Pere Amiot appears to have enjoyed no small reputation as a sinologue in his day, and the field of his labours was certainly extensive. But his so-called translation of the  Sun Tzǔ, if placed side by side with the original, is seen at once to be little better than an imposture. It contains a great deal that  Sun Tzǔ did not write, and very little indeed of what he did. Here is a fair specimen, taken from the opening sentences of chapter 5: