Source: Historical Records.
Tian Ji horse racing comes from Historical Records (Volume 65: The Art of War, Biography of Wu Qi). The main characters in the story are Tian Ji, Sun Bin and Qi Weiwang. This is a famous example in the history of China, which reveals how to use one's own advantages to deal with one's opponent's weaknesses and win the competition.
Tian Ji used Sun Bin's stratagem to win the King of Qi in the horse race. It shows Sun Bin's meticulous observation ability and operation ability.
Historical allusion
During the Warring States Period, the King of Qi often asked Tian Ji to race with him, stipulating that everyone should choose one of his upper, middle and lower horses to race. Because all the horses of the King of Qi were much better than Tian Ji, Tian Ji failed several times. Tian Ji was very disappointed. Before the end of the race, he left the racecourse in frustration. At this moment, Tian Ji saw his good friend Sun Bin from the crowd.
Sun Bin gave Tian Ji an idea and finally turned the corner. It turned out that he asked Tian Ji to compare his inferior horse with the superior horse of the King of Qi, compare his superior horse with the middle horse of the King of Qi, and compare his middle horse with the inferior horse of the King of Qi. Of course, the inferior horse in Tian Ji will lose, but both the superior horse and the Chinese horse have won. Tian Ji as a whole is at a disadvantage. Instead of losing, he won the King of Qi.
Grow up Xinyu
Choice is a rational choice, doing something and not doing something. If you choose the right one, you can do things right. If you choose correctly, you won't take more detours and go astray. Giving up is another kind of broader possession, and giving up is for a better choice. Those who dare to give up are smart, those who are willing to give up are smart, and those who are good at giving up are brilliant. If you want everything, you often get nothing. Giving up the ego and achieving the big ego is the best policy. This is what "Tian Ji Horse Racing" brought us.
Original text:
The emissary of Qi was like a beam, and Sun Bin regarded it as a criminal, saying that it was an envoy of Qi. Make it strange and steal it. Qi will treat Tian Ji well and treat him warmly. Avoid the number and be the son of Qi. Grandson sees that his horses are not far apart, and there are three generations of horses. So the grandson said to Tian Ji, "If your brother shoots again, I can let you win." Tian Ji, with the king and his sons, shot at his daughter. Talking about quality, Sun Tzu said, "Now, you should be better than each other, better than each other, better than each other." Three generations later, Tian Ji won again. He won Wang Qianjin. Therefore, avoid entering Sun Wang. Wang Wei asked the art of war and thought he was a teacher.
Translation:
Sun Bin was a famous strategist during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. He was very close to Tian Ji, the general of Qi. Tian Ji often competes with Qi Weiwang in horse racing, which is divided into three levels. In the race, the horse is always on the horse, the middle horse is on the horse, and the horse is dismounted. Because my horses in Wei Qi are better than those in Tian Ji at every level, and Tian Ji has been defeated repeatedly.
When Sun Bin knew this, he said to Tian Ji, "You can compete with him again. I have a way for you to win. " On the day of the live horse race, Sun Bin first got off his horse to Qi Weiwang, then got off his horse to the middle horse, and finally got off the middle horse. As a result, Tian Ji won, one lost and two won. Tongma got the result of turning defeat into victory by changing the competition procedure. Finally won the gold bet of the king of Qi. So Tian Ji recommended Sun Bin to Qi Weiwang. Qi Weiwang asked him about the art of war, so he regarded him as a teacher.
The moral of horse racing in Tian Ji
1, find advantages in disadvantages. It is not that there are no good horses in the world, but that there is a lack of bole. I believe I always have my own unique advantages.
2. Learn to choose. If you want everything, you often get nothing. Giving up the ego and achieving the big ego is the best policy.
3. attack the enemy's shortcomings with your own strengths. We should make good use of our strengths to deal with our opponents' shortcomings, so as to win in the competition.
4. Seek first, then fight, and strategy first can get twice the result with half the effort.
5. Know your opponent and hide yourself. Too much premature exposure can only be passively beaten, and knowing ourselves and knowing ourselves can be invincible.
Related knowledge of horse racing in Tian Ji
Tian Ji: A famous war general of Qi in the early Warring States, he led troops to defeat Wei Jun in Guiling and Maling, and was sealed in Xuzhou, which was deeply trusted and loved. He and Sun Bin are military partners and good friends who care about each other in life.
Sun Bin (? -The former 3 16): Sun Boling (whose genealogy can be found in Sun Shi, Shandong Province), a strategist in China during the Warring States Period, is a descendant of Sun Wu. After learning Sun Tzu's Art of War from Pang Juan, Pang Juan became a general, tricked Sun Bin into Wei, raped him (that is, cut off his kneecap), and was secretly rescued by an envoy of Qi. Later, he was appointed as a military adviser by Qi Weiwang. In the Battle of Maling, he lived in a chariot, killed Pang Juan and defeated Wei Jun. His works include The Art of War, which has been lost for a long time.
Qi Weiwang: King of Qi in China during the Warring States Period. Gui's surname is Tian and his name is Qi. He is the son of Tian Tianwu. He succeeded to the throne in 356 BC and reigned for 36 years. He is famous for being good at using energy to train and motivate himself.
The Solitaire of Tian Ji Horse Racing
Tian Ji Horse Racing → Horse Racing → Quick Fight → Fight to the death → Be talented → See a little bit → Multi-tone → Leave the strings loose → Be sure → Be tongue-tied → Dismount → Look at the flowers → Renovation → Metabolism → Thank God → Live forever → Be covered by mountains and rivers → Dry firewood → Add fuel to the fire. → Dispatch troops → Help generals → Help others → Be happy but not lewd → Love songs → End of the song → Enjoy both refined and popular tastes → Clear rewards and punishments → Know not to kill people → Do things wholeheartedly → Be impressed → If you lose something → Lose your mind → Round chisel → Make the final decision. Rat repellent → grand debut → swagger → struggle → hard work → small sharing → getting along with the rain → traffic → flying while flying → shirt fan → warm quilt for pillow → coronation → grandiose → emperor's back soil → mud shed → love me, love my dog → helplessness → help me open my eyes → pick holes → recruit. → Stripping clothes and pushing food → Eating from scratch → Breaking things up → Getting ready to set an example → Routine work → Being as close as flesh and blood → Being jumpy → Changing guns → Cooking dragons with firecrackers → Flying dragons and flying snakes → Touching heartstrings → Smiling and smiling → Looking at each other → Centrifugal separation → Lowering the flag → Decadent voices are everywhere → Inevitable voices → Silence → Hearing and hearing. Go through the old dream → dream → hide evil and promote good → start well and finish well → take a shortcut to the south → go straight → think and do things → rise and fall of ideological trend → be modest and do small things → be kind and do small things → do your best → do your best → do your best to serve the country → be unparalleled in the whole country → fly between the two places → disaster falls from heaven → seek common ground while reserving differences → share the same name → culpable of punishment. Gold → Splendid Jade → Embroidered Pillow → No Cup Case → No Cup Case → Single Shadow → Not to mention a word → Fear → Be bold and cautious → Details → Save Yumin → People's ointment → Try your tongue with ointment → Flaming tongue → Flaming parachute → Wear the shining stars in the moon → Shift the stars → Turn disaster into joy. Birds of a feather flock together → gather mosquitoes into thunder → be resolute and vigorous → be on the verge of death → be a wooden water source → be continuous → destroy the morning paper → report to the ice dealer → be prepared in advance → be in the world → be a paradise → be endless → be extremely grateful → be ignorant → be indifferent to the past → be strong outside → be hollow inside → be a dry city general → be resourceful → be diligent. → Everything is at stake → Stumbling → Visiting the August 3rd Temple → Embattled → Singing praises → Time flies → The arrow is on the string → It's getting worse → It's getting worse → Doing nothing → Getting twice the result with half the effort → It's getting worse in the middle of the night → It's getting worse. Cattle herding → fighting → small things are easy to gain → water surplus → land and water mixing → Wei Ming, Chen Wenjing → ask the blind → touch the elephant by the blind → burn like teeth → do nothing.
On the Creation of Horse Racing in the Sky
There is a text in my Chinese textbook called Tian Ji Horse Racing. Today, we will talk about this story.
We can also get a lot of enlightenment from Tian Ji horse racing, such as the relativity of advantages and disadvantages, the relationship between the whole and the part, and the question of trade-offs, which all show that Sun Bin is very clever. But I think that Sun Bin's cleverness can only be a little cleverness, not great wisdom. When Qi Weiwang openly used his upper, middle and lower horses against Tian Ji, he was met by a villain rather than a gentleman. The Spring and Autumn Period is a period of bad manners and music, and the whole society is evolving from a hierarchical, different and well-behaved aristocratic society to a chaotic and disorderly secular society. The typical representative of aristocratic society is Song Xianggong, who won the title of "pig-like benevolence" because of the flood war. The first essence of his spiritual world is not benevolence and righteousness, but rules. When he met Chu with the idea of "winning or losing", tragedy inevitably happened. Fortunately, Song Xianggong's tragedy will not happen to Qi Weiwang, who is still a powerful prince; However, horse racing is entertainment, not a life-and-death battlefield, nor a peak confrontation between countries. Using such cleverness in this case, the result of the story can be imagined: Sun Bin's cleverness was appreciated by Qi Weiwang, while Tian Ji was unhappy because he teased the king, and the result would only be that Sun Bin stepped on Tian Ji's head.
The Tian Ji horse racing in my textbook is quite different from the original in the historical records. In the original text, it is the son of Qi, not Qi Weiwang, who competes with Tian Ji, presumably to enhance the story and make it easy for children to accept. However, the article said that Qi Weiwang boasted about his horse after his first victory, and even when Tian Ji and Sun Bin came over, they were still "laughing", which was too much.
In ancient times, for a person with noble character, others often praised him as "having the wind of pre-Qin", and being open-minded and open-minded was a basic moral measure. On the other hand, from Sun Wu's Thirteen Chapters to Sun Bin's The Art of War, and then to Tan Daoji's Thirty-six Tactics in the Southern Dynasties, all of them talk about the tactical thoughts under the overall strategy of "winning the king and losing the enemy", and all of them are cunning and calculation by hook or by crook to achieve their goals. After Sun Tzu's art of war formally established the tactical principle of "winning by surprise", it is a kind of sorrow that when the result becomes the only criterion to measure right and wrong, all intrigue is rationalized, and Tian Ji and Sun Bin become "smart people" worthy of learning.
Whether Tian Ji and Sun Bin are worth learning is really a question worthy of our serious consideration.
Reflections on horse racing in Tian Ji
During the Warring States Period, Sun Bin came to Qi after being framed by Pang Juan, and he became the guest of Tian Ji, a famous soldier of Qi.
Tian Ji often races with Qi Weiwang and other nobles. Tian Ji's horses are very strong, but they are slightly worse than those in Qi Weiwang.
On one occasion, Tian Ji and Qi Weiwang competed in horse racing. They agreed to divide the horses into three grades. Tian Ji lost that day. He came home angrily. He asked the guests what good strategies they had to help him win. All the guests were speechless. Only Sun Bin said to Tian Ji, "General, I have a good idea. Do you want to try? " Tian Ji asked, "Do you mean to buy some better horses?" Sun Bin smiled and said, "No need to change another one!" Tian Ji fear listened to very curious, have what good idea. Sun Bin whispered a few words to Tian Ji. Hearing this, Tian Ji with a grain of salt. But he still made an appointment with Qi Weiwang to call again in three days.
Time passed like running water, and soon it was the day of the game. Tian Ji and Qi Weiwang are waiting for horses to come to the arena. They were gearing up and eager to try, and the audience guessed the result of the game.
Tian Ji adopted Sun Bin's method.
In the first race, Tian Ji played the bad horse against the good horse in Qi Weiwang. There is no doubt that Tian Ji lost, but he kept a straight face.
The spectators were puzzled and talked about it one after another, saying, "What the hell method Sun Bin used, he lost the first game."
In the second race, Tian Ji played the first-class horse against the middle-class horse of Qi Weiwang. Tian Ji won the game, and Tian Ji smiled.
At this time, Qi Weiwang's heart was very anxious, because it was a one-to-one draw, but Qi Weiwang pretended to be calm.
In the third race, Tian Ji's ordinary horse played against Qi Weiwang's inferior horse, and Tian Ji won again. Tian Ji laughed with satisfaction.
Qi Weiwang asked Tian Ji doubtfully, "Who gave you the idea to arrange your appearance order like this?" Tian Ji described Sun Bin in detail.
From then on, Sun Bin became a strategist of Qi.
We should be "Bole" like Tian Ji and be good at finding talents. At the same time, we should be good at discovering our own advantages and disadvantages and learn to foster strengths and avoid weaknesses.