Seven Chinese Classics on the Art of War

Seven Chinese Classics on the Art of War was seven important military texts of ancient China, which also included Sun Tzu's The Art of War. The texts were canonized under this name during the 11th century, and from the time of the Song Dynasty, were included in most military encyclopedias. For imperial officers, either some or all of the works were required reading to merit promotion, like the requirement for all bureaucrats to learn and know the work of Confucius. There were many...
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Seven Chinese Classics on the Art of War was seven important military texts of ancient China, which also included Sun Tzu's The Art of War. The texts were canonized under this name during the 11th century, and from the time of the Song Dynasty, were included in most military encyclopedias. For imperial officers, either some or all of the works were required reading to merit promotion, like the requirement for all bureaucrats to learn and know the work of Confucius. There were many anthologies with different notations and analyses by scholars throughout the centuries leading up to the present versions in Western publishing. The Kangxi Emperor of the Qing Dynasty commented on the seven military classics, stating, "I have read all of the seven books, among them there are some materials that are not necessarily right, ... and there are superstitious stuff can be used by bad people." Members of the Communist Party of China also studied the texts during the Chinese Civil War as well as many European and American military minds.