Miguel Quinones
Araceli Hernandez
Jenny Dowdy
Scott Phillips
The “Socorro” group.
A short primer on “The Art of War”
The first three chapters amount to a resume for Sun Tzu. He mentions the house of Wu by name in chapter 1. Later on he goes into detail about a potentially opposing general and how he would defeat him. As a result, these first three chapters are “tactics” heavy.
The Art of War its self was not written as a complete work, but rather as a collection of separate writings. Further these writings do not appear in paragraph form. Rather they appear as a collection of quotes written in free-form. The disjointed nature of the work indicates that it was probably written by followers of Sun-tzu who transcribed his teachings rather than Sun-Tzu himself. The time period in which Sun-Tzu lived also plays a role on the tone of the books. Sun-Tzu came from the Quan province. Historians suspect his origin from this region is the reason that his teachings has many Taoist undertones.
Intelligence:
Intelligence is the foundation of strategy. Sun-Tzu was adamant that knowing yourself and knowing your enemy was critical to victory. Naturally this is seen in the movie in a multitude of ways. Intel is used to determine the nationality of the opposing captain, what kind of ship they have, etc.
With an understanding of
Weakness and
Strength,
An Army
Can strike
Like a millstone
Cast at an egg. (pg 26)
Deception:
Deception is based on intelligence. One cannot deceive their enemy until they know their enemy. This is also reflected in the Taoist underpinnings mentioned earlier. In the movie, deception is used to force a decisive battle. It is used to draw in the opposing captain in order to neutralize some of his opponent’s perceived advantages.
If I do not wish to engage,
I can hold my ground
With nothing more than a line
Drawn around it.
The enemy cannot
Engage me
In combat:
I distract him
In a different direction (pg 33)
The skillful warrior
Stirs
And is not stirred.
He lures his enemy
Into coming
Or obstructs him
From coming. (pg 3)
Leadership:
Leadership is addressed somewhat by Sun-Tzu, but it is relegated to a fairly limited scope. One thing Sun-tzu does stress is the need to enforce discipline. However he also warns against tyranny. However discipline, if properly maintained, will cause your men to be fiercely loyal to the point where they will die for their leader. This was clearly visible in the movie in both the way discipline was given out as well as through how the troops viewed and responded to the commander.
Command them
With civility,
Rally them
With martial discipline,
And you will win their
Confidence. (pg 60)
He regards his troops
As his children,
And they will go with him
Into the deepest ravine.
He regards them
As his loved ones,
And they will stand by him
Unto death. (pg 67)
Preparation:
Notice how much time in the movie is spent preparing for the battle versus how much time is actually spent fighting. Sun-tzu would be pleased to see this. Sun-tzu taught that preparation before the battle made all the difference. He even went as far as to say that due to preparation, the result has been determined before the armies even take the field. Preparation is one of the key differences between the first battle in the movie and the second decisive battle.
Know the enemy,
Know yourself,
And victory
Is never in doubt,
Not in a hundred battles. (pg 19)
The skillful warrior
Does not rely on the enemy’s
Not coming,
But on his own
Preparedness. (pg 49)
Misc:
Going back to the idea of “shi”, the crew of Jack’s ship undergoes certain changes from the beginning of the movie to the end. The big overall difference is that all aspects of the ship are now functioning harmoniously. The ship’s “shi” (potential energy / capabilities) are greater by the end of the movie than at the beginning. Sun-tzu would argue that it is this increased shi that allows the crew to overtake a numerically superior force.
There are five fundamentals
For this deliberation,
For the making of comparisons
And the assessing of conditions:
The Way,
Heaven,
Earth,
Command,
Disicpline (pg3)
In War,
Numbers
Are not the issue.
It is a question of
Not attacking
Too aggressively.
Concentrate your strength,
Assess you enemy,
And win the confidence of your men;
That is enough. (pg 59)