Brilliance of a Chinese Strategist

Zhao Jin
Zhao Jin
Aug 29, 2017 · 2 min read

This is an article on what to study and where to get started to learn some of the brilliant minds of historical Chinese strategists. For ones interested in ancient genius legends and amazing minds, there’s so much where it’s from.

For Business Strategy, please study the 36 Stratagems. Wikipedia write-up of them is a great starting point — Thirty-Six Stratagems — Wikipedia

It is a collection of many strategists’ wisdom including Zhuge Liang and Sunzi (author of Art of War). For comprehensive and in-depth strategies, please study Zhuge Liang’s work. For example, The Empty Fort strategy (using reverse psychology to deceive the enemy into thinking that an empty location is full of traps and ambushes, and therefore induce the enemy to retreat.) — Empty Fort Strategy — Wikipedia This one is included in one of the 36 stratagems. And the Borrow Arrows with Straw Boats Stratagem (using disguise to ‘borrow’ enemy’s ammunition) List of fictitious stories in Romance of the Three Kingdoms — Wikipedia

Throughout China’s many millenniums of civilization and intellect, there lived many brilliant minds including Zhuge Liang. He’s generally considered the most ingenious and effective who was also a scientist (e.g. using astronomy to forecast weather conditions and plan war strategy accordingly) and inventor including a robot, the Wood Ox, that was mass produced and used to carry supplies across difficult terrains, of which the design he ‘borrowed’ from his wife (Wooden ox — Wikipedia). Zhuge is said to have married a wife who was intellectually superior, a genius and behind-the-scenes inventor, scientist and strategist who was also the daughter of a local political and business figure. Many of her inventions and programs including the Wooden Ox were utilized throughout Zhuge Liang’s career as the emperor’s (sort of, story is in the book) strategist during their war to rule the region. For more story of Chinese wisdom, tactics and comprehensive strategies, look up these great strategists and their stories and read historical strategy novels such as Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Water Margin (Water Margin — Wikipedia, a story of a leader managing a team of 108 distinct talents and getting them to collaborate and achieve a goal). The TV series for these shows are of high quality and tell the stories and major events and strategies very well. It’s a good way to study them. — Romance of the Three Kingdoms (TV series) — Wikipedia — It’s a cerebral and strategically more complex and in-depth version of Game of Thrones without the primitiveness but more focus on the intellectual intricacies, the stories and their outcome). There are many brilliant talents, tactics, creativity and knowledge to be borrowed from ancient China and Chinese history. Learn about, implement and utilize these ingenious inspirations in our modern world.

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Zhao Jin

Written by

Zhao Jin

Founder of IBP — ibp.us.com | helping the world to do business with China

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