Master Wu: The Art of War of Wu Qi

Wu Qi never lost a battle. A general of Wei and later a reforming minister of Chu, he was said to have fought seventy-six engagements, winning sixty-four and drawing the rest, and to have sucked the pus from a common soldier's wound. His short book, in dialogues with Marquis Wu of Wei, teaches that the state must first be ordered and the people united before an army is raised; it then turns to assessing the enemy, controlling the troops, the qualities of a general, responding to changing situations and encouraging the officers. One of the Seven Military Classics, often paired with Sun Wu. This complete new English translation gives all six chapters. Names are given in modern pinyin and technical terms are rendered plainly, so the text reads straight through in natural English, for students of strategy, history and leadership alike.