Appreciations of Sun Tzu

Appreciations of Sun Tzu

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Sun Tzu has exercised a potent fascination over the minds of

some of China's greatest men. Among the famous generals who are

known to have studied his pages with enthusiasm may be mentioned

Han Hsin (d. 196 B.C.), [49] Feng I (d. 34 A.D.), [50] Lu Meng

(d. 219), [51] and Yo Fei (1103-1141). [52] The opinion of Ts`ao

Kung, who disputes with Han Hsin the highest place in Chinese

military annals, has already been recorded. [53] Still more

remarkable, in one way, is the testimony of purely literary men,

such as Su Hsun (the father of Su Tung-p`o), who wrote several

essays on military topics, all of which owe their chief

inspiration to Sun Tzu. The following short passage by him is

preserved in the YU HAI: [54] --

Sun Wu's saying, that in war one cannot make certain of

conquering, [55] is very different indeed from what other

books tell us. [56] Wu Ch`i was a man of the same stamp as

Sun Wu: they both wrote books on war, and they are linked

together in popular speech as "Sun and Wu." But Wu Ch`i's

remarks on war are less weighty, his rules are rougher and

more crudely stated, and there is not the same unity of plan

as in Sun Tzu's work, where the style is terse, but the

meaning fully brought out.

The following is an extract from the "Impartial Judgments in

the Garden of Literature" by Cheng Hou: --

Sun Tzu's 13 chapters are not only the staple and base

of all military men's training, but also compel the most

careful attention of scholars and men of letters. His

sayings are terse yet elegant, simple yet profound,

perspicuous and eminently practical. Such works as the LUN

YU, the I CHING and the great Commentary, [57] as well as the

writings of Mencius, Hsun K`uang and Yang Chu, all fall below

the level of Sun Tzu.

Chu Hsi, commenting on this, fully admits the first part of

the criticism, although he dislikes the audacious comparison with

the venerated classical works. Language of this sort, he says,

"encourages a ruler's bent towards unrelenting warfare and

reckless militarism."