36计英文详细翻译版——老外最喜欢看的孙子兵法
公共英语报名时间-名著读后感800字
Chapter 1: Winning Stratagems
Deceive the heavens to cross the ocean (瞒天过海,
Mán tiān guò hǎi)
Prepare too much and you
lose sight of the big picture; what you see often
you do not
doubt. Yin (the art of deception)
is in Yang (acting in open). Too much Yang
(transparency) hides Yin (true ruses).
This stratagem references an episode in 643
AD, when Emperor Taizong of Tang,
baulked from
crossing the sea to a campaign against Koguryo.
His general Xue
Rengui thought of a stratagem
to get the emperor across and allay his fear of
seasickness: on a clear day, the emperor was
invited to meet a wise man. They
entered
through a dark tunnel into a hall where they
feasted. After feasting several
days, the
Emperor heard the sound of waves and realised that
he had been lured onto
a ship! General Xue
drew aside the curtains to reveal the ocean and
confessed that
they had already crossed the
sea: Upon discovering this, the emperor decided to
carry on and later completed the successful
campaign.
This stratagem means that you
can mask your real goals, by using the ruse of a
fake
goal that everyone takes for granted,
until the real goal is achieved. Tactically, this
is
known as an 'open feint'; in front of
everyone, you point west, when your goal is
actually in the east. By the time everyone
realised it, you have already achieved your
goal. Harro von Senger notes in the German-
Language
full meaning, it would be something
like
This stratagem makes use of the
human failing to become unaware of common
everyday activities, or events that appear
normal. The best secrets are carried out in
broad daylight. The best hoax is to repeat it
so often that people are convinced that
the
next move is also a hoax. When this happens, it is
the best moment to carry out
one's previously
hidden true objective.
Besiege Wèi to
rescue Zhào (围魏救赵, Wéi Wèi jiù Zhào)
When the
enemy is too strong to be attacked directly, then
attack something he holds
dear. Know that he
cannot be superior in all things. Somewhere there
is a gap in the
armour, a weakness that can be
attacked instead.
The origin of this
proverb is from the Warring States Period. The
state
of Wèi attacked Zhao and laid siege to
its capital Handan. Zhào turned to Qí for help,
but the Qí general Sun Bin determined it would
be unwise to meet the army of Wèi
head on, so
he instead attacked their capital at Daliang. The
army of Wèi retreated in
haste, and the tired
troops were ambushed and defeated at the Battle of
Guiling, with
the Wèi general Pang Juan slain
on the field. Note that this campaign is also
described explicitly in the Art of War of
Master Sun Binthe younger.
The idea here
is to avoid a head on battle with a strong enemy,
and instead strike at
his weakness elsewhere.
This will force the strong enemy to retreat in
order to support
his weakness. Battling
against the now tired and low-morale enemy will
give a much
higher chance of success.
Kill with a borrowed knife (借刀杀人, Jiè
dāo shā rén)
Attack using the strength of
another (in a situation where using one's own
strength is
not favourable). Trick an ally
into attacking him, bribe an official to turn
traitor, or use
the enemy's own strength
against him.
The idea here is to cause
damage to the enemy by getting a 3rd party to do
the deed.
Leisurely await for the
laboured (以逸待劳, Yǐ yì dài láo)
It is an
advantage to choose the time and place for battle.
In this way you know when
and where the battle
will take place, while your enemy does not.
Encourage your
enemy to expend his energy in
futile quests while you conserve your strength.
When
he is exhausted and confused, you attack
with energy and purpose.
The idea is to
have your troops well-prepared for battle, in the
same time that the
enemy is rushing to fight
against you. This will give your troops a huge
advantage in
the upcoming battle, of which you
will get to select the time and place.
Loot a burning house (趁火打劫, Chèn huǒ dǎ jié)
When a country is beset by internal
conflicts, when disease and famine ravage the
population, when corruption and crime are
rampant, then it will be unable to deal with
an outside threat. This is the time to
attack.
Keep gathering internal
information about an enemy. If the enemy is
currently in its
weakest state ever, attack it
without mercy and totally destroy it to prevent
future
troubles.
Make a sound in the
east, then strike in the west (声东击西, Shēng dōng jí
xī)
In any battle the element of
surprise can provide an overwhelming advantage.
Even
when face to face with an enemy, surprise
can still be employed by attacking where
he
least expects it. To do this you must create an
expectation in the enemy's mind
through the
use of a feint.
The idea here is to get
the enemy to focus his forces in a location, and
then attack
elsewhere which would be weakly
defended.
Chapter 2: Enemy Dealing
Stratagems
Create something from nothing
(無中生有／无中生有, Wú zhōng shēng
yǒu)
A
plain lie. Make somebody believe there was
something when there is in fact
nothing.
One method of using this stratagem is
to create an illusion of something's existence,
while it does not exist. Another method is to
create an illusion that something does not
exist, while it does.
Openly repair
the gallery roads, but sneak through the passage
of Chencang (暗渡陈仓, Àn dù chén cāng)
Deceive the enemy with an obvious approach
that will take a very long time, while
surprising him by taking a shortcut and sneak
up to him. As the enemy concentrates
on the
decoy, he will miss you sneaking up to him.
The phrase originated from the Chu-Han
contention, where Liu Bang retreated to the
lands of Sichuan to prepare for a
confrontation withXiang Yu. Once he was fully
prepared, Liu Bang sent men to openly repair
the gallery roads he had destroyed
earlier,
while secretly moving his troops towards Guanzhong
through the small town
of Chencang instead.
When Xiang Yu received news of Liu Bang repairing
the gallery
roads, he dismissed the threat
since he knew the repairs would take years to
complete. This allowed Liu Bang to retake
Guanzhong by surprise, and eventually led
to
his victory over Xiang Yu and the birth of the Han
Dynasty.
This tactic is an extension of
the
tactic. But instead of simply spreading
misinformation to draw the enemy's attention,
physical baits are used to increase the
enemy's certainty on the misinformation.
These
baits must be easily seen by the enemy, to ensure
that they draw the enemy's
attention. At the
same time, the baits must act as if what they
meant to do what they
were falsely doing, to
avoid drawing the enemy's suspicion.
Watch the fires burning across the river
(隔岸观火, Gé àn guān huǒ)
Delay entering the
field of battle until all the other players have
become exhausted
fighting amongst themselves.
Then go in at full strength and pick up the
pieces.
Hide a knife behind a smile
(笑里藏刀, Xiào lǐ cáng dāo)
Charm and
ingratiate yourself to your enemy. When you have
gained his trust, move
against him in secret.
Sacrifice the plum tree to preserve the
peach tree (李代桃僵, Lǐ dài táo
jiāng)
There are circumstances in which you must
sacrifice short-term objectives in order to
gain the long-term goal. This is the scapegoat
stratagem whereby someone else
suffers the
consequences so that the rest do not.
Take the opportunity to pilfer a goat
(顺手牵羊, Shùn shǒu qiān yáng)
While
carrying out your plans be flexible enough to take
advantage of any opportunity
that presents
itself, however small, and avail yourself of any
profit, however slight.
[edit]
Chapter 3: Attacking Stratagems
Stomp
the grass to scare the snake (打草惊蛇, Dá cǎo jīng
shé)
Do something unaimed, but
spectacular (
the enemy (
him. Do something
unusual, strange, and unexpected as this will
arouse the enemy's
suspicion and disrupt his
thinking. More widely used as
hitting the
grass
enemy.
Borrow a corpse to
resurrect the soul (借尸还魂, Jiè shī huán hún)
Take an institution, a technology, a method,
or even an ideology that has been
forgotten or
discarded and appropriate it for your own purpose.
Revive something
from the past by giving it a
new purpose or bring to life old ideas, customs,
or
traditions and reinterpret them to fit your
purposes.
Entice the tiger to leave its
mountain lair (调虎离山, Diào hǔ lí shān)
Never
directly attack an opponent whose advantage is
derived from its position.
Instead lure him
away from his position thus separating him from
his source of
strength.
In order to
capture, one must let loose (欲擒故纵, Yù qín gū zòng)
Cornered prey will often mount a final
desperate attack. To prevent this you let the
enemy believe he still has a chance for
freedom. His will to fight is thus dampened by
his desire to escape. When in the end the
freedom is proven a falsehood the enemy's
morale will be defeated and he will surrender
without a fight.
Tossing out a brick to
get a jade gem (抛砖引玉, Pāo zhuān yǐn yù)
Bait someone by making him believe he gains
something or just make him react to it
(
gem
This proverb is based on a
story involving two famous poets of the Tang
Dynasty.
There was a great poet named Zhao Gu
and another lesser poet by the name
of Chang
Jian . While Chang Jian was travelling in Suzhou,
he heard news that Zhao
Gu would be visiting a
temple in the area. Chang Jian wished to learn
from the master
poet, so he devised a
plan and went to the temple in advance, then wrote
a poem on
the temple walls with only two of
the four lines completed, hoping Zhao Gu would see
it and finish the poem. Zhao Gu acted as Chang
Jian foresaw, and from this story
came the
proverb.
Defeat the enemy by capturing
their chief (擒贼擒王, Qín zéi qín wáng)
If
the enemy's army is strong but is allied to the
commander only by money,
superstition or
threats, then take aim at the leader. If the
commander falls the rest of
the army will
disperse or come over to your side. If, however,
they are allied to the
leader through loyalty
then beware, the army can continue to fight on
after his death
out of vengeance.
Chapter 4: Chaos Stratagems
Remove the
firewood from under the pot (釜底抽薪, Fǔ dǐ chōu xīn)
If something must be destroyed, destroy
the source.
Catch a fish while the water
is disturbed (混水摸鱼, Hún shuǐ mō yú)
Create confusion and use this confusion to
further your own goals.
Slough off the
cicada's golden shell (金蝉脱壳, Jīn chán tuō qiào)
It's a stratagem mainly used to escape
from enemy of a more superior force. One use
this stratagem by slough off one's shell,
which tricked the enemy to believe to have
grasped one's essential. Mask yourself. Either
leave flamboyant traits behind, thus
going
incognito; or just masquerade yourself and create
an illusion to fit your goals
and distract
others.
Shut the door to catch the thief
(关门捉贼, Guān mén zhōu zéi)
To capture your
enemy, or more generally in fighting wars, to
deliver the final blow to
your enemy, you must
plan prudently if you want to succeed. Do not rush
into action.
Before you
any routes through
which outside help can reach them.
Befriend a distant state while attacking a
neighbour (远交近攻, Yuǎn jiāo
jìn gōng)
It is known that nations that border each
other become enemies while nations
separated
by distance and obstacles make better allies. When
you are the strongest
in one field,
your greatest threat is from the second strongest
in your field, not the
strongest from another
field. This policy is associated with Fan Sui of
Qin, circa 269
BC.
Obtain safe
passage to conquer the State of Guo (假道伐虢, Jiǎ dào
fá
Guó)
Borrow the resources of an
ally to attack a common enemy. Once the enemy is
defeated, use those resources to turn on the
ally that lent you them in the first place.
See Duke Xian of Jin.
Chapter 5:
Proximate Stratagems
Replace the beams
with rotten timbers (偷梁换柱, Tōu liáng huàn zhù)
Disrupt the enemy's formations, interfere
with their methods of operations, change the
rules in which they are used to follow, go
contrary to their standard training. In this
way you remove the supporting pillar, the
common link that makes a group of men an
effective fighting force.
Point at
the mulberry tree while cursing the locust tree
(指桑骂槐, Zhǐ
sāng mà huái)
To
discipline, control, or warn others whose status
or position excludes them from
direct
confrontation; use analogy and innuendo. Without
directly naming names, those
accused cannot
retaliate without revealing their complicity.
Feign madness but keep your balance (假痴不癫, Jiǎ
chī bù diān)
Hide behind the mask of a fool, a
drunk, or a madman to create confusion about your
intentions and motivations. Lure your opponent
into underestimating your ability until,
overconfident, he drops his guard. Then you
may attack.
Remove the ladder when the
enemy has ascended to the roof (上屋抽梯,
Shàng wū
chōu tī)
With baits and deceptions, lure
your enemy into treacherous terrain. Then cut off
his
lines of communication and avenue of
escape. To save himself, he must fight both
your own forces and the elements of nature.
Deck the tree with false blossoms (树上开花,
Shù shàng kāi huā)
Tying silk blossoms on
a dead tree gives the illusion that the tree is
healthy. Through
the use of artifice and
disguise, make something of no value appear
valuable; of no
threat appear
dangerous; of no use appear useful. This is the
same stratagem
as Potemkin villages.
Make the host and the guest exchange roles
(反客为主, Fǎn kè wéi zhǔ)
Usurp leadership
in a situation where you are normally subordinate.
Infiltrate your
target. Initially, pretend to
be a guest to be accepted, but develop from inside
and
become the owner later.
Chapter 6: Defeat Stratagems
The
beauty trap (honey trap) (美人计, Měi rén jì)
Send your enemy beautiful women to cause
discord within his camp. This stratagem
can
work on three levels. First, the ruler becomes so
enamoured with the beauty that
he neglects his
duties and allows his vigilance to wane. Second,
other males at court
will begin to display
aggressive behaviour that inflames minor
differences hindering
co-operation and
destroying morale. Third, other females at court,
motivated by
jealousy and envy, begin to plot
intrigues further exacerbating the situation.
The empty fort strategy (空城计, Kōng chéng jì)
When the enemy is superior in numbers and
your situation is such that you expect to
be
overrun at any moment, then drop all presence of
military preparedness, act calmly
and appear
disrespect of the enemy, so that the enemy will
think you have hidden
huge power and you want
to trap them into the fort with your calm and
easiness. This
has to be used when in most of
the cases, you do have huge power hidden under the
disguise and you only play the real empty
rarely. This depends on having a clever
opponent who, in perceiving a trap, may over-
think their reaction
[4]
.
Let the
enemy's own spy sow discord in the enemy camp
(反间计, Fǎn
jiàn jì)
Undermine your
enemy's ability to fight by secretly causing
discord between him and
his friends, allies,
advisors, family, commanders, soldiers, and
population. While he is
preoccupied settling
internal disputes, his ability to attack or
defend, is compromised.
Inflict injury on
oneself to win the enemy's trust (苦肉计, Kǔ ròu jì)
Pretending to be injured has two possible
applications. In the first, the enemy is lulled
into relaxing his guard since he no longer
considers you to be an immediate threat.
The
second is a way of ingratiating yourself to your
enemy by pretending the injury
was caused by a
mutual enemy.
Chain stratagems
(连环计, Lián huán jì)
In important matters,
one should use several stratagems applied
simultaneously after
another as in a chain of
stratagems. Keep different plans operating in an
overall
scheme; however, in this manner if any
one stratagem fails, then the chain breaks and
the whole scheme fails.
If everything
else fails, retreat (走为上, Zǒu wéi shàng)
If it
becomes obvious that your current course of action
will lead to defeat, then retreat
and regroup.
When your side is losing, there are only three
choices remaining:
surrender, compromise, or
escape. Surrender is complete defeat, compromise
is half
defeat, but escape is not defeat. As
long as you are not defeated, you still have a
chance.
Chapter 1: Winning
Stratagems
Deceive the heavens to cross
the ocean (瞒天过海, Mán tiān guò hǎi)
Prepare too
much and you lose sight of the big picture; what
you see often you do not
doubt. Yin (the art
of deception) is in Yang (acting in open). Too
much Yang
(transparency) hides Yin (true
ruses).
This stratagem references an
episode in 643 AD, when Emperor Taizong of Tang,
baulked from crossing the sea to a campaign
against Koguryo. His general Xue
Rengui
thought of a stratagem to get the emperor across
and allay his fear of
seasickness: on a clear
day, the emperor was invited to meet a wise man.
They
entered through a dark tunnel into a hall
where they feasted. After feasting several
days, the Emperor heard the sound of waves and
realised that he had been lured onto
a ship!
General Xue drew aside the curtains to reveal the
ocean and confessed that
they had already
crossed the sea: Upon discovering this, the
emperor decided to
carry on and later
completed the successful campaign.
This
stratagem means that you can mask your real goals,
by using the ruse of a fake
goal that everyone
takes for granted, until the real goal is
achieved. Tactically, this is
known as an
'open feint'; in front of everyone, you point
west, when your goal is
actually in the east.
By the time everyone realised it, you have already
achieved your
goal. Harro von Senger notes in
the German-Language
full meaning, it would be
something like
This stratagem makes use
of the human failing to become unaware of common
everyday activities, or events that appear
normal. The best secrets are carried out in
broad daylight. The best hoax is to repeat it
so often that people are convinced that
the
next move is also a hoax. When this happens, it is
the best moment to carry out
one's previously
hidden true objective.
Besiege Wèi to
rescue Zhào (围魏救赵, Wéi Wèi jiù Zhào)
When the
enemy is too strong to be attacked directly, then
attack something he holds
dear. Know that he
cannot be superior in all things. Somewhere there
is a gap in the
armour, a weakness that can be
attacked instead.
The origin of this
proverb is from the Warring States Period. The
state
of Wèi attacked Zhao and laid siege to
its capital Handan. Zhào turned to Qí for help,
but the Qí general Sun Bin determined it would
be unwise to meet the army of Wèi
head on, so
he instead attacked their capital at Daliang. The
army of Wèi retreated in
haste, and the tired
troops were ambushed and defeated at the Battle of
Guiling, with
the Wèi general Pang Juan slain
on the field. Note that this campaign is also
described explicitly in the Art of War of
Master Sun Binthe younger.
The idea here
is to avoid a head on battle with a strong enemy,
and instead strike at
his weakness elsewhere.
This will force the strong enemy to retreat in
order to support
his weakness. Battling
against the now tired and low-morale enemy will
give a much
higher chance of success.
Kill with a borrowed knife (借刀杀人, Jiè
dāo shā rén)
Attack using the strength of
another (in a situation where using one's own
strength is
not favourable). Trick an ally
into attacking him, bribe an official to turn
traitor, or use
the enemy's own strength
against him.
The idea here is to cause
damage to the enemy by getting a 3rd party to do
the deed.
Leisurely await for the
laboured (以逸待劳, Yǐ yì dài láo)
It is an
advantage to choose the time and place for battle.
In this way you know when
and where the battle
will take place, while your enemy does not.
Encourage your
enemy to expend his energy in
futile quests while you conserve your strength.
When
he is exhausted and confused, you attack
with energy and purpose.
The idea is to
have your troops well-prepared for battle, in the
same time that the
enemy is rushing to fight
against you. This will give your troops a huge
advantage in
the upcoming battle, of which you
will get to select the time and place.
Loot a burning house (趁火打劫, Chèn huǒ dǎ jié)
When a country is beset by internal
conflicts, when disease and famine ravage the
population, when corruption and crime are
rampant, then it will be unable to deal with
an outside threat. This is the time to
attack.
Keep gathering internal
information about an enemy. If the enemy is
currently in its
weakest state ever, attack it
without mercy and totally destroy it to prevent
future
troubles.
Make a sound in the
east, then strike in the west (声东击西, Shēng dōng jí
xī)
In any battle the element of
surprise can provide an overwhelming advantage.
Even
when face to face with an enemy, surprise
can still be employed by attacking where
he
least expects it. To do this you must create an
expectation in the enemy's mind
through the
use of a feint.
The idea here is to get
the enemy to focus his forces in a location, and
then attack
elsewhere which would be weakly
defended.
Chapter 2: Enemy Dealing
Stratagems
Create something from nothing
(無中生有／无中生有, Wú zhōng shēng
yǒu)
A
plain lie. Make somebody believe there was
something when there is in fact
nothing.
One method of using this stratagem is
to create an illusion of something's existence,
while it does not exist. Another method is to
create an illusion that something does not
exist, while it does.
Openly repair
the gallery roads, but sneak through the passage
of Chencang (暗渡陈仓, Àn dù chén cāng)
Deceive the enemy with an obvious approach
that will take a very long time, while
surprising him by taking a shortcut and sneak
up to him. As the enemy concentrates
on the
decoy, he will miss you sneaking up to him.
The phrase originated from the Chu-Han
contention, where Liu Bang retreated to the
lands of Sichuan to prepare for a
confrontation withXiang Yu. Once he was fully
prepared, Liu Bang sent men to openly repair
the gallery roads he had destroyed
earlier,
while secretly moving his troops towards Guanzhong
through the small town
of Chencang instead.
When Xiang Yu received news of Liu Bang repairing
the gallery
roads, he dismissed the threat
since he knew the repairs would take years to
complete. This allowed Liu Bang to retake
Guanzhong by surprise, and eventually led
to
his victory over Xiang Yu and the birth of the Han
Dynasty.
This tactic is an extension of
the
tactic. But instead of simply spreading
misinformation to draw the enemy's attention,
physical baits are used to increase the
enemy's certainty on the misinformation.
These
baits must be easily seen by the enemy, to ensure
that they draw the enemy's
attention. At the
same time, the baits must act as if what they
meant to do what they
were falsely doing, to
avoid drawing the enemy's suspicion.
Watch the fires burning across the river
(隔岸观火, Gé àn guān huǒ)
Delay entering the
field of battle until all the other players have
become exhausted
fighting amongst themselves.
Then go in at full strength and pick up the
pieces.
Hide a knife behind a smile
(笑里藏刀, Xiào lǐ cáng dāo)
Charm and
ingratiate yourself to your enemy. When you have
gained his trust, move
against him in secret.
Sacrifice the plum tree to preserve the
peach tree (李代桃僵, Lǐ dài táo
jiāng)
There are circumstances in which you must
sacrifice short-term objectives in order to
gain the long-term goal. This is the scapegoat
stratagem whereby someone else
suffers the
consequences so that the rest do not.
Take the opportunity to pilfer a goat
(顺手牵羊, Shùn shǒu qiān yáng)
While
carrying out your plans be flexible enough to take
advantage of any opportunity
that presents
itself, however small, and avail yourself of any
profit, however slight.
[edit]
Chapter 3: Attacking Stratagems
Stomp
the grass to scare the snake (打草惊蛇, Dá cǎo jīng
shé)
Do something unaimed, but
spectacular (
the enemy (
him. Do something
unusual, strange, and unexpected as this will
arouse the enemy's
suspicion and disrupt his
thinking. More widely used as
hitting the
grass
enemy.
Borrow a corpse to
resurrect the soul (借尸还魂, Jiè shī huán hún)
Take an institution, a technology, a method,
or even an ideology that has been
forgotten or
discarded and appropriate it for your own purpose.
Revive something
from the past by giving it a
new purpose or bring to life old ideas, customs,
or
traditions and reinterpret them to fit your
purposes.
Entice the tiger to leave its
mountain lair (调虎离山, Diào hǔ lí shān)
Never
directly attack an opponent whose advantage is
derived from its position.
Instead lure him
away from his position thus separating him from
his source of
strength.
In order to
capture, one must let loose (欲擒故纵, Yù qín gū zòng)
Cornered prey will often mount a final
desperate attack. To prevent this you let the
enemy believe he still has a chance for
freedom. His will to fight is thus dampened by
his desire to escape. When in the end the
freedom is proven a falsehood the enemy's
morale will be defeated and he will surrender
without a fight.
Tossing out a brick to
get a jade gem (抛砖引玉, Pāo zhuān yǐn yù)
Bait someone by making him believe he gains
something or just make him react to it
(
gem
This proverb is based on a
story involving two famous poets of the Tang
Dynasty.
There was a great poet named Zhao Gu
and another lesser poet by the name
of Chang
Jian . While Chang Jian was travelling in Suzhou,
he heard news that Zhao
Gu would be visiting a
temple in the area. Chang Jian wished to learn
from the master
poet, so he devised a
plan and went to the temple in advance, then wrote
a poem on
the temple walls with only two of
the four lines completed, hoping Zhao Gu would see
it and finish the poem. Zhao Gu acted as Chang
Jian foresaw, and from this story
came the
proverb.
Defeat the enemy by capturing
their chief (擒贼擒王, Qín zéi qín wáng)
If
the enemy's army is strong but is allied to the
commander only by money,
superstition or
threats, then take aim at the leader. If the
commander falls the rest of
the army will
disperse or come over to your side. If, however,
they are allied to the
leader through loyalty
then beware, the army can continue to fight on
after his death
out of vengeance.
Chapter 4: Chaos Stratagems
Remove the
firewood from under the pot (釜底抽薪, Fǔ dǐ chōu xīn)
If something must be destroyed, destroy
the source.
Catch a fish while the water
is disturbed (混水摸鱼, Hún shuǐ mō yú)
Create confusion and use this confusion to
further your own goals.
Slough off the
cicada's golden shell (金蝉脱壳, Jīn chán tuō qiào)
It's a stratagem mainly used to escape
from enemy of a more superior force. One use
this stratagem by slough off one's shell,
which tricked the enemy to believe to have
grasped one's essential. Mask yourself. Either
leave flamboyant traits behind, thus
going
incognito; or just masquerade yourself and create
an illusion to fit your goals
and distract
others.
Shut the door to catch the thief
(关门捉贼, Guān mén zhōu zéi)
To capture your
enemy, or more generally in fighting wars, to
deliver the final blow to
your enemy, you must
plan prudently if you want to succeed. Do not rush
into action.
Before you
any routes through
which outside help can reach them.
Befriend a distant state while attacking a
neighbour (远交近攻, Yuǎn jiāo
jìn gōng)
It is known that nations that border each
other become enemies while nations
separated
by distance and obstacles make better allies. When
you are the strongest
in one field,
your greatest threat is from the second strongest
in your field, not the
strongest from another
field. This policy is associated with Fan Sui of
Qin, circa 269
BC.
Obtain safe
passage to conquer the State of Guo (假道伐虢, Jiǎ dào
fá
Guó)
Borrow the resources of an
ally to attack a common enemy. Once the enemy is
defeated, use those resources to turn on the
ally that lent you them in the first place.
See Duke Xian of Jin.
Chapter 5:
Proximate Stratagems
Replace the beams
with rotten timbers (偷梁换柱, Tōu liáng huàn zhù)
Disrupt the enemy's formations, interfere
with their methods of operations, change the
rules in which they are used to follow, go
contrary to their standard training. In this
way you remove the supporting pillar, the
common link that makes a group of men an
effective fighting force.
Point at
the mulberry tree while cursing the locust tree
(指桑骂槐, Zhǐ
sāng mà huái)
To
discipline, control, or warn others whose status
or position excludes them from
direct
confrontation; use analogy and innuendo. Without
directly naming names, those
accused cannot
retaliate without revealing their complicity.
Feign madness but keep your balance (假痴不癫, Jiǎ
chī bù diān)
Hide behind the mask of a fool, a
drunk, or a madman to create confusion about your
intentions and motivations. Lure your opponent
into underestimating your ability until,
overconfident, he drops his guard. Then you
may attack.
Remove the ladder when the
enemy has ascended to the roof (上屋抽梯,
Shàng wū
chōu tī)
With baits and deceptions, lure
your enemy into treacherous terrain. Then cut off
his
lines of communication and avenue of
escape. To save himself, he must fight both
your own forces and the elements of nature.
Deck the tree with false blossoms (树上开花,
Shù shàng kāi huā)
Tying silk blossoms on
a dead tree gives the illusion that the tree is
healthy. Through
the use of artifice and
disguise, make something of no value appear
valuable; of no
threat appear
dangerous; of no use appear useful. This is the
same stratagem
as Potemkin villages.
Make the host and the guest exchange roles
(反客为主, Fǎn kè wéi zhǔ)
Usurp leadership
in a situation where you are normally subordinate.
Infiltrate your
target. Initially, pretend to
be a guest to be accepted, but develop from inside
and
become the owner later.
Chapter 6: Defeat Stratagems
The
beauty trap (honey trap) (美人计, Měi rén jì)
Send your enemy beautiful women to cause
discord within his camp. This stratagem
can
work on three levels. First, the ruler becomes so
enamoured with the beauty that
he neglects his
duties and allows his vigilance to wane. Second,
other males at court
will begin to display
aggressive behaviour that inflames minor
differences hindering
co-operation and
destroying morale. Third, other females at court,
motivated by
jealousy and envy, begin to plot
intrigues further exacerbating the situation.
The empty fort strategy (空城计, Kōng chéng jì)
When the enemy is superior in numbers and
your situation is such that you expect to
be
overrun at any moment, then drop all presence of
military preparedness, act calmly
and appear
disrespect of the enemy, so that the enemy will
think you have hidden
huge power and you want
to trap them into the fort with your calm and
easiness. This
has to be used when in most of
the cases, you do have huge power hidden under the
disguise and you only play the real empty
rarely. This depends on having a clever
opponent who, in perceiving a trap, may over-
think their reaction
[4]
.
Let the
enemy's own spy sow discord in the enemy camp
(反间计, Fǎn
jiàn jì)
Undermine your
enemy's ability to fight by secretly causing
discord between him and
his friends, allies,
advisors, family, commanders, soldiers, and
population. While he is
preoccupied settling
internal disputes, his ability to attack or
defend, is compromised.
Inflict injury on
oneself to win the enemy's trust (苦肉计, Kǔ ròu jì)
Pretending to be injured has two possible
applications. In the first, the enemy is lulled
into relaxing his guard since he no longer
considers you to be an immediate threat.
The
second is a way of ingratiating yourself to your
enemy by pretending the injury
was caused by a
mutual enemy.
Chain stratagems
(连环计, Lián huán jì)
In important matters,
one should use several stratagems applied
simultaneously after
another as in a chain of
stratagems. Keep different plans operating in an
overall
scheme; however, in this manner if any
one stratagem fails, then the chain breaks and
the whole scheme fails.
If everything
else fails, retreat (走为上, Zǒu wéi shàng)
If it
becomes obvious that your current course of action
will lead to defeat, then retreat
and regroup.
When your side is losing, there are only three
choices remaining:
surrender, compromise, or
escape. Surrender is complete defeat, compromise
is half
defeat, but escape is not defeat. As
long as you are not defeated, you still have a
chance.