The Thirty-Six Stratagems is a Chinese essay used to illustrate a series of stratagems used in politics, war, and civil interaction.
Broadly, the first three chapters dealing with situations of advantage, whilst the last three chapters deal with situations of disadvantage.
- Chapter 1: Winning Stratagems
- Deceive the heavens to cross the ocean
- Besiege Wèi to rescue Zhào
- Kill with a borrowed sword
- Wait at leisure while the enemy labors
- Loot a burning house
- Make a sound in the east, then strike in the west
- Chapter 2: Enemy Dealing Stratagems
- Create something from nothing
- Openly repair the gallery roads, but sneak through the passage of Chencang
- Watch the fires burning across the river
- Hide a knife behind a smile
- Sacrifice the plum tree to preserve the peach tree
- Take the opportunity to pilfer a goat
- Chapter 3: Attacking Stratagems
- Stomp the grass to scare the snake
- Borrow a corpse to resurrect the soul
- Entice the tiger to leave its mountain lair
- In order to capture, one must let loose
- Tossing out a brick to get a jade gem
- Defeat the enemy by capturing their chief
- Chapter 4: Chaos Stratagems
- Remove the firewood from under the pot
- Disturb the water and catch a fish
- Slough off the cicada’s golden shell
- Shut the door to catch the thief
- Befriend a distant state while attacking a neighbor
- Obtain safe passage to conquer the State of Guo
- Chapter 5: Proximate Stratagems
- Replace the beams with rotten timbers
- Point at the mulberry tree while cursing the locust tree
- Feign madness but keep your balance
- Remove the ladder when the enemy has ascended to the roof
- Deck the tree with false blossoms
- Make the host and the guest exchange roles
- Chapter 6: Desperate Stratagems
- The beauty trap (Honeypot)
- The empty fort strategy
- Let the enemy’s own spy sow discord in the enemy camp
- Inflict injury on oneself to win the enemy’s trust
- Chain stratagems
- If all else fails, retreat
More information, including expanded descriptions for each chapter entry, can be found on WikiPedia.