Watch The Fire Burning Across the River …
This is the act of exercising the proper patience and allowing favorable events to progress.
President Xi Jinping is no doubt a very good strategist and at the time of this post, understands the best time for action and inaction as the internal struggles we are witnessing in Hong Kong tend to weaken an enemy’s strength and make future victories easy!
An attack from without can become a unifying force, something the President Xi would have at the top of his mind due to the present circumstances.
When the enemy has conflicts within, it is best to watch from across the river and let the fire do its work.
Chinese children know the story of the clam and the oyster. These two were fighting on the beach and had a tenacious grip on one another. Neither would loosen their hold even when they were picked up by a fisherman and taken home for dinner!
They were similar to the population now rioting in the streets of Hong Kong, oblivious to their mortal danger because of their own conflict within the State.
Misfortune will surely come to them from the hand of a third party!
Cao Cao was a Chinese warlord and the penultimate Chancellor of the Eastern Han dynasty who rose to great power in the final years of the dynasty.
He followed and applied the strategy of watching the fire burning across the river after he had defeated the two Yuan brothers in battle. The two brothers escaped during the battle and headed north to Laodong with several thousand of their troops.
Cao Cao did not give chase as he knew that the Lord of Laodong would accept the two brothers as he had always been afraid of General Yuan the brother’s father.
Over the years the Lord had fostered a deep hatred of the Yuan family.
Cao Cao also knew that the Lord would accept the two brothers with their troops because he feared an imminent attack by Cao Cao himself.
When no threat had developed the Lord of Laodong relaxed and saw no reason to give the Yuan brothers sanctuary. Just as Cao Cao had predicted, messengers from Laodong brought Cao Cao the heads of the two brothers a short time later.
Cao Cao had watched the fire burning across the river allowing the situation to develop on its own. The fire that was allowed to consume his enemies enabled Cao Cao to prevail without expending any energy and strength in battle. The important lesson here is to know when to simply watch the fire and when to intervene actively. Timing is all important.
‘When one is skilful in warfare, he must first place himself in an invincible position and then seize any favourable opportunity to defeat the enemy. To secure oneself against defeat depends upon one’s own efforts, while the opportunity for victory must be afforded by the enemy.’– Sun Tzu Bing-Fa
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