The Dinner Has No Exit | The 36 Stratagems #36 (走为上)

Every Chinese kid learns the 36 Stratagems. This is #36: 走为上 (zǒu wéi shàng), "To leave is best". Free practice sheet for 走为上: https://boyi.snsaladdin.com/36/ Two rebel leaders camp near Hongmen. The stronger has four hundred thousand men, the weaker one hundred thousand. Someone in the weaker camp tells the stronger leader that his rival plans to make himself king, and an attack is ordered for the morning. A relative of the stronger leader rides over by night and warns the weaker leader's adviser, Zhang Liang. The weaker leader, Liu Bang, goes to the dinner to apologise in person. There the chief adviser lifts his jade three times as a signal to kill; the stronger leader says nothing. A sword dance begins, a bodyguard bursts in with a shield, and Liu Bang gets up "to the toilet". Outside he is told, "In a great matter, do not worry about small manners. They are the knife and the chopping board, and we are the fish." He rides home by a side road while Zhang Liang stays behind with gifts and an apology. Back in camp, Liu Bang has the informer put to death. The Thirty-Six Stratagems commentary does not mention this dinner; applying it here is our reading. In this video: • The story of the dinner at Hongmen and the exit Liu Bang planned • A modern dilemma: a biotech founder with three weeks of cash, told to sign an exclusive deal tonight (an invented setting) • What to do before you walk in: plan who goes with you, who stays to speak for you, and how the other side keeps face • Learn 3 Chinese characters: 走 为 上 Chapters 0:00 The question 0:48 The story 3:26 A modern dilemma 3:51 How the stratagem works 7:16 The difference 7:48 Learn the Chinese 8:15 That's all thirty-six Missed #1? You See It Every Day. That's the Problem. —    • Hide in Plain Sight | The 36 Stratagems #1...   Missed #2? You Tried Harder. It Got Worse. —    • Hit Them Where It Hurts | The 36 Stratagem...   Missed #3? They Handed You the Knife. Now It's in Your Hand. —    • Never Be Someone Else's Knife | The 36 Str...   Missed #4? One Call at Nine. You Have Until Morning. —    • Build First, Then Let Them Tire | The 36 S...   Missed #5? The Worst Week of Your Life Is Someone's Best Chance. —    • Never Sign in the Smoke | The 36 Stratagem...   Missed #6? Leather, Mats, Free Service. One Number You Missed. —    • Leather, Mats, Free Service. One Number Yo...   Missed #7? It Was False Twice. You Stopped Looking the Third Time. —    • It Was False Twice. You Stopped Looking th...   Missed #8? Free for 30 Days. Charged Ever Since. —    • Free for 30 Days. Charged Ever Since. | Th...   Missed #9? The More You Ask, the More They Agree. —    • The More You Ask, the More They Agree. | T...   Missed #10? She Was So Kind. Then Your Husband Went Cold. —    • She Was So Kind. Then Your Husband Went Co...   Missed #11? Your Name Was on the List. He Called It Teamwork. —    • Your Name Was on the List. He Called It Te...   Missed #12? You Took the Small Order. The Bill Came Months Later. —    • You Took the Small Order. The Bill Came Mo...   Missed #13? Never Show Your Hand Too Early —    • Never Show Your Hand Too Early | The 36 St...   Missed #14? Same Name, Different Hands —    • Same Name, Different Hands | The 36 Strata...   Missed #15? Never Leave Your Home Turf —    • Never Leave Your Home Turf | The 36 Strata...   Missed #16? Silence Is Not Permission —    • Silence Is Not Permission | The 36 Stratag...   Missed #22? The Door Closed Behind You — Browse the series:    / @yoko-boyi   Thirty-six down, none to go. Thank you for reading with Yoko. Watch the whole series again from #1:    / @yoko-boyi   Story based on the Records of the Grand Historian (史记), "Annals of Xiang Yu" (项羽本纪). Original text from the Thirty-Six Stratagems (三十六计). The biotech example is invented for illustration and is not legal advice. Illustrations and English narration were made with AI tools. Music: Guzheng Morning / Senor Guzheng and the Happy Monks — Antti Luode, CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/.... Sound effects: Freesound CC0 items (taiko.wav by Anuj_Shrestha1) and effects synthesized in-house. Music sources: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... ; https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... Stroke data: Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License). Fonts: Ma Shan Zheng, Noto Serif SC, Noto Serif, Allura (SIL Open Font License 1.1). #36Stratagems #LearnChinese #ChineseHistory