A memorial park built for ancient military strategist Sun Tzu opened in east China's Jiangsu Province, local sources told Xinhua on Monday.

The 85,000-square-meter park, about the size of 12 football fields, is in the city of Suzhou, where Sun Tzu's tomb is located.

Qu Lingni, a publicity official in Suzhou, hoped the park could become not only a place for Sun Tzu's descendants and others to pay their respects, but also a spot for leisure.

At the center of the park is a bronze statue of Sun Tzu, depicted with his treatise "The Art of War." The statue stands at 13 meters, symbolizing the 13 chapters of the book.

More than 600 descendants of the sage attended a memorial ceremony in the park last Thursday.

Sun Tzu lived during China's Spring and Autumn period, which lasted from 770 B.C - 221 B.C. His book, completed during the late 6th century B.C., is the world's oldest military treatise.

"Among the influential people in China's history, Sun Tzu, like Confucius, is well-known globally," said Sun Shangchuan, honorary director of the organizing committee for public memorials for Sun Tzu.

He told Xinhua that Sun Tzu's descendants are scattered around the world. "So people need a place to seek their roots and pay tribute to him," he added.

The organizing committee was founded after some descendants visited Suzhou on May 12 last year.

"The dates of Sun Tzu's birth and death are missing," said Sun Xiufu, a 78th-generation descendant of Sun Tzu. "He submitted his treatise to the emperor on May 12. That is why we chose the date for the memorial ceremony."

Seyed Javad Hosseini, an Iranian scholar studying Chinese culture, said that Sun Tzu's philosophy is still applicable today. He has translated the strategist's work into Persian and told Xinhua "The Art of War" has become popular in Muslim countries.

"The culture of Sun Tzu has spread widely in Malaysia," said a Malaysian scholar who gave his surname as Tan. "The wisdom of Sun Tzu has been adopted among different walks of life."

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