Part II of the 36 Strategems of Ancient China

Part II of the 36 Strategems of Ancient China

(Adapted for Contemporary Readers)
By: Travis Anderson

19.Take away the firewood under the cauldron (take drastic measures to strike at source of a problem)
What does your rival need to function?  What keeps him coming back to fight you or oppose you?  Just as a cauldron needs firewood to function, you must find what your opponent needs to function and take that from him.

20 Fish in troubled water (try to take advantage of a disturbed situation to take in profits)

Predators look for weakened prey because there is nothing more to gain and everything to lose by going after someone at their best when you have to defeat them.  Sometimes they bring about their own weakness and disturbances…other times you must create these yourself (33).

21.Cast off the molted skin (escape unnoticed)
Robbers who are good at their trade wear reversible jackets.  Others wear highly visible outer clothes that they can discard in favor for more plain clothes underneath.  Do not think that all disguises work by making you blend in, some work by virtue of calling attention to them.  Cast these away and your odds of escape greatly increase.  

22.Close the gate to catch the thieves
The Great Wall of China, contrary to popular belief, was not designed to keep people out, but rather, to trap bandits and barbarians inside.  They could not carry their loot back over the walls, and any attempt to breach the walls would alert the government.  Rather than always hoping that you can keep them out, at times it’s best to let them in and trap them.

23.Befriend distant countries while attacking those nearby
“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.” is the key here.  By having your enemy in between you and your allies, you prevent him from marching against you from fear of attack by your allies, and from attacking your allies from fear of attack by you.

24.Conquer Hao after obtaining permittance to cross another country (forge neutral alliances)
Do not burn your bridges in personal relationships.  You never know who’s help you’ll need later on, and if you alienate many as a habit, you’ll find yourself alone and without allies when you need them.

25.Steal the beams and pillars and replace them with rotten timbers
The greatest practices and policies do not arise out of nothingness.  They arise from the mind.  Find those minds within your rivals forces and entice them away or destroy them.  Then send in agents of your own to replace those minds they no longer have to confuse and weaken your rivals. (18, 33)

26.Revile the locust tree while pointing at the mulberry (scold one person through another)
When a minor rule has been broken, it is best not to admonish the individual directly.  In management, it is often better to call a meeting where many are present, including the guilty party and talk about what the person did as though the meeting was not directly about them.  “It has come to our attention that we’re running out of pens.  Everyone needs to be sure that they are returning them at the end of their shifts.“ They will get the message.

27.Pretend madness without loosing the balance
Never appear too smart-always appear a little foolish, a little dull.  In so doing, no one considers you a threat and you are free to plot your own methods.  The enemy should not know either your true intentions or your capabilities.

28.Take away the ladder when the enemy is in the second floor
This is also called “Death Ground”, where there is no way to go but forward.  Sometimes, you have to remove the ladder so that someone has no choice but to push harder than they normally would have-the only other option is to get fired/killed.  Do not make this a common strategy, as they’ll soon realize what you’re up to and that you aren’t sincere in your urging them forward.

29.False flowers on a tree (use decoys)
If you have little in the way of power, make it appear otherwise.  The reverse is also true-if you have much power, make it appear otherwise.  Control your enemy's vision of you, and you control much more.  He must think you strong when you are weak, and weak when you are strong.

30.Make the guest to the host ("cuckoo's egg strategy")
The true power rests behind the throne, speaking into the Kings ear.  You achieve this by being faithful to the powers that be, doing their bidding until you rise to the level of chief adviser, vice president, ect.  When the time comes, usurp power.

31.The stratagem of a beautiful woman.
The essence here is to use a decoy.  While the title itself refers to "woman" it can refer to anything he finds pleasing in order to distract his attention.

32. The stratagem of (open gates and) an emptied city (with soldiers waiting in ambush)
The Art of the Ambush is a refined one.  The Ambush brings out our worst and most primal fears-the sudden fear for one's life where one thought safety was assured.  In this case, the idea is to draw him in with the prospects of an easy victory or path, then turn his complacency into terror.

33. The stratagem of sowing the seeds of discord (among the enemies)
Sun Tzu advised, "When the enemy is united, divide him."  This strategy rests on your ability to find out who is part of your enemy forces either out of fear or  opportunism or if he has a grudge against others in the group.  If he is with them out of fear, show him how weak and helpless you are and he will leave the coalition.  If he is with them out of opportunism, offer him the world if he opposes them.  If he has a personal rivalry or grudge against others on his side, show him false evidence of betrayal by those he hates.

34. The stratagem of self-mutilation (in order to lure out the enemy)
Gangs have initiations for a reason.  By going through a hard or illegal act, you show that you are willing to cause harm on yourself.  This seals their trust for you, and traps you.  However, know that this can also be a way to gain the trust of others you wish to defeat.

35. The stratagem of combining rings (of various stratagems)
This isn't necessarily a strategy so much as it is a recommendation to combine-when possible-various strategies for maximum effect.  Because in truth, while battles may be one by a single strategy, it is often a combined group of strategies that win the war.  For example-

33, 9 and 5:
Cause discord (33), Watch and wait while they tear each other apart (9), move in and take advantage (5)

36. Sometimes the best stratagem is to run away
Perhaps they will write stories about your heroic last stand against impossible odds.  But you'll never get to read them.  Never fight on the terms of the enemy, and if you find yourself forced into doing so, withdraw.  This is why you must leave your plans flexible: you should put twice the planning into leaving as you do entering.  Nothing you can will matter if you are destroyed in the process.  The rare exception to this is Death Ground (28), where running becomes impossible.  Remember, martyrs inspire, but they don't win wars.

Why the Fanatic Actually Wants to be Hated

This is closely linked to my post "Aggressive Proselytizing", but it will go into more depth about the mindset that seeks hatred.  To the Fanatic, being hated gives him energy.  In truth, success for his cause seems to be more damaging to him than failure.  This seems a type of paradox, until we understand that a Fanatic wants to fight.  If victory was really achieved, he would have to either become a fanatic to a new cause, or become a rebel to the very cause he put into place.  It is not a historical rarity that former Fanatics are among the first to swing from the gallows mere days after the success of their cause.
 

The Fanatic would rather be rejected by those outside his group than accepted.  He is not a stickler to principle, yet it is for this "principle" that he fights so hard, at least-that's what he wants to believe.  His actions are more to convince himself than anyone else, for he is not really a genuine believer.  It is then, primarily his own pride that is the source of his boundless arrogance and viciousness.
 

Unless he throws himself into some great fight in which he loses himself to the moment, he can't help but feel useless.  It is the fight that gives his life meaning, and he cannot perhaps help but feel disdain for the actual believers who are content to live life according to their principles-the very ones that the Fanatic fights so hard to uphold in his own mind.  To him, the content and happy believer is not pulling his weight and should step aside for those who do.  The irony of course is that it is the Fanatic who undermines the very principles he claims to uphold.  It was Fanatics, not genuine believers that launched the Inquisition which causes so much misery and pain.  Likewise, it was Fanatics who yelled, "Deus Vult" when they slaughtered countless Jews and Muslims when Jerusalem fell to their forces. 
 

But this is not unique to any religion, as terrorism in our day and age is the work of Fanatics, which is widely known.  By now, word of Osama Bin Laden's massive pornography stash (forbidden in Islam) has spread far and wide, and even the 9/11 hijackers themselves visited strip clubs (again, also forbidden in Islam).  In reality the Fanatic does not really believe what he spews-and it is to convince himself, not you or I-that is at the heart of his hateful rhetoric.  I will cover this aspect of the Fanatic at a later time, but suffice to say, this hypocritical element to the Fanatic is a key part of their mentality.

The fact that you will oppose what he says only re-affirms in his mind that he's right.  After all, he would be told that you would hate him, fear him and oppose him every step of the way.  So he seeks your hatred, for it is the only thing that can keep him feeling validated in this-the struggle which gives meaning to his life, for outside of the cause, all is "vile, wicked and worthy of destruction".  Certainly by being attacked, one has only reaffirmed to the Fanatic that those outside his cause are "vile, wicked and worthy of destruction."

Finnaly, I will leave off with a quote by Eric Hoffer-

"We lie loudest when we lie to ourselves."

Strategic Principle I "Flexibility"

*Strategic Principles are those principles that underlay nearly all strategy, no matter what that strategy pertains to.  By understanding these principles, one has a skeleton key to the art of Strategy, and whatever field it is applied to is irrelevant-all fields become manifestations of the same base.
 
It is not what we cannot do, but what we will not do that is the source of our weakness.  Flexibility, then-is the first Strategic Principle.  Even a small and weak group can overcome by being flexible.

"A Tree that is unbending yet powerful is snapped by the wind.  It is the sapling that is weak yet flexible can move to and fro that survives the storm."
-Lao Tzu "The Tao Te Ching"

So how far does this go, and what does it mean?  Buddha was not just speaking of happiness and lowering stress when he spoke of being unattached.  Being unattached-and therefore, flexible-was the key to power over oneself just as much as it is power over an army, nation or life as a whole.

"Leading an army is like leading one person, it is a matter of division."
-Sun Tzu, "The Art of War"

It is more about unwillingness and rigidness then about incompetence or weakness.  Japanese Jujitsu can be performed by people of nearly any strength or size.  Like water-the most adaptable thing on this Earth, Jujitsu teaches to flow with the attack and turn it back on the enemy. 

Queen Elizabeth I knew well of what she was saying when she stated-

"I would rather be a beggar and single than a queen and married."

For a queen, this seems very odd of her to say, but the context of her reign shows her wisdom in this regard.  Queen Elizabeth went down in history as "The Virgin Queen".  She ruled in her own right, and never committed to any bachelor-she never became attached or held down.  The power she gained and the stability she brought to England were legendary.  Others competed for her favor and hand in marriage, but she never relented.  Men all over England and indeed most of Europe saw her as a type of Mecca for marriage.  Who was this Queen who would not marry-who would not settle down and become attached?  The answer?  She was the most powerful Queen and arguably Monarch England would ever have.

Some attachments are a part of life.  Marriage is a type of attachment, and I am not out to give marriage advice.  Children demand a level of attachment as well.  But one should never be more attached then is necessary.  Never become so attached that you squander your ability to live life as you wish, and never become so dependent on a system of way of doing things that you cease to grow.

After all, it is growth that is life, and without flexibility-without room-one cannot grow.