The Art of War and the Thirty-Six Stratagems

This film (drama)Also known as孙子兵法与三十六计，is aMainland ChinaProducerbeauty live，At2000Released in year 。The dialogue language isMandarin Chinese，Current Douban rating8.9(For reference only)。

During the Warring States period, the reclusive master Guiguzi had two favored disciples: one was Sunzi, and the other was Pang Juan. Pang Juan initially emerged before Sun Bin, and Guiguzi secretly passed down the lost "Art of War" to Sun Bin. Pang Juan led the Wei army in a stalemate with the Chu army at Fangcheng. Sun Bin used the "withdraw the ladder" strategy from the "Art of War," which led to a great defeat for the Chu army. 　　Pang Juan was jealous of Sun Bin's talents, scheming against him under the guise of friendship, and Sun Bin was punished with the "bìn" (disabling punishment). Pang Juan's strategist Gongsun Yue revealed his scheme to Sun Bin in order to win the beautiful Zhongli Qiu. Sun Bin pretended to be mad and burned all the copied military texts. Zhongli Qiu hoped that Sun Bin was not truly insane and expressed her true feelings to him, but Sun Bin continued to act mad, leading Pang Juan's spy to believe he truly was. 　　Zhongli Qiu's sister, Zhongli Chun, learned the truth about Sun Bin's feigned madness and traveled alone to Sun Bin's hometown in Qi to ask General Tian Ji for help. Tian Ji sent his retainer Qin Hua to Wei, and with Qin Hua's assistance, Sun Bin executed a "golden cicada shedding its shell" and escaped from Wei. 　　Tian Ji loved horses and made a heavy bet with the King of Qi on a horse race; Sun Bin used the "Li substitutes Tao" strategy to ensure Tian Ji's victory. Tian Ji informed King Wei of Sun Bin's strategy, and King Wei greatly favored Sun Bin. Sun Bin commanded the Qi army, employing strategies like "surround Wei and rescue Zhao," "capture the thief, capture the king," and "waiting in ease for the weary," defeating Pang Juan three times. 　　Pang Juan sent Gongsun Yue to infiltrate Qi; Gongsun Yue used "creating something from nothing" to strip Tian Ji and Sun Bin of their military powers. Then, using the strategy of "killing with a borrowed knife," Tian Ji and Sun Bin nearly lost their lives in Chu. Pang Juan took advantage of the chaos, forcing Sun Bin to transcribe the "Art of War"; with Zhongli Chun's help, Sun Bin "deceived the heavens to cross the sea" and returned to Qi. Pang Juan colluded with the King of Chu to force Qi to hand over Sun Bin, while Qin Hua "swapped the beams" to assist Sun Bin and Zhongli Chun in escaping Chu to Han. 　　Pang Juan invited Han to a meeting in Chengzhou, using the strategy of "attacking Guo by way of another," occupying the strategically important Chenghao in Han when they were unprepared. Sun Bin used "venting the east while attacking the west" to reclaim Chenghao. He then used the "empty city ruse" to deceive the reinforcement troops from Wei. Pang Juan besieged Chenghao, forcing Sun Bin to submit, while the Han army created a diversion, breaking Pang Juan's siege. Pang Juan intended to fight the Han army for a decisive victory, but Sun Bin used "casting bricks to attract jade," severely damaging the Wei army, forcing Pang Juan to retreat. 　　Before dying, King Wei regretted mistreating Tian Ji and Sun Bin and instructed the crown prince to be sure to bring Sun Bin back. Gongsun Yue incited disputes among the princes vying for the throne, causing turmoil. Pang Juan took advantage of the confusion and occupied several cities in Qi. The crown prince ascended to the throne, becoming King Xuan; he invited Sun Bin back to the states, but the King of Han did not allow it. Sun Bin "quietly took a secret route" to overcome Shangdang for the King of Han, then traveled through Zhao to return to Qi. 　　Gongsun Yue used the "beauty trap" to seduce King Xuan, who neglectfully disregarded state affairs, leaving the officials in a dilemma. Zhongli Chun pretended to be a maid entering the palace and persuaded the king using hidden language. King Qi desired to take Zhongli Chun as his queen, but for the sake of Qi, she had to temporarily abandon her long-standing feelings for Sun Bin and became the queen. The palace beauties, unwilling to lose their status, used various means to tempt King Xuan; Zhongli Chun used "insulting the mulberry tree to blame the locust tree" to eliminate the beauties and rectify the harem. Sun Bin, using a "chain strategy," first eliminated Gongsun Yue, then pressured Zou Ji to step down from his position as Prime Minister. 　　Sun Bin "forge distant alliances and attack nearby" to contact the Qin state and reclaim the border city. He employed "drawing the tiger away from the mountain" and "letting go to capture" to eliminate the army of the prince of Jiao. Pang Juan "resurrected the corpse," using someone who resembled Jiao to gather remnants, attempting a comeback. Sun Bin executed strategies like "removing the fuel from the boiling pot" and "taking the sheep by the hand" to capture the false Jiao alive, quelling the rebellion. 　　Pang Juan aimed to lure Sun Bin to Wei for a decisive battle and launched a major attack on Han. Sun Bin "watched the fire from across the river," sending word of the troop movements to the King of Han. With desperate resistance, the armies of Wei and Han were at a stalemate. Sun Bin led the Qi army straight toward the capital of Wei, Daliang. Pang Juan returned to defend against the Qi army. Meanwhile, Sun Bin, deep in Wei territory, managed to sustain his cooking fires during the retreat. Pang Juan believed the Qi army was afraid of the Wei clutches, and the number of deserters had increased. He pushed his elite soldiers to relentlessly pursue Sun Bin, leading to an ambush in the Ma Ling road. With arrows rain down, Pang Juan found himself with no way to escape and committed suicide. Sun Bin's last strategy was "retreating as the best plan." 　　Sun Bin defeated Pang Juan and quietly left behind two volumes of military strategy, one being the "Art of War" and the other his own "Sun Bin's Art of War." 　　"The Art of War and the Thirty-Six Stratagems" presents each stratagem in a chapter, intertwining them and showcasing ancient Chinese military tactics and Eastern wisdom, vividly illustrating a historical panorama of the intertwined emotions of various figures from different social strata during China's Warring States period over two thousand years ago.