Sage - 36 Strategems
- Request
5 sage - I research the wood scroll with chinese runes on it entitled “36 Strategems”. It came from the Fey mod that was the reward from the egg hunt. The Fey described it as having an interesting story.
- Results:
Studying the scroll, you translate the following strategies:
- Deceive the heavens and cross the ocean
- Besiege Wei to rescue Zhao
- Kill With a Borrowed Knife
- Substitute Leisure for Labor
- Loot a Burning House
- Clamor in the East, Attack in the West
- Create Something from Nothing
- Openly Repair the Walkway, but Sneak through the passage of Chencang
- Observe the Fire from the Opposite Shore
- Hide a Knife behind a Smile
- Sacrifice the Plum Tree to Preserve the Peach Tree
- Take the Opportunity to Pilfer a Goat
- Beat the Grass to Startle the Snake
- Borrow a Corpse to Resurrect the Soul
- Lure the Tiger Down From the Mountain
- To Catch Something, First Set it Free
- Toss out a Brick to attract Jade
- To Capture the Bandits, capture their Leader
- Steal the Firewood from under the Pot
- Stir up the Waters to 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
- Replace the Beams with Rotten Timbers
- Point at the Mulberry tree, but curse the pagoda tree
- Feign Madness but Keep your Balance
- Lure them onto the Roof, then take away the Ladder
- Deck the Tree with False Blossoms
- Exchange the roles of Host and Guest
- The Beauty Trap
- The Empty Fort Strategy
- Let the Enemy's own spy sow discord in the Enemy camp
- Injure yourself to gain the Enemy's trust
- Chain Stratagems
- If all else fails, return to the first strategy
These appear to be short descriptions of strategies one can use in war or peace to gain positions of power. Certain parts of the scroll appear more worn than others. Of those, you were able to find the details behind the pithy phrase for the following:
11. Sacrifice the Plum Tree to Preserve the Peach Tree: It was said that the ancients would plant plum trees next to peach trees so that the pests that would harm the peach tree would harm the plum tree instead. The meaning is similar to that of the act of castling in chess, where the knight is exposed to protect the king.
26. Point at the Mulberry tree, but curse the pagoda tree: To discipline, control, or warn others whose status or position excludes them from direct confrontation; use analogy and innuendo. Without directly naming names, those accused cannot retaliate without revealing their complicity.