MDZS Vol 4 Annotations

I feel like I am under attack here...he certainly killed me...no question

MDZS Vol 2 Annotations, part 5

Here is Part 5 of my annotations of MDZS Volume 2, pages 280 - 318.

I’m looking forward to this (badly suppressed excitement I’m about to text this trailer to Everyone i know. Michelle Yeoh is and always has been a superhero!!!!!)

Everything Everywhere All At Once | A24

Starring Michelle Yeoh

The 36 Stratagems in mdzs

🔮 I describe individual scenes in MDZS where each of the 36 Stratagems plays out

🔮 Note that while this post mainly references novel canon, it may wander into CQL territory at times

🔮 I won’t include the detailed history of each of the Stratagems in this meta as they may be too long, but I will include a resource at the end that you can refer to for further reading

🔮 Spoilers ahead!

Let’s go!

Ok so! The 36 Stratagems (三十六计) is an essay on the use of cunning ruses and deceptive tactics on the battlefield, in politics, and in civil matters. It has been attributed to various authors throughout popular history, and references various famous military scenarios in the Warring States era (战国时代) and Three Kingdoms period (三国时代).

The 36 Stratagems are split into six discrete sections, each describing six techniques:

胜战计: victory stratagems

敌战计: enemy fighting stratagems

攻战计: attack stratagems

混战计: chaos stratagems

并战计: proximate (parallel) stratagems

败战计: desperate stratagems

胜战计 Victory stratagems

1. 瞒天过海: crossing the sea without alerting the heavens; i.e. setting a fake objective to mislead others, while concealing progress for the true objective.

Where this plays out in MDZS: Wei Wuxian taking a blindfolded Jiang Cheng to “visit Baoshan Sanren” to “get his core repaired”. This was a ruse to conceal the true objective — a core transfer.

2. 围魏救赵: besieging Wei to rescue Zhao (Wei and Zhao were states in the Warring States period); i.e. attacking something precious to the enemy to avoid a head-on battle and forcing them to retreat.

Where this plays out in MDZS: Jin Guangyao placing a qin string around Wei Wuxian’s neck to force Lan Wangji to stand down at the Guanyin temple.

Bonus: Jin Guangyao is literally “besieging Wei/围魏” here! The word 围, other than “to besiege”, also means “to encircle” or “to surround”.

3. 借刀杀人: killing with a borrowed blade; i.e. outsourcing a difficult or incriminating task to someone else.

Where this plays out in MDZS: Nie Huaisang instigating Lan Xichen to stab Jin Guangyao in the Guanyin temple. Quite literally, he “borrows” Lan Xichen’s sword to do the deed.

4. 以逸待劳: letting others exhaust themselves, and swooping in at the right moment to claim victory or deal the final blow.

Where this plays out in MDZS: Wen Chao instructing the hostages from the various clans to wear the Xuanwu down, with the intention of coming in at the last minute to claim the kill.

5. 趁火打劫: looting a burning house; i.e. taking advantage of a desperate situation to raid a weakened enemy.

Where this plays out in MDZS: Qishan Wen taking advantage of Jiang Fengmian’s absence to launch an attack on Lotus Pier.

6. 声东击西: making a sound in the east to misdirect the enemy, while striking in the west.

Where this plays out in MDZS: Jin Guangyao instigating the second siege of the Burial Mounds to divert everyone’s attention, whilst simultaneously making preparations for his escape to Dongying.

敌战计 Enemy fighting stratagems

7. 无中生有: creating something out of nothing; i.e. creating an illusion or lie to fool people into believing something exists.

Where this plays out in MDZS: Nie Huaisang perpetuating the rumor that his family’s ancestral tomb is actually a man-eating fortress, to prevent grave robbers from entering it.

8. 暗渡陈仓: sneaking through the passage of Chencang while repairing the main roads; i.e. distracting the enemy while taking a shortcut to launch an attack.

Where this plays out in MDZS: Su She devising a similar-sounding qin score to that of Gusu Lan. The discordant notes distracted the Lan disciples, concealing the score’s true purpose — weakening people’s spiritual abilities.

9. 隔岸观火: watching the fire from the opposite bank; i.e. delaying entering a battle until the enemy has been weakened, then moving in at full strength.

Where this plays out in MDZS: Xue Yang slowly chipping away at Xiao Xingchen’s virtue by making him kill innocent people, then revealing the truth at the end to break him.

10. 笑里藏刀: hiding a knife behind a smile: i.e. putting up a friendly appearance to conceal one’s true intentions.

Where this plays out in MDZS: Jin Guangyao’s political maneuvering to make himself seem genial and unassuming, while concealing the truth about his roles in Nie Mingjue’s and Jin Guangshan’s deaths.

11. 李代桃僵: sacrificing the plum tree for the peach tree; i.e. sacrificing some short-term aims for a greater, long-term good.

Where this plays out in MDZS: Wei Wuxian accepting the eventuality of Wang Lingjiao chopping off his hand, and later, sacrificing his own core to restore Jiang Cheng and preserve the Jiang clan in the long run.

12. 顺手牵羊: taking a opportunity to steal a goat; i.e. making use of available resources as they present themselves.

Where this plays out in MDZS: Wei Wuxian leading Lil Apple from the Mo household!

攻战计 Attack stratagems

13. 打草惊蛇: hitting the grass to startle the snake; i.e. making over-the-top gestures to taunt or disrupt the enemy.

Where this plays out in MDZS: Wei Wuxian taunting Wen Chao in the Xuanwu cave for his lack of knowledge of Wen Mao’s writings, to lure Wen Chao away from Wen Zhuliu’s protection.

14. 借尸还魂: borrowing a corpse to resurrect a soul; i.e. fixing up something useless to give it a fresh purpose.

Where this plays out in MDZS: Mo Xuanyu’s body literally being used as a vessel to resurrect Wei Wuxian!

Bonus: here’s a short explanation I previously wrote as part of the cql subs critique for Episode 1 on the poem Chu Ci 楚辞. It’s in para 4.

15. 调虎离山: enticing the tiger to leave the mountain; i.e. luring a strong enemy away from their base of protection to attack them in the open.

Where this plays out in MDZS: the invitation to Jin Ling’s party as a means to lure Wei Wuxian from Burial Mounds and into a set-up.

16. 欲擒故纵: loosening the hold slightly to ensure capture; i.e. allowing an enemy to believe they have a chance to escape, thus getting them to lower their defenses, then crushing their morale.

Where this plays out in MDZS: Wei Wuxian taunting Wen Chao at various intervals instead of killing him outright — letting Wen Chao run a little, then catching up with him to slice pieces off of his body.

17. 抛砖引玉: tossing pieces of brick to get gems; i.e. throwing out pieces of useless information to tempt the enemy into revealing something important.

Where this plays out in MDZS: A-Qing deliberately misinterpreting the term “night-hunt 夜猎” to trick Xue Yang into revealing that he is also a cultivator.

18. 擒贼擒王: defeating the enemy by first defeating their leader.

Where this plays out in MDZS: Nie Mingjue infiltrating Nightless City during the Sunshot Campaign to attack Wen Ruohan, as a means of quickly securing victory.

混战计 Chaos stratagems

19. 釜底抽薪: removing the firewood from the underside of the pot; i.e. cutting off an enemy’s resources or means of attack.

Where this plays out in MDZS: Jin Guangyao making everyone seal their spiritual powers in Guanyin temple, so they would not be able to attack him.

20. 浑水摸鱼: disturbing the water to catch the fish; i.e creating confusion to mask one’s true purpose.

Where this plays out in MDZS: Su She trying to incite mass panic during the second siege of Burial Mounds to get everyone to be suspicious of Wei Wuxian.

21. 金蝉脱壳: the golden cicada shedding its shell; i.e. leaving riches or identifying marks behind to go undercover or escape.

Where this plays out in MDZS: Jin Guangyao, knowing that he has incurred the ire of the clans, preparing to leave his position behind and escape to Dongying.

22. 关门捉贼: shutting the door to catch a thief; i.e. cutting off all escape routes for an enemy.

Where this plays out in MDZS: Xue Yang trapping the juniors in Yi City and turning them around in circles, in order to get close to Wei Wuxian.

23. 远交近攻: allying with people further away while attacking those closest, for a strategic advantage.

Where this plays out in MDZS: Jin Guangyao swearing brotherhood with the two most powerful people outside the Jin clan, whilst simultaneously planning his takeover of the Jin household.

Bonus: here’s another meta I wrote on Jin Guangyao’s personal reasons for joining the sworn brotherhood, in which I also touch on 远交近攻.

24. 假途伐虢: getting safe passage to besiege Guo (a state during the Zhou dynasty); i.e. borrowing an ally’s resources to attack an enemy, then turning on that same ally with those resources.

Where this plays out in MDZS: Xue Yang borrowing the abilities of Shuanghua to kill innocent people, then instigating Xiao Xingchen to turn those same abilities on Song Lan, thus destroying their bond.

并战计 Proximate stratagems

25. 偷梁换柱: replacing the beams with rotting timbers; i.e. disrupting the enemy’s operations by replacing certain supports with inferior varieties.

Where this plays out in MDZS: Jin Guangyao swapping the notes of Cleansing 洗华 with those from the Collection of Turmoil 乱魄抄.

Bonus: here’s a quick explanation on the name 乱魄抄 in my critique of CQL episode 42, para 441.

26. 指桑骂槐: pointing at the mulberry tree while cursing the locust tree; i.e. deliberately misdirecting one’s anger to avoid having to make the first move.

Where this plays out in MDZS: Jin Guangyao forcing Wei Wuxian to reveal himself in the treasure room by addressing him as Mo Xuanyu, accusing him of slander and of causing Qin Su’s death.

Bonus: it’s possible that Nie Huaisang’s name was derived from this particular stratagem — except that instead of the locust tree 槐, he uses the character 怀, which loosely means “to harbor (in one’s heart)”. Both words use the same tone and are similarly pronounced.

27. 假痴不颠: feigning ignorance to lure the enemy into complacency.

Where this plays out in MDZS: this is the crux of Nie Huaisang’s nickname, 一问三不知 “Mr I Don’t Know”!

Bonus: here’s a brief explanation I wrote about 一问三不知 for my critique of CQL episode 34, para 351.

28. 上屋抽梯: removing the ladder when the enemy has reached the roof; i.e. severing an enemy’s recourse or supply lines.

Where this plays out in MDZS: the plot for Su She to finish everyone off at the second siege of Burial Mounds, through the cutting off of everyone’s spiritual abilities and means of escape.

29. 树上开花: tying blossoms on a dead tree; i.e. making something of low value appear useful and beautiful through artifice.

Where this plays out in MDZS: Jin Guangshan accepting Jin Guangyao into the family and bestowing his own generational name on him as a public honor, while continuing to undermine and ill-treat him.

30. 反客为主: forcing the host and guest to change places; i.e. usurping authority by turning the tables.

Where this plays out in MDZS: Wei Wuxian seizing Wen Chao and holding him hostage in the Xuanwu cave.

败战计 Desperate stratagems

31. 美人计: the beauty trap; i.e. sending a beautiful woman to distract the enemy and incite unrest in their camp.

Where this plays out in MDZS: Jin Guangyao literally ensnaring his own father in such a fashion to bring about his death.

32. 空城计: the empty city; i.e. appearing calm despite being at a disadvantage, to fool the enemy into thinking that there is an ambush waiting for them.

Where this plays out in MDZS: Wei Wuxian remaining at ease when confronting Xue Yang in Yi City, despite knowing he would not be able to physically overpower him.

33. 反间计: sowing discord between an enemy and their allies.

Where this plays out in MDZS: Nie Huaisang instigating Bi Cao to write a letter to Qin Su, with the intent of turning her against Jin Guangyao.

34. 苦肉计: inflicting injury on oneself to earn the enemy’s trust and sympathy.

Where this plays out in MDZS: Xue Yang masquerading as an injured Xiao Xingchen to gain entry to the house that Wei Wuxian and the juniors were hiding in.

35. 连环计: chain stratagems; i.e. carrying out different plans as part of a linked, continuous scheme.

Where this plays out in MDZS: Nie Huaisang methodically laying the trail of body parts and clues for Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji to follow.

36. 走为上: if all else fails, flee, and regroup to fight another day.

Where this plays out in MDZS: Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji running from the Xuanwu after their escape had been sealed off.

Bonus: there’s a saying 三十六计 走为上计 which means “of all the 36 Stratagems, fleeing is the best”!

References

Translations largely referenced from Military Wikia

Details of each of the Stratagems

Original post on Twitter

Spoiler alert. Maybe a little late 😉

Tracking Tadpoles

This comic series is so much fun!

This really gives me hope that even though some people (🙁) can’t draw, they (we) can still make great content and brighten people’s days.

Go WangXian comics!

Wake up! Your legacy is in shambles!

[First] ->Next

Rec: The Phenomenon called “Qin Shen Shen”

What is “Qin Shen Shen”?

Qin Shen Shen is a singing duo formed in 2019, in the 1st season of a Chinese music competition show called “Wo Men De Ge” aka “Our Song”. It’s made of Zhou Shen and Li Keqin, two experienced solo singers who met for the 1st time on the show. “Qin Shen Shen” is their team name.

But who are they?

1) Zhou Shen: 

A singer from mainland China, mostly known for singing OSTs of C-dramas and movies, including CQL (Xue Yang’s theme) and DMBJ ChongQi.

28 years old. (5 yrs old, when together with Li Keqin)

Famous for his naturally high-pitched voice, similar to a soprano or mezzo-soprano.

Wants to lower people’s expectations, but keeps blowing people’s minds, so he’s stuck in a vicious circle of growing expectations and one-upping his past self. 

Most famous song is called “Big Fish”. 

Self-professed insecure.

Talks a lot.

2) Li Keqin:

A veteran singer from Hong Kong, who debuted 30+ years ago.

53 years old but is secretly 8 (3 yrs old, when with Zhou Shen) 

Is known for having such great vocal stability when singing live that he earned himself the nickname: “CD-Qin”. 

Will make mistakes in Mandarin but look really cute doing it 

Famous songs include “Half-Moon Serenade” and “Great Auditorium Concert Hall”.

Is a good sport. Is good at sports.

*is stressed* *pretends to stay calm* *slays* *rinse and repeat* 

So why should I check them out? 

“Match made in heaven” is the moniker given to them the 1st time they sang together. That stuck for a reason. Li Keqin and Zhou Shen are a “1+1= greater than 2″. In theory, they’re worlds apart, but combining them sets off sparks. Whether it’s their understanding of how a song should be sung, their skills, or their style in singing duets: all match. On top of that, their voices’ timbre are weirdly complementary. Li Keqin’s baritone fits under Zhou Shen’s floating pitch like an anchor grounding them. Zhou Shen’s sound brings both voices to greater heights. The exponential added value they bring each other as a duo is just a rare find in any circle. In short: You’re in for a musical FEAST.

Chemistry. Chemistry. Chemistry. Complementary in some ways, similar in others, how they magically fit like a glove right off the bat is itself a wonder. Zhou Shen’s “prepare-for-the-worst” attitude goes hand-in-hand with Li Keqin’s apparent optimism. When one throws, the other’s there to receive. Sometimes they complete each other’s sentences, other times they’re like night and day…In all cases, what a team.

Laughs!! So many laughs! When they’re not singing, Qin Shen Shen is a full-time comedy duo. Throwing each other under the bus is a skill they acquired in 0 time and make use of daily. And if they’re not the ones throwing the jokes, they sure are receiving well. Dorks.

Cuteness overload. Both are just incredibly likeable and cute individuals onscreen. (yes both) Unbelievable. You have to see it to believe it.

A heartwarming dynamic. At the end of the day, QSS is a duo formed for a competition on TV. But even with the most cynical eyes, what you see is a dynamic between 2 very different singers of different generations, who have to get to know each other enough to collaborate in a short time, within a dynamic that fits. And it works! Boy do they make it work!! 

Where to check them out?

If you’re short on time, some of their songs to pick from: “Under Mount Fuji”, “All the Lovers in the World”, or “Wild Wolf Disco”. 

If nothing else, give their audio clip a chance: Clean vers of “Under Mount Fuji” without audience reactions, and a compilation of clean audios to cherry-pick from. 

If you decided you want to see more of them, they’re a regular on “Wo Men De Ge/Our Song” S1: Ep. 1 with Eng subs. (More info on the show here) 

Give the “match made in heaven” duo a try!! They don’t disappoint!

I don’t want to be Hua ChenYu, but I wish I could (sing, convey emotion and) wear clothes the way he does! The beauty! The confidence! The extravagance!

The love ❤️

Mars Concert Changsha - evening session 230622

🖤🌹🖤🌹🖤

https://weibo.com/7322272243/N6wkdj0Xc

https://weibo.com/7322272243/N6w8a3o8J

https://weibo.com/7788842107/N6vwLEBu1

https://weibo.com/7322272243/N6vPtpKV4

i am begging you all to stop treating this site like instagram if you dont want it to be content free by next year

So during my second time watching Jiang Cheng walk across what I now know is a random mountain to meet Wen Qing, all I could think about was Wei Wuxian, Wen Qing, and Wen Ning’s plan and the fact that they must have been following him, like:

Wen Qing: should he really be walking across that field?

Wei Wuxian: I don’t know, I thought he would follow the path

Wen Ning: should we stop it now so he doesn’t trip and fall?

Wei Wuxian: naw let’s wait a bit, he needs to think it’s difficult

Wen Ning: is this a good place? can I ring the gong now?

Wei Wuxian: I think it’s good. wen qing?

Wen Qing: yeah yeah it’s fine. ring the stupid gong - I’ll lead him to a better spot

Wen Qing: I’m not going to wear the hat

Wei Wuxian: c’mon, you need to wear the hat

Wen Ning: yeah, wear the hat, a-jie

Wen Qing: he’s wearing a blindfold! he won’t be able to see my face anyway

Wei Wuxian: but what if he takes off the blindfold? what then, hmm? the hat is key

Wen Ning: yeah a-jie, the hat is key

Wen Qing: uuuuugh fine I’ll wear the hat