The 36 Secret Strategies of the Martial Arts The Classic Chinese Guide for Success in War, Business and Life

by Moriya, Hiroshi; Wilson, William Scott; Wilson, William Scott

• ISBN13: 9784770030641
• ISBN10: 4770030649
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-05-01
• Publisher: Kodansha USA

Summary

The 36 Secret Strategies of the Martial Arts is a collection of ancient Chinese maxims that encapsulate some of the Far Easts most cunning tactics for battle and deception. Each of these strategies represents a distilled nugget of Chinese wisdom. In the early 1980s, Hiroshi Moriya, an acknowledged authority on Chinese culture and philosophy, published a book in Japanese in which he analyzed and explained these strategies; then he used examples from ancient and recent history to further elucidate their meaning. Now, renowned translator William Scott Wilson makes The 36 Secret Strategies accessible to todays reader with his new English translation of both the Chinese maxim itself and Moriyas interpretive work. The volume is organized into six parts (Strategies for Victory in Battle, Strategies for Engaging the Enemy, Strategies for Attack, Strategies for Confused Fighting, Strategies for Unified Battle and Strategies for a Lost Battle) with six chapters in each. Many of the ideas presented will be familiar; but Wilson makes their meaning even more readily understandable by assigning short, pithy titles to each of the thirty-six chapters: Borrow a Sword to Make Your Kill, If You Want to Take It, Leave It Alone, Stir Up the Water, Catch the Fish, Send Them to the Roof, Remove the Ladder, and so on. While these strategies offer a look into the past, they are even more valuable to todays reader for providing insights into contemporary China. And, like such other classics as The Book of Five Rings and The Art of War, The 36 Secret Strategies gives the businessman, the diplomat, the politician, the military strategist, the sports competitor keys to understanding, interpreting and countering the actions of even the most daunting opponent.

Author Biography

HIROSHI MORIYA is an authority on Chinese culture and philosophy who, for the past 50 years, has devoted himself to explaining the Chinese to the outside world. He has written over 70 books on China (in Japanese), and from the late 1940s has visited China more than 50 times.

WILLIAM SCOTT WILSON is the bestselling translator of Hagakure, The Book of Five Rings and other classic titles, as well as the author of The Lone Samurai, the biography of the legendary samurai swordsman Miyamoto Musashi.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. 7
Introduction	p. 11
Opening Remarks: Anchor on Reality	p. 15
Strategies for Victory in Battle	p. 19
Obscure Heaven, Cross the Sea	p. 21
Surround Wei, Help Chao	p. 27
Borrow a Sword to Make Your Kill	p. 33
Await His Tired Steps at Your Leisure	p. 39
Take Advantage of the Fire to Plunder the Goods	p. 47
Be Heard in the East, Attack from the West	p. 53
Strategies for Engaging the Enemy	p. 59
Create Existence from Nonexistence	p. 61
Cross Over to Ch'en Ts'ang in the Dark	p. 67
On the Distant Shore, Watch for Fire	p. 73
Conceal a Sword Behind a Smile	p. 79
Sacrifice the Peach to Secure the Plum	p. 85
Lead Away the Sheep When Conditions Are Right	p. 91
Strategies for Attack	p. 95
Beat the Grass, Surprise the Snake	p. 97
Borrow the Corpse, Revive Its Soul	p. 101
Pacify the Tiger Then Lead It From the Mountain	p. 107
If You Covet It, Leave It Alone	p. 113
Cast a Brick, Pull in Jade	p. 119
To Catch a Thief, Catch His King	p. 125
Strategies for Ambiguous Situations	p. 131
Pull the Firewood from under the Kettle	p. 133
Disturb the Water, Grab the Fish	p. 139
The Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell	p. 145
Bar the Door, Grab the Thief	p. 151
Befriend Those at a Distance, Attack Those Nearby	p. 157
Borrow a Road, Attack Kuo	p. 161
Strategies for Unified Battle	p. 167
Steal the Beams, Replace the Pillars	p. 169
Point to the Mulberry, Berate the Pagoda Tree	p. 173
Feign Stupidity, Do Not Be Injudicious	p. 179
Send Them to the Roof, Remove the Ladder	p. 185
Make the Flowers Bloom on the Tree	p. 193
Quit as Guest, Take Over as Host	p. 199
Strategies for a Lost Battle	p. 205
The Strategy of the Beautiful Woman	p. 207
The Strategy of the Empty Fortress	p. 213
Create a Rift	p. 219
The Strategy of Self-Injury	p. 225
The Strategy of Links	p. 231
Retreat Is Considered the Best	p. 237
Notes	p. 243
Bibliography	p. 255
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