Sun Tzŭ said: We may distinguish six kinds of terrain, to wit:
(1) Accessible ground;
Mei Yao-ch‘ên says: 道路交達 “plentifully provided with roads and
means of communication.”
(2) entangling ground;
The same commentator says: 網羅之地往必掛綴 “Net-like country, venturing
into which you become entangled.”
(3) temporising ground;
Tu Yu explains 支 as 久. This meaning is still retained in modern
phrases such as 支托, 支演 “stave off,” “delay.” I do not know why
Capt. Calthrop calls 支地 “suspended ground,” unless he is
confusing it with 挂地.
(4) narrow passes; (5) precipitous heights;
The root idea in 隘 is narrowness; in 險, steepness.
(6) positions at a great distance from the enemy.
It is hardly necessary to point out the faultiness of this
classification. A strange lack of logical perception is shown in
the Chinaman’s unquestioning acceptance of glaring cross-divisions
such as the above.