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Index — The Thirty-Six Stratagems · 三十六计

The 36 Stratagems.

Thirty-six four-character idioms for deception, timing and escape. Each entry gives the Chinese, the pinyin, a literal English gloss — and the history the name comes from.

Not by Sun Tzu. The compiler is unknown. The phrase is old — the Book of Southern Qi (南齐书) quotes “檀公三十六策，走是上计” (“Of Lord Tan’s thirty-six stratagems, running away is best”) — but the 36-item text we read today surfaced only in 1941.

36stratagems
6chapters
1941text surfaced
走the last resort

一 胜战计 shèng zhàn jì Winning stratagems

01 瞒天过海 mán tiān guò hǎi Deceive the heavens to cross the sea 02 围魏救赵 wéi Wèi jiù Zhào Besiege Wei to rescue Zhao 03 借刀杀人 jiè dāo shā rén Kill with a borrowed knife 04 以逸待劳 yǐ yì dài láo Wait at ease for the weary enemy 05 趁火打劫 chèn huǒ dǎ jié Loot a burning house 06 声东击西 shēng dōng jī xī Make a sound in the east, strike in the west

二 敌战计 dí zhàn jì Enemy-dealing stratagems

07 无中生有 wú zhōng shēng yǒu Create something from nothing 08 暗渡陈仓 àn dù Chén Cāng Secretly cross at Chencang 09 隔岸观火 gé àn guān huǒ Watch the fire from across the river 10 笑里藏刀 xiào lǐ cáng dāo Hide a knife behind a smile 11 李代桃僵 lǐ dài táo jiāng Sacrifice the plum for the peach 12 顺手牵羊 shùn shǒu qiān yáng Take the goat in passing

三 攻战计 gōng zhàn jì Attacking stratagems

13 打草惊蛇 dǎ cǎo jīng shé Beat the grass to startle the snake 14 借尸还魂 jiè shī huán hún Borrow a corpse to return the soul 15 调虎离山 diào hǔ lí shān Lure the tiger from its mountain 16 欲擒故纵 yù qín gù zòng To capture, first let it go 17 抛砖引玉 pāo zhuān yǐn yù Toss out a brick to attract jade 18 擒贼擒王 qín zéi qín wáng To catch bandits, catch their leader

四 混战计 hùn zhàn jì Chaos stratagems

19 釜底抽薪 fǔ dǐ chōu xīn Remove the firewood from under the pot 20 混水摸鱼 hún shuǐ mō yú Fish in troubled water 21 金蝉脱壳 jīn chán tuō qiào The golden cicada sheds its shell 22 关门捉贼 guān mén zhuō zéi Shut the door to catch the thief 23 远交近攻 yuǎn jiāo jìn gōng Befriend the distant, attack the near 24 假道伐虢 jiǎ dào fá Guó Borrow a road to conquer Guo

五 并战计 bìng zhàn jì Proximate stratagems

25 偷梁换柱 tōu liáng huàn zhù Steal the beams, swap the pillars 26 指桑骂槐 zhǐ sāng mà huái Point at the mulberry, curse the locust tree 27 假痴不癫 jiǎ chī bù diān Feign stupidity, not madness 28 上屋抽梯 shàng wū chōu tī Lure them onto the roof, remove the ladder 29 树上开花 shù shàng kāi huā Deck the tree with false blossoms 30 反客为主 fǎn kè wéi zhǔ The guest becomes the host

六 败战计 bài zhàn jì Desperate stratagems

31 美人计 měi rén jì The beauty trap 32 空城计 kōng chéng jì The empty fort strategy 33 反间计 fǎn jiàn jì Turn the enemy’s spies 34 苦肉计 kǔ ròu jì Self-inflicted wound to win trust 35 连环计 lián huán jì Chained stratagems 36 走为上 zǒu wéi shàng If all else fails, retreat

How to read one

How to read a stratagem.

The four characters

The name is an idiom. Read the characters, then the pinyin, then the one-line literal — before the smoother English title.

The source line

Under the name is the classical line from the text that surfaced in 1941, in simplified and traditional characters, with a working English translation marked as a draft.

The story, labelled

Each tale is marked history, legend, novel or mixed. A chapter of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms is not a battle report. The page says which is which.

Free download · 锦囊

All 36 on one set of field cards.

A printable PDF: one card per stratagem, with the Chinese, pinyin, a literal gloss and the episode behind the name.

  • 0136 cards and a one-page index by chapter
  • 02Original Chinese with pinyin and literal English
  • 03Story, date and source for each stratagem
Download the PDF

Questions

Who wrote the 36 Stratagems?

Nobody knows. The compiler is unnamed. The phrase about Lord Tan’s thirty-six stratagems, and running away being the best of them, appears in the Book of Southern Qi (南齐书), in the biography of Wang Jingze. The 36-item text read today, with its commentary, surfaced in 1941 from a hand-copied book printed in Chengdu. What happened to it before that year is not known.

Are the 36 Stratagems by Sun Tzu?

No. They are not in The Art of War. Sun Wu lived more than a thousand years before that phrase is first recorded. English editions often bind the two books as one volume. They are not the same book, and Sun Tzu did not write this one.

Which of the 36 Stratagems is the most famous?

There is no official ranking. English readers most often meet three. Besiege Wei to rescue Zhao (no. 2) is the classic manoeuvre. The empty fort (no. 32) is famous from the novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, not from a battle report. If all else fails, retreat (no. 36) is the line the Book of Southern Qi already knew.