Rites of Zhou

Author: Huangshi Gong
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-05-01
Features: Series of "Tianxia Qishu" (The World's Wonder Books). During the struggle for supremacy between Liu Bang and Xiang Yu, Liu Bang repeatedly faced dangers, each time using Zhang Liang's strategies to turn crises into opportunities. After securing the empire, Liu Bang famously lamented: "To plan within the tent and win battles a thousand miles away, I am no match for Zhang Liang!" Little did he know, Zhang Liang's strategies all originated from the Su Shu. After Zhang Liang's death, the Su Shu was lost. Over 500 years later, during the Jin Dynasty, a tomb robber unearthed Zhang Liang's tomb and discovered the Su Shu inside a jade casket, inscribed with a secret decree: "Do not pass it on to those who are not divine or sage. If it falls into the wrong hands, they will suffer its consequences. Those who possess it but fail to pass it on will also suffer its consequences." Afterward, the Su Shu became widely circulated. Zhang Shangying, a prime minister of the Song Dynasty, wrote in the preface to the Su Shu: "It was because Zhang Liang applied a few principles from the Su Shu that he became Zhang Liang. With just those principles, he was able to overthrow the Qin Dynasty and defeat Xiang Yu, enabling Liu Bang to achieve imperial rule. How much more so for those who study the Su Shu in depth?" The Su Shu adopts the style of classical Chinese texts, with language that is highly concise yet profoundly rich in meaning. It offers meticulous observations and deep insights into the fluctuations of human affairs and the trends of events. It summarizes a comprehensive set of guiding principles and experiences on how to improve personal cultivation, navigate social interactions, manage households and states, seek prosperity and avoid misfortune, and achieve great undertakings. The author lived in a chaotic era, witnessing and carefully observing the myriad complexities of the world. His observations and analyses of Chinese human nature, his grasp of changing circumstances, his dissection of gains and losses, and his insights into strategies of struggle are sharp and incisive. Reading it is hair-raising yet deeply resonant, as every point strikes at the core of the matter.