By Andrew Nickerson
In the annals of military tactics and strategy, there have been many great names who’ve put their philosophies/views on paper for future generations. However, none have had as great an impact or as long-lasting an influence as Sun Tzu, author of The Art of War, a 2,000+ year old treatise that’s still considered the greatest war manual ever conceived. Written in a series of commonsense maxims, this ancient Chinese general’s incredible brilliance revolves around an entirely unique goal: how to win. His approach is so effective, in fact, that one expert put it thus: “If you listen to Sun Tzu, if you follow his principles, you will be victorious; if you ignore him, you do so at your own peril, because you will definitely lose.”1 As a result, The Art of War has not only been adopted by all manner of military academies, but its wisdom has also proven so universally effective that everyone from business leaders to politicians and even athletes to achieve victory.
However, there’s one such medium that remains untapped: pop culture plotlines. If this wisdom is truly universal, why not here too? To prove this, we’re going to use it to analyze one plotline right now: the infamous spat between the Son family and Enjutsu from the 3rd season of Koihime Muso.2 More specifically, we’ll look at using the following Sun Tzu principles: morality, leadership, foreknowledge, deception, improv, baiting, recklessness, and underestimation.
Here’s the background: The Son family and a branch of the En family have been constantly vying for control of a mountain on the border between their respective provinces, a conflict lasting several years. However, something was found in a Son family warehouse: a friendship oath between the current Son family head’s mother and the En family, promising that the Son family owns the mountain as a token of that bond, and was sealed as such, a nice use of two of Sun Tzu’s Five Essential Victory Factors, morality and leadership3. Therefore, the families’ strategists (advisors) hashed out an agreement, and then dispatched Shaoren, the youngest of the Son family, to meet Enjutsu, a member of the En branch. The former would hand over the scroll, the latter custody of the mountain, and all would be well, an exceptional use of both the leadership caveat “Supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy’s resistance without fighting4” and “what enables the wise sovereign and the good general to strike and conquer and achieve things beyond the reach of ordinary men is foreknowledge.”
Unfortunately, the Son family soon finds they’ve badly violated another principle, never underestimate a foe5: when Shaoren, along with Son family strategist Rikuson and bodyguard Shūtai, arrive, Enjustsu keeps putting off the meeting, either claiming she’s busy or doesn’t feel well. Two weeks go by, but the Son party is still waiting, clearly indicating Enjutsu’s had second thoughts. Her actions are no doubt being facilitated by her own strategist, Chokun, attempting to frustrate the Son party so much that they leave, making the latter look like they chose to end the negotiations themselves, casting the Son family in an unfavorable light. Sadly, Enjutsu’s behavior is a flagrant violation of one of Sun Tzu’s 5 weaknesses of leadership: recklessness6, a flaw she’s no stranger to. She’s very young, but also spoiled, selfish, and has a long history of bad decision-making, a sad violation of the leadership caveat “choose moral leaders and able generals7”. For example, in the previous season, she only wanted to spend money on herself, greatly oppressing her people in the process, and even tried to rip down an old shrine on another mountain so she could build herself a grand estate, a shameful violation of morality and leadership. That’s a long story in it of itself, but the gist of it was that the shrine was being used as a home by several orphans, and it took being haunted by the spirit of one boy’s dead mother to scare some sense into Enjutsu. Since then, she’s enacted charitable programs and backed off the shrine, but the lesson clearly hasn’t sunken in yet.
Soon, tiring of the excuses, the Son family uses another principle, “be flexible; according as circumstances are favorable, one should modify one’s plans” or improv8, by barging their way into Enjustu’s palace, where they find her preparing a play she’s written detailing her exploits in the recent Yellow Turban Rebellion…showing herself as the one who came up with the victory plan and saved the day. It’s a dangerous violation of recklessness, morality, and leadership, since many outside parties know she planned nothing and season 2 protagonist Ryūbi was the real hero and, if word were to reach said parties, it could destroy her—but she’s oblivious, like always. When the Son party confronts her, Enjutsu promises that, if the former will help with the performance, she’ll receive them. Unfortunately for the spoiled girl, she’s badly violated underestimation, namely of Rikuson, who wisely heeds the principle “Do not swallow bait offered by the enemy9”, because she knowing Enjutsu is lying. Instead, she opts for a more appropriate approach via the famed principle, “All warfare is deception10” by agreeing to help with the play all while enacting her own plans via another principle, “Direct methods can join battle, but indirect ones are needed to secure victory11.” Just as importantly, since Shaoren’s notoriously open nature would make it impossible to keep such a plan secret, Rikuson doesn’t tell her. It’s an advanced rule of deception: “Deceive your friends to deceive your enemies12.”
The first half of her plan occurs during the play, when Rikuson has Shūtai pretend to steal the scroll, and then deliberately lets word of such “slip” to Enjutsu. The latter quickly violates recklessness and baiting by summoning the party right away, thinking she’s won, since if the Son party shows up empty-handed, they’ve violated the agreement and she can send them away with nothing. Yet, her earlier underestimation violation comes full circle when Rikuson produces the scroll, and Chokun nervously admits it’s legit. Enjutsu is now in a no-win position: she can either hand over the mountain like she agreed, or refuse and be dubbed a promise-breaker, which would crush her already fledgling reputation in the Imperial Court and with fellow feudal lords. The latter option would deny her valuable assets/support from the Court, meaning she’d lose a lot of the privilege she enjoys, and the loss of aid from other lords would mean that, should she get into trouble via invasion or hard times, she’d be shunned and helpless. Thus, the Son family receives the mountain.
In conclusion, as all have just witnessed, those who follow Sun Tzu are assured of victory, while those who ignore him are doomed to fail. By carefully trapping Enjutsu through her arrogance, Rikuson won a resounding victory. This is why scholars to this day love Sun Tzu: his wisdom is universal, and even fictional characters can fall victim if they’re not careful.
Footnotes:
1: Art of War, dir. David Padrush (2009).
2: Koihime Muso: The Ultimate Collection, dir. Nobuaki Nakanishi (2012)
3: Lionel Giles, The Art of War (New York, NY; Fall River Press, 2011), 3.
4: Giles, The Art of War, 9.
5: Giles, The Art of War, 33.
6: Giles, The Art of War, 28.
7: Giles, The Art of War, 4.
8: Giles, The Art of War, 4.
9: Giles, The Art of War, 26.
10: Giles, The Art of War, 5.
11: Giles, The Art of War, 15.
12: Giles, The Art of War, 43.
Bibliography
Nakanishi, Nobuaki, director. Koihime Muso: The Ultimate Collection. 2008-10; Sentai Filmworks, 2012. 975 min. DVD.
Padrush, David W., director. The Art of War. 2009; A&E Television Networks, 2009. 94 min. DVD.
Sun Tzu. The Art of War. Translated by Lionel Giles. New York: Fall River Press, 2011.
Andrew’s originally from Massachusetts, and is a lifelong reader. He has a BA in History (English minor) from UMASS Lowell and JD from Mass. School of Law. He can be found on Twitter (@AndrewNickers19) daily, analyzing characters via Sun Tzu.
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