bing Fa(Sunzi Art of War). This book. calledQi Sun Ziin ancient times. was written by Sun Bin. who was said to be a descendant of Sun Wu. Among the military commanders in theWarring States Period(475-221BC). Sun Bin was famous for his tactics. He and Wu Qi were renowned militarists of that time.

The earliest record of Sun Bin`s military tactics was found in theShi Ji(TheRecords of the Great Historian). Based on research. reportedly Sun Bin`s book became lost approximately before theTang Dynasty(618-907). with no sign of it surfacing for over a thousand years.

Amazingly. however. in February 1972. the book in the form of bamboo slips was discovered in the No.1 Tomb of theHan Dynasty(206BC-220AD) in the Yinque Mountain in Linyi of East China`sShandong Province. meaning that the long-lostSun Bin Bing Fawas available again.

After the careful rearrangement. the bamboo slips version of the book was divided into two sections. The first section includes 15 articles fromQi Sun Zi. while the second section cannot be determined as part ofQi Sun Ziat present. The bamboo slips version is incomplete.

Ancient Chinese military inventions

The inventions of ancient weapon have greatly boosted ancient China's military might.

Gunpowder

The invention of gunpowder had a close relationship with the advanced ancient workmanship of smelting industry. People began to know a lot of chemistry knowledge about the nature of different mineral materials during the process of smelting operation. With the knowledge. ancient necromancers tried to seek the elixir of immortality from certain kinds of ores and fuel. Although they failed to get what they were looking for. they discovered that an explosive mixture could be produced by combining sulfur. charcoal. and saltpeter (potassium nitrate). This mixture finally led to the invention of gunpowder although its exact date of invention still remains unknown.