The Misuse of Sun Tzu and the Cult of Maneuver

Ren Hongpeng

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Introduction

The concept of “maneuver warfare” has returned to the forefront of debate with the Russo-Ukrainian war. As for the development of maneuver warfare, Liddell Hart and John Boyd played an important role, and they paved the way for the acceptance of maneuver warfare doctrine by the U.S. Army and Marine Corps[ii]. Meanwhile, they both misused Sun Tzu’s theories to serve their own.

However, all the theories are misused: Deutsches Heer misused Clausewitz[iii], and Imperial Japanese Navy misused Satō Tetsutarō[iv]. Considering the textual simplicity and ambiguity of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, it is undoubtedly more difficult to translate it to fully reflect its original meaning. What makes it necessary to explain the misuse of an ancient Chinese militarist?

First, the misuse of Sun Tzu is still widespread today. Second, it has played a role in the history of maneuver warfare. Third and most importantly, it represents a false methodology: serving one’s theory through the selective use of text and history. Texts and histories from other times, can serve as motivations, perspectives, and descriptions of the historical evolution, but they are evidence only after rigorous analysis and argumentation. Most references to Sun Tzu are divorced from their original meaning and context, as well as from the time period.