Imagine an army of 30,000 defeating an enemy of 200,000! If it is still considered unbelievable today, it should be a miracle 2 millennia and 5 centuries ago, when it indeed happened in a battle between the ancient Wu and Chu states in China. And the explanation of this miracle is found in a book called The Art of War.

The Art of War, internationally recognized as the earliest theoretical work on military strategy and a sparkling gem in the treasure of the Chinese cultural heritage, is commonly attributed to Sun Wu, or Sun Tzu, who lived during the ancient Warring States Period. With the thought expounded in this book, Sun did not only secure himself the position of the Chief General of the ancient Wu State, but also helped develop the state from a comparatively weak one into a great military power.

Sun Tzu has been acclaimed as "the martial saint" and "the originator of military strategy" over the last 2,500 years. His work, Art of War, featuring precision in concise language, profundity and breadth of meaning, and a sound philosophy in itself, has always been recommended everywhere in the world ever since it was known, respected as "the classic script of strategics" and "the holy book on warfare". The historian, Sima Qian of the Han Dynasty remarked in his Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian): "When it comes to the way of military command and maneuvering in the general sense, the commonly referred work is Sun's thirteen collections of bamboo slip writing."

In 2006, a brand-new edition of this "holy book on warfare" was again published by Guwuxuan Publishing House in its very birthplace, namely Suzhou in Jiangsu Province. Under the title of A Treasure Book of Art of War, it contains 7 different versions of the original work, with each representing a typical form of edition in different times and modes of printing, including the Yinqueshan bamboo slip writing, considered till date as the earliest form of the work extant, as well as the latest rubbed printing of the inscription of a new English translation. As clarified by Suzhou International Sun Tzu's Art of War Research Center, the undertaker of the compiling project, the brand-new book "gives the emphasis on the original editing styles of the above mentioned reproductions, with their original appearances preserved without changes and additional annotations", with the purpose "to keep their original tastes".

As regards the significance of the new edition, Mr. Koichiro Matsuura, the General Secretary of UNESCO remarked: "This is a very lovely volume, of interest to scholars because it includes the different known versions of his text, and is accessible to a wide audience on account of the excellent English translation."

Indeed, it may well be expected that new editions, translations and annotations of the same original text of Sun's Art of War will continue to appear in future, for it is certainly a treasure beyond time and space. However, the most inclusive edition ever published so far in the birthplace of the original will for a long time have a unique significance.