Zhuge Liang (Kong Ming)
The Original "Hidden Dragon"
continued
The technical attribute of the Ba Gua (eight trigrams) is supposed to be the essence behind Zhuge Liang's Eight Dispositions (Ba Xing) Battle Tactics.
Other stories described him as a mathematical and mechanical genius, credited with the invention of a multi-firing crossbow and a mechanical wooden ox (a four-legged wheel barrow with a shell of an ox) for transporting grain.
Much of his exploits can be found in the San Kuo Chih Yen-i (Romance of the Three Kingdoms), the great 14th century historical novel, where Zhuge Liang is one of the principal characters. As mentioned earlier, some of those events can be found in popular Chinese operas and plays where he is usually described as a favored character that fought against evil.
Those same plays also portrayed him as a Taoist magician who possessed many supernatural powers, from controlling the wind to foretelling the future. Much of his ability was based on his vast but confidential knowledge of military strategy, mechanical engineering, mathematics, geology, meteorology, and behavior psychology.
After Zhuge Liang passed on, stories about his wisdom (for example, Review in Longzhong, Borrowing the Eastern Wind, and Strategy of the Vacant City) were played out as Chinese opera stories. These have also been used as a learning guide for budding professional strategists. To many past and present scholars of China's history, he is considered to be the quintessence of embodied wisdom and intelligence.
In part two of our article on Zhuge Liang (in the next issue), we will concentrate on the non-military achievements of Zhuge Liang.
Previous M.E.H. Writings on Strategy
- Sun Tzu's The Art of War (Recommended reading item for the budding new strategists) http://www.jadedragon.com/archives/bookrevu/aow1.html
- The Mind of the Strategist: Knowing the Questions (Recommended reading item for the budding new strategists) http://www.jadedragon.com/archives/martarts/mskq1.html
- The Game of Go (A good game for applying Sun Tzu's military principles into a board game reality) http://www.jadedragon.com/archives/entertainment/go.html
- Chinese Chess (Another strategy game simple enough for applying Sun Tzu's military principles into a board game reality) http://www.jadedragon.com/archives/entertainment/chess1.html
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