Home » Sunday » Now and Then
釜底抽薪 (fu3 di3 chou1 xin1) - Pulling the firewood from beneath a boiling cauldron
By Zhang Ciyun |
November 9, 2008, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
There are many ways to stop the water in a cauldron from boiling, such as adding cold water into the vessel. But ancient Chinese believed that the best or most effective way was to remove the burning firewood from under the cauldron.
They said it's the fundamental solution, just like weeding out grass by destroying the roots.
In a war, this stratagem means to avoid direct engagement with a strong enemy.
Instead, you should try to drain or wipe out your enemy's source of power. He will then become weak and less difficult to deal with.
Cao Cao (155-220 AD) was a military genius in Chinese history, as well as a warlord and later first emperor of the Wei Kingdom.
He successfully applied this stratagem in a decisive battle with another warlord Yuan Shao.
In 199 AD, Yuan led an army of more than 100,000 men to attack a stronghold defended by Cao with about 30,000 soldiers. The two armies were locked in a face-off along a river in the north for quite a long time.
Yuan's bigger army naturally called for a greater supply of food and fodder.
So, after a few weeks, Yuan transported more than 10,000 cart loads of grain and fodder from Hebei to the nearby Wucao.
When Cao learned about this move, he decided that destruction of enemy's food supply was probably the best way to defeat Yuan.
And he was overjoyed when his reconnaissance scouts found out that Wucao was not heavily guarded by Yuan troops.
One night, Cao personally led an elite team of 5,000 men to cross the river and launched a surprise attack against the garrisons guarding the food and fodder warehouses in Wucao.
Cao and his men annihilated the Yuan troops there and immediately set all warehouses on fire.
After losing their food supply, Yuan and his army became panic-stricken and fell into a quandary.
Just at that moment, the Cao troops started an all-out offensive. Yuan barely escaped the battlefield with fewer than 800 men.
After returning to his home base in Hebei, Yuan was never able to recover from the huge loss in the battle.
He was therefore unable to stand in the way of Cao becoming the first ruler of the Kingdom of Wei in the Three Kingdoms Period (220-280 AD) in Chinese history a few years later.
They said it's the fundamental solution, just like weeding out grass by destroying the roots.
In a war, this stratagem means to avoid direct engagement with a strong enemy.
Instead, you should try to drain or wipe out your enemy's source of power. He will then become weak and less difficult to deal with.
Cao Cao (155-220 AD) was a military genius in Chinese history, as well as a warlord and later first emperor of the Wei Kingdom.
He successfully applied this stratagem in a decisive battle with another warlord Yuan Shao.
In 199 AD, Yuan led an army of more than 100,000 men to attack a stronghold defended by Cao with about 30,000 soldiers. The two armies were locked in a face-off along a river in the north for quite a long time.
Yuan's bigger army naturally called for a greater supply of food and fodder.
So, after a few weeks, Yuan transported more than 10,000 cart loads of grain and fodder from Hebei to the nearby Wucao.
When Cao learned about this move, he decided that destruction of enemy's food supply was probably the best way to defeat Yuan.
And he was overjoyed when his reconnaissance scouts found out that Wucao was not heavily guarded by Yuan troops.
One night, Cao personally led an elite team of 5,000 men to cross the river and launched a surprise attack against the garrisons guarding the food and fodder warehouses in Wucao.
Cao and his men annihilated the Yuan troops there and immediately set all warehouses on fire.
After losing their food supply, Yuan and his army became panic-stricken and fell into a quandary.
Just at that moment, the Cao troops started an all-out offensive. Yuan barely escaped the battlefield with fewer than 800 men.
After returning to his home base in Hebei, Yuan was never able to recover from the huge loss in the battle.
He was therefore unable to stand in the way of Cao becoming the first ruler of the Kingdom of Wei in the Three Kingdoms Period (220-280 AD) in Chinese history a few years later.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
