China's armies have long benefited from this rich strategic tradition, influenced by texts such as Sun Tzu's The Art of War, that have deeply influenced military thought.
[1] Although traditional Chinese Confucian philosophy favoured peaceful political solutions and showed contempt for brute military force, the military was influential in most Chinese states.
Works such as The Art of War have also found a strong following around the world, where they have influenced people as far ranging as the Chinese Communist Party and the former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
The texts were canonized under this name during the 11th century AD, and from the Song dynasty onwards were included in most military encyclopedias.
There were many anthologies with different notations and analyses by scholars throughout the centuries leading up to the present versions in Western publishing.