This excerpt is from “Canon Six: Dismissal and Appointment” in Han Feizi. It shifts focus from domestic governance to international relations, exposing a cross‑border power tactic: hostile states undermine a realm by meddling in its official appointments instead of waging war.
This excerpt is from Explanation Seven in Han Feizi · Inner Congeries of Sayings I. Han Fei argues rulers should feign false appearances and use contrary words to probe suspects. Setting lures entraps them and lays bare their treacherous intentions.
This excerpt is from Canon Seven: Reversed Speech in Han Feizi. Han Fei advises rulers to feign appearances and speak ironically to probe suspects. By laying bait deliberately, the ruler lures suspicious figures into traps, forcing their treacherous true intentions to surface.
This chapter covers pre-siege rituals, five-element directional sacrifices and cloud divination. It also sets city defense rules, troop hierarchies, wartime resource management and morale-boosting night shouts to guard towns.
This chapter details defenses against suicidal ant-like swarming assaults. It covers pulley-hung shields, incendiary carts, wall stakes, boiling liquids, plus midnight ambushes and white-cloaked night troops to rout enemy waves.
Among the Twelve Deceptive Stratagems recorded in The Art of War · Initial Estimations, Sun Tzu put forward a lethal psychological warfare tactic: Divide the united enemy (親而離之).