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瞒天过海 (man2 tian1 guo4 hai3) - Deceiving the Heavens to Cross the Sea
By Zhang Ciyun |
July 6, 2008, Sunday
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Print Edition
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This scheme about deceit and disguise is usually listed as number one of the well-known "Thirty-Six Stratagems."
Here, the "heavens" meant originally the "emperor," since a ruler of an empire was always referred to as "the Son of Heaven" in Chinese history.
Li Shimin (AD 599-649) was the second emperor of the Tang Dynasty and was known as a great military commander. Once he led more than 300,000 men to conquer a land on the other side of a sea. But when they arrived at the shoreline, the emperor got cold feet from looking at the billowing sea waves.
However, Li's aides didn't want him to abandon the conquest and Xue Rengui, one of the most famous generals of that time, decided to use a scheme to deceive the emperor and lead him to cross the sea without his knowing it.
So, Xue and other officials went to see the emperor and told him that a local rich man had volunteered to provide large quantities of food and fodder for the imperial troops. The rich man had invited the emperor to attend a ceremony near the sea to accept his present the next day.
The emperor was very happy and decided to see the rich man himself. When Li and his troops came to the coast next day, they saw thousands of houses covered with bright and colorful curtains.
The rich man escorted the emperor into a large, carpeted house and began to entertain him with a sumptuous banquet.
The emperor enjoyed the delicious food and fine wine until suddenly the house began to rock and dishes and bowls all fell off the table. By lifting the curtains and looking outside, the emperor found that he was actually aboard a large boat with thousands of other boats and they were already on the high seas.
Then Xue and other officials told the emperor the truth. To help dispel the emperor's reluctance to cross the sea, they had disguised boats as houses and now they were only a short moment away from the opposite coast and it was too late to return.
So, how would the emperor, himself a great military commander, be deceived by such a trick? The reason is quite simple. The emperor might not be familiar with the sea, but he knew too well the common houses. He might be wary about getting on to the sea, but he walked into a house with little suspicion.
Therefore, the best way to disguise one's true objective is to hide it under something too common to invite any doubt.
Here, the "heavens" meant originally the "emperor," since a ruler of an empire was always referred to as "the Son of Heaven" in Chinese history.
Li Shimin (AD 599-649) was the second emperor of the Tang Dynasty and was known as a great military commander. Once he led more than 300,000 men to conquer a land on the other side of a sea. But when they arrived at the shoreline, the emperor got cold feet from looking at the billowing sea waves.
However, Li's aides didn't want him to abandon the conquest and Xue Rengui, one of the most famous generals of that time, decided to use a scheme to deceive the emperor and lead him to cross the sea without his knowing it.
So, Xue and other officials went to see the emperor and told him that a local rich man had volunteered to provide large quantities of food and fodder for the imperial troops. The rich man had invited the emperor to attend a ceremony near the sea to accept his present the next day.
The emperor was very happy and decided to see the rich man himself. When Li and his troops came to the coast next day, they saw thousands of houses covered with bright and colorful curtains.
The rich man escorted the emperor into a large, carpeted house and began to entertain him with a sumptuous banquet.
The emperor enjoyed the delicious food and fine wine until suddenly the house began to rock and dishes and bowls all fell off the table. By lifting the curtains and looking outside, the emperor found that he was actually aboard a large boat with thousands of other boats and they were already on the high seas.
Then Xue and other officials told the emperor the truth. To help dispel the emperor's reluctance to cross the sea, they had disguised boats as houses and now they were only a short moment away from the opposite coast and it was too late to return.
So, how would the emperor, himself a great military commander, be deceived by such a trick? The reason is quite simple. The emperor might not be familiar with the sea, but he knew too well the common houses. He might be wary about getting on to the sea, but he walked into a house with little suspicion.
Therefore, the best way to disguise one's true objective is to hide it under something too common to invite any doubt.
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