The Idea of Change As a Fundament of the Chinese Art of Cunning

Sonderdrucke aus der Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg

HARRO VON SENGER

The idea of change as a fundament of the Chinese art of cunning

Originalbeitrag erschienen in: Viviane Alleton (Hrsg.): Notions et perceptions du changement en Chine: Textes présentés au IXe congrès de l’Association Européenne d’ètudes Chinoises. Paris: Collège de France, Inst. des Hautes Etudes Chinoises, 1994. (Mémoires de l’Institut des Hautes Études Chinoises ; 36), S. [21]-28 THE IDEA OF CHANGE AS A FUNDAMENT OF THE CHINESE ART OF CUNNING *

HARRO VON SENGER (Albert- Ludwigs-Universität, Freiburg im Breisgau)

The Chinese Art of Cunning has developed over at least three mil- lenia. The most concise form of the Chinese experience in how to deal with hostile persons and precarious situations is the catalogue of the 36 stratagems (36 jz) coined about 500 years ago at the end of the Ming — beginning of the Qing dynasty (16-17th centuries A.D.). The old- est existing treatise on the subject is entitled Secret Book on the Art of War: The 36 Stratagems (Sanshiliu Ji: Miben Bingfa . { i ä } : *6 . 1 When I mention in this paper the Treatise on the 36 Strata- gems, I always refer to this book. The fundamental theory on which the Treatise on the 36 Stratagems is based, is — and here I quote from the Treatise on the 36 Stratagems — "the harmonization and regulation of the operations of Yin and

Yang" (yin yang xie li E I °). 2 Yin and Yang are considered as two opposite elementary cosmic forces. Their various combinations create all things and form all ac- tions. The way in which Yin and Yang operate and how things change and develop because of the interplay between Yin and Yang, has in China been described and explained in a most elaborate and sophisti- cated manner in the Book of Changes (Yijing All of the 36 chapters of the Treatise on the 36 Stratagems contain references to

' I thank Martin Sychold, Swiss Institute of Comparative Law in Lausanne, who as a linguistical advisor read through the manuscript. 1. I am using the edition Wu Gu, Huitu Sanshiliu Ji (The 36 Stratagems Illustrated), Changchun, 1987. 2. Wu Gu, op. cit., pp. 1 and 4. This formula is quoted from The Book of History, Zhouguan; James Legge, The Chinese Classics: The Shoo King, Taibei, 1971, p. 527. 22 Harro von Senger different parts of the Book of Changes. 3 However, the most important link between the two works is the spirit of the concept of Yin and Yang. This concept inspires the text of the whole Treatise on the 36 Stratagems. In this way, the Chinese Art of Cunning has been based on the idea of change. The idea of change as a fundament of the Chinese Art of Cunning has the following three implications: 1) A dynamic, non-static concept of reality, or to quote Professor Jacques Gernet, "une notion dynamique du temps et de l'espace [...] l'idee de situations instables, de configurations [...] transitoires". 4 Reality changes according to the constant variations of the relations between Yin and Yang. Nothing is fixed, everything is in a state of flux. The instability of reality affects also social norms and values. The social norms and values are reasonable only with respect to a certain reality, but become unreasonable with respect to a changed reality. Social norms are therefore relative and not absolute. Neither actual, nor normative reality is unchangeable. This insight has been formulated in the Book of Mencius :

Mencius said: "He who would not rescue the drowning woman is a wolf. For males and females not to allow their hands to touch in giving and receiving is the ritual rule; when a sister -in-law is drowning, to rescue her with the hand is a [reasonable] variation [of the normal rule]." 5

Another way to express the same idea is: gouqg, tl]lx. This could be translated as follows:

In a normal situation, one has to follow the normal rule, in case of a change, one has to resort to a [reasonable] variation [of the rule] . 6

3. Zhang Xiaomei, Sanshiliu Ji — Yi Yi fie Ji (The 36 Stratagems — Explaining the Stratagems with the Book of Changes), 3rd edition, Shanghai, 1991, pp. 11 ff. 4. Jacques Gernet, Preface ä l'edition francaise, in: Harro von Senger, Strata- gemes — Trois millenaires de ruses pour vivre et survivre, Paris, 1992, p. VI. 5. The Works of Mencius, bk. IV (Li Lou), pt. I, ch. XVII; James Legge, The Four Books : The Works of Mencius, Taibei, 1973, p. 307. Legge translates (quan) with "a peculiar exigency". Richard Wilhelm, Mong Dsi — Die Lehrgespräche des Meisters Meng K'o, Köln, 1982, p. 120, translates quan with "Ausnahme" (exception). My translation is based on Morohashi Tetsuji, Dai Kan-Wa Jiten (Great Japanese- Chinese Dictionary), vol. VI, p. 605, n° 15926, 1.10: ": (...) *, lR " , and on Ciyuan (Source of Words), Peking, 1988, p. 892: "41:t1/0,141M,ggitiig 6. Ma Senliang, Sanshiliu Ji (The 36 Stratagems), 4th enlarged edition, Taibei, 1989, (preface), p. 23. The Idea of Change as a Fundament... 23

The idea of change therefore implies the concept of human flexi- bility in normative behaviour. The human being has, in certain circumstances, the freedom to chose a non-normal, unorthodox way of behaviour. The dynamic concept of reality, in principle, allows variations from the official social, ritual, customary, or legal norms according to changing situations.

2) The human being as the promoter, manipulator, subject of change. The Book of Changes does not treat the human being as a help- less victim of fate. On the contrary, the Book of Changes with its specific techniques of divinatory analysis, seeks to enable the human being to foresee different future scenarios and developments and, after careful and conspicuous deliberation, choose the most appropriate one. Exactly this aspect of the Book of Changes is emphasized in the Trea-

tise on the 36 Stratagems. By connecting 29 of the 36 stratagems with one or several of the 64 hexagrams, the Treatise on the 36 Stratagems instructs the person who intends to use a stratagem to analyze the dif-

ferent possible stages of the future developments within the conceptual framework of the hexagram- and stroke-analysis. The person who in-

tends to apply the stratagem gains in this way a rather comprehensive view of possible positive and negative consequences of the stratagem- application. 3) Change is not only an objective process. Change can also be pro- voked by the human being. If the situation is bad, the human being in

his role as the master of change is considered to be able to influence reality in order to transmute the negative situation into a positive situation. In the Chinese language, this idea is reflected in several expres-

sions such as:

VWV/Mk to change inferiority into superiority;

*-4ig ^^ to change weakness into strength.

As a result of years of research, I am convinced that among the Chinese there are many people with a high degree of self-esteem, self-

consciousness, with the ardent desire of self-realization, and possibly even with quite a lot of selfishness and egoism. This can be demon-

strated by quotations such as:

P1RMq'6,

If, on self-examination, I find that I am upright, I will go forward

against thousands and tens of thousands. 7

7. The Works ofMencius, bk. II, Pt. I, ch. II; James Legge, op. cit., p. 187. 24 Harro von Senger

Richness and honour cannot corrupt him, poverty and lowness cannot

change his mind; power and weapons cannot subdue him — that is a great man. 8

Mencius said: "The principle of the philosopher Yang was — `Each one

for himself'. Though he might have benefited the whole kingdom by plucking out a single hair, he would not have done it". 9

^G i\ J A . I would rather betray the world than let the world betray me. 10

Unless a man looks out for himself, Heaven and Earth will destroy him; [everyone for himself and the devil take the hindmost]) 1

Since antiquity, time and again, there have lived Chinese personal- ities who found themselves in unfavorable circumstances which they wanted to overcome. They strived to change reality according to their intentions. This kind of change can be illustrated by the relation between the hexagrams no. 12 and no. 11 of the Book of Changes. 12 The hexagram no. 12 Pi () has a negative meaning. If this hexagram is turned upside-down — which is called in the technical terminology of the Book of Changes, zonggua (ig ') - the hexagram no. 11, Tai (), appears. Contrary to Pi, Tai has a very positive meaning. The symbolism — xiang (*) — of the Pi-hexagram says:

Symbolism: — "The distress and obstruction having reached its end, it is overthrown and removed" — how could it be prolonged? 13

8. The Works ofMencius, bk. III, pt. II, ch. II; James Legge, op. cit., p. 265.

9. The Works ofMencius, bk. VII, pt. I, ch. XXVI; James Legge, op. cit., p. 464.

10. This sentence is ascribed to Cao Cao (155-220); Li Zongwu, Houheixue

Daquan (The Great Compendium of Teaching to Have a Thick Skin and a Black

Heart), Peking, 1989, p. 1. See also: Luo Guanzhong ),WW 4, San Guo Yanyi

E.[IM, vol. 1, Peking, 1973, p. 38, english translation by C.H. Brewitt-Taylor,

Romance of the Three Kingdoms, vol. 1, Taibei, 1983, p. 42.

11. Hanyu Da Cidian (Great Dictionary of the Chinese Language), vol. 1,

Shanghai, 1986, p. 1035.

12. I am following here Nan Huaijin, Lishi Shang de Zhimou (Stratagemical

Wisdom in History), Shanghai, 1991, p. 7.

13. Translation taken from Z.D. Sung, The Text of the Yi King (and its

Appendixes), Chinese Original with English Translation, Taibei, 1973, p. 62. The Idea of Change as a Fundament... 25

A starting point of the Chinese Art of Cunning is the conviction that "distress and obstruction" can be "overthrown and removed" through active human interference. Change for the better can theo- retically be effected by human beings with orthodox, conventional, direct methods, as for instance legal steps, rational arguments, moral or religious reasoning, acts of (military) force, etc. This is just the art of using more or less normal methods to solve problems. However, the Chinese Art of Cunning is helpful when normal methods to solve problems do not work. It is the art of creating and using unusual, unorthodox, unconventional ways to change reality and attain goals. Not some super-natural power or magical forces, but just human wisdom, especially the ruseful dimension of wisdom, in Chinese called zhi ('), is the inexhaustible source enabling human beings to find unusual, extraordinary ways to overcome difficult realities. Probably because the contradiction between individuals and their aspirations on one hand and the oppressive ritual, customary, moral and legal order in ancient China on the other was so sharp, the Chinese refined the stratagemical potential of human wisdom to an unmatched level, and they developed the Art of Cunning to a degree of per- fection without parallel in the world. The crystallization of the Chinese Art of Cunning is the catalogue of the 36 Stratagems mentioned at the beginning of this lecture. This catalogue is a more or less comprehensive collection of unorthodox means to change unfavorable realities. The concept of Yin and Yang which underlies the Chinese Art of Cunning, as condensed in the Treatise on the 36 Stratagems, is not only a concept of allegedly objective cosmic opposite forces forming the different features of reality. Yin and Yang serve also to symbolize all kinds of opposite aspects in whatever context. In the Treatise on the 36 Stratagems, Yin and Yang symbolize certain basic polarities which are relevant for stratagemical change. I want to introduce some of the polarities of stratagemical change mentioned in the Treatise on the 36 Stratagems, such as:

1) secrecy and transparency In the Chapter concerning Stratagem no. 1, it is written:

Yin is in the Yang, it is not in opposition to Yang. Greatest Yang contains greatest Yin. 26 Harro von Senger

The symbolism of Yin and Yang has to be interpreted in this context as follows: secret ruses are not incompatible to, but hidden in open acts. Extreme transparency conceals extreme secrecy.

2) unreality and reality In the chapter on stratagem no. 7, it is written:

"PR, )K , tIM. Small Yin, great Yin, great Yang.

Here, the Yin-Yang-symbolism can be translated into the stratagemical language as follows: First a small unreality, then a big unreality, and suddenly a big reality.

3) emptiness and fullness In the chapter on stratagem no. 2, it is said: otnT#cQof(a. To fight against Yang is not as good as to fight against Yin.

Transformed into stratagemical language, this means: To attack the enemy where he is full is not as good as to attack him where he is empty. "Fullness" means preparedness, "emptiness" means lack of preparedness.

The basic polarities of stratagemical change are not always sym- bolized by Yin and Yang. The Treatise on the 36 Stratagems uses also other word-pairs which, however, are always imbued with the dia- lectic spirit of the concept of Yin and Yang, such as:

4) hardness and softness I quote from the chapter on stratagem no. 10:

Hardness inside, softness outside.

This can be understood as: an adamant will under a compliant appearance.

5) normality and non - normality In the Chapter on stratagem no. 8, one can find the following sentence: The Idea of Change as a Fundament... 27

The non-normal is produced from the normal; without the normal, the non-normal could not be produced.

6) inferiority and superiority This idea is expressed by stratagem no. 30 itself:

To exchange the role of guest to that of host.

"Guest" and "host" are here symbolizing inferior and superior po- sitions and also lack of initiative and possession of initiative. Other basic polarities of stratagemical change are:

nothing something; weakness strength; impossibility possibility; defeat victory, and so on.

A first function of the basic polarities of stratagemical change is to designate typical pairs of opposite features of reality. These basic polarities reveal the many-sided and complex character of reality which is difficult to grasp and to peer through. The basic polarities of stratagemical change enable the person who applies a stratagem to play with the different layers of the multi-dimensional reality so that he can achieve his aim. A second function of the basic polarities of stratagemical change is to mark typical directions of stratagemical transformations of reality. Finally, I want to give four examples of how the idea of change as a fundament of the Chinese Art of Cunning can function. 1) According to a very well-known anecdote which seems to have some historical background, the young woman Zhu Yingtai ( ä ), living at the time of the Jin dynasty (265-420), wanted to receive the same education as a man. In her time, the education which Zhu Ying- tai wanted to receive was exclusively reserved to male Chinese. Ac- cording to the normal course of affairs, it was impossible for Zhu Yingtai to realize her intention. But Zhu Yingtai defied the objec- tions of her parents and did not care about the social rules of her time. She changed impossiblility into possibility by using a stratagem, namely the stratagem of metamorphosis (no. 21 in the catalogue of 28 Harro von Senger

the 36 stratagems). She dressed up as boy, left her parents' house and entered a boys' school which she attended during 3 years. Using a stratagem, Zhu Yingtai realized something that we call today a human right, the right of education.

2) The daughter of Zhao Gao (A) was according to the plot of the popular Peking opera, Beauty Defies Tyranny, promised by her father to the uncapable and distasteful successor of the first emperor of

China. Of course, she did not want to marry him. But according to the normal development of reality, she could not escape her miserable destiny. In order to change her gloomy fate, she used a stratagem, namely no. 27 in the catalogue of the 36 stratagems: "Feigning madness but keeping the balance". When her future husband met her in the state of madness, he was so disgusted that he decided to cancel the marriage.

3) Under the Qing dynasty, any direct critique of the political situation would have meant suicide. This impossibility of mani- festing dissent was the reality. The famous writer Gong Zizhen (

`) (1792-1841) changed this reality by using stratagem no. 26: ( "Pointing at the mulberry but cursing the locust tree". He wrote an es- say on the Hospice of the Sick Plum Trees. 14 His description of the intentionally deformed plum trees, too many to be housed and cured in that hospice, was a hidden critique of the oppressive rule of the

Qing dynasty.

4) A modern example: According to the reality of the early 1990s in the People's Republic of China, no dissent from the Chinese gov- ernment could be published in any mainland newspaper. One Chinese student in the USA used stratagem no. 1 to change this reality. He published a poem on the lantern festival 15 in the overseas edition of the Renmin Ribao. In his poem, there was hidden the phrase "When Li

Peng quits, the people will be relieved."

As one can see, stratagems could and can be used as extraordinary, unusual ways to change reality, even for the sake of human rights.

14. Bing Mei Guan Ji `:.gna.

15. Zhu Haihong "Yuanxiao" 7-Z Renmin Ribao Haiwaiban /■.K

k^ ^ •:: M-N, Peking, 20 March 1991, p. 2.