36 Chinese Tactics or Stratagems 三十六計
May 14, 2019
In the very center of Shanghai, within the People’s Park, there is a little pond. In a spot along the pond, there are quite some rock seats where tourists can take a break and enjoy some easy time in the shade. At the beginning of the YouTube uploaded by Syed Tassaduq Hussain Bukhari, presumably on 04/17/2016, a musician was playing an instrument. The same musician was also caught on camera on 05/12/2016 when Dr. Gang Xu took a stroll there. It was a cozy and peaceful scene until Gang Xu cast his glance over the water: some fingerlings were foraging in the shallow water while a few snakeheads languorously basked on the surface. He then realized that China was still pretty much the same as the one that he left 25 years ago, where fingerlings had to learn to survive snakeheads and baby snakeheads had to learn to survive big snakeheads.
In the very center of Shanghai, within the People’s Park, there is a little pond. In a spot along the pond, there are quite some rock seats where tourists can take a break and enjoy some easy time in the shade. At the beginning of the YouTube uploaded by Syed Tassaduq Hussain Bukhari, presumably on 04/17/2016, a musician was playing an instrument. The same musician was also caught on camera on 05/12/2016 when Dr. Gang Xu took a stroll there. It was a cozy and peaceful scene until Gang Xu cast his glance over the water: some fingerlings were foraging in the shallow water while a few snakeheads languorously basked on the surface. He then realized that China was still pretty much the same as the one that he left 25 years ago, where fingerlings had to learn to survive snakeheads and baby snakeheads had to learn to survive big snakeheads.
The Thirty-Six Tactics or Stratagems is a set of methods that some Chinese, especially Chinese elites, practice in politics, war, business, and everyday interactions with others. Each tactics is named with a figurative expression. Each expression has become a idiom and is widely used by Chinese on a daily basis; together they form a component of Chinese cultural psychology.
1. Cross the sea without the emperor's knowledge
瞞天過海/瞒天过海 Work in progress. |
2. Besiege Wèi to rescue Zhào
圍魏救趙/围魏救赵 Work in progress. |
3. Kill with a borrowed knife
借刀殺人/借刀杀人 Annotation: Instead of directly confronting an enemy, use a third party or multiple third parties to finish the life of the enemy. The tactic often involves tricking or bribing the third party (s) to act on one’s behalf. It is in its nature a premeditated murder and conspiracy but often appears legitimate. The tactic also refers to the design that delivers a devastating blow to the career or reputation of an enemy through a third party. Illustrations: In China, “suicide” has evolved into a transitive verb to characterize an operation that uses disciplinary or judicial branches of the government as the third party to force a rival into committing a suicide. In the past few years, numerous Chinese officials have been "suicided" because they were accused of graft or other wrongdoings, simply because they were in the wrong political camp, though most Chinese officials are indistinguishable in terms of their greed and licentiousness. In the U.S., it is expected that laws pertaining to domestic violence and sex harassment would be exploited as a sharp "knife" by China's influence operations to "kill" Americans. |
4. Wait at leisure while the enemy labors
以逸待勞/以逸待劳 Work in progress. |
5. Loot a burning house
趁火打劫/趁火打劫 Work in progress. |
6. Make a sound in the east, then strike in the west
聲東擊西/声东击西 Work in progress. |
7. Create something from nothing
無中生有/无中生有 Work in progress. |
8. Openly repair the cliff path, but sneak through the pass of Chencang 明修棧道,暗渡陳倉/明修栈道,暗渡陈仓
Work in progress. |
9. Watch the fires burning across the river
隔岸觀火/隔岸观火 Work in progress. |
10. Hide a knife behind a smile
笑裏藏刀/笑里藏刀 Work in progress. |
11. Sacrifice the plum tree to preserve the peach tree
李代桃僵 Work in progress. |
12. Take the opportunity to pilfer a goat
順手牽羊/顺手牵羊 Work in progress. |
13. Stomp the grass to scare the snake
打草驚蛇/打草惊蛇 Work in progress. |
14. Borrow a corpse to resurrect the soul
借屍還魂/借尸还魂 Work in progress. |
15. Lure the tiger off its mountain lair
調虎離山/调虎离山 Work in progress. |
16. In order to capture, one must let loose
欲擒故縱/欲擒故纵 Work in progress. |
17. Tossing out a brick to get a jade gem
拋磚引玉/抛砖引玉 Work in progress. |
18. Defeat the enemy by capturing their chief
擒賊擒王/擒贼擒王 Work in progress. |
19. Remove the firewood from under the pot
釜底抽薪/釜底抽薪 Work in progress. |
20. Muddy the water and catch a fish
渾水摸魚/浑水摸鱼 or 混水摸魚/混水摸鱼 Work in progress. |
21. Slough off the cicada's golden shell
金蟬脱殼/金蝉脱壳 Work in progress. |
22. Shut the door to catch the thief
關門捉賊/关门捉贼 Work in progress. |
23. Befriend a distant state and strike a neighboring one
遠交近攻/远交近攻 Work in progress. |
24 Obtain safe passage to conquer the State of Guo
假途伐虢/假途伐虢 Work in progress. |
25. Replace the beams with rotten timbers
偷梁換柱/偷梁换柱 Work in progress. |
26. Point at the mulberry tree while cursing the locust tree
指桑罵槐/指桑骂槐 Work in progress. |
27. Feign madness but keep your balance
假痴不癲/假痴不癫 Work in progress. |
28. Remove the ladder when the enemy has ascended to the roof 上屋抽梯
Work in progress. |
29. Deck the tree with false blossoms
樹上開花/树上开花 Work in progress. |
30. Make the host and the guest exchange roles
反客為主/反客为主 Work in progress. |
31. The beauty trap (Honeypot)
美人計/美人计 Work in progress. |
32. The empty fort strategy
空城計/空城计 Work in progress. |
33. Let the enemy's own spy sow discord in the enemy camp
反間計/反间计 Work in progress. |
34. Inflict injury on oneself to win the enemy's trust
苦肉計/苦肉计 Work in progress. |
35. Chain stratagems
連環計/连环计 Work in progress. |
36. If all else fails, retreat
走為上計/走为上计 Work in progress. |
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