15
Fifteenth Stratagem
调虎离山
(diào hǔ lí shān)
Lure the Tiger Out of the Mountains
Never openly attack an opponent who holds an advantageous position, but instead lure him away from it, cutting him off from his source of strength.
An example is how General Xu You (许攸, died 204) of Eastern Han (25-220 A.D.) suppressed an insurgency carried out by Qiang people from the north. When the Qiang revolted against the court, and Xu You was ordered to stop them, he first advanced on them at the gorge of Xiao Mountain. The Qiang,
however, were able to block this advancement, and the general, knowing the situation to be disadvantageous, made an early retreat from the gorge, and set up at a distance. He then began sending messengers to ask for reinforcements from the capital at Luoyang. As the Qiang people expected there would be no immediate attack, they grew remiss, and some of the their detachments began leaving the gorge to plunder local villages. At the right moment, Xu You marched his forces toward the gorge, and as his army approached, he had them light additional fires to give the impression that they were coming with reinforcements. The remnants of the Qiang people still in the gorge were terrified and dared not to engage them, and let them right through.
Lure the Tiger Out of the Mountains is associated both with the 39th and 40th hexagrams. The 39th hexagram, Water over Mountain, represents something difficult to cross. In terms of military strategy this can mean a heavily fortified position held by an opponent. The yang line in the third position from the bottom aspires to be in the fifth already-filled position. This line therefore returns to own position and attempts to lure the enemy out from its own superior position.
The 40th hexagram, Thunder over Water, represents movement over danger, i.e., a situation where danger has already passed, like the quiet after a storm. The yang line which, before, was in the third position, has moved back into the second position, and that which was in the fifth position, "the tiger", has been lured down into the weaker fourth position [1], [28].
VOCAB LIST 15:
key: 钥匙: yàoshi
library: 图书馆: túshū guǎn
complicated/complex: 复杂: fùzá
simple: 简单: jiǎndān
to break/ruin: 弄坏: nòng huài
natural: 天然/自然: tiānrán/zìrán
to be transferred: 调离: diào lí
to depend/rely: 依靠: yīkào
to leave: 离开: líkāi
awake: 醒: xǐng
secret: 秘密: mìmì
special/particular: 特别: tèbié
serious: 认真: rènzhēn
game: 游戏: yóuxì
to give...one more...: 再给...一...: zài gěi...yī...
one more time/again : 再一次: zài yīcì
to agree: 同意: tóngyì
to disagree: 不同意: bù tóngyì
to organize (sort out): 整理: zhěnglǐ
peace: 和平: hépíng
war: 战争: zhànzhēng
to enjoy: 享受: xiǎngshòu
activity: 活动: huódòng
province: 省: shěng
country: 国家: guójiā
state: 州: zhōu
<measure word for one key>: 把: bǎ
<measure word for a bunch of keys>: 串: chuàn
to answer: 回答: huídá
and/versus: 与: yǔ
to organize (an activity involving people): 组织: zǔzhī
New Characters:
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Sample Sentences 15:
1) 那一串钥匙在哪？
Trans.: Where are those keys?
2) 我把那一把钥匙放到桌子上了。
Trans.: I put that key on the table.
3) 他认真地组织了这个活动。
4) 他的老板离开后，他也被调离了那个城市。
5) 那里有一只老虎。
6) 这个游戏的规则很复杂。
7) 请别弄坏共用的电脑。
8) 你的名字有没有一些特别的意思？
9) 吃天然的东西很重要。
10) 我想告诉你一个秘密。
11) 她醒了吗？
12) 请再给我一杯水。
13) 他们再一次去了图书馆。
14) 这个问题很简单，请回答。
15) 我同意，我们不应该依靠他们。
16) 我很喜欢那一本书《战争与和平》。
17) 我妈妈让我整理房间。
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