Quick Answer: What Are the Thirty-Six Stratagems?
The Thirty-Six Stratagems (三十六计, Sānshíliù Jì) is a collection of compact strategic sayings with explanations and illustrative material. Its familiar received arrangement has six groups of six, covering situations ranging from advantage and confrontation to disorder and defeat.[1]
- Form: Memorable titles followed by brief formulas and attached explanations.
- Themes: Appearances, indirect action, timing, changing relationships and withdrawal.
- History: The compiler and exact date are uncertain; an early saying about thirty-six plans does not establish the age of the complete list.[4][6]
The titles below are a reading directory. Their figurative language, commentary and later stories need to be distinguished before drawing a conclusion about what any one entry means.
A cauldron’s fuel, an empty city and a departing army give three very different images of strategy. The Thirty-Six Stratagems gathers such compressed expressions into a memorable sequence, but understanding that sequence requires more than memorizing English slogans.
An Old Saying and an Uncertain Compilation
The Book of Southern Qi (南齐书, Nán Qí Shū), volume 26, records Wang Jingze (王敬则, Wáng Jìngzé) using a saying that, among thirty-six plans, withdrawal is best. The passage supplies evidence for that saying. It does not enumerate the thirty-six titles now printed together.[4]
The received collection’s compiler and precise formation date remain unsettled. An old expression, the numbered compilation and the explanatory anecdotes are different pieces of evidence. Assigning all of them to one ancient general gives a certainty that the textual record does not provide.[6]
It is also a separate work from The Art of War (孙子兵法, Sūnzǐ Bīngfǎ). A bookshop pairing does not establish authorship by Sun Tzu (孙子, Sūnzǐ), or turn these thirty-six entries into chapters of that other text.
The opening statement connects its six-by-six arrangement with changing circumstances and opportunity. Treat that as part of the collection’s conceptual language, rather than proof of a single fixed system that predicts the result of every conflict.[1]
The Full List: Six Groups of Six
These are the thirty-six titles in their received order, with close English glosses. Group labels and English renderings vary between translations; the Chinese wording and number provide the more reliable reference.[1]
| Group | Six titles, in order |
|---|---|
| Victory situations (胜战计, Shèngzhàn Jì) | 1. Conceal from heaven to cross the sea (瞒天过海, mán tiān guò hǎi); 2. Surround Wei to save Zhao (围魏救赵, wéi Wèi jiù Zhào); 3. Borrow a knife to kill (借刀杀人, jiè dāo shā rén); 4. Wait rested for the weary (以逸待劳, yǐ yì dài láo); 5. Plunder amid a fire (趁火打劫, chèn huǒ dǎ jié); 6. Sound east, strike west (声东击西, shēng dōng jī xī) |
| Confronting an opponent (敌战计, Dízhàn Jì) | 7. Bring something out of nothing (无中生有, wú zhōng shēng yǒu); 8. Cross secretly through Chencang (暗渡陈仓, àn dù Chéncāng); 9. Observe the fire from the other bank (隔岸观火, gé àn guān huǒ); 10. Conceal a blade in a smile (笑里藏刀, xiào lǐ cáng dāo); 11. Let the plum perish for the peach (李代桃僵, lǐ dài táo jiāng); 12. Lead a sheep away in passing (顺手牵羊, shùn shǒu qiān yáng) |
| Attacking (攻战计, Gōngzhàn Jì) | 13. Disturb the grass and startle the snake (打草惊蛇, dǎ cǎo jīng shé); 14. Borrow a corpse for the soul’s return (借尸还魂, jiè shī huán hún); 15. Draw the tiger away from its mountain (调虎离山, diào hǔ lí shān); 16. Release deliberately in order to capture (欲擒故纵, yù qín gù zòng); 17. Offer a brick to elicit jade (抛砖引玉, pāo zhuān yǐn yù); 18. Catch the bandits’ leader (擒贼擒王, qín zéi qín wáng) |
| Confused conflict (混战计, Hùnzhàn Jì) | 19. Remove the fuel beneath the cauldron (釜底抽薪, fǔ dǐ chōu xīn); 20. Catch fish in muddied water (混水摸鱼, hùn shuǐ mō yú); 21. The golden cicada leaves its shell (金蝉脱壳, jīn chán tuō qiào); 22. Shut the door and catch the thief (关门捉贼, guān mén zhuō zéi); 23. Befriend the distant and attack the near (远交近攻, yuǎn jiāo jìn gōng); 24. Borrow passage to attack Guo (假道伐虢, jiǎ dào fá Guó) |
| Merging forces (并战计, Bìngzhàn Jì) | 25. Steal beams and exchange pillars (偷梁换柱, tōu liáng huàn zhù); 26. Rebuke the locust tree while pointing at the mulberry (指桑骂槐, zhǐ sāng mà huái); 27. Feign foolishness without becoming disordered (假痴不颠, jiǎ chī bù diān); 28. Remove the ladder once on the roof (上屋抽梯, shàng wū chōu tī); 29. Make flowers appear on a tree (树上开花, shù shàng kāi huā); 30. Change from guest to host (反客为主, fǎn kè wéi zhǔ) |
| Defeat situations (败战计, Bàizhàn Jì) | 31. The beauty stratagem (美人计, měi rén jì); 32. The empty-city stratagem (空城计, kōng chéng jì); 33. The counter-agent stratagem (反间计, fǎn jiàn jì); 34. The self-injury stratagem (苦肉计, kǔ ròu jì); 35. Linked stratagems (连环计, lián huán jì); 36. Withdrawal is the best plan (走为上策, zǒu wéi shàng cè) |
The six labels organize the collection; they do not make every entry in a group identical in mechanism. For instance, the final group contains both an empty-city image and withdrawal. Read the attached explanation before assuming that the group heading settles their meaning.
Reading the Metaphors: Fuel, an Empty City and Retreat
19. Remove the fuel beneath the cauldron: The accompanying text distinguishes directly opposing force from diminishing the conditions sustaining it. The firewood image gives a relationship between visible strength and what supports it. The explanation extends beyond literal fire; reducing the entry to an instruction about a burning pot misses that movement into analogy.[2]
32. The empty-city stratagem: The short formula turns on uncertainty: an apparent absence can make an opponent suspect something concealed. Its attached explanation describes defenders entertaining officers on a city wall, leaving attackers uncertain about the city’s strength.[3]
In Romance of the Three Kingdoms (三国演义, Sānguó Yǎnyì), chapter 95, Zhuge Liang (诸葛亮, Zhūgě Liàng) plays music above an open gate while Sima Yi (司马懿, Sīmǎ Yì) interprets the display through his opponent’s reputation for caution. That is a specific novelistic scene. Citing it identifies a literary treatment; it does not independently verify that the encounter happened as narrated.[5]
36. Withdrawal is the best plan: The formula concerns preserving an army by avoiding a stronger enemy. Its commentary contrasts surrender, negotiation and departure, presenting departure as retaining a chance of a later reversal. The favorable judgment belongs to that adverse situation; it is not an argument that leaving is always preferable.[3]
How to Compare the Text, Commentary and Stories
- Locate the title: Record its number and Chinese wording, rather than relying on one English label.
- Read the formula and explanation: Identify the relationship described and what circumstances the explanation assumes.
- Trace the illustration: Establish whether the example comes from a historical account, a novel or a modern adaptation before treating it as evidence.
An edition is easier to assess when it labels those layers and identifies the sources of its stories. A long example added by an editor should not silently become part of the terse formula. Likewise, a contemporary application is a new interpretation, not evidence for the compiler’s original intention.
The titles also belong to the history of Chinese idioms and proverbial language. Their later circulation helps explain why a phrase may be recognizable outside this book. Recognition alone does not show where it was first coined or when the collection took its present order.
FAQs About the Thirty-Six Stratagems
Is it part of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War?
No. The two works are distinct. Their frequent pairing in modern publications does not make the collection a section of The Art of War or establish Sun Tzu as its compiler.
Are all thirty-six titles four characters long?
No. Many headings have four characters, but the beauty, empty-city, counter-agent, self-injury and linked-stratagem titles each have three. Check the actual Chinese rather than assume a uniform four-character form.
Why do English lists use different names?
A compact metaphor can be rendered literally or explained in more interpretive English. Use the Chinese title and received-list number to compare editions; a different English label need not indicate a different stratagem.
Sources
[1] Received Chinese text. Thirty-Six Stratagems: general statement and complete ordered contents
[2] Received Chinese text. Thirty-Six Stratagems: nineteenth entry and its firewood metaphor
[3] Received Chinese text. Thirty-Six Stratagems: empty-city and withdrawal entries
[4] Public-domain Chinese text. Book of Southern Qi, juan 26: Wang Jingze and the saying about withdrawal
[5] Public-domain Chinese text. Romance of the Three Kingdoms, chapter 95: the empty-city scene
[6] Erik Honobe, Tama University. Thirty-six Stratagems and the Commentary of Zuo: A Contextual Analysis (2015), pp. 37–42