The Ruler's Guide: China's Greatest Emperor and His Timeless Secrets of Success

by Chinghua Tang

  4 Overextending yourself. Know the limit of your resources.

  5 Indulgence. Exercise self-control.

  6 Slackness. Be diligent and consistent.

  7 Discouraging your subordinates from speaking out. Listen to them with an open mind.

  8 Tolerating slanderers. Oust wicked men from your court.

  9 Awarding people when you are happy. The award can be inappropriate.

  10 Punishing people when you are angry. The punishment can be too harsh.

  WHAT TANG TAIZONG AND HIS ADVISERS TEACH US TODAY

  * * *

  Taizong was greatly influenced by Confucius, who held that political leadership should be centered on virtue. Moral character is a vital guide to a person’s fitness to rule. If the Son of Heaven is to rule on behalf of Heaven, then he should model the highest moral standards. He should be the personification of virtues his subjects look up to.

  Confucius didn’t think moral standards in private life should be any different from those in public life. Rulers can’t have one set of standards for private life and another for public life. If they practice virtues in private, they’ll most likely exercise them in public. And the responsible execution of public duties requires integrity, which is bound to manifest in their private life.

  A ruler’s moral values will surely be reflected in his policies and the best ruler is one who holds himself up as a moral example to his followers.

  Taizong’s emphasis on moral conduct stands in stark contrast to fifteenth- and sixteenth-century Italian political philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli’s prescription for keeping “the prince” in power: duplicity, deviousness, manipulation, and brutality. Which approach is right? The Tang dynasty lasted nearly three hundred years. How long were those who followed the counsel of Machiavelli able to keep themselves in power? The answer is self-evident.

  * * *

  I Great Learning is one of four authoritative books on Confucianism (see footnote on p. 13).

  II Zhuge Liang was a famous prime minister of the state of Shu during the Three Kingdoms period.

  7

  On the Art of War

  The best commander carries out his assignment with meticulous planning and flawless teamwork; he is self-possessed—neither is he easily excited by his superiors, nor is he easily upset by his enemy; and he acts consistently from the beginning to the end.

  —XUNZII

  Defense Minister Li Jing was Tang Taizong’s best general. A military genius with an illustrious career, Li Jing was later deified as a celestial warrior in Romance of the Gods, a well-known Ming mythological fiction. A hero of many victories and a brilliant strategist himself, Taizong enjoyed discussing the art of war with the general.

  TANG TAIZONG AND HIS ADVISERS’ WORDS

  * * *

  MINGLE TACTICS

  Taizong said to Defense Minister Li Jing, “I’ve read many books on military strategy, and not one has surpassed Sun Tzu’s The Art of War. The essence of his teaching is that you will win if you know your strengths and weaknesses and those of your enemy. Many of our generals talk about attacking the weak spots of the enemy and avoiding its strong points. But when it comes to real battles, few can tell what strengths and weaknesses the enemy has because they are being manipulated by the enemy. Please teach our generals how to assess the enemy correctly.”

  Li Jing replied: “I’ll first teach them how to mingle the tactics of a regular attack with that of a surprise attack. Then I’ll tell them how strengths and weaknesses can both be feinted. Because if they don’t understand how to mix surprise attacks with regular ones, they won’t be able to see through the facade of the enemy.”

  MANIPULATE THE ENEMY

  Taizong said: “A good general may engage the enemy forces in a skirmish, which he doesn’t need to win. The purpose is to sound out the enemy so that the general can decide what tactics to adopt in the battlefield. We can’t do much about the enemy’s strengths or weaknesses, but we can change our tactics.”

  Li Jing replied: “A normal battle repels the enemy. It is a surprise attack that wins victory for you. If the enemy is strong, use a strong force to attack it directly. If the enemy has a vulnerable spot, use a surprise attack to break it. However, if a general doesn’t know how to combine regular tactics with surprise maneuvers, he won’t be able to defeat the enemy even if he knows its strengths and weaknesses. That’s why I want first to teach the generals how to vary their tactics.”

  Taizong said: “Make sure they understand: If the enemy expects us to launch an open attack, we’ll make a surprise foray. If it expects us to mount a flank assault, we’ll engage it in a frontal battle. Take the initiative in our own hands and keep the opponent guessing.”

  Li Jing replied: “Yes indeed, Your Majesty. Manipulate the enemy, but don’t be manipulated. I’ll elaborate this principle in my lecture.”

  INDUCE THE ENEMY TO MAKE MISTAKES

  Taizong said to Li Jing, “I’ve read many books on the art of war, and it all boils down to one point: do whatever you can to cause the enemy to make mistakes.”

  Li Jing replied: “Exactly. If the enemy does not make a mistake, how can we win? When both sides are equal in strength, it will be like playing chess. If one side makes a wrong move, he is bound to lose the game. Look at the outcome of many ancient and modern wars, and you can see that a single misstep often leads to an irretrievable defeat, to say nothing of making many mistakes.”

  SEIZE THE OPPORTUNITY

  Taizong asked Li Jing, “Attacking and defending are two different things, but do they follow the same principle? Sun Tzu said: ‘If you are good at the former, your enemy won’t know how to defend; if you are good at the latter, your enemy won’t know how to attack.’ What about the enemy attacking us and we also attacking it? What about our taking up a defensive position and the enemy doing the same? What shall we do then? Sun Tzu never said anything about this possibility.”

  Li Jing replied: “There are many examples in history in which both sides opted to attack or both opted to defend. It is generally accepted that you should attack if you have sufficient power and defend if you don’t. Sufficient power is interpreted as strength and insufficient power as weakness. That is an incorrect interpretation of what Sun Tzu really meant.

  “Sun Tzu said: ‘When you cannot win, take up a defensive position; when you can win, attack.’ What he meant was that the decision to attack or defend depends more on whether you have the opportunity to win than on whether you have superior forces. Many readers misunderstand this point, so they attack when they should defend, and defend when they should attack.”

  DECEIVE THE ENEMY

  Taizong continued, “Warfare is essentially based on deception, that is, hide your real intention and keep the enemy guessing. If you want the enemy to attack, pretend you are inferior, and then beat the enemy when it attacks. If you want to put the enemy on the defensive, pretend you have superior forces even if you don’t. Do your best to confuse the enemy so that it does not know how to attack and how to defend.”

  Li Jing agreed. “Exactly, Your Majesty. Attack can serve as an effective defense, and a defensive position can also be used to attack. The two strategies should not be considered in isolation, because both serve one and the same end—victory. If a person cannot grasp this point, what good is it even though he can recite Sun Tzu’s book?”

  KNOW YOURSELF

  Taizong said, “A country may be big, but if it loves war, it is bound to perish. A country may live in peace, but if it fails to prepare for war, it will put itself at risk. We need to have both offensive and defensive strategies, don’t we?”

  Li Jing agreed. “Yes indeed, Your Majesty. An offensive strategy doesn’t just mean attacking the enemy’s military position; it also means waging a psychological war to undermine its morale. A defensive strategy doesn’t just mean fortifying our walls and fortresses; it also means keeping up the spirits of our troops and heightening our vigilance. A king should understand this.
A general should also understand this. To wage an effective psychological war, you need to know your enemy well, and to keep up your own spirit, you must understand yourself well.”

  KNOW YOUR ENEMY

  Taizong said: “Before a battle, I always try to anticipate the action of the enemy and formulate my strategy accordingly. To do that, I have to understand the enemy’s way of thinking. I also try to judge its morale and compare it with ours. And to do that, I have to know my own troops well. The essence of the art of war is to know both yourself and your enemy. Even if you don’t know the enemy, as long as you know yourself well, you already have an advantage.”

  Li Jing replied: “Placing yourself first in an impregnable position, as Sun Tzu said, means knowing yourself well. Waiting for the opportune moment to defeat the enemy means knowing your enemy well. Your defense is largely a function of your own effort, whereas to defeat the enemy, you have to wait for the opportunity provided by its own mistakes. This is up to the enemy. This point cannot be overemphasized.”

  HOW TO AVOID FIGHTING

  Taizong asked: “How can you avoid fighting when two armies are already facing each other?”

  Li Jing answered, “If both sides are restrained and well disciplined, fighting won’t easily break out. Both sides may withdraw in an orderly manner. Sun Tzu told us not to attack a well-prepared enemy. When both sides are equal in strength, whoever makes a mistake is liable to be taken advantage of, and that may lead to defeat. There are times when we must fight and times when we must not. It’s up to us not to fight, but it’s up to the enemy to give us the chance to fight and win.”

  Taizong asked: “What do you mean that it’s up to us not to fight?”

  Li replied: “If we don’t want to fight, we’ll position ourselves in such a way that the enemy doesn’t know how to engage us in a battle. Even if the enemy commander is capable, he won’t be able to carry out his plan. That’s why it is up to us not to create any opportunity for the enemy to fight us.

  “Sun Tzu said: ‘Give the enemy some minor advantage and lure it out, then ambush it. Provoke the enemy and then attack. Encourage it to be complacent by pretending you are inferior and then defeat it. Put up a false front to induce the enemy to act the way you want.’ If the enemy commander is not capable, he may well be played into your hands and give you an opportunity to defeat his forces. That’s why it is up to the enemy to let us fight and win.”

  Taizong commented: “I see. This advice is very instructive. So it all depends on whether you adopt the right strategy.”

  BE EFFECTIVE IN COMBAT

  Taizong asked Li Jing, “What did Sun Tzu say about maintaining and enhancing the fighting capacity of our troops?”

  Li replied: “ ‘Stay near the battlefield and wait for the enemy to come from afar; give your troops sufficient rest and wait for the enemy, who is fatigued; and feed your troops well, and wait for the enemy, who is hungry.’ These are general principles laid down by Sun Tzu upon which we can expand. Use enticement to lure the enemy; keep calm in the face of an impetuous enemy; be steady in the face of a reckless enemy; enforce strict discipline when the enemy becomes lax; maintain good order when the enemy is in chaos; and entrench your position when the enemy attacks. These are ways to maintain and enhance our combat effectiveness.”

  Taizong commented: “Many people can recite Sun Tzu. But few understand him well enough to extend his basic principles creatively. Please teach our generals how to keep up effectiveness in combat.”

  STRIVE TO BE HOST RATHER THAN GUEST

  Taizong asked his minister, “Why is it better to be a ‘host’ than a ‘guest’ in a war? Why is a speedy war better than a protracted one?”

  Li Jing replied: “War is the last resort when all other means have been exhausted. If we invade another country and fight like a ‘guest’ in a distant land, it’s impossible to sustain the war for long. Logistical support and the transportation of provisions will be costly, and the burden on the people will be grave. It’s definitely a disadvantage not fighting on our own terrain and on our own terms. Sun Tzu said: ‘A good commander does not put himself in a position where he has to conscript twice and transport supplies a third time.’ This means we should not fight a protracted war. But I’ve studied his guest vs. host theory and come up with an idea to overcome such a disadvantage.”

  “What is it?”

  “It is to turn the ‘guest’ into a ‘host.’ In other words, we’ll use the local resources of the enemy to provide for our troops and deprive the enemy of supplies in its own land. Then we’ll turn our disadvantage into advantage. What matters is not whether we are a ‘guest’ or a ‘host,’ or whether we are fighting a speedy or a protracted war. It is how we approach the situation. And taking the initiative into our own hands is the most important thing.”

  FORM AN EMOTIONAL BOND

  Taizong said to his defense minister: “I was told to use harsh law and severe punishment to make soldiers fear me more than they fear the enemy when they fight. But I’m not so sure. Emperor Guangwu of the Han dynasty was up against an overwhelming enemy force. He didn’t use harsh discipline on his army, but in the end, his army won out. How do you explain this?”

  Li Jing replied: “The outcome of a war depends on many factors. It can’t be attributed to one thing. Emperor Guangwu had popular support. His opponent didn’t understand the art of war, relying too much on the sheer number of his troops, and thereby courted defeat.

  “Sun Tzu said: ‘You may alienate your soldiers if you punish them before they have a chance to get to know you and develop loyalty to you. But if you fail to enforce discipline on those who have violated rules and regulations, you will not have good soldiers.’ In other words, a good general must first establish an emotional bond with his soldiers, and then punish them if necessary. If you only use punishment without first showing that you care for them, you won’t succeed.”

  Taizong said: “But the Book of DocumentsII says: ‘If the law precedes the emotional bond, it will lead to success. If the emotional bond precedes the law, it will result in failure.’ How do you interpret that contradiction?”

  Li Jing replied: “Always form an emotional bond first and not the other way around. If you let the law take the first place, it will be difficult to win the hearts of your soldiers. Sun Tzu’s words are the absolute truth.”

  CONTROL YOURSELF

  Taizong asked Li Jing: “We have three outstanding generals—Li Ji, Li Daozong, and Xue Wanche. Li Daozong is my relative. Which one of the other two can be promoted to a more responsible position?”

  Li Jing replied: “Your Majesty once told me that Li Ji hadn’t won a great victory or suffered a great defeat in his career, while Xue Wanche was capable of either winning big or losing big. In my opinion, that an army neither seeks major victory nor suffers big defeat means that it is highly disciplined. An army capable of winning great victories or suffering big defeats seems to rely too much on chance. That’s why Sun Tzu said: ‘A good general must first put himself in an impregnable position, then wait for the right moment to defeat the enemy.’ And he must exercise discipline and self-restraint.”

  WHAT TANG TAIZONG AND HIS ADVISERS TEACH US TODAY

  * * *

  Obviously, the principles of the art of war that Taizong and General Li Jing talked about can be applied to modern-day war and business competition, as well as, for that matter, any type of conflict or competitive activity, be it a sports contest, legal battle, or political campaign.

  Of the many points the two men so cogently made, I find their discussion of the difference between Generals Li Ji and Xue Wanche most instructive. It shows that risk management is not a uniquely modern concept.

  Our attitude toward risk has changed little since ancient times: we’re more sensitive to negative outcomes than positive ones; we’re not so much risk-averse as we are loss-averse; the more that is at stake, the more risk-averse we tend to be.

  Suppose Li Ji and Xue Wanche are investmen
t managers. Whom would you choose to manage your assets? Would it be Li Ji, whose past record shows a stable but not stellar performance, or Xue Wanche, whose style may bring you either high returns or heavy losses?

  You may let Li Ji manage a large portion of your assets and Xue Wanche a small portion because you feel you’ll have a cushion to absorb some losses while at the same time stand a chance to win big. But suppose you have to choose one man to manage all your assets. Whom would you choose?

  We can readily apply the art of war to investment, in which the cardinal principle is: first, don’t lose money; and then, try to make gains with good timing. To win victory—that is, to earn a long-term superior return—we must exercise discipline and self-restraint.

  * * *

  I Xunzi (c. 313–238 BC) was a preeminent Confucian philosopher of the Warring States period.

  II The Book of Documents is one of the five classics that form part of the Confucian canon (see footnote on p. 13).

  8

  On Crime and Punishment

  If you govern the people by law and force them to behave by punishment, they will try to keep out of jail but will have no sense of shame.

  If you lead the people by virtue and guide them with the rules of proper conduct, they will know shame and become good citizens.

  —CONFUCIUS