📜 The Thirty-Six Stratagems

Classical Strategy & Metaphysical Application (三十六計)

The Thirty-Six Stratagems (三十六計) is a unique collection of ancient Chinese proverbs that describe tactical approaches to conflict, negotiation, and strategy. While originally applied to military campaigns, these stratagems offer profound insight into the fluid dynamics of Yin and Yang, deception and truth, directness and indirection.

In the Five Arts Academy, we study these not merely as military history, but as frameworks for conceptualizing elemental interactions in Destiny Analysis, Feng Shui remediation, and Ritual problem-solving.

Winning Stratagems (勝戰計)

No. 1 瞞天過海

Deceive the heavens to cross the ocean

Mán tián guò hǎi

Mask your real intentions under a fake front. A familiar sight breeds complacency. Hide your main mechanism in the open, not in the dark. The most profound secrets look like the most ordinary actions.

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No. 2 圍魏救趙

Besiege Wei to rescue Zhao

Wéi Wèi jiù Zhào

When the enemy is too strong to attack directly, attack something he holds dear. Avoid a head-on clash with a superior force. Strike where they are vulnerable to relieve pressure elsewhere.

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No. 3 借刀殺人

Kill with a borrowed knife

Jiè dāo shā rén

Attack using the strength of another. When an enemy's intentions are clear, use an ally's hand to strike them down. Conserve your own energy while achieving your goal.

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No. 4 以逸待勞

Wait at leisure while the enemy labors

Yǐ yì dài láo

It is an advantage to choose the time and place for battle. In this way you know when and where the battle will take place, while your enemy does not. Wait for the enemy to exhaust themselves.

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No. 5 趁火打劫

Loot a burning house

Chèn huǒ dǎ jié

When a country is beset by internal conflicts, when disease and famine ravage the population, when corruption and crime are rampant, then it will be unable to deal with an outside threat. Benefit from others' troubles.

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No. 6 聲東擊西

Make a sound in the east, then strike in the west

Shēng dōng jī xī

In any battle the element of surprise can provide an overwhelming advantage. Create a diversion to camouflage your real intentions.

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Enemy Dealing Stratagems (敵戰計)

No. 7 無中生有

Create something from nothing

Wú zhōng shēng yǒu

Make somebody believe there was something when there is in fact nothing. One way of using this strategy is to create an illusion of something's existence.

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No. 8 暗渡陳倉

Secretly utilize the Chen Cang passage

Àn dù Chén Cāng

Deceive the enemy with an obvious approach that will take a very long time, while surprising him by taking a shortcut and sneaking up to him.

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No. 9 隔岸觀火

Watch the fires burning across the river

Gé àn guān huǒ

Delay entering the field of battle until all the other players have become exhausted fighting amongst themselves. Then go in at full strength and pick up the pieces.

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No. 10 笑裡藏刀

Hide a knife behind a smile

Xiào lǐ cáng dāo

Charm and ingratiate yourself to your enemy. When you have gained his trust, move against him in secret.

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No. 11 李代桃僵

Sacrifice the plum tree to preserve the peach tree

Lǐ dài táo jiāng

There are circumstances in which you must sacrifice short-term objectives in order to gain the long-term goal. Use a scapegoat to suffer the consequences.

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No. 12 順手牽羊

Take the opportunity to pilfer a goat

Shùn shǒu qiān yáng

While carrying out your plans be flexible enough to take advantage of any opportunity that presents itself, however small.

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Attacking Stratagems (攻戰計)

No. 13 打草驚蛇

Stomp the grass to scare the snake

Dá cǎo jīng shé

Do something spectacular ('hitting the grass') to provoke a response from the enemy ('startle the snake'), thereby giving away his plans or position.

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No. 14 借屍還魂

Borrow a corpse to resurrect the soul

Jiè shī huán hún

Take an institution, a technology, a method, or even an ideology that has been forgotten or discarded and appropriate it for your own purpose.

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No. 15 調虎離山

Lure the tiger down the mountain

Diào hǔ lí shãn

Never directly attack an opponent whose advantage is derived from its position. Instead lure them away from their position, thus separating them from their source of strength.

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No. 16 欲擒故縱

In order to capture, one must let loose

Yù qín gù zòng

Cornered prey will often mount a final desperate attack. Let the enemy believe they have a chance to secure freedom. When they relax, capture them.

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No. 17 拋磚引玉

Tossing out a brick to get a jade gem

Pāo zhuān yǐn yù

Bait someone by making them believe they gain something or just make them react to it ('toss out a brick') and obtain something valuable from them in return ('get a jade gem').

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No. 18 擒賊擒王

Defeat the enemy by capturing their chief

Qín zéi qín wáng

If the enemy's army is strong but is allied to the commander only by money, taking aim at the leader will dissolve the army. Strike at the heart.

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Chaos Stratagems (混戰計)

No. 19 釜底抽薪

Remove the firewood from under the pot

Fǔ dǐ chōu xīn

Take out the leading argument or asset of someone; 'steal someone's thunder'. Defeat a superior enemy by undermining their foundation.

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No. 20 渾水摸魚

Trouble the water to catch the fish

Hún shuǐ māo yú

Create confusion and use this confusion to further your own goals. In a complex or chaotic situation, people often act reactively.

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No. 21 金蟬脫殼

Slough off the cicada's golden shell

Jīn chán tuō qiào

Mask yourself. Either leave one's distinctive traits behind, thus becoming inconspicuous, or masquerade as something or someone else.

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No. 22 關門捉賊

Shut the door to catch the thief

Guān mén zhuō zéi

To capture an enemy, or more generally to strike the decisive blow, you must completely encircle and deny them any escape routes.

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No. 23 遠交近攻

Befriend a distant state and strike a neighbouring one

Yuǎn jiāo jìn gōng

Nations that border each other become enemies, while nations separated by distance make better allies.

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No. 24 假途伐虢

Obtain safe passage to conquer the State of Guo

Jiǎ tú fá Guó

Borrow the resources of an ally to attack a common enemy. Once the enemy is defeated, use those resources to turn on the ally that lent them.

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Proximate Stratagems (並戰計)

No. 25 偷梁換柱

Replace the beams with rotten timbers

Tōu liáng huàn zhù

Disrupt the enemy's formations, interfere with their methods of operations, change the rules by which they are used to following.

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No. 26 指桑罵槐

Point at the mulberry tree while cursing the locust tree

Zhǐ sāng mà huái

To discipline, control, or warn others whose status or position excludes them from direct confrontation; use analogy and innuendo.

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No. 27 假痴不癲

Feign madness but keep your balance

Jiǎ chī bù diān

Hide behind the mask of a fool, a drunk, or a madman to create confusion about your intentions and motivations. Hide your edge.

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No. 28 上屋抽梯

Remove the ladder when the enemy has ascended to the roof

Shàng wū chōu tī

With baits and deceptions, lure your enemy into treacherous terrain. Then cut off their lines of communication and avenue of escape.

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No. 29 樹上開花

Deck the tree with false blossoms

Shù shàng kāi huā

Tying silk blossoms on a dead tree gives the illusion that the tree is healthy. Through the use of artifice make something of no value appear valuable.

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No. 30 反客為主

Make the host and the guest exchange roles

Fǎn kè wéi zhǔ

Usurp leadership in a situation where you are normally subordinate. Infiltrate your target until you control it from within.

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Desperate Stratagems (敗戰計)

No. 31 美人計

The beauty trap

Měi rén jì

Send your enemy beautiful women to cause discord within his camp. This strategy works on three levels: distracting the commander, causing jealousy, and draining energy.

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No. 32 空城計

The empty fort strategy

Kōng chéng jì

When the enemy is superior in numbers and your situation is such that you expect to be overrun at any moment, drop all pretense of military preparedness and act calmly.

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No. 33 反間計

Let the enemy's own spy sow discord in the rebel camp

Fǎn jiàn jì

Undermine your enemy's ability to fight by secretly causing discord between him and his friends, allies, advisors, and commanders.

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No. 34 苦肉計

Inflict injury on oneself to win the enemy's trust

Kǔ ròu jì

Pretending to be injured has two possible applications. First, the enemy will relax his guard. Second, it can be used to convince the enemy of feigned surrender.

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No. 35 連環計

Chain stratagems

Lián huán jì

In important matters, one should use several stratagems applied simultaneously after another as in a chain of stratagems. Keep different plans operating in an overall scheme.

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No. 36 走為上策

If all else fails, retreat

Zǒu wéi shàng cè

If it becomes obvious that your current course of action will lead to defeat, then retreat and regroup. Avoid decisive engagement.

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