The 48 Laws Of Power

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38
,
LAW5

OBSERVANCEOFTHELAWI

During

China’sWaroftheThree

Kingdoms(A.D.207—265),

the

greatgen-

eralChuko

Liang,

leading

theforcesoftheSim

Kingdom,dispatched

his

vast

army

toadistant

camp

whileherestedinasmalltownwithahandful

ofsoldiers.

Suddenly

sentinelshurriedinwiththe

alarming

newsthatan

enemy

forceofover

150,000

troops

underSimaYiwas

approaching.

With

only

ahundredmentodefend

him,

Chuko

Liang’s

situationwas

hopeless.

The

enemy

would

finally

capture

thisrenownedleader.

Without

lamenting

his

fate,

or

wasting

time

trying

to

figure

outhowhe

hadbeen

caught,Liang

orderedhis

troops

totakedowntheir

flags,

throw

open

the

citygates,

andhide.Hehimselfthentookaseatonthemostvisi-

ble

part

ofthe

city’s

wall,

wearing

aTaoistrobe.Helitsome

incense,

strummedhis

lute,

and

began

tochant.Minuteslaterhecouldseethevast

enemyarmyapproaching,

anendless

phalanx

ofsoldiers.

Pretending

not

tonotice

them,

hecontinuedto

sing

and

play

thelute.

Soonthe

army

stoodatthe

town

gates,

At

its

headwasSima

Yi,

who

instantlyrecognized

theman

on

the

wall.

Even

so,

ashissoldiersitchedtoenterthe

unguarded

town

through

its

open

gates,

SimaYi

hesitated,

heldthem

back,

andstudied

Liang

onthe

wall.

Then,

heorderedanimmediateand

speedy

retreat.

Interpretation

Chuko

Liang

was

commonly

knownasthe

“Sleeping

Dragon.”

Hisex-

ploits

intheWaroftheThree

Kingdoms

were

legendary.

Onceaman

claiming

tobeadisaffected

enemy

lieutenantcametohis

camp,offering

help

andinformation.

Lianginstantlyrecognized

thesituation

asa

setup;

thismanwasa

false

deserter,

andshouldbebeheaded.Atthelast

minute,

though,

astheax

was

aboutto

fall,

Liang

stopped

theexecutionandof-

feredto

spare

theman’slifeifhe

agreed

tobecomeadouble

agent.

Grate

fuland

terrified,

theman

agreed,

and

begansupplying

falseinformationto

the

enemy.Liang

wonbattleafterbattle.

Onanother

occasion

Liang

stole

a

military

sealandcreatedfalsedocu-

ments

dispatching

his

enemy’s

troops

todistantlocations.Oncethe

troops

had

dispersed,

hewasableto

capture

three

cities,

sothathecontrolledan

entirecorridorofthe

enemy’skingdom.

Healsooncetrickedthe

enemy

into

believing

one

of

itsbest

generals

wasa

traitor,

forcing

themantoes-

cape

and

join

forceswith

Liang.

The

SleepingDragoncarefully

cultivated

his

reputation

of

being

thecleverestmanin

China,

onewho

always

hada

trick

up

hissleeve.As

powerful

as

anyweapon,

this

reputation

struckfear

intohis

enemy.

SimaYihad

foughtagainst

Chuko

Liang

dozens

of

timesandknew

him

well.

Whenhecameon

the

emptycity,

with

Liangpraying

onthe

wall,

hewasstunned.TheTaoist

robes,

the

chanting,

theincense——thishad

tobea

game

ofintimidation.Themanwas

obviouslytaunting

him,

daring

himtowalkintoa

trap.

The

game

wassoobviousthatforonemomentit

crossedYi’smindthat

Liangactually

was

alone,

and

desperate.

Butso

great

washisfearof

Liang

thathedarednotrisk

finding

out.Suchisthe