The Power of Persuasion Ancient Chinese Style

"So they say that if you know your enemy and know yourself, you will win hundred times in hundred battles. If only you know yourself but not your opponent, you win and lose the next one. If you do not know you or your enemy, you always lose. "-Ancient Chinese proverb

One of my main passions in life is to learn and a field of study that has brought me an incredible amount of knowledge and knowledge is the amazing collection of ancient Chinese proverbs known as the Chinese stratagems Thirty-Six. These devices describe the smartest strategies, persuasive and subtle ever conceived and that most of the other ancient Chinese texts along similar lines (as in, The Art of War) focus on war and military practices, these devices are very applicable in everyday life, in politics, in business, in all types of communication and negotiation, and for our purposes the Thirty-Six Stratagem are very compatible and intrinsically linked to persuasion.

So what's a trick? 'Stratagem' The word is often mistaken to mean 'strategy'. This is incorrect. The trick is actually a synonym for 'ruse' - an action or a project that aims to fool someone. Obviously, with the intention to deceive, the Thirty-six stratagems are not always nice. They use what we would call psychological warfare or manipulation as a means to an end. The American proverb, 'all is fair in love and war' perfectly captures the approach of these tricks because sometimes it can be quite cold-blooded and cruel.

That said, I always like to pay attention to the need for integrity and honesty in our relationships. Everything may or may not be fair in love and war, but in reality, if you know the rules of the game, if we have the tools we need to get the very bottom of human nature, we can arm ourselves and protect ourselves, if others are trying to use these tools of intentional deception on us and we can find ways to use them with honor and veracity, in new ways that expand our potential to persuade. From time to time, I'm going to write about these devices because their correspondence and relationship to persuasion is inseparable. I will even deeper exploration of this trick because it's my feeling and experience that lead by persuasion and influence and self-knowledge to a whole new level, in magnitudes of improvement, and once you become a part of your different conscious, you begin to see clearly how these lessons to all aspects of life.

There are six categories that have broken down the tricks in the corresponding six situations. They are: The tricks of winning, the stratagems of defense, to attack the stratagems, the wiles of shuffling, the stratagems of fusion; stratagems to lose. These lessons will be more secure advantage for persuasion. If we can understand exactly what they describe, we are able to decode them, pull out the parts that work, and then decide when and how others might be able to use them on us. To understand them, we can also decide when it is ethical and honest to use them on others....