Stratagems, as a feature of Chinese national psychology and a way of social behavior

Abstract

Stratagems are a type of traditional Chinese idiomatic expressions, most of which consist of four characters, that have variably been attributed to Sun Tzu from the Spring and Autumn Period of China (643 AD). “Thirty Six Stratagems” was originally a Chinese essay used to illustrate a series of stratagems used in politics, war, as well as in civil interaction. These stratagems mean that you can mask your real goals, by using the ruse of a fake goal that everyone takes for granted, until the real goal is achieved. By the time everyone realized it, you have already achieved the goal. The main idea of stratagems is to avoid a head on battle with a strong enemy, and instead strike at his weakness elsewhere. Nowadays, the stratagems became a feature of Chinese national psychology, a type of thinking and a way of social behavior. Moreover, it has already spread to national cultures of such countries, as Japan, Korea and Vietnam. To estimate and interpret, to analyze and match historic events, you should regard stratagems to avoid false assessment of Chinese history.

Keywords:

A notion “Stratagem”, list of “36 stratagems”, European and Russian historiography, Harro von Senger, V. S. Myasnikov