The Wiles of War - 36 Military Strategies from Ancient China
Author: Su Wu
Compiler and Translator: Sun Haichen
Publisher: Foreign Languages Press, Beijing, 2009
Language: Chinese-English
Format: Paperback, 185 x 120mm, 379 pages
ISBN: 9787119034829

The present book offers a precise translation of the title and text of each strategy. a purport, based mainly on the original comment but also incorporating ideas from other sources, then expounds the common usage of the titular idiom and its military connotations. This is sometimes followed by quotations from various ancient military works to further exemplify the strategy. The account of a historical battle or campaign featuring the successful application of the strategy makes up the final part of each section. All the stories are adapted mainly from official history records but may also draw upon miscellaneous writings of credit. The reader will have an opportunity to grasp the essence of ancient Chinese war craft by reading some of the epoch-making battles in ancient China. It is a useful book for military theorists, historians, and with many applications for today's business community.

Contents

Strategy One Cross the Sea Without Heaven's Knowledge
Strategy Two Besiege Wei to Rescue Zhao
Strategy Three Murder with a Borrowed Knife
Strategy Four Wait Leisurely for an Exhausted Enemy
Strategy Five Loot a Burning House
Strategy Six Make Noise in the East and Attack in the West
Strategy Seven Create Something out of Nothing
Strategy Eight Advance Secretly by Way of Chencang
Strategy Nine Watch a Fire from Across the River
Strategy Ten Hide a Dagger in a Smile
Strategy Eleven Sacrifice a Plum to Save a Peach
Strategy Twelve Lead Away a Goat in Passing
Strategy Thirteen Beat the Grass to Frighten the Snake
Strategy Fourteen Find Reincarnation in Another's Corpse
Strategy Fifteen Lure the Tiger out of the Mountain
Strategy Sixteen Leave at Large, the Better to Capture
Strategy Seventeen Cast a Brick to Attract Jade
Strategy Eighteen To Catch Bandits, First Catch the Ringleader
Strategy Nineteen Remove Firewood from Under the Caldron
Strategy Twenty Muddle the Water to Seize Fish
Strategy Twenty-One The Cicada Sloughs Its Skin
Strategy Twenty-Two Bolt the Door to Seize the Thief
Strategy Twenty-Three Befriend Distant States While Attacking Nearby States
Strategy Twenty-Four Attack Guo by a Borrowed Path
Strategy Twenty-Five Steal the Beams and Change the Pillars
Strategy Twenty-Six Point at the Mulberry and Abuse the Locust
Strategy Twenty-Seven Feign Folly Instead of Madness
Strategy Twenty-Eight Climb up the Roof and Remove the Ladder
Strategy Twenty-Nine Flowers Bloom in the Tree
Strategy Thirty Reverse the Positions of Host and Guest
Strategy Thirty-One Beauty Trap
Strategy Thirty-Two Empty-City Scheme
Strategy Thirty-Three Turn the Enemy's Agents Against Him
Strategy Thirty-Four Self-Torture Scheme
Strategy Thirty-Five Interlaced Stratagems
Strategy Thirty-Six Running away as the Best Choice
Bibliography
Index