The strongest soldiers attack their generals. If the general is wise, he will cut down his feelings. If the general is weak and the soldiers are disheveled, their strength will wither away. The use of the enemy is a good way to protect the enemy.
Whoever has a strong army should attack his general; whoever has a wise general should attack his emotions. If the general is weak and his troops are demoralized, his momentum will surely wither on its own. The trigram "Yi Jing - Gradual" says: By taking advantage of a serious weakness within the enemy to control him, one can save his strength with certainty.
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Thirty-six Stratagems original text and translation
The first set of stratagems of victory
The first stratagem of concealment
Preparation of the week and the intention to be idle, common, then unquestioning, Yin within the Yang, not in the pair of the Yang. Sun, Tai Yin.
Thinking that preparation is ten thousand times thorough, one is apt to slacken; what is usually seen in a common way is often not in doubt; the secret stratagem is hidden in what is exposed, not in repugnance to the open form. The very public often harbors the very secret.
The second plan is to surround Weiwei to save Zhao
***The enemy is better divided than the enemy, the enemy's sun is better than the enemy's yin.
There should not be too many enemies; we should attack each enemy individually, and we should hide our intentions from those we are not busy eliminating right now.
The third plan is to use the sword to kill
The enemy is already clear, the friend is not yet determined, to lead the friend to kill the enemy, not out of force, to lose the deduction.
The object of combat has been determined, and the attitude of the friend is still unstable, to induce the friend to destroy the enemy, to avoid consuming one's own strength.
The fourth stratagem is to wait for the enemy with a sense of ease
To trap the enemy's momentum, not to fight, and to lose strength and gain strength.
To control the lifeblood of the enemy's power development to strangle him without taking an offensive situation is the application of the principle of "loss of strength and benefit of softness".
The fifth plan is to take advantage of the fire
The enemy's harm is great, so take advantage of the situation, just decide to be soft.
The enemy's crisis is great, so take advantage of the situation and attack the weak with superior strength.
The sixth plan sound east to attack the west
Disordered Zhi chaotic Di Di, not to worry about the "Kun under the Dui Shang" of the image; the advantage of its involuntary and take it.
The enemy is confused, not able to understand the situation, this is the "I Ching" "Zui" seal on the said "Kun Shimo Tui Shang" signs of confusion. It is necessary to take advantage of the enemy to lose control of the time to eliminate.
The second set of enemy war plans
The seventh plan is to create something out of nothing
Bamboozling, not bamboozling, but actually bamboozling. Shaoyin, Taiyin, and Sun.
To create something out of nothing is to use falsehood, but not to make it false to the end. Rather, it is to make the false image true, to size the false image, and to cover the true image.
The eighth plan is to make a secret trip
Showing a move is good for its stillness and mastery, "Benefiting from the move and the Xun".
Deliberately exposing the action, taking advantage of the enemy's solid defense, then take the initiative to sneak in.
The ninth plan is to watch the fire from the other side of the river
Yang is not in order, Yin to wait for the reverse, the violence and wantonness, and the situation is self destructive. The enemy will be able to move in the right direction, and the enemy will be able to move in the right direction.
When the enemy is divided and in disorder, I will wait for him to riot, and then the enemy will be so vicious that he will turn his eyes against me and kill me, and he will surely perish of his own accord. I will prepare myself according to the change of the enemy; and when I have prepared myself, I will act according to the change of the enemy.
The tenth stratagem is to conceal a knife in a smile
To be sure and to be at ease, and to plan for it, and to be ready and then to move, and not to make any change: to be strong in the midst of softness, and to be soft in the outer world.
To make the enemy believe in us, and make him paralyzed and slack, I then secretly planning, fully prepared, an opportunity, immediately take action, so that he could not respond, this is the secret powerful, the surface of the soft strategy.
The eleventh stratagem
The potential for loss, loss of Yin to benefit Yang.
When there is a loss in the development of the situation, it is necessary to give up a partial loss in exchange for a global advantage.
The twelfth stratagem is to take advantage of the situation
Small gaps must be taken advantage of, and small gains must be made. Shao Yin, Shao Yang.
Tiny loopholes must be exploited, and tiny benefits must be gained. Turn the enemy's small negligence into our small victory.
The third set of offensive war plan
The thirteenth plan to beat the grass to frighten the snake
Suspicion is to knock the truth, to detect and then move, the compound, the medium of yin also.
When there is suspicion, we need to investigate the actual situation, and then act again when we have a full grasp of the actual situation. Repeated reconnaissance is a factor in the discovery of hidden enemies.
The fourteenth plan is to borrow the body and return the soul
The useful one can not be borrowed, can not be used, beg to borrow, borrow can not be used and used. The bandit I begged Tong Meng, and Tong Meng begged me.
That which is useful may not be utilized, fearing that I may not control it, and that which cannot be utilized but seeks to utilize it, for I am in full control of it, and to utilize that which cannot be used and control it is not that I am under the dominion of others, but that I dominate others.
The fifteenth stratagem is to transfer the tiger away from the mountain
Waiting for the sky to trap it, and using the people to entice it, "to go to the misfortune and come back".
Waiting for the weather to be unfavorable to the enemy before besieging him, and using people to lure him with the illusion that "there is danger in going forward, then turn back and leave".
The sixteenth plan is to capture the enemy in order to indulge him
Forcing him to fight against the enemy, he will lose momentum, and he will not be forced to follow him. Tired of its gas, eliminate its fighting spirit, scattered and then captured. The soldiers will not be bloodied, and they will need to have the light of the Vulcans.
Forcing the enemy to have no way out will result in a determined counterattack; allowing him to escape will eliminate the enemy's momentum, so we should follow the enemy closely, but do not force him, so as to consume his physical strength and demoralize him, and then capture him after he has dispersed his forces. In this way you avoid bloodshed, do not force the enemy, and convince him that it is good for the war.
The Seventeenth Plan
The class to lure, to strike at Meng.
To confuse the enemy with something similar, so that the enemy will be fooled and taken in.
The 18th stratagem: Catching the Thief and the King
Destroying its firmness, seizing its leader, in order to dismantle its body; the dragon fights in the field, and its way is poor.
To utterly destroy the enemy's main force, to seize his leader, and by that means to crush his warlike institutions; a fierce general duel.
The fourth set of mixed stratagems
The nineteenth stratagem: Kettle the bottom to take away the firewood
Not to defeat his strength, but to eliminate his momentum, the image of Dui down and Qian up.
If you can't defeat your enemy in strength, you can neutralize his momentum, which is the way of "softness to cope with firmness" as stated in the Cui Gua of the I Ching, "Cui Gua", which is underneath the dry and above the dry.
The twentieth stratagem is to fish in troubled waters
To take advantage of its weakness and lack of a master, and to follow it, in order to enter the feast in the direction of obscurity.
Taking advantage of the internal confusion of the enemy, and taking advantage of the fact that he is still weak and without mastery, he follows me, like a man who eats and rests with the time of day.
The twenty-first stratagem: The Golden Cicada Shells Off
Save his form, complete his momentum; Friends do not suspect, enemies do not move; Sundown and upward compulsion.
Preserving the original shape of the position and creating a strong momentum, so that the friendlies will not suspect and the enemy will not dare to rush in, while I can break another enemy army stealthily.
The twenty-second plan Shut the door to catch the thief
The small enemy is trapped, stripped, and unfavorable.
The weak enemy should be encircled and annihilated; for the dying enemy, it would be unfavorable if he is hurriedly pursued from behind.
The twenty-third plan is to attack from a distance
The form is forbidden, the advantage is taken by the near. Harm is separated by distance, and the upper fire is under the lower zephyr.
Being in (reversing) an unfavorable situation (局面), consider (stopping) the direction (tendency) in which it is developing; (favoring) attacking a nearby place is favorable, (disfavoring) attacking a place far away is harmful. The I Ching - 聧 trigram says: "The fire rises upward, the pool flows downward; different aspirations can be befriended."
The twenty-fourth stratagem Fake the way to replace the Guo
Between the two major ones, the enemy coerced to follow, I fake the situation, trapped, there are words of disbelief.
The country in the middle of two powerful enemies, when the enemy coerced it, we made a request for its assistance and immediately sent out troops. The I Ching - Sleepy trigram says: "To a country in a state of distress, empty talk without action will not be trusted by him."
The Fifth Set of Parallel Warfare Measures
The Twenty-fifth Measure of Stealing the Beam and Changing the Pillar
Frequently changing its formation, extracting its strong brigade, and waiting for it to be defeated by itself, and then riding on it, and trailing its wheels as well.
To change the enemy's formation many times, to turn away his strength, to wait for his own defeat, and then to attack him with stratagems, the I Ching - Je Je Gua says: "First drag the enemy, and then replace him."
The twenty-sixth stratagem Pointing at the mulberry tree
The great overruns the small, and the warning is used to entice them. Just in the center and respond, walk dangerously and smoothly.
The strong deterring the weak, to induce it by warning. The I Ching - Shi (師) trigram says: Being appropriately assertive, one can be embraced; applying danger and deceit, one can be obedient.
The twenty-seventh stratagem False dementia not epilepsy
It is better to pretend to be unaware of what one does not do than to pretend to be ignorant of what one does not do, and to be quiet and not show one's chance, and to be cloudy and thunderous and tuned.
It is better to pretend not to know and not to act than to pretend to know and act rashly. Be calm, do not disclose the slightest secret, like the swift and fierce clouds and thunder, which in winter are hidden in the ground like calmness.
The twenty-eighth stratagem is to draw the ladder from the upper room
To fake in order to, instigate to make the front, cut off its aid, and trap it in a place of death, to meet with poison, and to place it in an inappropriate position.
Deliberately revealing the cracks, luring the enemy deeper into our side, and then choosing a favorable time to cut off the enemy's front and back support, so that it is completely in a dead place. The enemy such a downfall "I Ching - high" on the good: grabbing bacon stoned off their teeth, blaming their own improper movements.
The twenty-ninth plan tree blossoms
Borrowing the situation to set up a situation, the force is small and powerful; Hong gradually in the land, its feathers can be used as a meter also.
Borrowing other people's situation to form a formation, the weak force seems to be weak and the formation appears to be strong. The I Ching - Gradual trigram says: "The geese fly to the mainland, all because of its plump feathers to fuel the momentum.
Thirtieth plan against the host
Take advantage of the gap to insert, strangle its host, gradual progress also.
When there is an opening, we must insert our feet into it and strangle his main brain organ. The I Ching - Gradual "hexagram said:" orderly and progressive "is this meaning.
Sixth set of defeat plan
Thirty-first plan Beauty plan
Strong soldiers, attack their generals. If the general is wise, he will attack his feelings. If the general is weak and the soldiers are disheveled, their strength will wither away. The use of the enemy is a good way to protect the enemy.
Whoever has a strong army should attack his general; whoever has a wise general should attack his emotions. If the general is weak and his troops are demoralized, his momentum will surely wither on its own. The I Ching - Gradual hexagram says: By taking advantage of a serious weakness within the enemy to control him, one can be sure of preserving one's own strength.
Thirty-two stratagems The Empty City Ruse
The false is false, and doubt is born out of doubt; and at the time of rigidity and softness, the strange is strange again and again.
Let the empty be empty, and make it more difficult to guess; use empty tactics in attack and defense to conceal one's own emptiness, and more and more appear to use the army out of the ordinary.
Thirty-three stratagems Anti-countermeasures
The doubt in doubt is more than inward, and does not lose itself.
Laying another layer of doubt within doubt. The I Ching - Bi (比) hexagram states that assistance from within the enemy will not result in loss to oneself.
Thirty-fourth stratagem Bitter meat trick
People do not harm themselves, but the victim will be true. Falsehood is true, and between them you will be able to do it. The auspiciousness of a child's monks, and the obedience to the Sundowner.
If a man does not persecute himself, the persecution will be real; if the real becomes false, the spies will take advantage of the situation. The I Ching - Meng Gua says: trick him into being obedient, and go along with his activities.
Thirty-five stratagems Chain of stratagems
The generals have many soldiers, and they cannot be defeated, so that they will tire themselves out in order to kill their strength. In the division in the auspicious, Cheng Tian favor also.
The enemy is strong, can not be hard to fight, should be used strategy, make storage self-exhaustion, by means of weakening his strength. The I Ching - Division" trigram says: the general commander rely on the finger army impartial, habitually winning battles is to use the army as God.
Thirty-sixth plan go for the top
The whole division to avoid the enemy, in the second no blame, not out of order.
The whole army retreated, shook off the enemy, retreated as an advance, and waited for the opportunity to break the defeat, which is not against the normal law.