Sun Tzu proved on the battlefield that his theories were effective (for example, at the Battle of Boju), that he had a successful military career, and that he wrote "The Art of War" based on his tested expertise. However, the "Zuozhuan", a historical text written centuries earlier than the "Shiji", provides a much more detailed account of the Battle of Boju, but does not mention Sun Tzu at all. Beginning around the 12th century, some scholars began to doubt the historical existence of Sun Tzu, primarily on the grounds that he is not mentioned in the historical classic "Zuo zhuan", which mentions
Book of the 24 Philosophers Book of the 24 Philosophers The Book of the 24 Philosophers (in Latin "Liber XXIV philosophorum") is a philosophical and theological medieval text of uncertain authorship. The book consists of twenty-four “sentences”, “aphorisms” or “definitions” of “God”, attributed to as many philosophers attending a fictional gathering, each an attempt to answer their only remaining question, “what is God?” ("quid Deus?"). The first textual witness is from a 12th-century French manuscript currently at Laon. The definitions were often accompanied by a scholastic commentary in either of two redactions, the “shorter” and the “longer” commentary. Both definitions and commentary echo and weave