It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.
The art of war, then, is governed by five constant factors, to be taken into account in one's deliberations, when seeking to determine the conditions obtaining in the field.
These are: (1) The Moral Law; (2) Heaven; (3) Earth; (4) The Commander; (5) Method and discipline.
Translated from the Chinese By Lionel Giles, M.A. (1910)
Discussion:
I clearly remember when my boss mentioned the Art of War by Sun Tzu just after I started working as a member of the Quality and Safety team of a health organisation in New Zealand. I knew some quotes from it but I had not thoroughly read all the whole volumes.
But, as I was the only member in his team from the Far East, the tactful manager with military background expected me of the full knowledge in this oriental classic. That lead me to dedicate in studying how the oriental wisdom can be applied in the field of the health strategy.
Since then, I have been astonished by how it is relevant in this regard. So I decided to try one by one translation of the Art of War into "Sun Tzu in Health Strategy."
Translation:
The health strategy is of vital importance to the State.
It is a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is a subject of inquiry which can on no account be neglected.
The health strategy, then, is governed by five constant factors, to be taken into account in one's deliberations, when seeking to determine the conditions obtaining in the field.
These are: (1) Legislation; (2) Environment; (3) Geography; (4) Professionalism; (5) Method and discipline
Ray Murakami
Ray Murakami
