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The 24 Strategies of War

PeachBlossomGoddess

#1   偷粱换柱  Replace the Beams with Rotten Timbers
#2   趁火达动  Loot a Buring House
#3   金蝉脱壳  Ingenious Escape
#4   笑里藏刀 Covering the Dagger with a Smile
#5  反客为主  Make the Host and the Guest Exchange Places
#6. 借尸还魂 Body Swap and Identity Switch
#7   瞒天过海 Deceive the Heavens to Cross the Ocean
#8   浑水摸鱼 Disturb the Water to Catch the Fish
#9   暗度陈仓 Advancing Secretly By an Unknown Path
#10 走为上计If All Else Fails, Retreat
#11 打草惊蛇 To Catch Something, First Let it Go
#12 关门捉贼 Catch the Thief by Closing the Escape Route
#13 美人计 Honey Trap
#14 无中生有 A Trap Out of Thin Air
#15 声东击西 Clamor in the East, Attack in the West
#16 顺手牵羊 Stealing on the Sly
#17 反间计 Sowing Discord
#18 连环计Interlocked Stratagems
#19 釜底抽新 Steal the Firewood from under the Pot
#20 围魏救赵 Rescue the Main Force by Sacrificing the Other
#21 借刀杀人 Kill with a Borrowed Sword
#22 树上开花 Deception on Army Provision
#23 擒贼擒王 To Catch the Bandits, First Capture their Leader
#24 李代桃僵 Take the Blame for Someone Else 

For reference. As translated by iQiyi.

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ChineseDramaFan

These are all the titles of the episodes. Incredible! Love how you list the titles out and translate them to make viewing even more pleasurable.

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PeachBlossomGoddess

Lol - I was taking notes so I just wrote them down, they are iQiyi's translations I would have probably done some differently.

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omonaijaJ
 PeachBlossomGoddess:
#1   偷粱换柱  Replace the Beams with Rotten Timbers

This one was translated to 'Replace the Original with the Imposter' on Viki and it sent shivers down my spine before I even watched the drama hhhhhh

My favorite ones so far have got to be "#6. 借尸还魂 Body Swap and Identity Switch" and "#11 打草惊蛇 To Catch Something, First Let it Go "

Though I watched on Viki, so for #6 I believe it was something like replacing the true with the imposter...or resurrection through another body. 

I really love this drama so far, but when it first came out I decided to ignore it because I was too depressed and looking for less tense Cdramas (I often binge depressing thrillers, mystery, or tragedy dramas throughout the year and then slow down with feel good stuff )

Now I missed the train to discuss this show with active watchers. :'(

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PeachBlossomGoddess

I don't think you missed much, the thread wasn't that active while airing and someone posted a major unmarked spoiler in the thread which made viewers drop or avoid the thread.

I am quite sure the 24 strategies are all from the 36 Stratagems which is an ancient essay on the art of war, not Sun Tzu's but almost as well known. They have been well translated many times by well regarded translators. I think Viki's translation of #1 is more interpretative and less literal. It's more helpful for people not familiar with these works but it also spoils the story too early in the game. For that reason I think iQiyi's is better and it is also closer to how it is most often translated. 

I didn't like iQiyi's translation of No 6 - it should be more like  borrowing a corpse to resurrect a soul; i.e. assuming the identity of a dead person.

No 11 also looks off - it is one of the most commonly quoted of the stratagems in period c-dramas - hit the grass to scare the snake.

Its a fantastic drama, too bad its not that popular.

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omonaijaJ

The 36 strategems... that rings a bell. Is it Zhuge Liang's ? I know before he died he also accumulated 36 strategies based on his experiences during war and as a regent, I think he handed it down to someone named Jiang Wei.

In any case, I appreciate your input on the transations.  I'm a big Zhou Yu(周瑜) nerd so I studied alot about the Three Kingdoms period, although it gives me profoud misery hahaha.  So much turmoil and bloodshed...钻牛角尖....


Therefore, I very much appreciate this shows approach to the espionage angle. Refreshing drama, it's OK if it isn't popular now. Maybe a couple of years from now it'll blow up

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PeachBlossomGoddess

I think it's a compilation over a long history that includes tactics from many famous strategists including Zhuge Liang. Many of the strategies history attribute to him were likely originated from other generals but his legend grew over time that he got credit for it. I have only scratched on the surface of 3 Kingdoms lore. There is so much of it and it was so long ago that some of the history is controversial that its hard to know where to begin.

This kind of drama is hard to appreciate without some understanding of the history and the main players. Anyway feel free to ping me if you want to chat about the story and enjoy.

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