The Thirty-Six Stratagems is a Chinese essay used to illustrate a series of stratagems used in politics, war, and civil interaction.
The Thirty-Six Stratagems consists of six chapters, with each chapter consisting of six stratagems.
Chapter 1: Winning Stratagems
Deceive the heavens to cross the sea সাগর পাড়ি দিতে স্বর্গের ছলনা।
Mask one’s real goals from those in authority who lack vision by not alerting them to one’s movements or any part of one’s plan.
Besiege Wei to rescue Zhao ঝাও উদ্ধারের জন্য ওয়েইকে ঘেরাও করুন
Further information: Battle of Guiling
When the enemy is too strong to be attacked directly, attack something they cherish. The idea is to avoid a head-on battle with a strong enemy, and instead strike at their weakness elsewhere. This will force the strong enemy to retreat in order to support their weakness. Battling against a tired and dispirited enemy will give a much higher chance of success.
Kill with a borrowed knife. ধার করা ছুরি দিয়ে হত্যা করুন
Attack using the strength of another when in a situation where using one’s own strength is not favourable. For example, trick an ally into attacking them or use the enemy’s own strength against them. The idea is to cause damage to the enemy via a third party.
Wait at leisure while the enemy labors শত্রুর পরিশ্রমের সময় অবসরে অপেক্ষা করুন
It is advantageous to choose the time and place for battle while the enemy does not. Encourage the enemy to expend their energy in futile quests while one conserves their strength. When the enemy is exhausted and confused, attack with energy and purpose.
Loot a burning house.জ্বলন্ত বাড়ি লুট করুন।
When a country is beset by internal problems, such as disease, famine, corruption, and crime, it is poorly-equipped to deal with an outside threat. Keep gathering internal information about an enemy. If the enemy is in its weakest state, attack them without mercy and annihilate them to prevent future troubles.
Make a sound in the east, then strike in the west.পূর্ব দিকে একটি শব্দ করুন, তারপর পশ্চিমে আঘাত করুন
In any battle the element of surprise can provide an overwhelming advantage. Even when face-to-face with an enemy, surprise can still be employed by attacking where they least expect it. Create an expectation in the enemy’s mind through the use of a feint. Manipulate the enemy to focus their resources somewhere before attacking elsewhere that is poorly defended. Tactically, this is known as an “open feint”.
Chapter 2: Enemy Dealing Stratagems.
Create something from nothing.শূন্য থেকে কিছু তৈরি করুন।
A plain lie. Make somebody believe there was something when there is in fact nothing or vice versa.
Openly repair the gallery roads, but sneak through the passage of Chencang
Deceive the enemy with an obvious approach that will take a very long time, while ambushing them with another approach. It is an extension of the “Make a sound in the east, then strike in the west” tactic, but instead of merely spreading misinformation to draw the enemy’s attention, physical decoys are used to further misdirect the enemy. The decoys must be easily seen by the enemy to draw their attention while acting as if they are meant to do what they are falsely doing to avoid suspicion.
Today, “sneaking through the passage of Chencang” also has the meaning of having an affair or doing something that is illegal.
Watch the fires burning across the river.নদী জুড়ে জ্বলন্ত আগুন দেখুন
Delay entering the field of battle until all other parties become exhausted by fighting amongst each other. Go in at full strength and finish them off.
Hide a knife behind a smile.হাসির পিছনে একটি ছুরি লুকান
Charm and ingratiate oneself with the enemy. When their trust is gained, move against them in secret.
Sacrifice the plum tree to preserve the peach tree.পীচ গাছ সংরক্ষণের জন্য বরই গাছ বলি
There are circumstances where short-term objectives must be sacrificed in order to gain the long-term goal. This is the scapegoat strategy where someone suffers the consequences so that the rest do not.
Take the opportunity to pilfer a goat.একটি ছাগল চুরি করার সুযোগ নিন
While carrying out one’s plans, be flexible enough to take advantage of any opportunity that presents itself, however small, and avail oneself of any profit, however slight.
Chapter 3: Attacking Stratagems
Stomp the grass to scare the snake.সাপকে ভয় দেখানোর জন্য ঘাস নড়াও।
Do something unaimed, but spectacular (“hitting the grass”) to provoke a response from the enemy (“startle the snake”) to have them give away their plans or position. Do something unusual, strange, and unexpected to arouse the enemy’s suspicion and disrupt their thinking. It is more widely used as a warning: “[Do not] startle the snake by hitting the grass”. An imprudent act will give one’s position or intentions away to the enemy.
Borrow a corpse to resurrect the soul.
Take an institution, a technology, a method, or even an ideology that has been forgotten or discarded and appropriate it for one’s own purposes.
Lure the tiger off its mountain lair.বাঘটিকে তার পাহাড়ের কোল থেকে প্রলুব্ধ করুন
Never directly attack an opponent whose advantage is derived from their position. Instead, lure them away from their position to separate them from their source of strength.
In order to capture, one must let loose.ক্যাপচার করতে হলে একজনকে ছেড়ে দিতে হবে
Cornered prey will often mount a final desperate attack. To prevent this, let the enemy believe they still have a chance for freedom. Their will to fight is hampered by their desire to escape. The enemy’s morale will be depleted and they will surrender without a fight when the illusion of escape is revealed.
Tossing out a brick to get a jade gem.
Bait someone by making them believe they gain something or to just make them react to it (“toss out a brick”) to obtain something valuable from them in return (“get a jade gem”).
Defeat the enemy by capturing their chief.
If the enemy’s army is strong but is allied to the commander only by money, superstition, or threats, target the leader. If the commander falls, the rest of the army will disperse or join one’s side. If they are allied to the leader through loyalty, beware, as the army can continue to fight on after their death out of vengeance.
Chapter 4: Chaos Stratagems
Remove the firewood from under the pot.
Take out the leading argument or asset of someone; “steal someone’s thunder”. This is the essence of the indirect approach: instead of attacking enemy’s fighting forces, direct attacks against their ability to wage war. Literally, take the fuel out of the fire.
Disturb the water and catch a fish.
Create confusion and exploit it to further one’s own goals.
Slough off the cicada’s golden shell.
Mask oneself. Either leave one’s distinctive traits behind and become inconspicuous or masquerade as something or someone else. This strategy is mainly used to escape from a stronger enemy.
Shut the door to catch the thief.
To capture one’s enemy, or more generally in fighting wars, to deliver the final blow to the enemy, plan prudently for success; do not rush into action. Before “moving in for the kill”, first cut off the enemy’s escape routes and any routes from external aid.
Befriend a distant state and strike a neighbouring one.
Invading nations close to oneself carries a higher chance of success. The battlefields are close to one’s domain and as such is easier for one’s troops to receive supplies and defend the conquered land. Make allies with nations far away from oneself, as it is unwise to invade them.
Obtain safe passage to conquer the State of Guo.
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 in the first place.
Chapter 5: Proximate Stratagems
Replace the beams with rotten timbers.
Disrupt the enemy’s formations, interfere with their methods of operations, and change the rules that they are used to following. In this way the supporting pillar, the common link that makes a group of men an effective fighting force, is removed.
Point at the mulberry tree while cursing the locust tree.
To discipline, control, or warn others whose status or position excludes them from direct confrontation; use analogy and innuendo. Without directly naming names, those accused cannot retaliate without revealing their complicity.
Feign madness but keep your balance.
Pretend to be incompetent to create confusion about one’s intentions and motivations. Lure the opponent into underestimating one’s ability until they drop their guard.
Remove the ladder when the enemy has ascended to the roof.
With baits and deceptions, lure the enemy into treacherous terrain and cut off their lines of communication and escape routes. To save themselves, they must fight both one’s own forces and the elements of nature.
Decorate the tree with false blossoms.
Tying silk blossoms on a dead tree gives the illusion that the tree is healthy. Using artifice and disguise, make something worthless appear valuable and vice versa.
Make the host and the guest exchange roles.
Usurp leadership in a situation where one is normally subordinate. Infiltrate one’s target. Initially, pretend to be a guest to be accepted, but develop from inside and become the owner later.
Chapter 6: Desperate Stratagems.
The beauty trap (Honeypot).
Send the enemy beautiful women to cause discord within his camp. This strategy can work on three levels. First, the ruler becomes so enamored with the beauty that he neglects his duties and allows his vigilance to wane. Second, the group of men will begin to have issues if the desired women court another man, thus creating conflict and aggressive behavior. Third, other females at court, motivated by jealousy and envy, begin to plot subversions that further exacerbate the situation.
The empty fort strategy.
When the enemy has stronger forces and one expects to be overrun at any moment, act calmly and taunt the enemy, so that the enemy thinks they are walking into an ambush. This stratagem is only successful if in most cases one has a powerful hidden force and the stratagem is seldom used.
Let the enemy’s own spy sow discord in the enemy camp-শত্রুর নিজের গুপ্তচর শত্রু শিবিরে বিরোধ বপন করুক.
Undermine the enemy’s ability to fight by secretly causing discord between them and their friends, allies, advisors, family, commanders, soldiers, and population. While they are preoccupied with settling internal disputes, their ability to attack or defend is compromised.
Inflict injury on oneself to win the enemy’s trust-শত্রুর বিশ্বাস জয় করার জন্য নিজেকে আঘাত করা.
Pretending to be injured has two advantages: first, the enemy is lulled into lowering their guard since as they no longer consider one to be an immediate threat. Second, ingratiating oneself with the enemy by pretending the injury was caused by a mutual enemy conserves one’s strength while one’s enemies fight each other.
Chain stratagems.
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; if any one strategy fails, apply the next strategy.
If all else fails, retreat – অন্য সব ব্যর্থ হলে, পশ্চাদপসরণ
If it becomes obvious that one’s current course of action will lead to defeat, retreat and regroup. When one’s side is losing, three choices remain: surrender, compromise, or escape. Surrender is complete defeat, compromise is half defeat, but escape is not defeat. As long as one is not defeated, there is still a chance. This is the most famous of the stratagems and is immortalized in the form of a Chinese idiom: “Of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, fleeing is best”
সূত্র: উইকিপিডিয়া
তারিখ: নভেম্বর ০৮, ২০২১
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