Little is known of Sun-tsu or master Su, author of the Taoist classic The Art of War. We do know he was a member of the landless aristocracy who had lost their lands during the early Spring and Autumn period. Unlike other members of his class however, who eked out a living as wandering academics, Sun-tsu was a mercenary for the state of Wu during the 6th century BC and was thus a contemporary of Kung-fu-tsu. According to tradition, King Helü of Wu hired Sun Tzu as a general in approximately 512 BC after finishing his military treatise, the Sun Tzu (named after the author, as was common in China prior to the Qin era). After his hiring, the kingdom of Wu, previously considered a semi-barbaric state, went on to become the most powerful state of the period by conquering Chu, one of the most powerful states in the Spring…