Chinese Mythology and Thirty-six Stratagems

作品简介

Fictional or semi-fictional stories and practical concepts are like yin and yang, the two fundamental principles of ancient Chinese philosophy. In this book, we present just such yin and yang, namely, “Chinese Mythology” and the "Thirty-Six Stratagems."

Born in Shanghai in 1949, ZHANG Ciyun (Peter)graduated from Jilin Normal University, PRC with a major in English and later from Stanford University in the United States with a Master’s Degree in Journalism. Since 1980, he has had extensive experience working in different news agencies in the PRC. Also, he worked in the General Office of the Ministry of Communications as an interpreter and the Information Office of Shanghai Municipality as its Deputy General Director.

作品目录

• Introduction
• Chinese Mythology
• 盘古开天地 (pán gǔ kāi tiān dì) Pangu creates the world
• 女娲造人 (nǚ wā zào rén) Nuwa makes man
• 女娲补天 (nǚ wā bǔ tiān) Nuwa mends the sky
• 伏羲的故事 (fú xī de gù shì) The works of Fuxi
• 神农的故事 (shén nóng de gù shì) Hail the ‘Divine Farmer’
• 精卫填海 (jīng wèi tián hǎi) Jingwei tests the sea
• 燧人钻木取火 (suì rén zuān mù qǔ huǒ) Saved by Fire Fetcher Suiren
• 夸父追日 (kuā fù zhuī rì) Kuafu chases the sun
• 嫘祖的故事 (léi zǔ de gù shì) Tale as smooth as silk
• 仓颉造字 (cāng jié zào zì) Birth of a language
• 后羿射日 (hòu yì shè rì) Sun-birds bake Earth
• 嫦娥奔月 (cháng é bēn yuè) Restless Chang’e flees
• 鲧盗息壤 (gǔn dào xī rǎng) Gun steals Magic Soil
• 大禹治水 (dà yǔ zhì shuǐ) Yu harnesses flooding
• 瑶姬的故事 (yáo jī de gù shì) Goddess Peak of Wushan Mountain
• 牛郎织女 (niú láng zhī nǚ) The cowherd and the girl weaver
• 十二生肖 (shí èr shēng xiāo) Zodiac animals
• 愚公移山 (yú gōng yí shān) Moving mountains
• 钟馗的故事 (zhōng kuí de gù shì) The Demon Queller
• Thirty-Six Stratagems
• 瞒天过海 (mán tiān guò hǎi) Deceiving the heavens to cross the sea
• 围魏救赵 (wéi wèi jiù zhào) Besieging Wei to save Zhao
• 借刀杀人 (jiè dāo shā rén) Killing with a borrowed knife
• 以逸待劳 (yǐ yì dài láo) Waiting at ease for a worn-out enemy
• 趁火打劫 (chèn huǒ dǎ jié) Looting a house when it’s on fire
• 声东击西 (shēng dōng jī xī) Making a feint to the east, but hitting out in the west
• 无中生有 (wú zhōng shēng yǒu) Creating something out of nothing
• 暗度陈仓 (àn dù chén cāng) A ruse to divert your enemies
• 隔岸观火 (gé àn guān huǒ) Watching the fire burning from the other side of the river
• 笑里藏刀 (xiào lǐ cáng dāo) Hiding a dagger behind a smile
• 李代桃僵 (lǐ dài táo jiāng) A plum tree sacrificed to protect the peach tree
• 顺手牵羊 (shùn shǒu qiān yáng) Pilfering a goat in passing
• 打草惊蛇 (dǎ cǎo jīng shé) Startling the snake, or not
• 借尸还魂 (jiè shī huán hún) The ploy of incarnation
• 调虎离山 (diào hǔ lí shān) Luring tiger out of the mountains
• 欲擒故纵 (yù qín gù zòng) Letting up on your pursuit
• 抛砖引玉 (pāo zhuān yǐn yù) Throwing out a brick to attract a piece of jade
• 擒贼擒王 (qín zéi qín wáng) To beat the enemy army, capture their leader first
• 釜底抽薪 (fǔ dǐ chōu xīn) Removing the burning firewood from beneath a boiling cauldron
• 浑水摸鱼 (hùn shuǐ mō yú) Fishing in turbid waters
• 金蝉脱壳 (jīn chán tuō qiào) Ruse of the golden cicada
• 关门捉贼 (guān mén zhuō zéi) Shut the door to catch the thief
• 远交近攻 (yuǎn jiāo jìn gōng) Making distant states allies while attacking a neighbor
• 借道伐虢 (jiè dào fá guó) Defeating one enemy at a time
• 偷梁换柱 (tōu liáng huàn zhù) Swapping good wood for bad
• 指桑骂槐 (zhǐ sāng mà huái) Achieving the result without waging too many battles
• 假痴不癫 (jiǎ chī bù diān) Feigning weakness to wait for the right time to strike
• 上屋抽梯 (shàng wū chōu tī) Cutting off escape routes
• 树上开花 (shù shàng kāi huā) Defending with ‘blossoms’
• 反客为主 (fǎn kè wéi zhǔ) Guest outstaying welcome
• 美人计 (měi rén jì) Beaten by womanly wiles
• 空城计 (kōng chéng jì) An empty fortress strategy
• 反间计 (fǎn jiān jì) Sowing distrust in enemy camp
• 苦肉计 (kǔ ròu jì) When one hurts himself, he is really to hurt his enemy
• 连环计 (lián huán jì) Multi-ploy scheme at play
• 走为上计 (zǒu wéi shàng jì) When everything fails, retreat