Sun Tzu strategies is described as "peaceful and passive, favoring silence over speech". This form of communication is parsimonious. Parsimonious behavior, which is highly emphasized in "The Art of War" as avoiding confrontation and being spiritual in nature, shapes basic principles in Daoism. Mark McNeilly writes in "Sun Tzu and the Art of Modern Warfare" that a modern interpretation of Sun and his importance throughout Chinese history is critical in understanding China's push to becoming a superpower in the twenty-first century. Modern Chinese scholars explicitly rely on historical strategic lessons and "The Art of War" in developing their theories, seeing a direct
The Book of the Long Sun brief suicidal crisis, and comes to final conclusions about the moral doubts that he possessed during the earlier parts of the series. When "The Book of the Long Sun" concludes, Patera Silk's fate is unknown. Silk is an allegorical character, as is typical for Wolfe's work. He is often associated with Moses. Maytera Marble is a chemical citizen of Viron, or a "chem." This means that she is a robot who possesses a self-aware, sentient mind. Maytera Marble was initially designed to be a maid, but as her life progressed she found a more religious calling and became one of