A Research Summary of Sima's Art of War's Publishing and Editions

It used to be said that Sima's Art of War was ‘by Sima Rangju'. According to the materials from The Zuo Commentary and Records of the Historian, it can be mainly concluded that Sima Rangju is a descendant of Chen Wan, that his military career was during a period between 532 B.C., or the 13th year of the reign of King Jǐng of Zhou, and 490 B.C., or the 30th year of the reign of King Jing of Zhou, and that Sima's Art of War of present editions should be a mixture of the earlier tactics of Sima related by the Great Officers of the State of Qi and Rangju's military thought. All present editions come from The Seven Military Classics, published in the Song Dynasty, and they can be sorted into two systems, i.e. three-volume-editions and one-volume-editions.