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Glossary of Chinese TermsThis glossary is keyed to the most common English words used in the translation of The Art of War. The Chinese names used are based primarily on Pinyin, but we occasionally use Cantonese terms to make each term unique. Ai: narrow, constricted: a confined space or narrow niche; one of six field positions; the limited extreme of the dimension Yuan, distance; opposite of Guang, wide.Bao: treasure, reward: the necessary compensation for success; winning is not beating the competition, but producing a reward; victory must pay. Bei: flee, northward: run away without fighting; one of six weaknesses of an organization; opposite of Jeun, advance.Beng: split apart, collapse: fall apart over time; one of six weaknesses of an organization. Bi: evade, avoid: the strategy used by small competitors when facing large opponents. Bian: change, transform: transition from one condition to another; the ability to adapt to different situations. Bing: weapons, soldiers, war: competition; the use of force. Bu: no, not: negates the meaning of the following ideogram; the character that provides the opposing idea for concepts that have no natural opposite. Bu Zhi: not to know, ignorance: a failure to understand or to gather information; the cardinal sin in Bing-Fa; opposite of Zhi, knowledge.Cheng: city: fortified town; populated position that is costly to attack. Chi: govern, rule, control: literally, to harness a river; to manage or govern people or situations; the opposite of Juan, disorder.Ching: feelings, affection, love, situation: the bonds of relationship that must be managed like other situations. Chong: serious, heavy: requiring effort and skill; the situation of being deeply committed to a campaign, with opposition behind; one of nine situations or types of terrain. Cong: follow: to obey, to submit to, and to trail; opposite of Gwo, pass.Cu: hurry: to rush into or to be attracted to; a dangerous method to move; opposite of Dai, wait.Da: big, large: forces that are much larger than opponents' forces; opposite of Siu, small.Dai: wait, await: staying in place patiently; nonaction when there is no opportunity; the opposite of Cu, hurry.Di: ground, earth, situation, condition: a specific place, condition, or situation; where one competes and simultaneously the prize of competition; one of five key factors in competitive analysis; opposite of Tian, heaven.Die: arrive, reach, stop: end of movement to a destination or goal; opposite of Heui, to go.Dik: enemy, opponent: someone who desires the same position; a competitor. Dui: group, team, troop: a grouping of people; one of the five targets of fire attacks. Dun: blunt, dull: a slow mental attitude; opposite of Riu, sharp.Fa: method, laws: procedures, techniques; steps to accomplish a goal; one of the five key factors in analysis; the realm of groups that must follow procedures; the conceptual opposite of Jiang, the general, who is free from law because he makes the law.Fan: reverse, flip, double back, double agent: to turn around in direction; to change a situation; to switch a person's alligiance; one of five types of spies. Fei: waste, waste time, consume: to expend limited resources; the result of unnecessary conflict. Fen: divide, separate: to break apart a larger force; opposite of Hap, to join, and Zhuan, to concentrate.Feng: wind, custom, fashion: the pressure of environmental forces; a necessary ingredient for fire or environment attacks. Gaan: spies, conduits: literally, openings between things; go-betweens, channels of information. Gai: plan, planning: analysis of a situation; used as a combination of Zhi (knowledge) and Jain (vision); used in combination with Gui (deception) to create Gui Gai, deceptive plans, tricks, or traps.Gong: attack, strike: any action against an opponent; a movement into new territory; the opposite of Shou, to defend.Gong Cheng: siege, strike city: any action against an entrenched position; one of the five basic attacks; the least desirable form of attack. Gua: hanging, suspended, entangling: a position that cannot be returned to; any condition that leaves no place to go; one of six field positions. Guang: wide: lacking constraint; ground form opposite of Ai, narrow.Gui: illusion, deception: misleading the competition; an attack on an opponent's Jain, vision; the essence of war.Guo: nation: state; the productive part of an organization; the seat of political power; the entity that controls an army or competitive part of the organization. Gwai: expensive: costly in terms of money or resources; closely related conceptually to the idea of Fei, to consume or waste.Gwo: pass, pass through, go across: to exceed or surpass; opposite of Cong, follow.Haam: sink, plunge, trap: fall down or into; one of six weaknesses of organizations. Hang: act, march, go, walk: action toward a position or goal; used as a near synonym for Dong, act.Hap: join: to unite with allies to create a larger force; opposite of Fen, divide.Hei: spirit, air, steam, gas: something insubstantial; a characteristic of Dong, movement so opponents cannot know a position.Heui: go away: to depart; to leave an area; opposite of Die, arrive.Huo: fire: the only weapon whose use Sun Tzu details; used as an analogy for attacks in general and environmental attacks in particular. Jang: straight, right, proper, correct: the expected normal behavior; the standard approach; the opposite of Qi, unusual.Jeun: advance, make progress: to move forward in a campaign; opposite of Bei, retreat.Ji: savings, stores, accumulate: resources that have been stored up; one of the five targets of fire attacks. Jiang: general, commander: the leader of an army; the decision-maker in a competitive unit; the superior of officers and men; one of the five key factors in analysis; the conceptual opposite of Fa, the laws that do not require decisions.Jiao: meeting, joining, crossing: to come together; to intersect; an open situation that encourages a race; one of nine situations or types of terrain. Jie: restraint, to restrain: to withhold action until the proper time; a companion concept to Shi, momentum.Jik: direct, straight: a straight or obvious path to a goal; opposite of Yu, detour.Jing: government, political affairs: the force of authority, the ability to organize. Jiu: nine, many: used to indicate many different types as well as the specific number. Jiu: long time, delay: avoiding action for a period of time; lacking immediacy. Juan: chaos, disorder: conditions that cannot be predicted exactly; the natural state of confusion arising from competition; one of six weaknesses of an organization; opposite of Chi, control.Jun: army, armed: pertaining to a military force; the most dangerous type of Zheng, conflict.Ke: guest, invader: inside an opponent's territory; one who consumes resources. Keui: drive, expel: to motivate people to move and to keep them moving. Ku: houses, storehouses: places where supplies can be stockpiled; one of the five targets for fire attacks. Lei: force: power in the simplest sense; with dominant energy. Li: advantage, benefit: an opportunity arising from having a better position relative to opponents; a key characteristic of position. Liang: provisions, resources, food: necessary supplies, most commonly food; one of the five targets of fire attacks. |
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Copyright 2005-2008 Science of Strategy Institute, Clearbridge Publishing, and Gary Gagliardi |
