On the afternoon of Sept. 23, the Sun Tzu’s Art of War Museum opened to the public, which is the first of its kind in the country. The exhibits include a number of precious editions of The Art of War, which are on display for the first time. The museum is planned to emerge as a publicity and research center for the military science of Sun Tzu (also referred to as Su Zi and Sun Wu), the ultimate master of war.
Located in the Sun Wu Cultural Park at the Qionglong Mountain Scenic Area, the new museum has a building area of 12,000 square meters. There are 4 exhibition areas. The museum has a collection of more than 300 ancient, modern and contemporary artworks such as bronze wares and pottery bowls, together with 150-plus ancient books and documents related to The Art of War and 3,400 writings about it.
The most precious item in the museum’s collection is a copy of the first French translation of The Art of War in Europe, Art Militaire Des Chinois, which is the only one publicly displayed in the world. The museum also boasts translation versions of this book in lesser-known languages such as Ukrainian, Lithuanian, Bulgarian, Catalan, and Czech in addition to its English, Japanese, and French versions.
