The resting and training of troops is at the same time a condition for victory in battle; “to train troops for a thousand days” in order to “use them for one morning”. To separate and advance is at the same time a condition for a combined attack (develop to attack jointly); retreat and defence, are at the same time in order to counter-attack and take the offensive (retreat to advance, and defend to attack). There is no other reason for being devious than it is the most effective method of wiping out the enemy (be devious to be direct); in order to succeed in the west, make a thrust towards the east (cause an uproar in the east, and strike in the west). Divide the soldiers to win over the masses, in order to facilitate centralization to wipe out the enemy; centralize to wipe out the enemy in order to facilitate the division of the soldiers to win over the masses. In order to carry out orders decisively, flexible freedoms need be allowed under a unified scheme; the strict implementation of discipline requires the development of conscious initiative; the statement of individual interest is permissable, but in the end these must be subordinated to the group decision; work at the front is important, but work at the rear cannot be discarded or ignored; if one’s health is poor one must think of convalescence, but in times of urgency, one also must think of sacrifice; everybody wants life to be easy, but when economic difficulties arise, one has to suffer; military training is important, and without it we could not smash the enemy, but political work is also of importance for without it we would be defeated; the abundant experience of the old soldiers and cadres is worthwhile and valuable, but if there are no new soldiers and cadres, the war and our work cannot be continued; courage is important, but there must be a strategem; although Zhang Fei was alright, he was after all not as good as Zhao Zilong;[4-593] [p. 271] the part of the work which we lead is important, but that part led by others and the entire work is also important if not more important; small group mentality is incorrect, and when one’s own opinion and that of the group or higher authorities is in contradiction, one’s opinion can and should be explained; it is, however, impermissable to freely express that opinion to any other member at a time when the group or higher authorities have not yet given approval, still less to instigate the subordinate members to oppose the higher authorities; the discipline of the minority subordinating itself to the majority, and the lower level subordinating itself to the higher level, is the minimum discipline of the Communist Party and the Red Army. “Good medicine is bitter to the taste but beneficial for the sickness”. “Sincere advice is not pleasant to hear but it is beneficial for one’s conduct”.[4-594] “It is on disaster that good fortune perches, it is beneath good fortune that disaster crouches”.[4-595] “To love yet know their bad qualities, to hate and yet know their excellences”.[4-596] “To glance ahead but not behind is called being a boorish oaf; to know one but not two is he who is not yet a wise man”.[4-597]
All contradictory things are interconnected; not only do they coexist in a single entity in given conditions, but in other given conditions, they also transform themselves into each other. This is the full meaning of the unity of opposites.[4-598] This is what Lenin meant when he talked of how they happen to be identical, under what kind of conditions they become identical, transforming themselves into one another.[4-599]
Why is it that the human mind should take these opposites not as dead, rigid, but as living, conditional, mobile, transforming themselves into each other? Because this is just how things are in objective reality. The fact is that the unity or identity of opposites in objective things is not dead or rigid; but is living, conditional, mobile, temporary, and relative; in given conditions, every contradictory aspect transforms itself into its opposite.[4-600]