The Art of War: Chapter 1 – Sentence 6
This page contains my translation of Sentence 6 of Chapter 1:
The general embodies the virtues of wisdom, trustworthiness, benevolence, courage, and discipline.
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Subdivisions of Nature – Chinese
Subdivisions of Nature – Chinese
For native speakers of English, it seems so natural to recognize the world, and the organization of time and space, to be subdivided into groups of 4 that it is quite inconceivable to consider the idea that there could be any question but that this is the way the world ‘really’ is.
You might be surprised to discover that since ancient times the Chinese language has naturally recognized each and every one of these subdivisions of the world not as subdivisions into 4 at all, but as subdivisions into 5!
Posted in The Dao
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Strokes
Strokes
Although Chinese characters are based on pictures, the pictures are no longer as free-form as paintings. In other words, originally, people were free to draw the pictures as personal works of art.
Now, however, the characters have long since become standardized into a fixed set of allowed markings, known as strokes. Characters have become standardized and simplified. This makes characters less free-form, and makes them simpler to reproduce and simpler to learn.
It can also make it more difficult to recognize the original pictures.
Let us learn the various strokes that are used to represent Chinese characters. Once we know the strokes, we will find it simpler to recognize the original pictures, and we will find it simpler to recall how to write the characters later.
Strokes are based on the structure of the human body.
Posted in Chinese Characters
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