of Ts`ao Kung's commentary would have remained cloaked in its
pristine obscurity and therefore valueless.  His work is not
mentioned in the Sung history, the T`UNG K`AO, or the YU HAI, but
it finds a niche in the T`UNG CHIH, which also names him as the
author of the "Lives of Famous Generals." [46]
     It is rather remarkable that the last-named four should all
have flourished within so short a space of time.  Ch`ao Kung-wu
accounts for it by saying:  "During the early years of the Sung
dynasty the Empire enjoyed a long spell of peace, and men ceased
to practice the art of war.  but when [Chao] Yuan-hao's rebellion
came [1038-42] and the frontier generals were defeated time after
time,  the Court made strenuous inquiry for men skilled in war,
and military topics became the vogue amongst all the high
officials.  Hence it is that the commentators of Sun Tzu in our
dynasty belong mainly to that period. [47]

     Besides these eleven commentators, there are several others
whose work has not come down to us.  The SUI SHU mentions four,
namely Wang Ling (often quoted by Tu Yu as Wang Tzu); Chang Tzu-
shang;  Chia Hsu of Wei; [48] and Shen Yu of Wu.  The T`ANG SHU
adds Sun Hao, and the T`UNG CHIH Hsiao Chi, while the T`U SHU
mentions a Ming commentator, Huang Jun-yu.  It is possible that
some of these may have been merely collectors and editors of
other commentaries, like Chi T`ien-pao and Chi Hsieh,  mentioned
above.


Appreciations of Sun Tzu
------------------------


     Sun Tzu has exercised a potent fascination over the minds of
some of China's greatest men.  Among the famous generals who are
known to have studied his pages with enthusiasm may be mentioned
Han Hsin (d. 196 B.C.), [49] Feng I (d. 34 A.D.), [50]  Lu Meng
(d. 219), [51] and Yo Fei (1103-1141). [52]  The opinion of Ts`ao
Kung,  who disputes with Han Hsin the highest place in Chinese
military annals,  has already been recorded.  [53]   Still more
remarkable, in one way, is the testimony of purely literary men,
such as Su Hsun (the father of Su Tung-p`o), who wrote several
essays on military topics,  all of which owe their   chief
inspiration to Sun Tzu.  The following short passage by him is
preserved in the YU HAI: [54] --

       Sun Wu's saying, that in war one cannot make certain of
  conquering,  [55]  is very different indeed from what other
  books tell us. [56]  Wu Ch`i was a man of the same stamp as
  Sun Wu:  they both wrote books on war, and they are linked
  together in popular speech as "Sun and Wu."  But Wu Ch`i's
  remarks on war are less weighty, his rules are rougher and
  more crudely stated, and there is not the same unity of plan
  as in Sun Tzu's work, where the style is terse,  but the
  meaning fully brought out.

     The following is an extract from the "Impartial Judgments in
the Garden of Literature" by Cheng Hou: --

       Sun Tzu's 13 chapters are not only the staple and base
  of all military men's training, but also compel the most
  careful attention of scholars and men of letters.  His
  sayings   are terse yet elegant,  simple   yet   profound,
  perspicuous and eminently practical.  Such works as the LUN
  YU, the I CHING and the great Commentary, [57] as well as the
  writings of Mencius, Hsun K`uang and Yang Chu, all fall below
  the level of Sun Tzu.

     Chu Hsi, commenting on this, fully admits the first part of
the criticism, although he dislikes the audacious comparison with
the venerated classical works.  Language of this sort, he says,
"encourages a ruler's bent towards unrelenting warfare and
reckless militarism."


Apologies for War
-----------------


     Accustomed as we are to think of China as the greatest
peace-loving nation on earth, we are in some danger of forgetting
that her experience of war in all its phases has also been such
as no modern State can parallel.  Her long military annals
stretch back to a point at which they are lost in the mists of
time.  She had built the Great Wall and was maintaining a huge
standing army along her frontier centuries before the first Roman
legionary was seen on the Danube.  What with the perpetual
collisions of the ancient feudal States, the grim conflicts with
Huns,  Turks and other invaders after the centralization of
government,   the terrific upheavals which   accompanied   the
overthrow of so many dynasties, besides the countless rebellions
and minor disturbances that have flamed up and flickered out
again one by one, it is hardly too much to say that the clash of
arms has never ceased to resound in one portion or another of the
Empire.
     No less remarkable is the succession of illustrious captains
to whom China can point with pride.  As in all countries,  the
greatest are fond of emerging at the most fateful crises of her
history.  Thus, Po Ch`i stands out conspicuous in the period when
Ch`in was entering upon her final struggle with the remaining
independent states.  The stormy years which followed the break-up
of the Ch`in dynasty are illuminated by the transcendent genius