Everyone heard of Sun Tze, the Chinese strategist whose "Arts of War" was revered and studied by all military seniors and gaining popularity among business executives. The original text fits into mere 8 single-sided pages, yet the wisdom generated tomes of works that fill libraries.

As globalized Sun Tze has become, westerners do not seem to notice Chinese "street wisdom" for everyday lives. Hundreds of years ago, someone compiled the most useful 36 tricks to get out of troubles. These tricks are named and numbered. I grew up hearing about them and witnessing people using them. Chinese allude to them in everyday conversation.

When I visited National Museum recently, I found those beautifully thread-bond books in the sourvenir store. Among them a 3-book set of 36-tricks. Each one nicely illustrated and annotated with their origin and historical applications. I could not resist.

Trick #1: 瞞天過海 (Man Tian Guo Hai: Deceive the boss to get him what he wants)

Emperor 唐太宗 (Tang TaiZong 599~649: pictured, born 李世民 (LI ShiMin), was the 2nd emperor of the Tang dynasty. He was one of the best emperors in China history.) was determined to conquer Korea. When he reached, possibly, the Yellow Sea (Sea is hai in Chinese), he got cold-feet. He issued a mission-impossible order — the staff shall manage to cross the sea without him boarding any ship. The staff was very much stuck. The emperor (who is the son of God, symbolized as the sky, in Chinese "Tian") is not being reasonable but they cannot argue with him. They went to 薛仁貴 (XUE RenGui, famous general in Tang dynasty in charge of this "Korea project") and he quickly came up with a solution.

Next day, the staff presented the new agenda of the day. The emperor is to meet this old man who will fund part of the military expenses. When the emperor arrived, the old man greeted him in a big tent that was elaborated decorated and thickly carpeted. They talked, feasted, and enjoyed songs and dances. The emperor was well-entertained.

All of the sudden, there is an earth-quake. The tent shook violently and everyone panicked. The emperor ran out of the tent and found him in the middle of the sea. He was furiously deceived but also saw this is an ingenious solution.

Each of the 36 tricks come with lessons.

1. If the staff needs to deceive you to meet your own objective, you, as the boss, should probably modify your style. Make sure you punish the staff. Otherwise, you will get to learn lession below.

2. This trick weakens the boss. Sometimes, the staff will deceive you for their own gain, not for your objectives.

3. Only the very confident staff can pull this trick. Although mission accomplished, the boss will be quite miffed afterward (see lession #1 above). It is a highly career-limiting maneuver.

4. The deception itself is not the goal. Don't get caught up with that. Focus on crossing the sea.