Secret Art of War
The 36 Stratagems (三十六计)
Some 300 years ago, towards the end of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) an unknown writer published "Secret Art of War: The 36 Stratagems" writing down for the first time war stratagems which first appeared in the official history of Southern Qi
about 1500 years ago.
"The 36 Stratagems" is a military classic of ancient China and has its emphasis on deception as military art. Here we discuss how those stratagems might apply to WeiQi.
You may, however, prefer to read how Ma Xiaochun 9-dan applies them in his book The Thirty-six Stratagems Applied to Go.
Stratagems when in a superior position
- Cross the sea under camouflage
- Besiege Wei to rescue Zhao
- Kill with a borrowed knife
- Wait at ease for the fatigued enemy
- Loot a burning house
- Make a feint to the east while attacking in the west
Stratagems for confrontation
- Create something out of nothing
- Advance to Chencang by a hidden path
- Watch the fire burning across the river
- Conceal a dagger in a smile
- Sacrifice plums for peaches
- Lead away a goat in passing
Stratagems for attack
- Beat the grass to startle the snake
- Raise a corpse from the dead
- Lure the tiger out of the mountain
- Let the enemy off in order to snare him
- Cast a brick to attract a gem
- To catch rebels nab their leader first
Stratagems for confused situations
- Take away the fire from under the cauldron
- Fish in troubled waters
- The cicada sheds its skin
- Bolt the door to catch the thief
- Befriend a distant state while attacking a neighbour
- Borrow a route to conquer Guo
Stratagems for gaining ground
- Replace the beams and pillars with rotten timber
- Point at the mulberry only to curse the locust
- Feigning foolishness
- Remove the ladder after the ascent
- Putting fake blossoms on the tree
- Host and guest reversed
Stratagems for desperate situations
- Beauty trap
- Empty city ploy
- Sow discord in the enemy's camp
- Inflict injury on oneself to win the enemy's trust
- Interlocking stratagems
- When retreat is the best option
Links
There are many possible links to other pages on the 36 stratagems. For example these:
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http://www.pipeline.com/~tkd-pix/36_strat.htm
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http://www.anderson.ucla.edu:7777/research/globalwindow/china/t6/b636.htm
- dead link:
http://www.warrior-scholar.com/Warrior-Scholar/Warrior-Scholar/Fun/library/36%20stratagems.html
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http://www.chinapage.com/36tact1.html
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http://www.shadownet.freeserve.co.uk/thirtysix.html
I picked up a book years ago, Lure the Tiger Out of the Mountains by Gao Yuan. Business focus, not WeiQi, but an excellent book with history of each strategy.
You can find it here: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0671758551/qid=1027299206/sr=1-1/ref=sr_1_1/104-8802456-1509520 ($8 when I wrote this!)
See also The Protracted Game.