Use when presenting criticism indirectly to powerful audiences. Creates fictional characters (like Zixu 子虚, Wuyou 乌有先生) representing competing viewpoints, then resolves through an authoritative voice delivering moral instruction.
Use when advising a ruler or superior during a political crisis. Employs historical analogies, proverbs, and consequence analysis to persuade leaders to take difficult but necessary action.
Use when deciding whether to accept honors or rewards. Analyzes the true basis of your position—merit vs. relationship—and evaluates whether accepting creates contradictions that undermine legitimacy.
Use when evaluating whether to wage war against nomadic or mobile enemies. Applies cost-benefit analysis using distance, terrain, force degradation, and the crossbow metaphor (彊弩之极) to recommend diplomacy or engagement.
Use when evaluating whether to enter a powerful party's territory or accept an asymmetric alliance. Applies the earth puppet vs. wooden puppet parable to assess exit options, leverage once inside, and the risk of being trapped with no recourse in a 'tiger and wolf' (虎狼) state.
Use when experiencing talent attrition or when followers perceive hypocrisy between stated values and leader behavior. Diagnoses the root cause through direct inquiry, then requires a visible personal sacrifice to demonstrate that talent is valued above personal pleasures or possessions.
Use when analyzing rebellion risk or diagnosing why uprisings succeed or fail. Applies the principle 安民可与行义而危民易与为非 to assess popular contentment vs. endangerment using economic, legal, and safety indicators. References Chen She's rebellion.
Use when comparing competing states or explaining why weaker parties prevail. Analyzes material resources, leadership quality, and intangible factors like popular support, governance quality, moral legitimacy, and application of benevolence (仁义).
Use when implementing comprehensive legal, agricultural, or military reforms in a stagnating state. Based on Shang Yang's reforms in Qin, covers public talent recruitment, reform debate, equal law enforcement, and institutionalization of merit-based systems.
Use when evaluating siege feasibility or deciding whether to continue besieging a fortified city. Based on Xu Jia's advice against attacking Daliang (大梁) — systematically assessing defender strength, fortification quality, historical precedent, and cost of failure before committing.
Use when analyzing Xiongnu cavalry warfare doctrine. Covers engagement rules (有利则进不利则退), deception tactics (诱敌, 示弱, 详败), lunar timing for attacks, and individual spoils-based motivation systems.
Use when standardizing education or controlling historical narratives across a unified empire. Categorizes texts for destruction vs. exemption, establishes enforcement timelines and punishments, and redirects education through officials (以吏为师).
Use when seeking lasting historical reputation or understanding how names endure across generations. Applies the 附骥尾 (attaching to the horse's tail) principle — cultivating personal virtue while associating with eminent figures to ensure one's legacy is recorded and transmitted.
Use when building popular support through benevolent governance or demonstrating virtue as a ruler. Applies Tang's three-sided net principle, self-reflection via public welfare, minister appointment, and post-war benevolence practices.
Use when planning a righteous military campaign against a tyrannical ruler. Covers just-cause verification, alliance building, troop declaration, combat rules of engagement, and post-victory administration based on Tang and Wu Wang's campaigns.
Use when adjudicating criminal cases or determining punishments under the five-tier system. Applies graduated verification from 五刑 to 五罚 to 五过, with doubt-based amnesty protocols and fine schedules for 3,000 categorized crimes.
Use when evaluating leadership character or matching candidates to positions of authority. Applies Gao Yao's nine complementary virtues (九德) framework to assess balance, consistency, and suitability for household, state, or imperial governance roles.
Use when deciding whether to provide famine aid to a rival state. Balances humanitarian and strategic interests by consulting multiple advisors, weighing long-term diplomatic reputation against short-term military opportunity. Based on Qin's aid to Jin.
Use when selecting or vetting a successor for leadership. Applies a multi-phase evaluation combining character tests, progressive responsibility assignment, regency trials, and public acceptance before formalizing succession.
Use when evaluating candidates for government positions or assessing character suitability. Applies Li Ke's five-lens framework: 居视其所亲, 富视其所与, 达视其所举, 穷视其所不为, 贫视其所不取 to reveal values, generosity, judgment, principles, and integrity.
Use when probing enemy leadership's judgment quality and decision-making state. Based on Zhong's grain-request test against Wu: make a resource request, observe whether wise counsel is heeded or ignored, and interpret the response to assess arrogance and internal divisions for attack timing.
Use when analyzing whether virtue correlates with worldly success or questioning cosmic justice (天道). Compares virtuous sufferers (伯夷, 颜回) against prosperous villains (盗跖) using Sima Qian's method to assess 天道无亲常与善人 and inform ethical decision-making.
Use when persuading a resistant authority figure to take difficult but necessary action. Employs a gradual empathetic approach: build rapport through shared humanity, introduce topics indirectly, present arguments through historical examples, appeal to long-term interests, and let conclusions be self-evident.
Use when reforming harsh punishments or transitioning a legal system to humane alternatives. Guides abolishing corporal punishment (废除肉刑) using Tiying's (缇萦) petition model under Emperor Wen.
