Thirty-Six Stratagems(计谋), which show our ancient Chinese wisdom, are our ancient culture treasure. And many of these stratagems can still be put into practice in many fields, such as war, politics, business and even daily life. The following are four of them. Let's enjoy the charm of our traditional culture.
Stratagem One When a thief is in your house, you'd better shut your doors at once in order to prevent him from running away. Why? For our ancient Chinese, there are two reasons. First, if you let your enemy run away, he will come back. Second, once your enemy succeeds in running away, it is dangerous for you to chase him. | Stratagem Two This stratagem is from a poem by Du Fu, a famous poet of the Tang Dynasty. A line in the poem reads: "To shoot the man on horse-back, shoot his horse first; To catch the robbers, capture their leader first." In a war if you want to beat the enemy, attack the leader first. Once the leader is caught, their forces will break down and fall into chaos. |
Stratagem Three Chinese always believe that tigers are more powerful when they are in the mountains. Once they leave mountains, they will become less powerful. And there are a few Chinese sayings linking tigers with mountains. The stratagem advises you not to directly attack an enemy in his own area. Instead, you should try to make him leave his place first, making him lose the geographical advantage. In this way, your enemy will be beaten easily. | Stratagem Four Experienced fishers all know how to prevent a hooked fish breaking the line. Move the fish line from side to side to gradually make the fish calm down and get tired, and then you can catch it easily. In the same way, once your enemy is trapped, he will often struggle, trying to run away. Leave him the false feeling that he still has a chance to run away. When he gets tired and loses his guard, you can capture him with less difficulty. |
