Chinese Class—Idiom Story：Tian Ji’s Horseracing Strategy

During the Warring States period, there was a general called Tian Ji in the state of Qi who was passionate about horseracing.Once, he and King Wei of Qi agreed to hold a horse- race where they each divided their horses into three classes according to speed. During the race, one’s first class horses raced against the other’s first class horses, second class against second class and third class against third class. As all of the king’s horses were better than Tian Ji’s, Tian Ji lost all three races. Depressed, he was about to leave the field.

Sun Bin, a friend of Tian Ji’s, watched the game. He called Tian Ji over and said to him: “I think King Wei’s horses were not much faster than yours.”Hardly had Sun Bin finished his words than Tian Ji flared up: “I never thought you could be so sarcastic.” Sun Bin replied: “I was not being sarcastic. Just have another race with him and I’ll make sure that you win.”

Tian Ji looked at Sun Bin, confused: “Do you mean to replace some of the horses?” Sun Bin shook his head: “No, you don’t have to replace any of them.” Tian Ji was unsure: “In that case, I will lose again.” Sun Bin said confidently: “Trust me, just follow my advice.”

Dubiously, Tian Ji invited King Wei to another race, who happily agreed. This time, Sun Bin asked Tian Ji to use his third class horses to race with the king’s first class horses, and Tian Ji lost the first race. In the second race, Sun Bin asked Tian Ji to use his first class horses to compete with the king’s second class horses, and Tian Ji won, which made the king feel a bit nervous. In the third race, Tian Ji's second class horses raced against the king's third class horses. Again Tian Ji won. This time, the king was dumbfounded.

Tian Ji won two races out of three, so he beat the king. With the same horses, Tian Ji turned defeat into victory by just changing the order of the horses taking part in the race. This story tells us that we should never lose confidence when we find ourselves in an unfavourable situation. We can turn defeat into victory by analysing the situation and findingweaknesses that can be turned to our advantage.