Sechsunddreissig Strategien

Posted by me on Monday, the 23rd day of January, anno domini 2006 at 9:05 PM, local time.

So, while I hope to not get into the habit of just regurgitating things to this site, I thought it might be worthwhile to list the 36 strategies. They are unlikely to be part of your standard education, and they can help us all in many things, from playing Go to the business world. Not to mention, of course, war.

Anyway, here are the standard thirty-six, without explanation (which is likely to cause some confusion :-)

  • Deceive the sky to cross the ocean.
  • Surround Wei to rescue Zhao.
  • Borrow one’s hand to kill.
  • Make your enemy tire himself out while conserving energy.
  • Use the opportunity of fire to rob others.
  • Feign an attack in the east and attack in the west.
  • Create something from nothing.
  • Secretly utilize the Chen Chang passage.
  • Watch the fires burning across the river.
  • Knife sheathed in a smile.
  • Plum tree sacrifices for the Peach tree.
  • Stealing a goat along the way.
  • Startle the snake by hitting the grass around it.
  • Borrow another’s corpse to resurrect the soul.
  • Entice the tiger to leave its mountain lair.
  • In order to capture, one must let loose.
  • Tossing out a brick to get a jade.
  • Defeat the enemy by capturing their chief.
  • Remove the firewood under the cooking pot.
  • Fish in disturbed waters.
  • Slough off the cicada’s shell.
  • Shut the door to catch the thief.
  • Befriend a distant state while attacking a neighbor.
  • Obtain safe passage to conquer the Kingdom of Guo.
  • Replace the beams with rotten timbers.
  • Point at the mulberry and curse the locust.
  • Pretend to be a pig in order to eat the tiger.
  • Remove the ladder when the enemy has ascended to the roof.
  • Deck the tree with false blossoms.
  • Make the host and the guest exchange places.
  • The beauty trap.
  • Empty fort.
  • Let the enemy’s own spy sow discord in the enemy camp.
  • Inflict injury on one’s self to win the enemy’s trust.
  • Chain together the enemy’s ships.
  • If All Else Fails, Retreat.

Now, you may have noticed that some of these appear to be completely worthless. But they’re good stuff, trust me. Take some time to think them over. Mull, mull, mull.

That is all. Gute Nacht.

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