The State of Wu took its place as a major player on the patchwork of fragmented states that inhabited the lands of what is now China. Her eminence would not last long though. In 496 BC， King He Lü died from a sword wound in a battle with the State of Yue. His son， Fu Chai succeeded to the throne and after a two year campaign， succeeded in subjugating the State of Yue. Eager to humiliate his vanquished counterpart， Fu Chai insisted that the Yue king， Gou Jian be his slave， working in the royal stable. Wu Zixu， the wily commander， saw the folly of such a policy and endlessly pleaded with the young king to kill Gou Jian， for only in that way could the final defeat of the Yue forces be utterly guaranteed. The capricious king flew into a rage and commanded his loyal general to take his sword and end his own life. Once again Wu Zixu had met with the treachery of kings， but this time it would cost him his life. He faced his fate with dauntless valour， asking only that his eyes be cut out before he died and placed on the city walls so that he would be able to witness for himself the inevitable destruction of the great power of the State of Wu， which he had done so much himself to bring about.
In 473 BC the dead eyes of Wu Zixu looked on lifelessly as the walls of the last Wu stronghold were razed by the armies of the State of Yue. Military triumph is indeed glorious but the fruits of success do not take long to wither and rot.
Sun Tzu faded quietly from the historical record. Nobody seems to know exactly what became of him. Some contend that he returned to a life of seclusion， disgusted at the idiocy of King Fu Chai’s rule. They point to a grave in Wu County in Suzhou City as the great general’s final resting place； some believe he himself was a victim of the king’s arrogant tyranny. Others say he fought on and vanished during the Yue invasions， others still maintain that he returned to his homeland in the lands of Qi. It seems we can never really be sure.
What is certain is that the 13 bamboo stems left behind by this man who lived over two and a half millennia ago， exerted a profound influence on the course of history and the philosophy not just of warfare but of all areas of social relations. Sun Tzu is rightfully regarded as one of the greatest minds and theorists in all of Chinese history and civilization.
