Comparing: Temporary Conditions
The Art of War 9:3.1-13 Stop the march when the rain swells the river into rapids.
This post continues our project explaining each stanza of Sun Tzu’s work. The English translation and Chinese transliterations are from my award-winning work, The Art of War and The Ancient Chinese Revealed. Basic translations are written from the narrow perspective of opposing armies. These articles focus on the more general application of this philosophy to all competition. Start here for the book’s opening lines.
The temporary conditions examined in this article are from the first two stanzas of Section Three of Chapter 9 of The Art of War. This chapter is entitled Armed March. Its general topic is making competitive moves that advance our positions. It is one of the longest and most detailed chapters of the book.
The two stanzas of this third section of this chapter describe temporary dangers on the four different types of terrain. These dangers arise from different weather conditions. In modern terms, this is how different types of competitive arenas are affected by different changes.
In the lines below, we summarize the Chinese characters in their original order, each with a single English word shown in < > brackets. This transliteration of the Chinese is followed by an English sentence translation.
The context for this article is an assortment of the four different types of terrain. It starts with water since “change” is the main topic of the section.
<Above> <rain> <water> <tip> <stop>
Stop the march when the rain swells the river into rapids.
Water is Sun Tzu’s symbol for the changes of climate. While the “water” terrain is a competitive terrain that is normally fast changing, change can come to any type of competitive terrain during its “rainy” season. During these times, water terrain becomes turbulent. These are bad times for trying to advance our positions. It is better to wait until the time of change passes so we can understand the new lay of the land.
<Desire> <ford> <river> <is>
You may want to ford the river.
During these “rainy seasons” of change, an area of transition that we might normally dip into, such as installing a new technology, becomes too uncertain. Whatever new technology we decide to try may become outdated before we can implement it. This is both confusing and costly for everyone involved.
<Wait> <this> <decide> <also>
Wait until it subsides.
What we should do it wait. The Chinese word <decide> here fits especially well for modern applications. We don’t just wait to make a move, we wait to make any decision about such moves. The best choices before a period of high-change is not necessarily the best decision after the change has passed.
<All> <ground> <have> <break> <off> <heaven> <mountain> <stream>
All regions can have seasonal mountain streams that can cut you off.
Mountains, also known as tilted ground or hierarchical organizations, have predictable periods of change. Many large organizations go through a reorganization or merger every couple of years.
<Heaven> <well>
There are seasonal lakes.
<Heaven> is the Chinese character that means “climate.” Here, we can translate it as “seasonal” or, even better, “temporary.” This is the first line of a whole series of lines that begin with <heaven> describing temporary conditions.
Here, the topic is a temporary <well>, that is, temporarily contained areas of water. Lakes are normally considered obstacles to movement. All of the following conditions may be considered obstacles to movement as well.
<Heaven> <jail>
There are seasonal blockages.
Though snow is not mentioned directly here, it certainly comes to mind as we consider temporary blockages. “Snow” are changes that pile up. It can fall as fast as rain, but it can dissipate much more slowly. It piles up and doesn’t spread as quickly as water. Change can pile upon change, creating situations that take time to work through. However, eventually it melts and its obstacles go away.
<Heaven> <net>
There are seasonal jungles.
Temporary change has secondary effects. A long rainy season can provide the proper environment for growing a jungle. In modern terms, a long season of technological change can grow a jungle of “solutions” and organizations that provide solutions. Making our way through this jungle <net> takes time and effort.
<Heaven> <submerge>
There are seasonal floods.
A “submerge” is probably better translated as a “marsh” rather than a “flood.” Marshes are areas of uncertain footing. During seasons of change, some areas which seemed solid before the change can turn mushy and uncertain. The rules for marshes then apply
<Heaven> <crevice>
There are seasonal fissures.
While fissures in the ground are not temporary, these are fissures in ice, another form of slowly dissipating change. These fissures can separate previous allies. They also provide holes into which we can fall.
<Must> <urgently> <remove> <it>
Keep them at a distance.
When we find ourselves in these areas of temporary blockages caused by change, we must immediately try to get ourselves away from them. While many of these situations are not immediately dangerous, they can become dangerous without warning if we are in them.
<Do> <not> <near> <also>
Do not get close to them.
Because of their unpredictability, these seasonal changes or obstacles are more dangerous than regular obstacles. They can grow or move, depending on the weather. Unlike regular obstacles, they cannot be easily mapped because they are changing.
<We> <distant> <it>
Get away from all these quickly.
We not only want to avoid these temporary dangers, as we would avoid a regular obstacle, but we want to put as much distance between ourselves and these obstacles as quickly as we can because they can move and grow.
<Enemy> <near> <it>
Maneuver the enemy close to them.
By leaving space, we are creating an opening for our competition. With luck, the opposition will mistake these openings for opportunities. They will put themselves closer to these areas of change than is wise.
<We> <welcome> <it>
Position yourself facing these dangers.
When opponents are nearer to these dangers and hazards than we are, we want to keep our eye on them. If possible, we want to move into the empty territory between us. This puts pressure on them.
<Enemy> <back> <it>
Push the enemy back into them.
This leaves them only the option of moving into the empty space between them and the temporary danger. Such positions put them at risk of the obstacle moving or growing.