Thread by @ThyConsigliori

John Minford, #SunTzu 5: 8 "There are but five colours, and yet their permutations are more than can ever be seen."

Theory. It is a thing. The way I map it out is this:

1) Theory
2) Strategy
3) Tactics
4) Execution

It looks like this. I'm strong here, my enemy weak there, I theorize (guess) that attacking where I think he's weak will succeed. My strategy is...and we go from there.

The ancient Chinese had something called color theory. Black, red, green, yellow, white, these were the fundamental colors they employed, and the phenomenal theory they built up around it remains impressive to this day. Yes, I'm a gigantic fan of the why the ancients theorized.

In the West, we have our own color theory. My wife is a genius of it. It makes no sense to me whatsoever. I studied it again this morning, in preparation for today's commentary and again found myself simply boggled. This is what struck me as I studied. We suck at theory.

I don't just mean our color theory either. I've been studying music theory for my entire life and I still haven't cracked the code. I'm getting close, I believe. But you get the idea. How about number theory? Yes, there is such a thing and again, I say we completely suck at it.

There is an answer, and although I get it from Descartes, I am confident the ancient Chinese really did know it already.

1) Simple Parts
2) Proper Sequence

Reduce complexity. Create simple lists of simple parts and try to order them in a sequence that makes some sense.

So, see if you can't follow this out. Chinese color theory relates, directly, to something called the Five Elements Theory. We have no time to make the connection to the ancient Greeks, who had their own version (it only had four elements) but it had to be mentioned!

Allow me to just show you, or even better, head on over to the wiki article here and hang out a bit. It's AWESOME!

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_in_…

Here we go:

1) Green
2) Red
3) Yellow
4) White
5) Black

Which equals:

1) Wood
2) Fire
3) Earth
4) Metal
5) Water

Don't ask me why, read the wiki article. It'll make sense at least while you're reading it!

We go again:

Wood feeds fire, which turns into ash/earth, which is where we find metal (deep beneath the ground), on which water/droplets gather (from warm air on cold steel), and water is what grows trees/wood.

We go again:

Fire liquefies and refines metal; metal cuts wood; wood plows earth; earth drains water, drawing it down from the surface; water slakes fire.

It's a deep, profound meditation to follow the theory captured into the cycle. You'll be amazed at the hidden truths.

Let's do our own smaller Western version. Paper covers rock, scissors cut paper, rock crushes scissors. Or,

1) Rock
2) Paper
3) Scissors

Do you see? There is an ancient power of theory hidden inside such a simple list, a little game we play with our fingers.

Remember the word "permutations." We'll walk through it again tomorrow, in yet another ancient Chinese theory. And then we'll come back to battle itself, with the infinite permutations of direct and indirect combat. Strategy hidden within theory; tactics hidden within strategy.

To return to previous sections in our #WarForAmerica2020 and #SunTzuForMAGA series, don't forget to head over to @WarForAmerica21.

96 verses completed, 326 to go. And also, be sure to purchase John Minford's translation, here:

amazon.com/Art-War-Pengui…

The local MAGA leader’s library needs three other books. The first is by my great friend, hero, and today’s greatest constitutional scholar, @shestokas. His most important work so far is:

amazon.com/Creating-Decla…

The second is available free. It is the combined Declaration of Independence and Constitution.

uscis.gov/sites/default/…

Last is my own book. I'll give you the link here, and then conclude with its ten MAGA principles:

amazon.com/America-First-…

1. Remember The Forgotten Americans
2. Rule Of Law
3. American Jobs
4. Quality Of Life For Every American
5. Heal Our Cities
6. Build The Wall
7. Make America Wealthy Again
8. Make America Strong Again
9. Make America Safe Again
10. Make America Great Again