in his attacks without cultivating the spirit of enterprise; for the
result is waste of time and general stagnation.
[This is one of the most perplexing passages in Sun Tzŭ. Ts’ao Kung
says: "Rewards for good service should not be deferred a single day."
And Tu Mu: "If you do not take opportunity to advance and reward the
deserving, your subordinates will not carry out your commands, and
disaster will ensue." For several reasons, however, and in spite of the
formidable array of scholars on the other side, I prefer the
interpretation suggested by Mei Yao-ch’en alone, whose words I will
quote: "Those who want to make sure of succeeding in their battles and
assaults must seize the favourable moments when they come and not shrink
on occasion from heroic measures: that is to say, they must resort to
such means of attack of fire, water and the like. What they must not
do, and what will prove fatal, is to sit still and simply hold to the
advantages they have got."]