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 Rapid developing period

From the 8th to 3rd century BC (during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods), Chinese society gradually turned from a slavery system to a feudalistic one. The development of productivity and the change of social system caused changes in the training of soldiers and the improvement of weapons, which in turn led to changes in the military system and ways of war.

To adapt to the new needs, professional generals appeared; strategists and books on the art of wars representing the interest of the newly emerged landlord class also abounded. The celebratedSun Zi Bing Fasignified the military thoughts maturity of the governing feudal class. As the earliest comprehensive and systematic military theoretic work, the book unveiled a series of laws and regular patterns of wars, built the infrastructure for Chinese military thoughts, guided the military actions and military theory researches in the later ages, and gained a huge reputation internationally.

According toSun Zi Bing Fa, tactics must be deliberately used in military confrontations, and the most ideal ending of war for brilliant strategists is to defeat the enemy without fighting. The book broke the fatality notion of the slavery society, and the victory of a war did not hinge on gods orghosts. Instead, the party in the war who knew one's own situation and that of the enemy would never lose. Meanwhile, the book also pointed out that the factors that decide the war include politics, economy, good timing, geographical convenience, and harmonious human relations and so on. Thus, the book said, the feudal ruling class must enlighten their politics and follow the wishes of the people. These ideas were also highly valued by other peer military works.

During the Warring States Period (475-221BC), people furthered their understanding about war. For instance,Wu Zi, said to by strategist Wu Qi, explored the essence and origin of war, classified wars into several types, and raised different solutions for different types of wars.

Sun Bin Bing Fa(Sun Bin Art of War) written by Sun Bin, suggested that wars should end the social chaos, and defeating the enemy by a surprise action and momentum of war were emphasized. All these views were the inheritance and development of Sun Zi's military thoughts.