Sun Tzu puts forward five key elements to assess warfare: morality, heaven, earth, commandership and discipline. Leaders should compare both sides’ strengths based on these factors to fully analyze the real situation before battles.
–Mao Zedong, December 26, 1962 Snow weighs on winter clouds; white downflakes fly,Myriad blooms fade fast, now rare and shy.High heaven’s icy currents roll and roar,Yet earth breathes soft warm winds, hope’s gentle core.
–Mao Zedong – 1961 Above Mount Jiuyi, white clouds fleet and fly,The imperial maidens ride the wind down from the sky.A speckled bamboo branch holds a thousand tears, nigh;Ten thousand rosy clouds form a hundred layers high.
–Mao Zedong, July 1, 1958 PrefaceReading People’s Daily (June 30): Yujiang County has eradicated schistosomiasis.My thoughts soar; I cannot sleep.Soft breeze caresses; rising sun gilds the window.Gazing south, I joyfully take up my brush.
–Mao Zedong, May 11, 1957 I lost proud Yang; you lost brave Liu,Their souls like willow-catkins soar to heaven’s height anew.We ask Wu Gang: “What have you?”He brings sweet osmanthus wine, pure and true.
Mao Zedong – April 1949 O’er Purple Mountain, storms surge sudden, wild and gray;A million mighty troops cross the great Yangtze.Like tiger crouched, dragon coiled, the city shines todayFar brighter than past days; earth turns, heaven realigns –Hearts swell with joy, with triumph’s grand designs.Strike on with leftover might, chase the routed foe;Don’t fish…
Prologue In the beginning, the world lay shrouded in darkness—an era named “Chaos.”