鬼谷子

by 鬼谷子

编辑推荐： 《鬼谷子》有四大理由典藏，一是重要的地位：两千年的谋略学巨著，中国传统文化中的奇葩。二实用的口才：一人之辩重于九鼎之宝，三寸之舌强于百万之师。三精深的智慧：智用于众人之所不能知，谋用于众人之所不能用。四精美的收藏：内容精辟独到，版式新颖，实为收藏品读之首选。
作者简介： 鬼谷子，姓王名诩（或利），又名王禅，号玄微子，春秋时卫国朝歌人。常入云梦山采药修道。因隐居周阳城清溪之鬼谷，故自称鬼谷先生。春秋战国时期著名的思想家、谋略家，兵家、教育家，是纵横家的鼻祖，是中国历史上一位极具神秘色彩的人物，被誉为千古奇人，长于持身养性，精于心理揣摩，深明刚柔之势，通晓纵横捭阖之术，独具通天之智。他的弟子有兵家：孙膑、庞涓；纵横家：苏秦、张仪。

18 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 23, 2012

Reviews

[Barack Liu · Rating 5 out of 5]

541-Guiguzi-Guiguzi-476BC-Philosophy

Barack
2024/10/27

Guiguzi, also known as Bihece, was written between 476 BC and 221 BC. The book focuses on political strategies and debate skills. Guiguzi has a total of 14 chapters, of which the 13th and 14th chapters (Zhuanwan and Qiuluan) are lost. (Some say there are 21 chapters, while others say there are 17 chapters)

Guiguzi, surnamed Wang, with the given name Xu and another name Chan, was born between 476 BC and 221 BC. He was a famous strategist and the originator of the school of diplomacy, the master of military tactics, and the founder of the school of diplomacy among all schools of thought. It is said that the four moles on his forehead formed the image of a ghost. He was proficient in the knowledge of all schools of thought, and because he lived in seclusion in Guigu, Yunmeng Mountain, he called himself Mr. Guigu. He was revered as the "Saint of Strategy" by later generations. In cultural history, Guiguzi is a scholar on par with Confucius and Laozi. He lived in seclusion and put the world on a chessboard. His disciples became generals and ministers, affecting the survival of various countries and driving the direction of history.

Guixiu is one of the twenty-eight constellations. Ancient Chinese astronomers divided the stars in the south zenith into twenty-eight groups, and the circle of constellations along the ecliptic or the celestial equator (the earth's equator extending to the sky) is divided into four groups, also known as the Four Symbols, Four Beasts, Four Dimensions, and Four Direction Gods, each with seven constellations. Guixiu belongs to the metal element and represents the sheep. It is the second constellation in the south, like a hat on the head of the Vermilion Bird. When birds are frightened, the feathers on their heads form a crown. People call the most feared but non-existent things "ghosts", and Guixiu got its name from this. It is the main source of fright, so it is often fierce.

Table of Contents
First
Reaction 2
The third
Arrival Fourth
Flying Clamp No.5
Disobedience No. 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Fu Yan No. 12

One of the core ideas of classical Chinese philosophy is to guide people's behavior through the exploration of the laws of heaven and earth. The same is true of the way of thinking of the strategists. They use the changes of yin and yang as an analogy to explain the survival of things and the changes in people's hearts, so as to seek ways to grasp themselves in the changes. The phenomena of this world are endless, just as we cannot predict all the interview questions when preparing for an interview. However, the core of interview preparation is not to cover all possible questions but to summarize a set of laws to deal with different problems, so that we can quickly find appropriate responses even when facing problems we have never encountered. The thoughts of various schools of thought are different, and the fundamental difference lies in their different basic assumptions. This is like Euclidean geometry and non-Euclidean geometry in mathematics: the former assumes that parallel lines never intersect, while the latter assumes that parallel lines intersect at infinity. The deduction results brought by the two assumptions are completely different. The root of the differences in people's views on life is often the different cognition of some basic things. Some people pursue material success, some people value emotional richness, and others cherish experiencing unprecedented feelings. Each value can lead people to a path of their own, but if you want to go further on this path, you need to have the ability to extract laws from limited phenomena and use general laws to guide specific situations. Whether it is Confucianism, Taoism, or the School of Diplomacy, the most valuable part of their ideological system may be how to understand the logical chain of the world under a certain set of values. The same is true in real life. Our decisions are often made under existing conditions. Similarly, when we communicate with others, we might as well understand their position and see how they deduce and respond to changes, without rushing to deny their fundamental assumptions as the starting point of reasoning.

The author explains "opening and closing" with the theory of yin and yang. "Opening" means to separate and tear apart, while "closing" means to close. "Yang" symbolizes opening, active, and proactive, touching the movement of things. "Yin" symbolizes closing, passive and restrained, touching the stillness of things. There is no difference between opening and closing. It is easy to open blindly, and it is not difficult to close blindly, but only by finding a balance between opening and closing, movement and stillness can we achieve the best state. Just as we are constantly pursuing success in our careers, if we ignore the needs of emotions, it may be harmful to our bodies and minds. On the contrary, if we indulge in emotions blindly, it may also affect our overall material life. Therefore, the balance of yin and yang is not limited to lobbying but can be used as a reference for a broader philosophy of life. Although the strategists are discussing the skills of lobbying, it may not only be used to persuade others but also to understand and apply this balance so that we can be at ease in various affairs.

"Reaction", "anti" means to look back at the other person, and "fu" means to examine oneself. If we want to understand a person, we often observe the other person's reaction during the interaction to infer his inner feelings - what he likes and what he doesn't like. There are reasons behind these preferences. For example, if we put six men and six women together, they may have some kind of good feelings and relationships with each other when they first meet, and everyone's interaction style will be different. As an observer, if we carefully observe their interaction patterns, we may be able to infer their deeper psychological motivations through superficial behavior. Therefore, to truly understand people and things, we often need to observe and analyze thoroughly from both positive and negative aspects. When interacting with people, only starting from your own perspective and not considering the feelings of others may lead to communication barriers. Similarly, if you only look at things from one perspective, it is easy to only see the advantages or disadvantages and ignore the comprehensiveness of things. Only through repeated exploration and multi-faceted observation can we grasp the actual situation and make more accurate decisions.

The author mentioned that before understanding others, you must first understand yourself. Confucius also said something similar in The Analects: "I am not worried about people not knowing me, but I am worried about not knowing people." In our lives, we often develop prejudices because we overestimate ourselves, or turn a blind eye to our existing abilities. We overestimate our abilities because of our arrogance and ignore our own shortcomings; we set limits because of our inferiority complex and think that we can hardly do many things. It is indeed difficult to understand yourself. For example, some people underestimate their partners because they overestimate themselves in their first love, resulting in missed opportunities and failure to cherish their relationship. In the final analysis, it is still because of the lack of a clear understanding of oneself. It is often difficult for humans to truly understand themselves. If they deliberately exaggerate or exaggerate, wouldn't it be further away from the truth and more deviated? Understanding yourself requires honesty and rationality, and only in this way can we avoid falling into absurd misjudgments.

"Nei 揵", "Nei" refers to the inner world, and "揵" refers to the lock. It means that the human heart has a switch. If we cannot open the other person's heart, then our words will not have an impact on the other person's heart; on the contrary, if we can touch the other person's heart, our words will have an effect on the other person. I can understand why the thought of the strategists is not liked by Confucianism. The strategists focus on trying to figure out the king's mind, which is a certain degree of flattery. In the eyes of Confucianism, this approach is flattery. In real life, those who are good at flattering often live more successfully. Think about it carefully, many of the concepts we are taught in our daily lives - whether from parents, schools, or friends and relatives around us, may not be applicable to our own practice, and may even run counter to the rules in reality. Why? I think this is probably because the knowledge we are taught sometimes seems to be beneficial to us on the surface, but the starting point at the bottom is to benefit the other party. Even for parents, their suggestions and starting points are probably to benefit them first. If we believe in what others teach us, when we encounter difficulties in the future, we will eventually have to bear the consequences. What each person says to us is often based on a comprehensive consideration of his own interests and our interests, and whether this comprehensive consideration is really beneficial to us is not necessarily certain. This is just like the lobbyists in the Warring States Period lobbying the king. On the surface, they seem to be thinking about the king, but in fact, they have other intentions. Therefore, we need to think carefully about other people's opinions.

"Di" means to deal with or make use of, and "巇" means gap, contradiction, or loophole. There are gaps or loopholes in all things in the world. A sage can deal with or make use of the gaps in things when they first appear. The "sage" mentioned by the strategists is not the same as the "sage" mentioned by the Confucians. The "sage" mentioned by the strategists seems to be more like a "wise man", while the "sage" mentioned by the Confucians must be a "benevolent man". When the gaps in things first appear, they are as subtle and difficult to detect as the feathers of birds in autumn; however, as time goes by, the gaps continue to expand and eventually become as solid as the foundation of Mount Tai, which is difficult to change. Therefore, the wisdom of a sage lies in dealing with the gaps when they first appear, rather than waiting until they develop to the point where they are uncontrollable. If you find that you cannot reasonably deal with the gaps, you should give up decisively instead of just clinging to them. This is just like dealing with a relationship. You should think carefully and make adjustments proactively before the problem emerges. If you wait until the problem becomes too serious to be reversed, the only choice may be to give up. The wise man observes the subtle, while the foolish man ignores the obvious. A wise person will notice changes in the most subtle aspects of things and plan ahead to avoid getting into trouble. But a fool often ignores the initial signs, which leads to the final problem being like an abyss that is irreversible and full of holes that are difficult to fill.

The "fei" in "fei quan" means to pretend to praise the other party and raise his reputation in order to gain the other party's favor. "quan" means to clamp. "fei quan" means to deliberately raise the other party, wait until the other party eliminates his vigilance, the inner feelings will be revealed, and then clamp the other party. "忤" in "忤合" means to resist and deviate, and "合" means to conform. "忤合" means to tend and go against. "摩" in "摩篇" means to guess. That is, when lobbying others, have a comprehensive understanding of the actual situation and the other party's true thoughts, so as to make judgments and formulate strategies. The thoughts of the strategists are strongly pragmatic. They are not bound by unchanging rules but formulate the most advantageous strategies according to the actual situation. They do not seem to be like Confucianists, who always put morality at the core of the discussion. In the process of doing things, understanding the environment is a major core of the strategists, and "environment" not only refers to the objective environment but also includes insight into the emotions of the target object. When a person's emotions become strong, his true thoughts are often difficult to conceal. At this time, we can take corresponding measures based on these performances. In the eyes of Confucianism, people who are good at "speaking and flattering" are generally looked down upon, and they are considered "rarely benevolent". However, in real life, being good at speaking is actually a very practical skill. We educate our children with "Confucian" thinking, but when they grow up, they find that they have to relearn the "strange and cunning skills" of "speaking and flattering". Isn't this adding to their pain?

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

愈读愈理，何以能如此简洁纯朴哦...


世无可抵，则深隐而待时，时有可抵，则为之谋。

凡度权量能，所以征远来近。立势而制事，必先察同异，别是非之语，见内外之辞，知有无之数，决安危之计，定亲疏之事，然后乃权量之。其有隐括，乃可征，乃可求，乃可用。
迄今为止这样的思维还存在社会里面

虽覆能复

非劳心苦思，不能原事
忠实无真，不能知人

常必以其见者而知其隐者，此所谓测深揣情。2024年10月15日

揣情最难守司，言必时有谋虑。故观蜎飞蠕动，无不有利害，可以生事

为强者，积于弱也；有余者，积于不足也。此其道术行也

无以人之所不欲，而强之于人；无以人之所不知，而教之于人

以天下之目视者，则无不见；以天下之耳听者，则无不闻；以天下之心思虑者，则无不知辐辏并进，则明不可塞。

理生于名实之德


作为最好的你，一定要综合运用“长目”、“飞耳”、“树明”

[Jessica Shing]

First of all, it is not a book or work propagated in mainstream media as it discusses strategies, techniques or tricks. It should go with The Art of War, which discusses both the moral justification of strategy and the strategy itself.

Secondly, I read the book while working in Huawei Tech. I was the only female employee in the big team of around 20~ people. I might aim for promotion and ordered the book at a discounted price. It is not a suitable book for girly females. But when I read, I felt the words (the classic Chinese) inviting.When I picked up the book the second time after experience in Huawei, I feel I could not work into the words anymore.

Finally, it is a serious book on logic and calculation in human interactions. So far, I feel the power of the content is still under my control.