| The first excerpt represents the element of Air. It speaks of mental influences and the process of thought, and is drawn from The Art of War by Sun Tzu: states: "Wei Wu Ti strung together Sun Wu's Art of War," which
in turn may have resulted from a misunderstanding of the final
words of Ts`ao King's preface. This, as Sun Hsing-yen points
out, is only a modest way of saying that he made an explanatory
paraphrase, or in other words, wrote a commentary on it. On the
whole, this theory has met with very little acceptance. Thus,
the SSU K`U CH`UAN SHU says: "The mention of the 13 chapters in
the SHIH CHI shows that they were in existence before the HAN
CHIH, and that latter accretions are not to be considered part of
the original work. Tu Mu's assertion can certainly not be taken
as proof."
The Art of War |
The second excerpt represents the element of Fire. It speaks of emotional influences and base passions, and is drawn from The Emerald City of Oz by L. Frank Baum: add much to the load because he was stuffed with straw.
"You will notice I have one oat-field on my property," he remarked, as
they drove away. "Oat-straw is, I have found, the best of all straws
to re-stuff myself with when my interior gets musty or out of shape."
"Are you able to re-stuff yourself without help?" asked Aunt Em. "I
should think that after the straw was taken out of you there wouldn't
be anything left but your clothes."
"You are almost correct, madam," he answered. "My servants do the
stuffing, under my direction. For my head, in which are my excellent
brains, is a bag tied at the bottom. My face is neatly painted upon
one side of the bag, as you may see. My head does not need re-stuffing,
The Emerald City of Oz |
