18
Eighteenth Stratagem
擒贼擒王
(qín zéi qín wáng)
Defeat the Enemy by Capturing Its Chief
An early form of warfare in China was for two armies to line up against one another and have the two opposing generals go forward on horseback and fight to the death. The army of the victor would then pursue and slaughter that of the loser.
The poem 'Ballad of the Frontier' [10] by the Tang poet Du Fu (杜甫, 712–770 A.D.) describes this strategy:
When you pull a bow, make sure it’s a strong one,
make sure that the arrows you use are long ones.
To shoot a man, first shoot the horse,
to capture the foe, first capture their chief.
Yet there are limits to killing men,
the kingdoms have their own borders.
If only we can control their raids,
it does not depend on much killing.
When Zhang Xun (张巡, 709-757 A.D.) was fighting Yin Ziqi (尹子奇) in the battle Suiyang (755 A.D.), he ordered his archers to fire arrows made from the less effective, but plentiful, wormwood. On seeing such makeshift arrows, some of the enemy soldiers hurried back to Yin Ziqi to tell him of this. Zhang Xun, seeing all of this, now knew where the enemy leader was and had an arrow shot into his eye. Yin retreated in agony and his army fell into chaos [5].
Earth over Earth is stretched to its limits in response to the infinitely creative heaven. As the yin line in the weak sixth position attempts to hold a position of power, it becomes vulnerable to attack and may be captured. It is in this sense that the second hexagram is associated with the eighteenth stratagem, Defeat the Enemy by Capturing Its Chief [1], [28].
VOCAB LIST 18:
very much: 非常: fēicháng
goat: 山羊: shānyáng
lion: 狮子: shīzi
thief: 贼: zéi
monkey: 猴子: hóuzi
giraffe: 长颈鹿: chángjǐnglù
to catch a cold: 感冒: gǎnmào
great: 太好了: tài hǎole
dry: 干: gān
gorilla: 大猩猩: dà xīngxīng
horse: 马: mǎ
orangutan: 猩猩: xīngxīng
Du Fu: 杜甫: dùfǔ
zebra: 斑马: bānmǎ
elephant: 大象: dà xiàng
<measure word for horse/cow>: 匹: pǐ (elephant’s) trunk: 象鼻: xiàng bí
zoo: 动物园: dòngwù yuán
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New Characters:
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Sample Sentences 18:
1) 那头牛非常大！
Trans.: That’s a huge cow!
2) Q: 你喜不喜欢吃山羊肉？
A: 喜欢。
3) 那只山羊很喜欢吃胡萝卜。
4) 我们昨天去过动物园，看了狮子、老虎和大猩猩。
5) 注意安全，那些猴子喜欢偷人的食物。
6) Q: 你为什么今天没有上班？
A: 我感冒了。
7) 这些干菜太好吃了。
Trans.: These dried vegetables are so delicious.
8) 我老家的天气很干。
9) 昨天，小店进了一个贼。
10) 猩猩为什么有红色的毛？
11) 斑马为什么有 条纹？
13) Q: 你会不会骑马？
A: 不会。
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