Great Wisdom and Strategy Collection from ancient China: Dirty Tricks

This book is translated into English for the first time. Dirty tricks are what people use to break the rules in their favour. So why talking about dirty tricks in a book of wisdom? Naturally, great wisdom should never be cunning; it involves intelligence, deep insight, good sense and so on. However, great wisdom is often brought down by small tricks. To guard against this, a clear understanding of tricks is necessary. And, in any case, a well-used trick can be as effective as great wisdom; tricks can help kingdoms to win battles and protect citizens from their enemies. No one should feel ashamed or afraid to discuss them. Think of our great mountain, Mt Taishan. It may be the highest in the whole country, but that doesn’t mean it despises every little pile of sand that dreams of growing into a hill; nor will the ocean mind one little bit if a stream wishes to become a river. And so, even though tricks may seem trivial compared to wisdom, we should never underestimate their power. Even heroes have been known to lie from time to time. And, don’t forget, as the saying goes, there’s honour among thieves. Just as wisdom becomes more profound through practice, so does cunning. Evil-doers use cunning to cheat their way to food or drinks; the same cunning, on a larger scale, can bring down a whole kingdom. Therefore, tricks are actually powerful; if you think you don’t have the wisdom to fight them at the moment, you’d better learn how to avoid them!