The Thirty-Six Stratagems

Thirty-Six Stratagems: A Chinese collection of 36 four-character proverbs cataloging deception and maneuver in war, politics and daily life, grouped into six sets such as 'Stratagems for Desperate Situations'; its name echoes a 5th-century quip, but the text itself was compiled much later, resurfaced in 1941 and was widely published in 1961.

Tan Daoji: The Liu Song general whose supposed 36 tricks gave the book its name; a rival sneered that 'of Master Tan's thirty-six stratagems, running away was best,' which became the famous final stratagem.

Battle of Guiling: In 353 BC strategist Sun Bin saved the besieged state of Zhao by marching on Wei's undefended capital instead, forcing Wei's army to rush home into an ambush; the move became Stratagem 2, 'Besiege Wei to rescue Zhao.'

Empty Fort Strategy: In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhuge Liang threw open the gates of an undefended city and calmly played the zither on the wall; suspecting a trap, Sima Yi's huge army turned around and left.

Huang Gai: Before the Battle of Red Cliffs, this veteran general was publicly flogged so his fake defection to Cao Cao would look real, the textbook case of Stratagem 34, the 'self-inflicted injury.' His 'surrendering' ships arrived packed with fuel and set the enemy fleet ablaze.

Sun Quan: The famous tale of straw boats 'borrowing' 100,000 arrows is credited to Zhuge Liang in fiction, but the historical record gives it to Sun Quan, whose ship took so many arrows on one side at Ruxu that he turned it around to even out the load.

Xi Shi: According to legend, the defeated state of Yue trained this renowned beauty and sent her to King Fuchai of Wu, who neglected his kingdom for her until Yue destroyed Wu, the classic 'Beauty Trap,' Stratagem 31.

Sima Yi: In 249 AD the aging Wei statesman feigned senility, spilling porridge and mishearing visitors, until rival Cao Shuang dropped his guard and left the capital, then seized power in a coup, a real-world 'Feign madness but keep your balance.'

Diaochan: In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, minister Wang Yun promised this woman to both the tyrant Dong Zhuo and his bodyguard Lü Bu, turning them against each other in the most famous use of the 'Chain Stratagems.'

Duke Xian of Jin: In 655 BC he asked the state of Yu for passage to attack neighboring Guo, then conquered Yu on the way home, creating Stratagem 24, 'Borrow a road to conquer Guo,' and the idiom 'when the lips are gone, the teeth feel cold.'

Han Xin: In 206 BC he loudly repaired burned mountain plank roads as a decoy while his army slipped through a hidden route to Chencang, giving Stratagem 8 its name: 'Openly repair the walkway, secretly march to Chencang.'

Battle of Changping: Qin agents spread rumors that they feared only young Zhao Kuo, so Zhao replaced its cautious veteran general with him; the result in 260 BC was one of the bloodiest defeats of the ancient world, a showcase of sowing discord.

Fan Ju: The Qin strategist who advised 'befriend distant states and attack nearby ones,' Stratagem 23; the policy guided Qin's step-by-step swallowing of its neighbors on the way to unifying China.

Cao Cao: After routing the Yuan brothers in 207, he refused to chase them into Liaodong and simply waited; within weeks warlord Gongsun Kang sent him their heads, a perfect 'Watch the fire burning across the river.'

Lü Meng: In 219 AD he hid soldiers in merchant boats dressed in white civilian robes, slipped past Guan Yu's beacon towers and took Jing Province without a fight, a model of deception in plain sight.

Xue Rengui: Legend says this Tang general got a sea-fearing Emperor Taizong across the water by inviting him into a 'house' that was secretly a curtained ship, the origin story of Stratagem 1, 'Deceive the heavens to cross the sea.'

Four Crossings of the Chishui River: In 1935 the Red Army crossed the same river four times, feinting in one direction and striking in another to escape encircling Nationalist forces, often cited as 'Make a sound in the east, strike in the west.'

Operation Fortitude: Allied planners invented an entire phantom army under George Patton, complete with inflatable tanks and fake radio chatter, to convince Germany the 1944 invasion would hit Calais, a modern 'Create something from nothing.'

King Huai II of Chu: In 208 BC rebels found a grandson of the old Chu king working as a shepherd and crowned him to rally support, a textbook 'Borrow a corpse to resurrect the soul.'

Feast at Hong Gate: When a sword dance at this 206 BC banquet was cover for assassinating Liu Bang, he excused himself to use the toilet and fled, living out the final stratagem, 'If all else fails, retreat,' and later founding the Han dynasty.

Meng Huo: The southern chieftain who, in the traditional account, was captured and released by Zhuge Liang seven times until he submitted for good, the classic 'To catch something, first let it go.'

Mi Heng: This insulting scholar enraged Cao Cao, who avoided the blame of killing him by sending him to Liu Biao, who passed him to Huang Zu, who executed him, a darkly neat 'Kill with a borrowed knife.'

Sima Rangju: This Qi general executed a well-connected overseer who showed up late to muster, instantly frightening the whole army into discipline, a classic 'Point at the mulberry, curse the locust.'

Liu Zhang: The governor of Yi invited Liu Bei in as a guest to defend his territory; Liu Bei ended up taking the whole province, the textbook case of 'Make the host and guest swap places.'

Harro von Senger: The Swiss sinologist whose book on stratagems became a surprise European bestseller in the late 1980s, introducing Western readers to the 36 and arguing that Chinese culture treats cunning as a skill, not a vice.