Sun Tzu Postcard

Sun Tzu was a Chinese military strategist and general who lived from 544 to 496 BCE. He wrote The Art of War, a treatise on the conduct of war believed to have been written according to Taoist principles. He preferred to avoid war, extolling the virtues of diplomacy and, failing that, psychological warfare. But if the worst came to the worst, Sun Tzu offered other advice and insights. We made him famous. For this piece, we place Sun Tzu in front of a map of China, with leaves of the famous bamboo tree to offer him shade, alongside floral references adorned with flowers beloved in Chinese culture: the magnolia, peony, lily, rose, and poppy. The magnolia symbolizes purity, the peony wealth, the lily harmony, the rose longevity, and the poppy symbolizes the afterlife.