| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Art of War by Sun Tzu: "We must have favorable circumstances in general, not merely
traitors to help us." Chia Lin says: "We must avail ourselves
of wind and dry weather."]
the material for raising fire should always be kept in readiness.
[Tu Mu suggests as material for making fire: "dry vegetable
matter, reeds, brushwood, straw, grease, oil, etc." Here we have
the material cause. Chang Yu says: "vessels for hoarding fire,
stuff for lighting fires."]
3. There is a proper season for making attacks with fire,
and special days for starting a conflagration.
4. The proper season is when the weather is very dry; the
The Art of War |
The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from Philebus by Plato: Sophist. The principle of the one and many of which he here speaks, is
illustrated by examples in the Sophist and Statesman. Notwithstanding the
differences of style, many resemblances may be noticed between the Philebus
and Gorgias. The theory of the simultaneousness of pleasure and pain is
common to both of them (Phil. Gorg.); there is also a common tendency in
them to take up arms against pleasure, although the view of the Philebus,
which is probably the later of the two dialogues, is the more moderate.
There seems to be an allusion to the passage in the Gorgias, in which
Socrates dilates on the pleasures of itching and scratching. Nor is there
any real discrepancy in the manner in which Gorgias and his art are spoken
of in the two dialogues. For Socrates is far from implying that the art of
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