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道天地將法 is a list of five key points to analyzing your situation from the first chapter of Sun Tzu's Art of War.
This reads like a 5-part military proverb. Sun Tzu says that to sharpen your skills, you must plan. To plan well, you must know your situation. Therefore, you must consider and discuss the following:
1. Philosophy and Politics: Make sure your way or your policy is agreeable among all of your troops (and the citizens of your kingdom as well). For when your soldiers believe in you and your way, they will follow you to their deaths without hesitation and will not question your orders.
2. Heaven/Sky: Consider climate / weather. This can also mean considering whether God is smiling upon you. In the modern military, this could be waiting for clear skies so that you can have air support for an amphibious landing.
3. Ground/Earth: Consider the terrain in which the battle will take place. This includes analyzing defensible positions, and exit routes, while using varying elevations to your advantage. When you plan an ambush, you must know your terrain and the best location from which to stage that ambush. This knowledge will also help you avoid being ambushed, as you will know where the likely places in which to expect an ambush from your enemy.
4. Leadership: This applies to you as the general and your lieutenants. A leader should be smart and be able to develop good strategies. Leaders should keep their word, and if they break a promise, they should punish themselves as harshly as they would punish subordinates. Leaders should be benevolent to their troops, with almost a fatherly love for them. Leaders must have the ability to make brave and fast decisions. Leaders must have steadfast principles.
5. [Military] Methods: This can also mean laws, rules, principles, models, or systems. You must have an efficient organization in place to manage both your troops and supplies. In the modern military, this would be a combination of how your unit is organized and your SOP (Standard Operating Procedure).
Notes: This is a simplistic translation and explanation. Much more is suggested in the actual text of the Art of War (Bing Fa). It would take a lot of study to master all of these aspects. In fact, these five characters can be compared to the modern military acronyms such as BAMCIS or SMEAC.
CJK notes: I have included the Japanese and Korean pronunciations but in Chinese, Korean and Japanese, this does not make a typical phrase (with subject, verb, and object) it is a list that only someone familiar with Sun Tzu’s writings would understand.
military strategy, tactics, and procedure
孫子兵法 is the full title of the most famous book of military proverbs about warfare.
The English title is “Sun Tzu's The Art of War.”
The last two characters have come to be known in the west as “The Art of War,” but a better translation would be “military strategy and tactics,” “military skills” or “army procedures.”
Note: Sometimes the author's name is Romanized as “Sun Zi” or “Sunzi.”
It's written the same in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and Korean Hanja.
Depending on the romanization scheme you use, this man's name can be spelled Laozi, Lao Tzu, or Lao Tze. In older English usage, he was known as Laocius. He is believed to have lived around 500 B.C.
He was a Chinese philosopher, founder of Daoism/Taoism, credited with being the author of the sacred and wise book of Daoism/Taoism.
There is a theory that Lao Tzu's soul traveled to India and was reborn as the Buddha.
The natural world
自然 is the simple way to express nature in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.
This can also be translated as “the natural world.”
In Japanese and Korean, this term is sometimes used to signify spontaneity or a spontaneous act.
In the context of Taoism or Daoism, this is a key concept that literally means “of its own” or “by itself” and thus naturally, natural, spontaneously, freely, or in the course of events.
Also known as known as ziran or tzu-jan
視卒如嬰兒故可以與之赴深溪視卒如愛子故可與之俱死 is an entry from the 10th section within the Earth/Terrain chapter of Sun Tzu's Art of War.
This is often translated as “Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys. Look upon them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death.”
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
Zhuangzi Chuang Tzu | 莊子 庄子 | Sōshi | zhuāng zǐ zhuang1 zi3 zhuang zi zhuangzi | chuang tzu chuangtzu |
Art of War | 兵法 | hyou hou / hyouhou / hyo ho | bīng fǎ / bing1 fa3 / bing fa / bingfa | ping fa / pingfa |
Art of War: 5 Points of Analysis | 道天地將法 道天地将法 | dou ten chi shou hou doutenchishouhou do ten chi sho ho | dào tiān dì jiàng fǎ dao4 tian1 di4 jiang4 fa3 dao tian di jiang fa daotiandijiangfa | tao t`ien ti chiang fa taotientichiangfa tao tien ti chiang fa |
Sun Tzu - Art of War | 孫子兵法 孙子兵法 | son shi hyou hou sonshihyouhou son shi hyo ho | sūn zǐ bīng fǎ sun1 zi3 bing1 fa3 sun zi bing fa sunzibingfa | sun tzu ping fa suntzupingfa |
Lao Tzu Laozi | 老子 | roushi / roshi | lǎo zǐ / lao3 zi3 / lao zi / laozi | lao tzu / laotzu |
Nature | 自然 | shi zen / shizen | zì rán / zi4 ran2 / zi ran / ziran | tzu jan / tzujan |
Sun Tzu: Regard Your Soldiers as Children | 視卒如嬰兒故可以與之赴深溪視卒如愛子故可與之俱死 视卒如婴儿故可以与之赴深溪视卒如爱子故可与之俱死 | shì cù rú yīng ér gù kě yǐ yú zhī fù shēn xī shì cù rú ài zǐ gù kě yú zhī jū sǐ shi4 cu4 ru2 ying1 er2 gu4 ke3 yi3 yu2 zhi1 fu4 shen1 xi1 shi4 cu4 ru2 ai4 zi3 gu4 ke3 yu2 zhi1 ju1 si3 shi cu ru ying er gu ke yi yu zhi fu shen xi shi cu ru ai zi gu ke yu zhi ju si | shih ts`u ju ying erh ku k`o i yü chih fu shen hsi shih ts`u ju ai tzu ku k`o yü chih chü ssu shih tsu ju ying erh ku ko i yü chih fu shen hsi shih tsu ju ai tzu ku ko yü chih chü ssu |
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In some entries above you will see that characters have different versions above and below a line. In these cases, the characters above the line are Traditional Chinese, while the ones below are Simplified Chinese. |
All of our calligraphy wall scrolls are handmade.
When the calligrapher finishes creating your artwork, it is taken to my art mounting workshop in Beijing where a wall scroll is made by hand from a combination of silk, rice paper, and wood.
After we create your wall scroll, it takes at least two weeks for air mail delivery from Beijing to you.
Allow a few weeks for delivery. Rush service speeds it up by a week or two for $10!
When you select your calligraphy, you'll be taken to another page where you can choose various custom options.
The wall scroll that Sandy is holding in this picture is a "large size"
single-character wall scroll.
We also offer custom wall scrolls in small, medium, and an even-larger jumbo size.
Professional calligraphers are getting to be hard to find these days.
Instead of drawing characters by hand, the new generation in China merely type roman letters into their computer keyboards and pick the character that they want from a list that pops up.
There is some fear that true Chinese calligraphy may become a lost art in the coming years. Many art institutes in China are now promoting calligraphy programs in hopes of keeping this unique form
of art alive.
Even with the teachings of a top-ranked calligrapher in China, my calligraphy will never be good enough to sell. I will leave that to the experts.
The same calligrapher who gave me those lessons also attracted a crowd of thousands and a TV crew as he created characters over 6-feet high. He happens to be ranked as one of the top 100 calligraphers in all of China. He is also one of very few that would actually attempt such a feat.