Taoism & The Art of War

BRI ALEK & HAVEN

“The Sun Zi constitues what may be thought of as a Taoistic approach to war. In their eyes, war is a matter of last resort, it should be undertaken with the least effort, least expenditure, least risk, and least loss of life. In short, the Sun Zi approach to war is minimalist” (Sun Zi 47)

Vs.

The form of a body of soldiers resembles that of war. Water’s natural form is such that it avoids heights and rushes towards depths the natural form of a body of soldiers is such that it avoids solidity and strikes at emptiness. Water produces currents in accordance with the terrain; soldier produce victory in accordance with the enemy.

Therefore,a body of soldiers has no

constant configuration; a body of water has no constant form. He who can gain victory in accordance with the transformation of the enemy is called daemonic” (Sun Zi 99).

“Best to be like water, which benefits the ten thousand things and does not contend. It pools where human disdain to dwell, close to the Tao. “

“The chief difference between the Dao De Ching and the Sun Zi is that the former focuses on how to use a wuwei (nonaction) approach to rule a state, whereas the latter concentrates on applying a similar attitude towards the prosecution of war. Thus, the Dao de jing is a manual for the wuwei minded ruler and the Sun Zi is a handbook for the wuwei minded general” (Sun Zi 49).