(Colored Illustration Version) The 36 Stratagems (Complete 4 Volumes)

Author:
Publisher: Guangming Daily Press
Publish Date:
Features: Innovative practical insights; Detailed and innovative structure; Full-color illustrated format. Winning strategies have no constant form, like water, which seeks no fixed course. One must create momentum and rely on, hide when momentum cannot be seized, and attack when the opportunity arises.
Blind the heavens and cross the sea
[Objective]: Cross the sea
[Technique]: Deception
[Best Pair]: Cross the Pass in the Dark
[Notable Case]: Flying across the Yangtze River - Sui army defeats Chen
Kill with a borrowed axe
[Objective]: Kill
[Technique]: Borrowing
[Best Pair]: Spies in the Camp
[Notable Case]: The suspiciously paranoid Ming Emperor Chongzhen sacrifices his own strength
Profit from the fire
[Objective]: Rob
[Technique]: Seize the opportunity
[Best Pair]: Fish in troubled waters
[Notable Case]: Wu Sangui leads his troops into the pass - A fit of rage over a woman
Seize the weak
[Objective]: Exploit the vulnerable
[Technique]: Take advantage
[Best Pair]: Mix in the chaos
[Notable Case]: Qianzi’s rebellion and the rise of Zhengzong
Intermittent and mutually beneficial
Use the shadow to control the light, the light to counter the shadow, making truth and falsehood indistinguishable like a sturdy shield and a black sword.
Appear from nothing
[Objective]: Appear
[Technique]: Create
[Best Pair]: Flowers on the Tree
[Notable Case]: Chu Huaiwang cedes territory for peace
Watch the fire from the shore
[Objective]: Burn
[Technique]: Ignite
[Best Pair]: Rest while they tire
[Notable Case]: Chen Zhen’s strategy - Qin Wang watches the tiger fight
Replace the peach with the plum
[Objective]: Protect the peach
[Technique]: Replace
[Best Pair]: Painful self-suffering
[Notable Case]: The exchange of children between father and son - Cheng Ying’s legacy
Sun Bin’s strategy - Tian Dan’s horse race
Siege strategies
Defend by attacking first, seize the initiative, force surrender, and dominate the field. When tigers fall to the plains, snakes slither from holes, and both fame and fortune are gained.
Startle the grass, frighten the snake
[Objective]: See the true form
[Technique]: Strike directly
[Best Pair]: Lure the tiger away from the mountain
[Notable Case]: Li Zicheng’s victory over Kaifeng
Marriage at Ganlu Temple - Wu’s recruitment of a wife
Resurrect from a borrowed body
[Objective]: Return to life
[Technique]: Find a good corpse
[Best Pair]: Pull down the roof ladder
[Notable Case]: Liu Zhang invites wolves into his home - Liu Bei easily takes Yi Province
Chen Sheng and Wu Guang rise in rebellion, and the world responds
Start with a brick to draw jade
[Objective]: Draw jade
[Technique]: Momentum
[Best Pair]: Replace the peach with the plum
[Notable Case]: The Battle of Yingzhou - Khitan cavalry defeat Tang forces
Modu Khan unites the Xiongnu
Mixed battle strategies
Act with reason, benefit, and propriety; in a world of chaos, I alone remain pure. Move with the wind, and act with profit. Go forth with justification, emotion, and no restraint.
Draw fire from the furnace
[Objective]: Stop the boil
[Technique]: Remove
[Best Pair]: Capture the king to capture the thieves
[Notable Case]: Zhou Yafu suppresses the seven states rebellion
Cao Cao’s night raid on Wuzhang Camp
Attack distant enemies while securing nearby ones
[Objective]: Capture
[Technique]: Win distant hearts
[Best Pair]: Fish in troubled waters
[Notable Case]: The rise of Zhengzong and the unification of the realm
Strategies of cunning and extremity
To the extreme of poison, to the extreme of abnormality, wisdom hidden like ignorance, ever-changing in stratagem. In danger, do not reveal heroic tendencies; in calm, act like a dragon.
Point at the mulberry to curse the willow
[Objective]: Startle the willow
[Technique]: Point
[Best Pair]: Startle the grass, frighten the snake
[Notable Case]: Sun Wu demonstrates strategy - The beauty army
Rule like the mountain - Sima Qian’s stern justice
Pull down the roof ladder
[Objective]: Keep secrets
[Technique]: Face need not match expression
[Best Pair]: Empty city strategy
[Notable Case]: Masterful strategy - Sima Yi eliminates Cao Shuang
Roaming the grasslands, Modu becomes the master of the desert
Trees blooming like flowers
[Objective]: Blossoms like flowers
[Technique]: Watering
[Best Pair]: Smile in the heart, hide the knife
[Notable Case]: Fight to the river - Han Xin defeats Chen Yu
Xianger’s tragic end - You Erjiejie’s suicide
Defeat strategies
To live, place oneself in death; heaven and hell lie a step apart.
Empty city strategy
[Objective]: Confuse the enemy
[Technique]: “Vacuum”
[Notable Case]: The numerous cavalry of the Xiongnu - The master strategist avoids the tiger’s mouth with calm composure
The clever use of the empty city strategy by the Zheng people
Plunder from within
[Objective]: Plunder at home
[Technique]: Counter well
[Best Pair]: Pretend to be mad but not delusional
[Notable Case]: Guard Yangzhou - Han Shizhong repels the Jin army
Adopt the strategy to turn the tables
Zhou Yu deceives Cao Cao with a ruse; retreat is the best plan
[Objective]: Meet again
[Technique]: Retreat well
[Best Pair]: The golden cicada sheds its shell
[Notable Case]: Zhou Zhu’s narrow-mindedness vs. Zhuge Liang’s ingenious calculations
Zhou Zhuangwang destroys the state of Yong
Zhou Yu’s narrow-mindedness and Zhuge Liang’s masterful strategy