Sun Tzu
The Art of War

















By: Kael Glowacki Sutter
06/09/08

















Table of Contents




Page 1 introduction to Sun Tzu

Page 2 introduction to Sun Tzu continued and intro to figures of speech

Page 3 Figures of speech continued

Page 4 Figures of speech continued

Page 5 figures of speech continued and ending statement






















In Sun Tzu’s book the Art of war, there are many messages about war that are in their own way poetic. The book is a manual of how to wage war, and win it using almost nothing. Sun Tzu was a Chinese Tactician during the Ming dynasty and he was one of the first realists of the international relations theory. His original name was Sun Wu, but he changed his name to Sun Tzu instead meaning master sun. Sun Tzu used a fair amount of logic and deception within his plans. One of his quotes are as followed.

“Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys. Look on them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death!”

This showed his logic within his method of waging war. In order to have full control of your army you must treat them well as you would your children. If you don’t treat them well there is a chance they will leave you in battle to watch you die. Another quote of Sun Tzu will show how he used deception on his enemies.

“All warfare is based on deception. Hence, when able to attack, we must seem unable; when using our forces, we must seem inactive; when we are near, we must make the enemy believe we are far away; when we are far away, we must make him believe we are near. Hold out baits to entice the enemy. Feign disorder, and crush him.”

That quote shows how to use tricks and deceit to gain victory over your enemy. Use a simple method of showing weakness that is not really there to make your enemy believe it is a weak point in your troops. When they attack you know where and how they will, therefore you are able to defeat him through his own ignorance, and arrogance.

Sun Tzu’s plot to the entire message of his book, The Art of War, was that no matter how big or small your group is there will always be a way for you to gain a victory. Treat your troops equal and make them feel proud to follow you. Last but not least, his final message was that you should not judge a book by its cover. If his quote is true that. “All warfare is based on deception.” Then you must expect what is not expected and keep your eyes open.

Sun Tzu made a few figures of speech. “Regard your soldiers as your children.” is a simile, using like or and to compare one thing to another. He used Irony in this quote.

“He who wishes to fight must first count the cost. When you engage in actual fighting , if victory is long in coming, then men’s weapons will grow dull and their ardor will be dampened.
If you lay siege to a town, you will exhaust your strength. Again if the campaign is protracted, the resources of the state will not be equal to the strain. Now, when your weapons are dulled, your ardor dampened, your strength exhausted and your treasure spent, other chieftains will spring up to take advantage of your extremity. Then no man, however wise, will be able to avert the consequences that must ensue… In war, then, let your great objective be victory, not lengthy campaigns.”

The irony in this is that most rulers want to have a long fight against multiple opponents at once to control as much as possible. Though by making themselves stronger by taking more and more, they are losing more than they gain. Overall to fight a short fight to gain a quick victory, is more wise than to make yourself look like the big shot who fought a huge war, won, then lost to the next group that came along just after.

“Hence that general is skilful in attack whose opponent does not know what to defend; and he is skilful in defence whose opponent does not know what to attack.”

This figure of speech is an oxymoron. By having an opposite meaning of what is said. When saying the general is skilful in attack is just meaning the other general does not know how, or what to defend. When one general is good at defending, his opponent does not know how or what to attack.

“Whoever is first in the field and awaits the coming of the enemy, will be fresh for the fight; whoever is second in the field and has to hasten to battle will arrive exhausted.”

This quotation can be paralleled as the cliché metaphor “The early bird catches the worm.” Kind of a first come first serve saying. He who gets there first gets first pick, meaning on the field of battle, the first one there gets to pick where his troops go so thy can attack quicker and more efficiently. The two quotes parallel each other and mainly have the same meaning. Just one is talking about the art to wage war and another is an every day saying we will all use in our lives.

“In all fighting, the direct method may be used for joining battle, but indirect methods will be needed in order to secure victory. In battle, there are not more than two methods of attack - the direct and the indirect; yet these two in combination give rise to an endless series of manoeuvres . The direct and the indirect lead on to each other. It is like moving in a circle - you never come to an end. Who can exhaust the possibilities of their combination?”

This is another simile comparing the use of direct and indirect attacks, to a moving circle, using like or as. This is a good simile because it is true and logical. The use of direct and indirect make an infinite amount of manoeuvres that will move together like an ever flowing circle.

There are a few metaphors that Sun Tzu used in his writing to show how people are important and how ideals are also. Example followed.

“The general who advances without conventing fame and retreats without fearing disgrace, whose only thought is to protect his country and do good service for his sovereign, is the jewel of the kingdom.”

The final part of the poem is a metaphor saying the general who is for the better of his country is a jewel. This is true in all aspects of what he says. In order to serve your country, you must put it before your own shame and glory. If that message were still used today in modern politics, the world would be a far better place. Sure war will be alive as long as man would, but at least some of the ignorance and stupidity would be removed from the plate.

Sun Tzu did not have much rhyme scheme due to the fact it was not meant to be poetry. Though poetry can be found in almost any way of speaking. Even without the rhymes in his quotes it is clearly shown that they are beautiful and poetic. His words make war an oxymoron when thinking about war as a beautiful thing despite all the blood and gore. I regard Sun Tzu highly as a role model that the world was lucky to have. I believe that his message should be taught to everyone young and old. This is what brings me to my conclusion.
Sun Tzu was a poetic man in the way he waged war. As his quotes show he was a wise man and logical when speaking. His book is something that would benefit not only war, but all competition in general. His messages are clear and give good morals in them, Such as, putting others before yourself, treating others kindly to gain respect, be prepared for what is coming, and lastly to know others as you would know yourself.

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
- Sun Tzu, The Art of War

“If you know where you come from and you know where your going, you do not need to fear the future. If you know where you come from but not where you are going, you will always fear what is unknown. If you neither know where your from or where your going, your fear is going to own you and direct you in its own path.”
- Kael Glowacki, variation of Sun Tzu’s Art of War