This article examines the second stanza in the third section of chapter three of The Art of War. This stanza continues the examination of focus discussed in the previous article. The stanza is about our strategic focus on time and how to best use it to make progress in our lives.
Time and Conflict
My original translation of this stanza begins:
You must be united in conflict from the top to the bottom.
The Art of War 3:3:8
This translation follows the theme of the chapter, unity. If we follow the theme of the stanza, however, focus, the Chinese can be read in a more interesting way.
This line ’ begins with “conflict,” which is the way most people approach competition. Sun Tzu defines “conflict” as a destructive engagement with a rival, one where we try to tear down their position rather than build up our own. I heard a military man describe war as a conflict that continues until one side surrenders or until both sides are too weak to continue. He recognized, perhaps subconsciously, that conflict is inherently destructive to both parties. This is what Sun Tzu saw 2,500 years ago,
What does Sun Tzu say here about conflict? He say thats we must “complete conflict.” This can mean two things. It can mean using up every resource we have to winning a conflict. It can also meaning finishing seeing competition as conflict. Both of these cmpetitive strategies are topics covered by Sun Tzu more than once in The Art of War.
The end of this line in Chinese is more cryptic. It says, “heaven below.” This is translated as “from top to bottom.” That translation was in the context of the “use every resource” strategy.
A very different translation of this line comes from recognizing something else that “heaven” means in The Art of War. The Chinese character for “heaven” also means “climate,” one of the five key strategic factors defining our positions. Climate is change over time. “Heaven” subtly introduces the factor of time into this section’s topic: strategic focus.
The character for “below” also has a special meaning when applied to strategic positions. It means “inferior,” specifically, a lower or weaker position. This is a warning that conflict has the cost over time of lowering our positions in the minds of others, not just those with whom we are fighting. It is also a broader warning that the changes of climate undermine all existing positions. Over time, the resources of any “ground” we control are used up, and, unless our positions advanced, our positions stagnate in the minds of others. Conflict with other speeds up this process of our positions “aging.”
Time Marches
The next line of this stanza is translated as:
Never stop when you are at war.
The Art of War 3:3:9
The fact of life is simple. We are always competing, always at war, whether we realize it or not. Not stopping simply recognizes this fact. Properly defined, war and all other forms of competition, are comparison not conflict. Conflict is limited in time. Comparison is on-going. We are always being compared to others. Because time and change never stops, these comparisons never stop. Others are always making decisions about whether to support us, ignore us, or oppose us. These decision are based partly on the past, but they are adjusted to fit given current conditions as they change.
Over long periods of time, big changes can occur. Our rivals can change. We can change competitive arenas. We can find new potential supporters. During this time, the competition itself never ceases, from the time we are born, competing for our parents’ attention, to the time we die, competing against disease or old age. However, we do not have to focus the long-term. We only have to focus on what is happening now. Tomorrow will worry about itself
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